I love Michael Ruhlman’s blog — his writing is fascinating, his guest bloggers are among some of my favorite chefs and authors, and even his comment sections drag in a fascinating array of comments from lay foodies and serious chefs alike — and not a one of them is afraid of an argument.

A great example is the offal-storm started with this post recounting an experience at Alinea — “The End of Molecular Gastronomy?”

“We are at a remarkable point in our culinary history. The burst of creativity that began at El Bulli and has carried on in places like Fat Duck and Alinea (among a handful of other notable American restaurants) has been thrilling. But I think the innovations we’ve seen have been more than enough for now. Now, like the innovations of Nouvelle Cuisine in the 1970s, techniques such as hot gels, unusual starches and gums, foams, and sous vide cooking, need to find their proper place in the evolution of those restaurants fueled by the creative spirit that are striving for innovation–without being dogged by the ungainly and inaccurate term “moleculary gastronomy.” It is the new new cuisine. But we stopped referring to Nouvelle Cuisine as such, after its essential mandates were fully incorporated into the fine dining idiom. In the hands of a chef such as Achatz, whose culinary fundamentals (how to cook a potato, how to make a chestnut puree) are so exquisite, I hope we stop calling the new new cuisine anything at all other than really good food.”

A touchy subject among the food crowd, to be sure… Read the post, but be sure to read the comments (often the best part of Ruhlman’s blog — too bad they’re not part of the RSS feed). And then this follow-up by guest blogger Bob del Grosso (including the comments).

Fascinating stuff.

It really doesn’t matter what your position is on “weird science food” — or food in general — reading this will at least broaden your perspective dramatically, even if it doesn’t change it.

Wisconsin cheese makers are some of, if not the, best in the world. They not only export fine and everyday cheeses, but share the University of Wisconsin exports master cheese making courses to help spread the art. And they win awards. At the 2006 World Championship Cheese Contest, two Wisconsin Gorgonzola producers were awarded first and third place medals. The second place medal went to a Danish cheese.

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Today, every exit, rest stop and oasis provides access to one or more of the fast food giants and no access local eateries that might serve up something regional, something different.

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Received a gift of book.

Many cookbooks make good gifts. This one is exceptional. In Celebration Breads, Betsy Oppenneer tells a story of each bread and provides three methods of preparation for most recipes.

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Now that you have selected the seeds for which you have time and energy, you need to find a place to buy them. If, like we do, you prefer heirloom varieties, you may want to check out heirloom only sources. Note, however, that other seed suppliers, like Jung’s, sell many seeds that are considered heirloom

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If you have a list of plants you want to grow and they have been sorted with the plants you most want at the top, the next step is a bit of research.

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Time to plan the kitchen garden. Actually, today marks a late start. Next month, some seeds get planted for their indoor head start. To get the seeds in time, it is time to order.

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The cocktail once dominated the dinner out scene. For some, it does so still but for most, the cocktail and dinner have fallen apart.

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A shopping cart filled beyond full, boxes of groceries arched above the blue plastic basket, waited in line at the checkout. Peeking through the chaos of pretty packages, microwave dinners named Lean-This and Slim-That stood out. A slightly heavy but beautiful woman pushed the cart. Judging from the Lean/Slim dinners, either she or her mate did not appreciate her beauty.

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Given the disappointing results of poaching frozen fish combined with a very limited choice of fresh fillets, flexibility occurred and the menu was changed to fried fish. This recipe, like most, is easy. The fish comes out as though it were grilled or baked rather than fried.

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