Free Republic

Another vital aspect of an effective rotation system is knowing the shelf life of the foods you are storing. A few items, when stored properly, have such a long shelf life that they may be considered relatively exempt from the best practice of rotation (although it’s still a good idea), or at least their shelf life is measured in decades rather than years; among them, you will find such things as water (depending on the container), honey, salt, wheat berries, rice, sugar, maple syrup, corn starch, distilled white vinegar, pure vanilla extract, liquor, and wine. Here’s a list of eight...

After taking comments from parents, “Someone in the audience made a good point.” She added, “Michelle Obama put these things into play, but her children go to private school and they don’t have to follow these standards.”

It takes at least three grey squirrels to make a basic quarter-pounder

A shocking new TV documentary will reveal how hundreds pet dogs are being stolen every day in Vietnam for the lucrative dog meat trade. Unreported World shows disturbing evidence of how dogs are stolen, force-fed, kept in cramped cages and slaughtered for meals. Here, reporter Nelufar Hedayat exclusively reveals the horrors she witnessed.

Around 4 p.m. on Saturday, Joseph Paret wheeled his big Toyota Tundra pickup into the parking lot of C.J. Ferrari's, an Italian restaurant on Route 1 across the street from Laurel Lakes. Knowing that this would be the last day of the eatery's existence, he wanted to enjoy a farewell meal at his favorite dining out spot. Against an exterior backdrop of handsome rustic paneling, green canopy and a stunning mural of Venice, complete with images of St. Mark's Cathedral and gondolas afloat on lazy Mediterranean waters, Paret dished on the passing of an era. "I feel terrible about it,"...

Today is National Cookie Day. Most everyone has a favorite cookie, some are homemade and other Combo-Cookies can only be made by well oiled machines. I enjoy some of everything once in a while. There are Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter, Sugar, Sugar with White Confectioner's Powder on top, Fudge, Caramel Nut, and an entire constellation of Oatmeal recipies, some with raisins and nuts, some plain. One of my favorites is anything using that thin flaky dough found in Baklava recipies. I think that dough is called Phyllo. This is a lightweight flavor vehicle that can ride down either Sweet Street...

In 2010, a Minnesotan named Erwin Lingitz was arrested in a Supervalu grocery store after spending an excessive amount of time at the deli counter. In the words of a Supervalu spokesperson, Lingitz had violated “societal norms and common customer understanding regarding free-sample practices.” While the charges were later dropped, the evidence remains incriminating: After a search, Lingitz was found to have stored in his pockets about a dozen soy sauce packets and “1.46 pounds of summer sausage and beef stick samples.” Lingitz may have gotten carried away, but his impulse is more or less universal. People love free, people...

Ingredients Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes 12 slices of bacon Maple syrup Instructions 1. Make the Fluffy Buttermilk Pancake Batter according to directions. 2. Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle with a big enough hole for the batter to pour from, and cut the tip a little bigger so it’s easier to pour. 3. Spray griddle with cooking spray and spray to medium heat, about 300 degrees F. 4. “Draw” the pancake batter in a long oval shape onto the griddle, a tiny bit bigger than your cooked bacon slices—it will expand, so be careful not to make them too large....

Were creeping into fall, and now is time to start thinking of those cooler months before winter arrives. Fall to me means Chowder.

If you're going to Bergeron's Restaurant in Louisiana bring your appetite - and your gun. Customers at the Port Allen outlet who carry a weapon are given a 10% discount on their meal. According to US news reports, restaurant owner Kevin Cox said he came up with the idea as a way to thank law enforcement officers who go to the restaurant.

Notes from an inexperienced chili taster named FRANK, who was visiting Texas from New Jersey and was roped into judging a chili contest: "Recently I was lucky enough to be the 10,000th attendee at the State Fair in Texas, and was asked to fill in to be a judge at their annual Texas Chili Cook-Off. Apparently the original judge #3 called in sick at the last moment, and I just happened to be standing there when the call came in. I was assured by the other two judges (native Texans) that it would be a fun event and a true...

A mother who’s being called Autumn Lily Speaker on Reddit was supposedly outraged when her daughter’s second-grade teacher refused to serve students a tray of vagina cookies. Reddit user JPStudly is friend’s with the teacher and shared her first-person account in a post published two days ago. With only a screen shot of an email and no real names or locations, the story seems far-fetched but it’s exploding on Reddit with over 4,000 comments. “Angry Feminist Vagina Cookie Mom” is quickly becoming the latest viral sensation. behaved well that week.

Unregulated genetically modified wheat... in a second location in the United States... in Montana, the Agriculture Department said Friday. The department said it is investigating the discovery of the Montana wheat, which is a different variety than the genetically modified wheat found in Oregon.

Giovanni was one of the 6 million children in the United States who suffer from food allergies, an alarming number that has nearly tripled in the past two decades. Dr. Martin Blaser, a microbiologist and professor at New York University, is working tirelessly on groundbreaking research into this dramatic spike in food allergies. His hypothesis is that exposure to antibiotics early in life is diminishing positive gut bacteria and thus weakening children's immune systems, making them more susceptible to allergies. Blaser warns parents: "Antibiotics are not free, they do have a cost. And it is not just monetary but in...

The khapra beetle is one of the most destructive insects in the world. It's hard to eradicate because it can go for long periods without food or water, making it a menace to the grain and seed industry (since it likes the dry conditions afforded by large stocks of grain.) So kudos to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Philadelphia who intercepted a khapra beetle in a passenger’s baggage at Philadelphia International Airport. The Dept. of Homeland security provided the details in a statement: CBP officers referred a family that arrived from Saudi Arabia via Qatar to a secondary...

A Chinese noodle shop owner has admitted to lacing his wares with opium poppy seeds in an apparent effort to keep customers coming back, it’s reported. The use of the unusual ingredient—used to make opium—at the restaurant in Yan’an, in Shaanxi province, came to light after one of its clients tested positive in a routine urine test by traffic police, despite insisting he’d never touched drugs, the Xi’an Evening News reports. Suspecting the noodle shop he’d eaten at a few hours before the test might be to blame, the customer, Liu Juyou, persuaded relatives to frequent the shop as well...

PETA wants accused cannibal killer fed vegan diet JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. – It has the stuff of a comedic one-liner, but PETA says it is dead serious in urging the local sheriff to feed an accused cannibal killer a vegan diet in order to “swear off flesh” while he’s imprisoned. Kenneth Montville, a national spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the proposal is aimed at making the group’s point that meatless food can help reduce violent behavior and also save money for jails. “We really want to take a situation that’s a tragedy and make it into...

Soda giants Coca Cola Co., PepsiCo and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group are getting together to urge Americans to stop drinking so many sugary drinks.. The beverage companies announced a new initiative Tuesday to reduce by 20% the number of beverage calories consumed per person in the U.S. by 2025.

Here is a sneak peak of Obsessed, new one hour comedy special.

<p>MUNICH (AFP) -- Germany's world-famous Oktoberfest kicked off Saturday with the traditional tapping of the first barrel of beer, as millions of revellers are set to soak up the frothy atmosphere in the 16-day annual extravaganza.</p> <p>With the cry of "O'zapft is" ("The keg is tapped"), the amber fluid officially began to flow at noon after Munich's mayor, Dieter Reiter, with due pomp and ceremony, took a mallet and in four swings breached the 200-litre barrel.</p>