Mark Bittman

Hey Runners, Food Matters: Mark Bittman’s Newest Cook Book

by Monica on October 21, 2010

My 17 year old daughter and I are making a conscious effort to eat better. It’s not that our diet is poor…challenged is more accurate. Her life as a high school junior is filled with a challenging academic schedule, tennis team, studying for the SAT, college considerations, and most importantly, fun with friends. My concerns are more about my training, nutrition for my children, increased energy and offsetting my aging body in any way possible. We therefore decided to go see the bestselling “How to Cook Everything” author Mark Bittman speak about his newest addition The Food Matters Cook Book at the Free Library of Philadelphia. This new book offers recipes that are both good for you AND the environment. As a widely admired columnist for the NY Times (with great instructional videos, named after his food column “The Minimalist”, like this one making Apricot No-bake Granola bars–yum), he is committed to eating healthy and good tasting food. He preaches “less meat and more plants” in our diets. It’s a familiar message that we took away from the compelling documentary Food, INC. There were some political overtones in his talk (an effort to address child obesity and lobby for a soda tax that might deter its mass consumption by young people), but he is mostly about how fresh ingredients equals good healthy food. It all makes so much sense. And if you are like me and not sure how to translate this into delicious meals, this book (or any one of his cookbooks) is a great resource. Mark Bittman is a runner and now a blogger for Runners World where he recently reported on running the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon. Last year he partnered with Marathoner Deena Kastor to talk about eating on the run:

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{recipe alert} Chocolate Chip Cookies and other snow day musings

by Jamie on February 10, 2010

Saturday, 2/6: We are in the midst of an old time, batten down the hatches, Mid-Atlantic blizzard. And a luxury it is; Rosa, our 13 year old, is held hostage (by the blizzard) at home all day and night. We bake Jacques Torres’ sublime chocolate chip cookies, the secret being a small smattering of sea salt placed on the top of each cookie before baking. We watch 3 episodes of the new “it” television series, Life Unexpected (not quite reaching the heights of The Gilmore Girls-but what show does?) We read: I finish up the luminous Let the Great World Spin (a must read!), while Rosa peruses 17 Magazine and Teen Vogue. For dinner, Mark Bittman’s macaroni and cheese. The day, in a word, fabulous.

Sunday, 2/7: Life begins to return to the humdrum. Swim practice at 4. Tax return documents are gathered. After all those carbs yesterday—-a short run in my new Yaktrax.

I don’t think the orthopedist envisioned this day, when he declared that I could run once I gained elbow mobility. But, we runners are curious people. The Yaktrax Pro’s, steel-coil traction gear, were a cinch to place over my running shoes. And…. they worked! My footing was secure on the snow, slush and ice. I felt confident and balanced. They didn’t slip off my shoes. The quiet solitude of the bright and pearly run was interrupted only when I run over patches of bare road, where the Yaks made a distinctive crunching sound. Snow shovelers gave me “are you crazy?” smiles. I wanted to lift up my shoes to display the Yaks, but that would be tempting the gods, wouldn’t it?

Some scattered winter running observations: Clothingwise, I’ve been wearing one thin and one thick(er) technical shirt, and a windbreaker, as opposed to a running coat. I’ve felt notably warmer and drier. LDF maven, Kerry, purchased a gorgeous runner’s windbreaker (with a LED light on the sleeve) weeks before a NY Times article touted the very jacket!

Locking in and paying for a half (or full) marathon seems to be the only way for me to get out there and put in the long miles.

I marvel at my LDF’s , who instinctively recognize when the winter elements are just too daunting and declare it time to call it a (running) day and when to encourage us that today is the day to push on. Understanding how serene, and yet energized, we will feel when it’s all over.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies
[click to continue…]

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Scale back, eat right and eat in…marathon training food mantra

by Jamie on June 16, 2009

Scale back, eat right, and eat in…the mantras of our time. Inevitably, I turn to my copy of How to Cook Everything with its crinkly, smudged and sticky pages, the hallmark of an indispensable cookbook. It was written by Mark Bittman, urbane and curmudgeonly, the author of The Minimalist, a venerable (but hip) weekly column of the NY Times food section. How to Cook Everything is an old friend, trusty and reliable to come through for a quick bite or a nerve-racking dinner party.

The cookbook is clearly written, well tested and devoid of fussy and extraneous instructions. There are manageable amounts of ingredients and interesting variations on each theme. Classic comfort food mingles easily with ethnic fare. Bittman begins each section with “The Basics of–” The information is edifying and fun to read. [click to continue…]

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The Philadelphia Stories — Ira Glass, Malcolm Gladwell, Mark Bittman

by Jamie on February 11, 2009

I recently spent very little money to listen to several smart and charming people confidently discuss some of their ideas and observations.

1/24: Ira Glass (NPR’s This American Life, Showtime) began his discussion in the dark at the Kimmel Center (2,500 capacity– not an empty seat!) He spoke passionately about the (almost lost) art of story telling (raise a question, action, action, action, reflection, answer the question.) His stories were powerful, compelling and often, quite hilarious. Glass curses the “topic sentence”, considering it the end of true discourse. His asides were witty and gossipy (in the absolute best sense of the word.)

Ira Glass video (Catch some of Ira’s ideas here.)

2/2: Malcolm Gladwell: (Outliers, Blink, The Tipping Point), Philadelphia Free Library author series. Gladwell, as always, was erudite and captivating. Diverse ideas about success and its barriers flowed freely (by way of an eye opening discussion about the ages of Canadian hockey players!) spurring myriad connections and insights.

In the midst of this whirlwind I began to wonder; is there any way that I can teach my 12-year-old daughter to someday view a future Malcolm or Ira as the hot guy?

2/4: Mark Bittman: (author of the utterly indispensable (and excellent gift for any occasion) How to Cook Everything , as well as the Minimalist columns/NY Times), Philadelphia Free Library author series. Once again, the auditorium, on a snowy evening, was full; people were waiting to listen to a cookbook author who was not going to discuss recipes.*** Instead, he proposed that for global/political, environmental, health and moral reasons we consider becoming “less meat-atarians.” His ideas were sensible, relevant and could cost us less money.

***I wouldn’t have minded a few recipes.

Is it the recession, coming in from the cold after the endless Bush years or a combination of world and personal factors that have so many of us craving new ideas and road maps for living? I came away from these evenings pondering the possibility of living life just a little differently.

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