Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Tag: gay

  • Mulligan’s Manor

    I want to tell you a story.  It’s about a boy.  I don’t know his real name.  That information is confidential.  So we’re just going to call him Sean.  He grew up in a conservative family in California.  Like all kids do, he loved his family, even if they were not perfect.  And for many…

  • Words, Words, Words: Paula Deen, Trayvon Martin, and Gay Marriage

    What do Paula Deen, the late Trayvon Martin, and the fight over gay marriage have in common?  Words.  Paula Deen’s use of the “n-word” 50 some-odd years ago and how it makes her unworthy of corporate sponsorship and a television career.  Trayvon Martin’s use of the “c-word” (cracker…not the BAD c-word) and how it may…

  • MasterChef 4 recap: Glee and Meringue (S4E10)

    (PLEASE NOTE: This blog is not affiliated with Fox or MasterChef.  Contained below are the maniacal ravings of a season 2 survivor who has no inside knowledge of how this season was produced.  Well…not much, anyway.) When I posted my blog about the first of this week’s episodes (which happened to be a bit depressing…

  • A MasterChef Reunion in Houston

    A perfect storm of events happened last weekend that resulted in my need to be in Houston for a few days.  (Mostly to visit a dear college friend who was having much of her liver out.)  Houston takes 2nd place to Austin as the best foodie city in Texas, though I don’t like to admit…

  • MasterChef Where Are They Now: Michael Chen

    This the first of a summer-long series, bringing you updates on your favorite contestants from seasons 1, 2, and 3.  What are they doing now?  How did MasterChef change their life?  First up: Michael Chen from MasterChef season 3. On September 10, 2011 I was in Austin, Texas, headed to BBQ Outfitters to pick up…

  • Anniversary Follow Up

    This amazing theme has developed over the past few months when a particular blog or Facebook post will elicit a fabulous debate amongst my fans, and I’ll sometimes get a particularly stunning message from a fan, and then I have to feature it as a follow-up post.  Yesterday, I got one such message from a…

  • Today: 10 Years

    Today my partner and I celebrate 10 years together.  10 wonderful years filled with travel, food, and amazing friends and family.  Most people who look back on a decade of a relationship tend to say, “We’ve been through good times and bad times.”  But I have a hard time pinpointing any bad times along the…

  • MasterChef 3: Marines and Apple Pie

    Today’s blog will be a bit different from previous ones.  Instead of watching MasterChef in the peace and quite of my own home, where I could take notes and give you a detailed blow-by-blow, last night I watched MasterChef at a watch party in the home of Christine Ha, along with Michael Chen.  It was…