Food Obstructions III is February 7

It's time once again, folks. The Food Obstructions III is happening at The Gutter on Sunday, February 7th, and of course we're giving it a corny Valentine's Day kiss. Reddy or not! Here are the five obstructions to your dish: -Cannot contain onions or garlic -Must contain hearts (of palm, artichokes, celery, an animal, candy hearts... you name it! Just don't say you simply cooked it "with heart") -Must include an ingredient that is red -Cannot require utensils to eat -Must include an ingredient that is rumored to be an aphrodisiac

Reason for Not Eating Out #36: For the Sport

You can't exactly sit through a restaurant meal and claim to have the best culinary know-how of a group by pooh-poohing this, or extolling that. Well, maybe you can to an extent, and many people do -- and I have, too. But it's much more convincing, in my opinion, if you walk into a social setting with your own homemade dish, and compare it against those of all the others in the room, who did the same. And that's what I'm speaking to in this Reason, perhaps long overdue: the competitive aspect of eating in.

Summer Borscht

Okay, it's not summer anymore, and Indian summer has not yet arrived. Instead, this is about the time of year people start taking flu shots, and sweaters and scarfs out from hibernation boxes and changing their sheets to flannel. I do all these things minus the flu shots. But I do have a good way to boost the immune -- fresh veggies and bloody, bloody, antioxidant-rich beets. To keep that blood pumping.

Enter the Soup Kitchen Sandwich Special

flyer by Patrick Moberg It's a charity cook-off of an entirely new breed! This soup and sandwich-off, which will take place in two Saturdays in the backyard beergarden of t.b.d., is not just an opportunity for amateur cooks to serve the best combo special the city has seen. It's a chance for them to roll up their sleeves in community service afterward (at a date to be determined by the winner), and serve the winning dish to the needy at the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen. It's souper.

Green Tea Coconut Mini Cupcakes (official losing entry of the Brooklyn Kitchen Cupcake Cook-Off)

Now if only I could miniaturize myself after this string of cook-offs the past two weeks. Brooklyn Kitchen's 3rd Annual Cupcake Cook-Off, held Monday night at Union Pool, was the last straw -- yes, the Risotto Challenge is still on, and yes, it will be still awesome, and will help raise money for our friends at Just Food. But until then, folks, I'm staying away from the trays and snaking lines of homemade eats for a while.

From Instant to Awesome Ramen (and The Brooklyn Kitchen Ramen-Off)

Look, I know we're all frightened about the economy, but that doesn't mean we have to resort to eating instant ramen every day... Not convinced? Okay, neither am I. What I meant to say, really, is that you don't have to resort to eating blahmen every day. As long as there's still a few leafy green vegetables left to pick, and as long as eggs aren't a luxury item (which they actually might become soon), you can still cook up a mean bowl of soup noodles using your bodega-bought block of instant ramen. Or how about something new altogether, with said noodles? Hear, hear, Brooklyn's favorite kitchen store is calling on folks to do just that.

Brown Butter Sage Apple Pie (and Enid’s Apple Pie Bake-Off recap)

Things I like about fall: apples... sage... toasty, nutty flavors like browned butter... Oh wait, I guess I'm only referring to food I like in the fall. I have a one-track mind much of the time. Good thing there are occasions for such obsessiveness, one annual Brooklyn tradition being the apple pie contest at Enid's.