Use your inner economist to discover good restaurants

Courtesy of the Washington Post and economist Tyler Cowen.

1) avoid high rent areas
2) look for the competition
3) order strategically
4) know the restaurant cycle

In Praise of the George Foreman Grill

I nicked my sister's George Foreman grill the other day, and Ben and I have both been cooking with it. For people like us, who work fulltime and like home cooked family meals, it's a godsend. In a week, here's what we've used it for (no recipes!):

Grilled Scallops with Pesto Pasta
Eggs Panini
Grilled Chicken with Pasta
Chicken Panini
Grilled Fish Sandwiches
Grilled Cheese
Toasted English Muffin (since the toaster croaked...)

Ok, so it's a bit sandwich heavy, but this is just the tip of the iceberg, folks! We haven't even touched beef or vegetables yet! The wonderful thing is that it cuts your meat cooking time in half -- and when you have less than 30 minutes to get dinner on the table, that's a pretty substantial time gain.

We're even contemplating a supper club themed dinner, all cooked on the grill. (We might have to borrow a couple to put on a multi-course dinner for 8, but it would be doable...)