Tag: Food

Feed The Addiction

Yep, it is the weekend and I have found some cool stuff to post to help you forget all the childish BS from the last week……..

Most Americans have an addictive personality……they get hooked on drugs, booze, internet, porn and a wealth of other fanciful pursuits,,,,but there is something from my youth that I never considered an addictive substance….and it goes so well with a glass of cold milk!

Newser) – You may feel downright criminal the next time you eat an Oreo, and you have a Connecticut College student to thank for that. Neuroscience major Jamie Honohan came up with the idea for a study, which dug into the effects of high-fat and high-sugar foods on the brain. The conclusions: The brain goes wilder for Oreos than for drugs, and the two are equally addictive—at least when it comes to rats. The findings were born out of two tests, as explained by Connecticut College News:

  • In the first, rats were deposited in one of two areas in a maze. On one side they were given a control (rice cakes or saline); on the other, the test subject (Oreos or cocaine or morphine). They were then allowed to scurry to whatever side of the maze they wanted, and the students found that the rats who had been fed Oreos spent as much time on the Oreo side as the rats who had been injected with the drugs spent on the drug side, indicating that the link they made between the “pleasurable effects” of Oreos/drugs and that specific environment was equally strong.
  • If that doesn’t wow you, maybe this will: Another student went on to measure the expression of the protein c-Fos in the brain’s “pleasure center,” and found that “significantly” more neurons were activated in response to Oreos than in response to drugs.

Best side note of the study: Honohan also observed how the rats ate the cookies. “They would break it open and eat the middle first.”

Next they will be telling me that coffee is addictive…..wink…wink.

If Cows Could Fly

It is my couple of days of mental R&R, the weekend….that time when I try to find absurd stuff to pass along to break the monotony of politics………if there is one thing that is to die for it is a good piece of beef……but then there is this…..

(Newser) – “I didn’t bring my son up to be killed by a falling cow,” says the grieving mother of a Brazilian man killed when a cow crashed through the roof of his home. The 45-year-old was asleep next to his wife on Wednesday when the 3,000-pound animal, believed to have escaped from a nearby farm in Caratinga, stepped onto the corrugated roof after grazing on a hill behind the couple’s home, the Telegraph reports. The wife—and the cow—were unharmed.

The man died the next day from internal bleeding and his family says he died because he had to wait too long to see a doctor; the Independent reports the hospital has denied the claim. “Being crushed by a cow in your bed is the last way you expect to leave this earth,” his brother says. “But in my view it wasn’t the cow that killed our Joao, it was the unacceptable time he spent waiting to be examined.” According to local media, this is the third such incident in the area over the last few years, though nobody was killed in the previous two, the BBC reports.

Would that end my fascination with beef?  Well, if I was under the cow, it might…..but short of that it is beef……chop off its horn, wipe its butt and trot it out!

One Good Sucker Deserves Another

I guess my fascination with breasts came from my younger days as a breast fed baby…….since then I cannot get enough of the boob…..I know that makes me a male chauvinistic toad…..but I am what I am (to quote Popeye)………so is there a line that I will not cross?  Yes and here it is…….

This from the WEEK magazine……..

If you’ve ever woken up in a cold sweat longing for the warm, familiar ambrosia stored in your mother’s teat, we’ve got some good news for you: An Austin-based candy-maker called Lollyphile is now selling breast milk–flavored lollipops for adventurous adults looking to indulge their oral fixations.

The lollipops don’t actually contain any breast milk — they’re vegan and mostly made of sugar — but were created by taste-testing real breast milk generously donated by four new moms. “Can you imagine armies of pumping mothers?” Lollyphile founder Jason Darling says in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Managing that would be a logistical nightmare.”

As for what these Oedipal confections actually taste like, the flavor is “sort of like almond milk,” says Darling, “but sweeter.” Since debuting the pops on the Lollyphile website on Monday, the company says it has already sold a few thousand treats.

But maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised by the candy’s overnight success. After all, there are already communities online solely devoted to developing recipes from nutrient-dense, human lactate — everything from cheese to strawberry buttercream cupcakes.

“These lollipops won’t bring back childhood memory,” write the lollipop’s creators at their website. But they are “quite possibly the most inherently satisfying flavor of all time.”

Give the breast milk–flavored pops a try here.

