Free Republic

How often do you shop for groceries? I don't mean for the last-minute half-gallon of milk or package of cigarettes from the convenience store, but the heavy-duty grocery shopping. All the older siblings and their spouses appeared to shop once a week, filling up the automobile or van to the rafters. I on the other hand have always emulated the parents, who shopped for groceries every single day excepting Sundays (but then and again, it needs pointed out franksolich has no spouse and dependents, so it's a somewhat different sort of thing). In the town of circa 3,000 alongside the...

If you thought your boss was tough, try working at the Paradou restaurant. The owner of the Meatpacking District bistro made George Steinbrenner and Donald Trump look like pussycats, when he sent a profanity-laden e-mail memo to his staff demanding they get customers' e-mail addresses or be fired. "WHAT THE F - - - IS WRONG WITH YOU A - -HOLES?!?!?!" wrote Paradou owner Vadim Ponorovsky. "How many times do we have to tell you how important it is that you collect emails. "Everytime we have a slow night and you make no money and you sit there bitching about...

Place you Favorite Recipes here.

Good morning to all of you gardeners. Thanksgiving is next week and I hope all Freepers enjoy a bountiful feast with family and friends. Don’t forget to give thanks, it can turn a meal into a feast. A reminder for those of you who have a frozen turkey, for every 4 pounds of turkey it will take a day to thaw in the refrigerator. A 20-pound turkey will take 5 days so you need to start defrosting it tomorrow. If your turkey will not fit into your fridge defrost it in an ice chest with ice. If the turkey is...

A company in the United Kingdom is about to lift the lid on a device that zaps lobster with electricity to kill them, and the inventor said Wednesday his humane alternative to boiling is about to give the entire industry a jolt. British entrepreneur Simon Buckhaven said the CrustaStun system, developed over the past decade by his company Studham Technologies Limited, near London, kills the lobster with an electric charge, so the crustacean feels no "pain or distress." "I am entirely aware this product will be greeted at first with some skepticism among people in the lobster industry in Eastern...

FORT HUACHUCA — With the handout of turkeys and food vouchers Wednesday, a major holiday problem for some military families has been answered. But with Thanksgiving needs met, still ahead for the fort’s outreach ministries program is Christmas. Before noon, employees of Sundt Construction purchased and delivered 300 turkeys to the main post chapel administrative offices. The turkeys — with a total weight of more than 2 tons — will be handed out with $50 in food coupons for the post commissary. Josephine Moore, who heads the outreach ministries, said the needs of 300 military families, ranging in size from...

(The whole world is taking up sides in the Twilight saga ... Edward or Jacob? If the Earth could cast a vote, it would definitely pick Edward, the vegetarian vampire.) Vampires. Everyone thinks they’re so scary and so evil, but in reality they’re really some of the greenest creatures on the planet … especially if it’s one of the Cullen clan from the Twilight saga. That’s right kids, the next installment of the Twilight Saga, New Moon, hits theaters tomorrow. So how are the Cullen’s so eco-friendly? •Since they’re not really alive, they have a very small carbon footprint. •Since...

...Fieri's meteoric ascent is impressive, but it also makes him one of the culinary world's most polarizing figures. For as many fans as Fieri earns—Dora Long, the creator of Fieri's biggest fan site, says she gets “hundreds of emails a week”—he draws equal detractors. Like Rachael Ray or Emeril Lagasse, Fieri is a food personality who has rapidly outgrown the food, walking the narrow line between technique and celebrity that makes so many in the industry nervous. His recipes have names like “No Can Beato This Taquito,” and “Mac-Daddi-Roni Salad,” and he often effuses about the greasy meals he eats...

Kellogg is rationing its Eggo products due to flooding and equipment problems at two bakeries. The shortfall could last through mid-2010. Better hoard your Eggos! Grocery stores will be experiencing a shortage of the waffles until mid-2010 due to problems at two bakeries, a Kellogg's spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Flooding at an Atlanta bakery during heavy rains in October forced Kellogg, which makes Eggo products, to shut down production temporarily, said company spokesman Kris Charles. Plus, equipment at Kellogg's largest waffle facility, based in Rossville, Tenn., needs extensive repairs. "We are working around the clock to restore Eggo store inventories...

A man described as mentally ill and accused of lying to the police in an emergency call this summer, which sent a bomb squad to the McDonald's on Loudon Road, was arraigned on felony-level charges yesterday. William Fenick, 53, cried and held his head in his hands when a judge said he was being charged with creating a false public alarm, a felony, during a video arraignment at Concord District Court. The Center Barnstead resident called 911 just before 7 a.m. Aug. 7 to report two black men in the Concord McDonald's parking lot throwing gasoline on a U-Haul truck,...

