Ever wanted to eat what your favorite characters are eating in the books? Well, San Diego chefs are making that a possibility with a Eat. Read. Drink. program. The program has been running for ten years now, and each year ticket sales support the San Diego Council on Literacy, which is a no-cost literacy program. This year’s even will be hosted on Thursday, April 25th, from 6 to 830 p.m. at the San Diego Air and Space Museum.
This year, chefs are hailing from San Diego favorites like Waypoint Public and Galaxy Taco. The event, which is perfect for foodies and bookworms alike, will see each chef recreate a dish from their own favorite literary work, and guests will be tasked with the job of tasting each creation. Awards will be given out in categories like “Best Dessert” and “People’s Choice.” To pair with these decadent plates, there will be breweries and wine tastings available as well.
Let us know if you’ll be attending this event! Tickets are still available. We can’t wait to see what the chefs whip up.
In the wake of his scandal and arrest, Jussie Smollett may have only one supporter left: his publisher.
On January 29th, Jussie Smollett filed a police report, claiming to be the victim of violent assault. The details were graphic: while in Chicago, two men hurled racist and homophobic slurs at the Empireactor. The unknown men struck Smollett, poured a mysterious chemical substance onto his head, and wrapped a rope around his neck. When they shouted, “MAGA country,” their motivations could not have been more blatant: this was a hate crime.
Nearly a month later, the investigation appears to have revealed that this was not, in fact, the case.
Image Via Rappler
The police investigation swiftly changed direction when law enforcement discovered that Smollett knew the attackers personally. Police questioned Smollett’s redacted phone records and determined that Smollett had been in contact with both men before the incident. It wasn’t long before the story appeared to unravel: Smollett allegedly paid the two $3,500 to stage the attack over dissatisfaction with his $1 million salary, which amounts to $65,000 per episode. In the United States, the median household income is around $61,000.
On February 21st, the Empire actor was arrested for filing a false police report. These supposedly fraudulent allegations are especially troubling when considering their impact on real allegations—and real victims.
Image Via People
Fox Entertainment has avoided any direct comments on Smollett’s situation, “placing [its] trust in the legal system as the process plays out.” Nevertheless, the “disturbing” allegations’ impact on cast and crew members has led Fox to cut Smollett’s role from this season’s final episodes. Smollett’s career may also be on trial, but he’s got one more gig: his upcoming family cookbook, completed with siblings Jazz, Jurnee, and Jake.
Before actors and Food Network stars Jazz, Jake, Jurnee, and Jussie Smollett conquered Hollywood, they spent their childhood crisscrossing the United States. Moving coast to coast thirteen times, they car-tripped to small towns and big cities across America.
But no matter where they lived, two things remained constant: their incredible family feasts and the long, wooden kitchen table where they shared food and lived their lives. Each time they arrived in a new home, their mother would transform planks of hard wood into a smooth, varnished butcher block table in a beloved ritual that took three days. That hand-crafted table would become the heart of the Smollett clan, where the most important and cherished events and accomplishments, no matter how large or small, were honored, and where holidays were celebrated: Christmas, Easter, Passover, Chanukah, birthdays, milestones. With a mother from New Orleans and a Jewish father from New York who met and married in California, the Smollett kids were exposed to diverse culinary heritages and grew up open to all the deliciousness the world had to offer.
In this warm and personal book, the Smolletts invite us all to take a seat at their table and enjoy the good times and good food that help families thrive. The Family Table includes more than 130 delicious, comforting recipes that pay tribute to their past and present. These favorite recipes from the Smolletts are suitable for intimate dinners and fabulous feasts alike, but more than that, The Family Table is a remarkable portrait of a loving, all-American family, rich with traditions that they continue to build to this day.
If you’re into easy little phrases with all the emotional depths of a greeting card condolence, you might’ve heard or used the phrase ‘it’s never too late to apologize.’ Here’s the question: is this truism actually true? Is it really never too late—even if the person’s dead? We’d ask George Orwell whether this widely held assumption applied to a recent apology he received, but he’s not exactly available for commentary.
Image Via George Orwell Biography
In 1946, the British Council commissioned Orwell to write an essay on the country’s cuisine in an attempt to spread British culture throughout the world (because, apparently, the empire hadn’t already done the job). When Orwell wrote the essay he was paid for, the organization declined the publication. By this point, Orwell was already a novelist of some acclaim, having published Animal Farmthe year prior. The man wasn’t J.K. Rowling—no bizarre allegorical theme park—but he was not a man to spurn. Unfortunately for Orwell, there was the matter of the stringent food rations in the U.K. at the time, and the audience was hungry for everything but culinary content. The Council informed Orwell of their concerns… and the rejection:
I am so sorry such a seemingly stupid situation has arisen with your manuscript [due to] doubts on such a treatment of the painful subject of Food in these times. Apart from one or two minor criticisms, I think it is excellent, [but] it would be unfortunate and unwise to publish it for the continental reader.
While the Council may not have had the foresight not to commission the essay, they had the hindsight to issue a formal apology. “Over seventy years later,” began editor Alasdair Donaldson in his official statement, “the British Council is delighted to make amends for its slight on perhaps the UK’s greatest political writer of the 20th century, by reproducing the original essay in full.” You can check it out here or continue reading for the highlights.