Okay everyone reading please weigh in on this…….thanx

Obesity, Obesity!

It is that time of year again….when the millionaires write books and explain obesity to the world……

This is another of those issues that I have tried to explain to people….and yet every year some bimbo tries to make it an issue, especially if they write books and have all the answers……the problem is their answers are totals BS…..for one it is the myth that people make the bad choice……..choice presumes that there is an alternative…..maybe if your are a millionaire writer……but regular people have to choose rent, gas, utilities and then food…..and at this point they will buy the biggest bang for their buck…..that would be “unhealthy” food stuffs……but to pretend that poor people have a choice is being an elitist…..and a typical pundit that has all the answers…..

Okay, obesity is a problem……that can lead to diabetes and other health ailments……do you think poverty could be part of the problem?  Well not to the millionaires that know what the problem is because they know how to use Google……..it is all those poor choices that poor people make…..and it can be solved by government intervention……

But first, just how bad is the obesity and poor eating of Americans…….some tourist made an excellent observation….”Americans eat too much butter, lard, salt pork and all around greasy foods”……. sounds pretty accurate, right?  Well that observation was made be French visitors in 1807……I say that again for effect…..1807!

Looks like this is not a modern problem….we Americans have always made bad choices in our dining experiences……not an excuse but rather stating the reality of it all…..to this end….will any amount of ranting and raving by people wanting to sell their newest book on their newest cause ever change Americans and their love of food?

I think not!  Why?

(Newser) – Crack down on industrial, fatty junk food, the deep-fried stuff that leads to obesity, and Ron Rosenbaum is with you. But keep your hands off his roast goose, his clotted cream, and his split-shank bone marrow, thank you very much. The “hysterical crusade against fat has become a veritable witch hunt,” writes Rosenbaum in the Wall Street Journal. Food prudes often lump all types of fat together as evil—apparently ignorant of the fact that eating “basic, earthy, luxuriant fatty foods” makes you feel full and thus stop eating.

Roast goose, in particular, “is a supremely succulent, mind-alteringly flavorful fatty food,” he writes. And “listening to the doctors on cable TV, you might think that it’s better to cook up a batch of meth than to cook with butter.” Ignore them, he advises, ticking off a list of his other fatty delights, from cheesecake made with heavy cream to Peking Duck. Keep the portions moderate and dig in. Click for the full column, in which Rosenbaum picks out the title of his book if his advice catches on: Eat Fat, Stay Slim.

Sorry, but I agree…….

I was a chef and it you wanted to kill a restaurant then offer nothing but fat free choices…..I understand the need for healthy foods and I understand people that want to change their eating habits…..but it is their choice and should not be made to do something that they do not feel is in their best interest……we cannot protect ourselves from ourselves….you can try….but you will surely fail.

If we want people to eat more nutritious food then help them get out of poverty….if they have more disposable income then these types of choices should be easier…..until then….no amount of bitching and complaining will change the obesity rate and the health problems that comes with it……..fairly easy choice…….in my opinion.

To me all the pundits are more concerned with vanity than health……..somehow their body mass is tied to their  self worth……….

Where does all this stop?  Pundits selling their books and making their decisions my decisions…….where does it end?  Maybe in a back room where they have the sodas, chips, ice cream, etc and one must be 21 to enter…….just where will it end?

Only In Mississippi

My home state is a constant source of befuddlement.  I know I have bad mouthed my state on so many occasions……but they have gone and topped themselves….it will be hard to be any more stupid.

First, let us look at the state of Mississippi……most obese state, the poorest state, the state with the most cases of diabetes… the state always has a higher unemployment rate than the nation’s…….poor education, health services, on and on and………

Now the media pundits, especially the millionaires, are all over trying to save us from ourselves by supporting a better nutrition program……and then there are those that push back…..but so far I have not seen a state tackle this subject…..that is until………. now!

From the NY Times…….

The Mississippi Legislature wants to be the sole government body that controls its buffets, barbecue and sweet tea.

To that end, the people who govern the state with the highest rate of obesity in the nation have passed a bill saying that any law that might restrict what Mississippians eat or drink has to go through them — barring federal regulations.

That means that cities or counties cannot enact rules limiting soda size, salt content, shortening in cookies, toys in fast-food meals for children, how a menu is written or just about any other aspect of the daily dining experience in Mississippi.

