Bitten by Bittman

I've spent a lot of time reading Mark Bittman's blog and columns, viewing his video podcasts, trying out his "Minimalist" recipes in my kitchen (all available at NYTimes.com), and watching him traipse around Spain with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow. He's also influenced my eating, cooking, and shopping habits quite a bit in recent months. (As has, of course, our dear vegetarian friend Mis Hooz, over the years.)

So I was pretty geeked to see him on The Colbert Report Tuesday night to promote his new book, Food Matters.

Enthusiasm is a dish best shared, don't you think?

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Mark Bittman

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
Joke of the Day

And now, Bittman's on Twitter, too. Maybe I can get some ideas for dinner tonight from that.

Today's Reading - 11/26/07

● Good Will Hunting, Ten Years Later

Sweet Mother, time flies.  It's been 10 years since Good Will Hunting was in theaters?  Any time it plays on cable, I usually watch.  And once I became interested in studying screenplays, I think this was one of the first scriptbooks I bought.  Unfortunately, this is mostly a photo gallery from the Boston Globe, not an article.  But we kind of know what's happened to everyone now, don't we?

● Life's a Blur

You already know this, but the words "based on a true story" seem to be more of a "cover your ass" philosophy these days with biographical films.  After seeing both American Gangster and Mr. Untouchable, I'm wondering which is the truer story.  Maybe both of them are.  Or neither.  Maybe it shouldn't matter, either, unless you're watching a documentary.

● 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Cooking

I think of myself as a decent cook, though I'm always looking for ways to improve.  (And it seems impossible not to, with all of the food blogs, websites, and cookbooks that are readily available these days.)  Having said that, I think I've only done about three or four of the things on this list.  And there are a couple of things I can't imagine I will do.  But it's worth a read, especially if you were working over a hot stove last Thursday.

● The death of e-mail

My first reaction to this article was "Aw, c'mon!"  I mean, the vast majority of us still traffic and communicate via e-mail, right?  It's ludicrous to say it's becoming obsolete.  But I also know that I send a lot more text messages and send out info via Twitter than I used to even six months ago.  Hmm...