Just saw a neat article about a scientific study based on the movie Supersize Me. If you haven't seen it, it's a documentary where the subject eats nothing but McDonalds for one month. By the end he is depressed, fat and has no libido. It was generally hailed as a condemnation of the fast food industry ( Read more... )

Kevin Bacon starts a charity based on the "six degrees" game. I like the way he took that game and did something with it ( Read more... )

I'm trying my first all-grain batch of beer. That part was unintentional, since the guy at the brew shop thought I wanted 6 pounds of amber malt, rather than malt extract. Malt is the actual barley grain, whereas malt extract is a syrup created by treating that malt in water for about an hour or so, then removing most of the water. It's a real pain ( Read more... )

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This fucking stupid woman died from ingesting kava kava, a drug I myself have consumed on several occasions. It's a mild intoxicant that can be used to reduce anxiety and the stem and leaf has been shown to cause liver damage. I've only consumed the root for this reason. It's the quote in there that pisses me off "She thought it was safe, because ( Read more... )

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Vacation is great. I'm turning into a real cooking nerd. I made baguettes for the first time earlier in the week, and my tenant laughed when he saw me spraying water into the stove (the steam helps the bread). He's leaving for New York tomorrow, meeting up with some other Russian friends of his ( Read more... )

Ok, the chicken went well. Brining really enhanced the flavour, and I butterflied it to make it roast faster (45 minutes, versus 1.5 hours), the meat was awesome and extremely moist ( Read more... )

Tonight, I brine a chicken!

Well, sorta. I'm brining it now (soaking it in salt water), roasting it tonight. Allegedly it improves the flavour and makes it more forgiving with overcooking. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

So a prof is playing silly buggers with the grades of my year, and I think she's gonna get a smackdown about it. This prof doesn't teach the course she's evaluating the materials for, but taught the prerequisite for the course last year. Since they tie together with the summer internship, she marks the report we write about the business we worked ( Read more... )