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French botanist Tournefort provided the Latin botanical name, Lycopersicon esculentum, to the tomato. It translates to “wolfpeach” — peach because it was round and luscious and wolf because it was erroneously considered poisonous. The botanist mistakenly took the tomato for the wolfpeach referred to by Galen in his third century writings, ie., poison in a palatable package which was used to destroy wolves. The English word tomato comes from the Spanish tomatl, first appearing in print in 1595. A member of the deadly nightshade family, tomatoes were erroneously thought to be poisonous (although the leaves are poisonous) by Europeans who were suspicious of their bright, shiny fruit. Native versions were small, like cherry tomatoes, and most likely yellow rather than red.

Japanese BBQ is known as teppan-yaki. Teppan-yaki is a way of cooking as teppan indicates an iron pan, and yaki indicates grilling in Japanese. The best part of teppan-yaki is that cooking and eating are done in the same place.

Although prices have come down in recent years, it’s still worthwhile to make your own [sun-dried tomatoes] at home, particularly if you have a tomato garden. The basic process is easy enough. Most prefer to begin with Roma tomatoes, as there are less seeds and a higher ratio of flesh, but you can use any type of tomato, including cherry varieties. Choose tomatoes of a uniform size so they dry at the same rate.

Simply slice tomatoes in half, place on a raised screen, lightly sprinkle with salt and optional herbs, and place in the hot sun until dry. Depending on your weather conditions, this could take anywhere from four days to two weeks. You’ll want to cover them with cheesecloth, raised so it does not touch the tomatoes, to keep out any critters and provide proper ventilation. You will also need to bring them in during the night, lest the evening dew undo your drying process. Plan on 10 standard tomatoes to get one ounce of dried tomatoes.

I don’t fly often, but as I mentioned earlier, I’m headed to Seattle next week and that will require putting my fears aside and getting on a plane. On my flight there, I’ll be served a meal, so naturally, I wanted to get a meat-free meal. While I have no idea exactly what I’ll be served, I came across this page about vegetarian meal options on United’s site. Interestingly, if you specify that you’re a lacto-ovo vegetarian, you will be served a vegan meal! I guess that way, they figure everyone’s happy and it makes planning a little easier for them. United First and United Business passengers, however, are offered the option of dairy desserts and milk, should they so desire. I ordered a vegan meal, but was happy to see that even if they misread it or enter it into their system incorrectly, I’ll still get what I ordered.

Nabisco, the US biscuit and snack maker, has launched a number of its most popular product lines in handy 100-calorie packs in a bid to make it easier for dieters to keep track of their intake.

For me, the British pub is defined not by its decor, and certainly not by the quality of its meat pie or barmaid, but by its position at the heart of a community. And this goes for a pub in Brixton as much as it does for one in an idyllic rural setting. It used to be a place you could go and fraternise with a diverse mix of characters, each of whom were all, essentially, there for the same reason: to have a decent pint of beer or two and a chitchat.

I had dinner tonight with two people who, although neither is from the US, have spent a fair bit of time living in America. We got to talking about things that strike us as uniquely American phenomenons — such as having a sitting room that contains “fancy” furniture, is pristine and sterile in every way, and that no one ever uses or is even, in some cases, allowed to enter. It’s the showroom within the home. It’s also an odd waste of space and luxury, but there you go.

An exhaustive french cheese library with all you want to know about french cheeses.

This tutorial is a structured program that you should work through methodically from start to finish. If you think you’re not the sort of person who has that kind of patience, or maybe you’re pushed for time you may do better by trying this tutorial instead.

Have I still got your attention?

The findings of a [USA TODAY survey of 126 nutrition professionals with the American Dietetic Association, including sports nutritionists, cookbook and nutrition book authors, heads of hospital wellness programs, university weight-loss researchers and many dietitians in private practice] point to a number of reasons that people don’t lose weight:

• They don’t have a realistic idea of portion sizes. Restaurants often contribute to the problem with portions that are at least twice the recommended serving size.
• They don’t change their eating habits for good. Instead, they choose fad diets that they can’t adhere to over the long term.
• They aren’t exercising. People consider exercise drudgery, the dietitians say, and they feel they don’t have time to do it.
• People don’t want to try to change their eating habits because they’re afraid they’ll have to give up their favorite foods.