Duck, quail, chicken, farm-fresh or free-range, white, brown or speckled, eggs have a long culinary history and should be revered. I am a huge fan of eating them hard-boiled, chopped up with butter and salt in a bowl. It was what my mom fed me every time I was sick; it's easy to swallow on a sore throat.

To this day it amuses me that every time I fire up a pot of hot bubbles to make my own, someone gives me unsolicited egg advice. It started early. When I was nine, my Aunt Gail said to "salt the water." I still do. And just last year someone taught me to "put the finished egg in the paper towel and roll it on the counter" for perfect shell cracking.

As chef Steven Satterfield of Atlanta’s renowned Miller Union restaurant stated, “The deviled egg is a Southern icon and let's face it, there would be no dessert without the egg."

Chef Satterfield is masterful when it comes to eggs, so for a change, I went to him to solicit a bit of hard-boiled advice. “My first tip is only make it deviled, for the deviled egg is a hard-boiled egg's best friend," he replied.
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[Insert milkshake joke here.]

From WJW

Editor's note: Stacy Dean is the vice president for food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that focuses on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income people.

In their attacks on the food stamp program, some Republican presidential candidates are leaving a deeply misleading impression of the nation's leading anti-hunger program. No one aspires to enroll, but for those who must, it is an essential lifeline that addresses one of the harshest impacts of poverty and unemployment - hunger.

The food stamp program, now officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), provides about 46 million Americans in about 22 million low-income households with debit cards to buy food each month. Participants include families with adults who work in low-wage jobs, unemployed workers and people on fixed incomes, such as Social Security. About three-fourths of SNAP recipients live in households with children; more than one-quarter live in households with seniors or people with disabilities.

Read the full story on CNN Opinion: "Food stamp program a necessary lifeline"

Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• Is it OK for servers to drink on the job? - CHOW

• Table-waiting is an art that can be learned. - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

• Peruvians were chowing down on popcorn 1,000 years before previously thought. - Physorg.com

• Throwing a dinner party for 18: It's so easy a caveman could do it. - Wall Street Journal

• Marion Nestle chews on the much ado about Paula Deen. - FoodPolitics.com

• The foods of Coachella...or at least how we imagine them. - Food is the New Rock

Much has been written about the relationship between the French and their cuisine, but one could also argue that the people of Japan take their love for food a step - or several galloping strides - further. Where else is it common to embark on weekend trips, the sole purpose of which is to sample several varieties of a single dish?

Modern Japanese kyodo ryori, or regional cuisine, is a tourist attraction all of its own, with a signature dish for nearly every major city.
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While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Once you start poppin', there's just no stoppin' because today is National Popcorn Day!

Light, crunchy and a little corny, this favorite snack is made for more than just a day at the movies.

Popcorn can be traced all the way back to the Aztec and Peruvian Indians in the early 1500s. Corn was a staple in their diet, but popped corn was brought out for ceremonial purposes. There's nothing quite like a popcorn headdresses, necklaces and ornaments to bring about rain and fertility!
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We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.
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