My knowledge of the Eastern Orthodox church is limited, aside from their fantastic food festivals and some basic history about their split with Catholicism in 1054. Given their continued practice of strict fasts throughout the year, countries with ties to this church have developed some delicious (and even indulgent) vegan-friendly dishes. I happily produced a delicious Georgian recipe in my own kitchen.
Judicial elections are often overlooked by voters in Pennsylvania. While they don’t command the attention of executive or legislative elections, they are critically important and impact how our laws are interpreted and carried out. Although the judicial branch of government was intended to be nonpartisan, more frequent partisan efforts are attempting to influence the makeup of the courts at multiple levels of government.
We use AI for countless tasks in our daily lives, but different activities have different carbon footprints. Analyzing and creating content uses a lot more energy than a simple internet search, and we’re relying on AI for more of that over time. That isn’t good for our brains or the environment, especially since we’re building more fossil fuel-powered data centers to meet growing demand.
Physics, cooking, energy efficiency, and public health: so many of my passions are the ingredients of this blog post about our new induction cooktop. Magnetic induction cooking equipment has recently been getting cheaper, more accessible, and more popular, but it has long been safer, cleaner, and more energy efficient than the conventional alternatives, such as gas flames and electric coils.
As we enter July, it is once again time to examine our relationship with plastic (which permeates so much of our daily lives and this blog already). While it can be difficult to find alternatives to plastic, especially in food packaging, it is important to understand how some so-called alternatives can be harmful (or not really be alternatives at all).
Cooking with seasonal ingredients helps me feel like I’m getting the most out of what the Earth has to offer, and cooking with invasive ingredients helps me feel like I’m doing some good to balance the scales. After a few years of talking about it, I tried my first garlic mustard recipe, which I enjoyed while pairing with some other flavors of May.
Rights are like muscles: use them or lose them. There are many reasons to feel apathetic about voting, but that’s no reason to sit it out. With that said, if you feel like voting isn’t making a difference, there are other ways to get involved too: that includes reaching out to your local, state, and federal representatives to let them know your concerns.
On this sixth anniversary of Radical Moderate, Pittsburgh’s signature manufacturing industry is at a crossroads. There is a path forward on which we can recognize the need for steel from an infrastructure standpoint, the need for jobs from an economic standpoint, the need for clean air from a public health standpoint, and the need for responsible decision-making to support all of those things.
Whether you love it or roll your eyes, the annual weather prediction from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has its roots in European traditions marking the halfway point of Winter. Cleaning the house, burning candles, and observing changes in nature are all part of the holidays of Imbolc, St. Brigid’s Day, and Candlemas – a time when we remember that the dark days of winter will not last forever.
While the Spotted Lanternfly is on the rise in Pittsburgh, I was surprised to find very few back east when I was visiting my dad this summer. Thanks to ongoing research from academics and vigilance from the agricultural industry, we’re learning more about where they pose the most risk and what methods are – and aren’t – successful at keeping them at bay.