Other than the ads that claim Acai Berry is a great diet supplement does any Freepers use it for a reason as a diet supplement in concentrated capsule form? Thanks. Could not find any legit forums when I googled it is all ads promoting the product no real medical info. And I dont count Dr. Oz as a legit resource.

Mountain goats are no exception to the general rule among mammals that larger males sire more and healthier offspring. But University of Alberta researcher David Coltman has found a genetic quirk that might make female mountain goats think twice about their romantic partners. Big, heavy males mountain goats shove lightweight Romeos aside taking the eligible females for themselves. The larger males pass their physical attributes and mating success to their male heirs. But Coltman's data shows the daughters of the big, bruisers are routinely smaller and less fit than females produced by physically more modest fathers. Nature can be cruel...

Sweet potato hating kid loves Saltgrass' baked sweet potatoes. He wants some at Thanksgiving and thinks the key is the seasoned butter flavoring. Anyone know how they make or season them? Thanks.

Raw Emotions Over Raw Oysters The FDA's proposal to treat raw oysters had sparked an outcry among diners. Legend has it that raw oysters are good for love — but they're also worth fighting over, as the Food and Drug Administration has learned. Facing political pressure from the Gulf Coast oyster industry, the FDA has backed off a plan to require raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico to be treated to rid them of Vibrio vulnificus, a potentially deadly bacteria found in warm-water oysters. Harvesters and politicians had warned that the plan could devastate the industry. The outcry was...

November 17, 2009 Caught On Camera: Hippos Kill Crocodile In Rare Clash [Pics in URL: 4 Images] Faced with the angry hippos, the crocodile decides to run across their backs Jonathan Clayton, Africa Correspondent Bathing hippos usually have a tolerant attitude towards their fellow creatures — until something snaps. And then, as this crocodile discovered the hard way, they are the most dangerous wild animals in Africa Vaclav Silha, a Czech wildlife photographer, had set up his camera on the banks of the Grumeti in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, to take pictures of a group of 50 placid hippos...

Chemicals found in many plastics are causing little boys to act more like little girls, according to new research.

SUSPECTED cannibals killed a young man, ATE part of him and then sold other bits to a KEBAB house. Cops also believe the 25-year-old victim's body parts may have been used to fill PIES too. The trio of homeless men were arrested in Russia - accused of murdering the man with knives and a hammer. Prosecutors revealed: "After carrying out the crime, the corpse was divided up - part of it was eaten and part of it was sold to a kiosk selling kebabs and pies." Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2730715/Butchered-man-used-for-kebabs.html#ixzz0WxueLNEc

I did this last year and a lot of good recipes were posted so I thought I'd try it again. Take one and/or leave one!

My wife and I are enjoying a chilled Chimay Blue ale for the first time...oh my, oh my, OH MY! Fellow beer-drinking Freepers, does it get any better than this? Your best beer recommendations would be appreciated... Try to ignore the coming collapse for a few moments and have a wonderful weekend! Signing off, Third Person, on the outside looking in.

The one that didn't get away     Nibble ... Sean and his massive catch GEOFF ROBINSON         By RICHARD MORIARTY Published: 12 Nov 2009     AN angler has netted a giant catch — a huge catfish weighing more than new heavyweight world boxing champion David Haye. Sean Kinnear, 27, was amazed when he felt a fierce tug on his fishing line and pulled in the 9ft monster, which weighs a whopping 17 STONE. He waged a 15-minute battle to land the beast, which hits the scales at an incredible 233lb 6oz — more than...

Now I love chips and salsa so ended up with about a gazillion of the salsa jars. These seem to me to be just about perfect for canning. So I was thinking about trying to can some bulk veggies that are now pretty cheap, like acorn squash, sweet potatoes, maybe some spinach. When I was a yute my mom would cook stuff, put the jars through boiling water, fill the jars with whatever it was she cooked, then pour molten canning wax over the top - close them up and let them cool. Personally, I've preserved berries by mashing them,...

Good morning to all of you gardeners. Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida made land fall in Alabama went quickly degraded moving slowly northeast up through and Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia causing considerable flooding along its path. There are many Freeper gardeners this event may have affected. I know the two Freepers, Gardengirl and Gabz who started the original Gardening thread, live in the coastal areas of N.C. and Va. and I hope y’all are safe and well. The indexing/archiving of this past year’s posts is still on going. Please let me know if there was a particular post that you found...

Local business owners say Yelp offers to hide negative customer reviews of their businesses on its web site ... for a price.The phone calls came almost daily. It started to get creepy. "Hi, this is Mike from Yelp," the voice would say. "You've had three hundred visitors to your site this month. You've had a really good response. But you have a few bad ones at the top. I could do something about those." This wasn't your average sales pitch. At least, not the kind that John, an East Bay restaurateur, was used to. He was familiar with Yelp.com, the...

