You know and I both know that Russians write crazy. Wacky stuff like хорошо and я забыл and очень приятно, which we couldn't type if our little English-language lives depended on it. Their alphabet is called Cyrillic, and is pretty awesome, but it isn't exactly what we're going to talk about today.

Imagine you're a Russian, trapped in a stupid computer system that won't let you type in Cyrillic. What the hell do you do? Sure, you can stoop to...

read more →

This is a tiny course preview for Gin, which starts next Tuesday. Gin can get a bad rap sometimes, and it's my self-selected job to bring it back to the masses. Fun fact: My relatives went to jail for distilling during Prohibition, can you think of a better instructor?

Once upon a time the Dutch started distilling alcohol. Thing is, though, they weren't very good at it. Faced with the prospect of having to drink something that was alcoholic...

read more →

Our chutney-making class went awesome, and we all made some seriously delicious stuff. But all those who didn't make it to class need not be left out - here's one of the chutney recipes we made! Courtesy of our chutney teacher Drake Page, of thedpchutneycollective.blogspot.com.

PICKLED EGGPLANT CHUTNEY 

(Makes 4 4-oz. jars or 2 ½ pint jars. Quantities can easily be doubled!) 

½ cup vegetable or olive oil

1...

read more →

Study Session is a review of a test we presented to everyone at a party ages and ages ago. Follow along with the whole test here.

All right, question number one! Let's go:

1. You’re at a party in a cell hoping to impress the Golgi body. Apparently they recycle. Where do you toss your leftovers?

A. Ribosome

B. Vacuole

C. Endoplasmic reticulum

D. Lysosomes

Yep, vacuole is the right answer, but let's start off with one of the most...

read more →

The Maillard reaction is the secret king of cookery, the little bit of magic that turns a slab of meat into a nicely browned steak or a raw onion into a caramelized delight. We call it "browning," and it's a reaction between proteins and sugars in the presence of heat that creates the tasty flavor compounds.

I'm equal parts lazy and impatient, and always give up before my onions are nice and browned. There are a few things you can do...

read more →