Combo Plate: Tea making, a calorie-conscious bacon mac 'n' cheese and more

 
--John Lennon was many things. Among them: He stunk at making a cuppa. Check out this Christopher Hitchens story over at Slate on the proper way to make a cup of tea, and what the Beatle was doing wrong. (I had no idea that making tea was much more complicated than hot water meets leaf-filled baggie on a string. But then, I'm a coffee drinker.)

--Blogspotting: The bacon mac 'n' cheese over at Teenie Cakes. It's my kind of recipe: It calls for bacon, nearly two cups of shredded cheese, eggs, heavy cream ... and low-fat sour cream. Hey, you gotta cut calories where you can. (Twip of the Day: Follow @teeniecakesblog)

--Worth the time: Set aside 10 to 12 minutes to watch this series of short videos on pan frying (one video will automatically lead to the next video) It's all about how to get that perfect sear without setting off the smoke alarms. Unless you are a professional chef, I guarantee you will learn something.

--There's an app for that:No time to read food labels? Our Mary Forgione explores an app that does the heavy lifting for you.

--Light bulb moment?BlogHer is trolling for ideas for panels for BlogHer Food, being held in Atlanta in May. If you've got an idea, they want to know about it.

--Gotta see this picture: The New York Times' Mark Bittman declared this one the food story of the day. And we have to agree. But may we also add: EWWWWW! Beef fat clogs Houston Ship Channel.

Got any links for Combo Plate? Always on the lookout for something newsy, yummy, funny or weird. E-mail me at rene.lynch@latimes.com

--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo credit: Teenie Cakes



Comments

[Judy Lee]

Ahh a hot cuppa tea ... who knew the salvation for my soul and the doctor for my spirits could be found in something so small and so simple. A hot cuppa tea wakes me in the morning and soothes me to sleep in the evening. It buoys my health and calms my emotions. I'm sure that I could probably achieve these states of mind and being without the tea if I tried, but honestly, it tastes good, too. Thanks for pointing me to the entertaining story.