The dairy industry rolled out an expensive media campaign this week in praise of chocolate milk, a classic school lunch beverage whose sugar content is under assault in some districts. But as trade groups spend upward of $1 million to defend the drink, three area fifth-graders already have come to its rescue. A year after Barrington Community Unit School District 220 banned flavored milk from its lunch menus, the students persuaded administrators to give it another chance. Now the sweetened drinks are served on Fridays as the district tries to decide whether the benefits of calcium and vitamin D are...

FLESH OF YOUR FLESH

A new policy dictating the selection of prepared food vendors at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market is drawing fire from Main Street merchants who are concerned that there won't be enough preference given to local restaurants.

They eat human brains and eyeballs, turn snails into pulsating zombies, grow up to 25 feet long in people’s intestines and eat the tongues of fish. Symbiotic relationships may be common in nature, but that doesn’t mean that all parasites are beneficial – many are downright horrifying

LOVELAND, Ohio, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- An Ohio man landed a 95-pound blue catfish in Lake Isabella, a park district record and only one pound less than the state record holder, park officials said. Lake Isabella Harbor Manager Harry Scott said the massive catfish, which he weighed twice for accuracy, dwarfs the previous largest catch in Hamilton County Park District's history, a 50-pound blue catfish, and weighs in at only one pound under the 96-pound state record, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Wednesday. "I've never seen anything this big in my whole life, and I've seen lots of fish," Scott said....

Elevated dietary fructose linked to high blood pressure A diet high in fructose increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, California. The findings suggest that cutting back on processed foods and beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may help prevent hypertension. Over the last 200 years, the rate of fructose intake has directly paralleled the increasing rate of obesity, which has increased sharply in the last 20 years since the introduction of HFCS. Today, Americans...

The "chocolate cure" for emotional stress is getting new support from a clinical trial published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. It found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed. Everyone's favorite treat also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances. Sunil Kochhar and colleagues note growing scientific evidence that antioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate may reduce risk factors for heart disease and other physical conditions. Studies also suggest that chocolate may ease emotional stress....

PORTLAND, Ore. - Learning to brew your own beer in Portland, a.k.a. Beervana, would seem to be pointlessness personified. Yet 80 homebrewers and brewers-to-be spent a rainy Saturday morning doing just that in a stark warehouse warmed only by two boiling kettles. "It's not pointless at all," said Michel Brown, a well-known Portland homebrewer who began making his own beer 38 years ago at the age of 17. He was teaching the advanced class in the back room at F.H. Steinbart, the 91-year-old brewers supply store. Steinbart regularly offers free classes such as the one Saturday. "By brewing your own, you...

I know I will never eat another. Not like I ever really ate them anyway.

(Start Rant)Just a small rant about something that maybe isn't so important!I am originally from South Florida but am now living in Virginia. For the past few weeks, I have been trying to find some decent tomatoes. (without success) I have been reading the labels on all of the tomatoes .. Hydroponic and garden grown. Every Single package is from ...Mexico! Why the Hell can't I find Any tomatoes that are grown in the good ole USofA? I know Damn well that the folks in my home state still grow excellent tomatoes! Wouldn't it be less expensive to ship...

Starting this weekend (SIC: Past Weekend), restaurants across the country are honoring veterans for their service with special offers.

t might not be good for America's waistline, but froufrou dining off petite plates is out. The recession has made us hungry for family-size piles of comfort food.. Like other segments of the retail economy, the restaurant industry has struggled over the past two years as unemployment has soared and consumers have curtailed spending. The National Restaurant Association's performance index shows that the industry has been shrinking for 23 months in a row. High-end bistros have fared the worst, with sales at fancy restaurants like Ruth's Chris and Morton's Steakhouse off by 20 percent or more, as corporate customers pare...

While I am reading the forum and keeping an eye on Pelosicare I decided to exercise my opposition to this bill and whipped up a batch of chocolate mousse ... ecstacy it was! Here's the recipe for anyone who dares: Chocolate Mousse (Yield=6 if your are generous) 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (4 oz bitter choc, 2 oz sugar) 4 tbsp butter 4 eggs, separated 2 tbsp sugar 1 cup heavy cream ¼ cup sugar 1 cap Vanilla Extract Melt chocolate over double boiler, temper in butter. When melted, remove from heat, temper in egg yolks. Allow to cool to room...