It is easy to view the new Mississippi law with an ironic eye. As Representative Omeria Scott, a Democrat, pointed out during the debate on the bill, “Mississippi is the fattest and most unhealthy state in the U.S.A.”

But the legislation is the latest and most sweeping expression of a nationwide battle in which some government officials, public health leaders and food supply reformers are pitted against those who would prefer the government quit trying to control what people eat.

Mayor Bloomberg of New York City commented……..

“You know, Saturday Night Live couldn’t write this stuff,” Mr. Bloomberg exclaimed. “How can somebody try and pass a law that deliberately says we can’t improve the lives of our citizens? It’s just farce. Nobody would believe it if you wrote it in the book.”

You may shake your heads and ask….what the Hell are they thinking?  Well, there is the problem…..thinking…….they do not do much of that in the South, especially in Mississippi.  And you thought your state was screwed up…….

Gone Fishin’

There are some things that I find too boring for words…..among them are golf and fishing…..but a good many Americans think spending a weekend trying to out think an animal with the brain the size of a pea is sport…….I guess the beer helps justify the waste of time…..so fisher people spend time looking for the advantage they need to out fox the elusive fish….special rods, reels, lures, equipment, boats….all sorts of expensive crap…….but it could be easier than one thinks……

Source: UK Daily Mail

Sleeping pills may be disturbing river ecosystems by turning fish into greedy, risk-taking loners, say researchers.

Scientists studied the behaviour of perch exposed to a sedative which is carried into waterways through sewage.

The drug, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety and insomnia called oxazepam, made the fish bolder and less social.

They left the safety of their schools to forage alone – making them vulnerable to predators – and also ate more quickly than normal.

‘Normally perch are shy and hunt in schools,’ said study leader Dr Tomas Brodin, from Umea University in Sweden.

Full article here

See there is an easier way to fish….there is dynamite, electricity and now……….. DRUGS!

“Frankenfish”

I could do a review of a campy scifi movie made a couple of years ago…a movie about a genetically alter fish that becomes uncontrollable…..but why when there are more real things to write about……

Newser) – Americans will likely be digging into the first meal from a genetically modified animal—a salmon—in about a year. The FDA has declared that salmon engineered by AquaBounty Technologies is safe to eat and poses no threat to the environment, reports the AP. The ruling makes it all but certain that the agency will grant final approval for the creature that critics call “Frankenfish,” reports the New York Times.

Those who partake will be eating an Atlantic salmon that has a growth-hormone gene from Pacific Chinook salmon. Scientists also added a gene from a fish called the ocean pout that keeps the growth-hormone gene on constantly. The upshot is that these salmon get big in a fraction of the usual time. They will be raised in farms and all will be bred to be sterile females, though the AP says a small percentage might be able to breed. That has critics worried about what might happen if they escape. The FDA review was actually completed months ago, and the White House has been accused of delaying its release for political gain. Slate has an investigative piece on that angle.

This is where I part ways with scientist……I do not think that genetically altered anything is a good idea…..there is always the chance that it could turn on us and bite us in the ass……

Any thoughts?

What’s For Dinner, Dear?

I am a bit of a foodie…..I enjoy a good well prepared meal……I like going out to eat but I refuse to visit establishments that build towers of food or that try and blend different cultures into a meal…..in other words I like classic food…..French, Mexican, Thai….so on……I live on the Gulf Coast and do not eat seafood which is an unpardonable sin down here….I also am not a big fan of BBQ….grilling yes….BBQ no!  Why?  Even the worst cook alive can make bad cooking skills acceptable with enough BBQ sauce…….

We get the picture……I enjoy a good meal…..and then I hear about some strange people that have to push the envelope……….and all I can do is shake my head…….

Mao Sugiyama, sparked a firestorm of interest on April 8 with one tweet:

“[Please retweet] I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen …Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location.”

Just days after Sugiyama’s 22nd birthday, the artist underwent elective genital-removal surgery, divvied up the severed penis shaft, testicles, and scrotal skin between five people, and garnished it with button mushrooms and Italian parsley.

On April 13, five of six diners who signed up for the $250-a-plate feast, sat down to dinner. The sixth person was a no-show.

I thought about it and the only thing that I could think of as a closing was……EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!