Christmas pudding, for all the Americans imagining a VANILLA SNACK PACK Image Via BBC
The essay includes many of Orwell’s own recipes so that you can live like the artist himself… without the tuberculosis. Of course, just because he’s a literary genius doesn’t mean he’s a genius in the kitchen. (Orwell’s editor said of his orange marmalade: “bad recipe; too much sugar and water!”) After dropping some other recipes for plum cake and pudding, he moves onto what might be some passive-aggression towards the British diet. “British people… combine sugar with meat,” he observes delicately, “in a way that is seldom seen elsewhere.”
Below, we’ve included the infamous marmalade recipe. Try it for yourself to see if Orwell really was a man of taste.
Image Via Flickr
Ingredients:
2 seville oranges
2 sweet oranges
2 lemons
3.6kg of preserving sugar
4.5 litres of water
Wash and dry the fruit. Halve them and squeeze out the juice. Remove some of the pith, then shred the fruit finely. Tie the pips in a muslin bag. Put the strained juice, rind and pips into the water and soak for 48 hours. Place in a large pan and simmer for an hour and a half until the rind is tender. Leave to stand overnight, then add the sugar and let it dissolve before bringing to the boil. Boil rapidly until a little of the mixture will set into a jelly when placed on a cold plate. Pour into jars which have been heated beforehand and cover with paper covers.
If you’re not already familiar with the concept, Hannah Hart‘s web series My Drunk Kitchen might (lit)erally blow your mind. Step one: Hart imbibes some serious alcohol, sometimes with famous guests (and by famous, we mean Sarah Silverman and John Green famous). Step two: she tackles a serious recipe. Oh, and she films the entire thing. Hart launched her successful YouTube channel nearly a decade ago in 2011 (which, of course, doesn’t feel like it should have been as long ago as it is). In all that time, Hart’s built up her brand—and, we assume, her liquor tolerance.
Image Via The Daily Beast
In 2014, Hart published her first cookbook with a small press. This year, Random House nabbed the follow-up: My Drunk Kitchen Holidays!: How to Savor and Celebrate the Year. Some of us need alcohol just to survive the holidays, let alone actually celebrate them. But Hart’s book isn’t just about the holiday season—a.k.a. the uncomfortable family reunions and nightmarish retail hell that is the end of the year, regardless of which holidays you choose to celebrate. It’s about holidays and special occasions throughout the year, starting as early as Valentine’s Day (which, let’s get real, might be an occasion for a drink or two). It goes so far as to include less conventional holidays, including Pride Month and the niche Left Handers’ Day.
Image Via Tube Filter
In an official statement, Hart discussed the upcoming cookbook:
Plume and Penguin Random House are the perfect partners for the next My Drunk Kitchen book. Together, we are all ready to take this kitchen to the next level. I’m more than ready for 2019 to have something fresh, funny, and fulfilling. How about you?
Though the book has a set release date of October 22, 2019, you can pre-order it now! We’re excited that it’ll come out just before Halloween, so we can eat, drink, and be scary!
Winter is here, we know this because it’s really cold…and also, everyone everywhere is talking about Game of Thrones. It has roughly been 519 days since the last episode of HBO’s cultural phenomenon, based on George R.R Martin’s epic series of fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire, aired. We still have to wait another torturous 76 days to see everyone’s favorite incestuous couple arrive at Winterfell. Sansa will be pissed, The Three-Eyed Raven/Bran will be stoic, and Arya will probably hug Jon while we all cry. We’re invested in the fate of Westeros in the unhealthiest of ways, and we DO NOT CARE.
Image Via Geek.cheezburger.com
Some of us will remember the night Jon Snow marched on Winterfell with an army of wildlings in an attempt to take back his home and save his flat-footed brother from resident sleaze ball Ramsey Bolton=The Battle of The Bastards. This battle took place on the same night Lebron James’ Cavaliers faced off against the Golden State Warriors in game seven of the 2016 NBA finals. Some of us were torn between two watch parties, perhaps more than two depending upon one’s likability. It was a night plagued by conflict; two narratives, similar in scope, dissimilar in emotional resonance.
*Cue melodramatic GoT music*
Image Via Giphy.com
For those of us who bid their companions farewell by simply reminding them of how dark and full of terrors the night is, the decision was easy: make new friends, basketball doesn’t matter. It is with this kind of devotion to George R.R. Martin’s creation that we “patiently” await the return of our favorite show. As April 14th draws nearer, the people of Chicago await GoT’s return with the help of a very particular vice…
Image Via Tumblr.com
Replay Lincoln Park, an arcade bar in Chicago will host a GoT pop-up beginning on February 1st. The experience is being referenced to as “Winter 2019,” and will feature a variety of Westerosi feels. In addition to the expected White Walker and Iron Throne references, the pop up will also include Ommegang Brewery’s Game of Thrones beers, such as Arbor Gold and Fire & Blood. There will also be a bunch of wine, Dothraki cocktails and a dwarf who drinks whilst knowing things. Hardcore fans can purchase a VIP ticket for 20$ that will include souvenir like things yadda yadda but most importantly—priority access to the bar. Replay Lincoln Park will also be hosting other GoT themed events over the course of next month, such as a Red Wedding feast, jousting tournament and a GoT trivia night every Thursday until March 1st.
Image Via Forbes.com
Until April 14th, we will all just have to go to places like Chicago to get our GoT fix. When that fateful day arrives, people are going to watch the final season in various different ways; I for one have ordered myself an exact replica of Longclaw and will sit with it in front of my television while the end unfolds. The men and women of the Burlington Bar, another bar in Chicago, will continue their boisterous watch parties for all the world to see…
Look at those wonderful souls.
P.S. According to Oddsshark, Vegas odds have Bran taking the Iron Throne. Nah, Gendry for sure.