WESTON , Fla., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A man and woman working in tandem stole a $3,500 commemorative bottle of whiskey from a liquor store in Weston, Fla., police said. The limited edition Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottle was one of just six bottles distributed in Florida to mark the 200th anniversary of the Scottish whiskey maker, Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said. The bottle taken from a display case at Master Wine Liquor had been gone for three days before store employees realized it had been stolen, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Saturday. Surveillance video from Oct. 30...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing this health alert to warn consumers not to use Pig Ears and Beef Hooves pet treats manufactured by Pet Carousel because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The products were distributed nationwide in both bulk and retail packaging for sale in pet food and retail chain stores. Pet Carousel is based in Sanger, Calif. The products were manufactured under conditions that facilitate cross-contamination within batches or lots. Although no illnesses associated with these products have been reported, the FDA is advising consumers in possession of these products to not handle or...

Good morning to all of you gardeners. I hope all of you are doing well this first week in November. This past week has been beautiful here in Miss. Highs in the mid 70’s, clear and dry. Great weather to clean up the yard and add to my compost pile but I just could not get motivated to do it. The indexing/archiving of this past year’s posts is still on going. Please let me know if there was a particular post that you found helpful or just interested you.

Alton Brown, the host of "Iron Chef America," fell into the turnip patch just before the show began taping several scenes outside the White House in late October. (The best stuff always happens off camera.) On the episode, which will open the show's new season on January 3 on the Food Network, two pairs of chefs will compete: Cristeta Comerford, the White House executive chef, and Bobby Flay go up against the combined forces of Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse. In a collision of politics, cooking and popular culture, Michelle Obama will reveal the secret ingredient that the chefs must...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysian wildlife authorities rescued 59 pythons from being skinned and sold to restaurants and leather dealers, an official said Thursday.

Health/wellness expert Amy Hendel available for interviewsHoping to keep the flu at bay? A strong immune system helps. Enjoying the bounty of colorful fruits and vegetables available right now can be an important step toward supporting your family's immune system this cold/flu season. In addition to vitamins, minerals and fiber, fruits and vegetables contain phytonutrients, believed to come from the com-pounds that give these foods their vibrant colors. These phytonutrients provide a wide range of health benefits, includ-ing supporting a healthy immune system. A new study, America's Phytonutrient Report, found eight in 10 Americans are missing out on the health...

This cake is rich and dense; the sauerkraut gives it a slight bite. Serve it unfrosted, or spread it with a simple buttercream frosting. Makes two 8-inch, single-layer cakes (16 servings) Ingredients: 10 2/3 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 2/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans 2 1/4 cups flour, plus more for the pans 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup water 2/3 cup homemade or store-bought sauerkraut, rinsed, drained and...

<p>Under a steel-gray sky, workers waded through the swirling mosaic of red, pink, and yellow cranberries at a Burlington County bog last week as wide-eyed onlookers snapped photos. A year’s worth of labor had come down to this moment, when the Lee family and its helpers, filled with excitement and a sense of urgency, began the autumn harvest ritual.</p>

While wine snobs have blighted the earth for thousands of years (you can bet there was at least one guy curling his lip at the vintage of Jesus’ first and best miracle), beer snobbery is a relatively young art, especially in the U.S. This is because every beer in the country once tasted exactly the same. Oh sure, there were Bud lovers and MGD aficionados who would swear they could tell the difference, but if you gave them a blind taste test, you’d soon discover they’d just keep asking for another “test taste” until there wasn’t any beer left and...

The nightly attacks by two man-eating lions terrified railway workers and brought construction to a halt in one of east Africa's most notorious onslaughts more than a hundred years ago. But the death toll, scientists now say, wasn't as high as previously thought. > Delay of the railroad was even subject to debate in Britain's House of Commons. >

The recipe calls for 536 sheets of edible seaweed, 100+ pounds of rice, 167 pounds of surimi, 67 pounds of cukes and an equal amount of avocados. The finished product? A 330-foot long California sushi roll to best the world record one made in Maui in 2001. That beast of traditional cuisine was 300-feet long. More than 350 UC Berkeley students on 58 teams will build the ginormous roll on Sunday. The teams, with names like Smashin' Sushi, AvoCALdoes and Roll Me California Style, are made up of students from sororities, fraternities and other campus groups. After a learning lesson...

CONCORD, N.H. – The bouncing mega-meatball record has landed in the East Coast. Matthew Mitnitsky, owner of Nonni's Italian Eatery in Concord, said Sunday that a 222.5-pound meatball was authenticated as the world's largest after being weighed by state weights and measures officials. A Guinness Book of World Records official confirmed the big meatball as a record breaker and presented Mitnitsky with a plaque.

Soda, pop, cola, soft drink — whatever you call it, it is one of the worst beverages that you could be drinking for your health. As the debate for whether to put a tax on the sale of soft drinks continues, you should know how they affect your body so that you can make an informed choice on your own. Soft drinks are hard on your health Soft drinks contain little to no vitamins or other essential nutrients. However, it is what they do contain that is the problem: caffeine, carbonation, simple sugars — or worse, sugar substitutes — and...