Just Plain Food :: Horchata

I’m tired of a food system built around engineered cravings and shelf life instead of actual food. Here is the recipe to yield 1.5 liters of finished horchata. Ingredients & Equipment 1 cup long-grain white rice (uncooked) 1 whole cinnamon stick 1 tsp pure vanilla extract ½ cup sugar (adjust to taste) 2 cups milk Read More …

A Hidden cost of DOGE

The mid-June heat hangs heavy over the Chicago skyline, thick with the ghosts of the stockyards and the lingering echoes of Haymarket.  Out on the prairie and across the desert Southwest, another kind of heat is rising.  The flesh-eating screwworm, a parasite unfelt in our livestock for sixty years, has broken through our southern defenses, Read More …

The 10-Minute Philadelphia Style Vanilla Ice Cream

Sometimes, you don’t want to mess with tempering eggs or waiting for a cooked base to cool for hours. Enter: Philadelphia-Style Ice Cream. This is the quickest way to get from “I want ice cream” to “I’m eating ice cream.”  Because this recipe isn’t cooked, the quality of your ingredients really matters. Use the best Read More …