Tonight at Brooklyn Brewery, come see the Environmental Advocates of New York, the Manhattan Young Democrats, and the New York Water Rangers ask industrial gas “What the frack?!”, and then watch industrial gas reply “What?” because industrial gas doesn’t watch good TV.

Fracking is what some critics call the new hip way big business is trying to kill you, this time by going after the water supply (you know, I thought only people in Gotham City got to use that sentence). Fracking is when corporations drill for natural gas by shooting toxic water underground, breaking up rock formations and releasing gas. Great idea, except for, you know, the whole toxic water part. Of course, this wasn’t very worrying to me, as I never touch the stuff anyways, until someone explained that beer also does in fact have water in it! They’re poisoning our beer! Brooklyn, go get ‘em! (more…)

PIckled carrots and beets. Photo courtesy of the Gradually Greener blog.

We’ve all felt the guilt. Think back to one week ago, when you were walking around the farmer’s market buying all sorts of just-in-season vegetables, thinking how this was going to be the start of you eating healthy. But that was a week ago. The beets and turnips are still sitting in the fridge, and you’ve got plans tonight, so they’ll be one step closer to the compost heap by morning. If you’re the thrift-savvy Brooklynite we know you are, you’re looking for a way to stretch your vegetables’ life span, so here’s your answer: pickling. (more…)

Technically that is cheese, yes, but doesn't our meat expert Andrew Dorsey look handsome in this shot? Photo by Rachel DeLetto.

Brokesters may not think of fancy places like Marlow & Daughters when it’s time to buy some meat, but if you know your way around a butcher shop you can get some good stuff (locally sourced, grass-fed) without paying weygu prices. There are some cuts out there that are the carnivore’s equivalent to the Contra cheat code, I know for a fact, and I was determined to find them when I sat down with Andrew Dorsey, senior butcher for Marlow & Daughters. Here’s what I found out: (more…)

The hydroponic herb garden at Brooklyn Kitchen.

Fun restaurant fact of the day: the most expensive part of keeping any kitchen fridge stocked is buying the herbs, and if you’re part of the foodie elite Brooklyn is famous for, then the same might just apply to your kitchen as well. Keeping this in mind, here’s how to get the most green from your grocery buck.

Chives: A big winner! With their subtle onion flavor, chives can go into so many different dishes they won’t be around long. But if they are, they last up to a few weeks in the fridge, as long as you wrap them in a damp paper towel and put in them a plastic bag.

Chervil: Don’t buy chervil. Just don’t. It’s pretty, it makes it look like fairies made your food, but at the end of the day the flavor is subtle and unnecessary, the herb is limited, and its shelf life is pretty sad. (more…)

Restaurant Week is for rich Manhattanites.

Foodies of Brooklyn rejoice! Dine In Brooklyn (Manhattan Restaurant Week’s younger brother that listens to obscure bands) is back, which means food blogs will soon be overflowing with pictures of fancy looking food. Dine In Brooklyn is March 19 -29, and features awesome deals from more than 195 restaurants. Enjoy cheap offerings from hoity-toity restaurants like Bacchus, Basil Pizza and Wine Bar, AOC Bistro, Blue Ribbon Brooklyn, Ortine, D.O.C. Wine Bar, Loreley Restaurant and Biergarten Fort Reno and the considerably less hoity Junior’s, along with many others. Deals include things like $25 for a three-course dinner or $20.12 for a three-course lunch (certain restaurants also offer two-for-one deals, for those who think that six courses is just the right amount). Call ahead for reservations, as highly discounted gourmet food tends to bring a crowd, See the full list here, and learn more about the event here.

Kierin Baldwin knows pies. And some of pi.

My neighbor, the mathematician and baked-goods enthusiast, won’t shut up. He’s been hanging cake decorations all week, and blasting what he swears is “traditional holiday music” that just sounds like non-consecutive digits being listed to “Party in the USA.” Of course, this can only be expected, as Pi Day is today (that’s 3.14, fyi, which is somehow not National Pie Day), so in honor of mathletes and pie lovers all over Brooklyn, I decided to ask the pie guru Kierin Baldwin from The Dutch (a.k.a. pie Mecca) all about this most venerable and algebraic of holidays. Baldwin lives in Park Slope, and even though the Dutch isn’t in Brooklyn, the Voice named it one of the best under $10 treats in the city last year. And if pi day is about anything, it’s about crossing borders/diameters.  (more…)

Guest burlesquist Dottie Dynamo. Photo by Christopher Butt.

When it comes to going to bars,  we’ve all killed off a few brain cells — so why not add a some as well? Say hello to the Society for the Advancement of Social Studies, a new Brooklyn experiment that proves school would have been much better with a full bar. (Their motto: All the history you knew but forgot, and all the booze you need to forget it again.) In conjunction with the Brooklyn Brainery, SASS has been hosting free lectures on the first Tuesday of every month, and next week’s is all about a certain day devoted to love. Hear all about scandalous romances, the evolution of marriage, and undergarments of yesteryear. All this plus a performance by burlesque performer Dottie Dynamo and a raffle for $50 to Brooklyn Fox Lingerie. Definitely beats out 9th grade history.

Society for the Advancement of Social Studies, Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m., Public Assembly, 70 N. 6th St. Free.