Bottled Water

I found an article on WebMD about Bottled Water and congressional concerns about Americans not "understanding" that this stuff is really no better for you than normal water. And I think they just don't get it.

Environmental and consumer groups are urging closer scrutiny of bottled water. The groups say Americans are wasting billions of dollars while causing environmental damage -- and adding few health benefits.

The calls come as Congress begins to consider stricter labels that alert consumers about the source and potential environmental impact of the products.

Wasting billions of dollars and causing environmental damage. More on this.

Americans spend about $11 billion per year on bottled water, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. In the process they help generate 2.7 million tons of plastic bottles. Those bottles are produced and transported using petroleum, and most wind up in landfills, Wu says.

Well, good for us. About half of that might otherwise be spent on bottled soda. If you're going to attack the environmental aspects of bottled water, you'd better put all sorts of portable potables in there. Grrrrrr.

There wasn't bottled water in the 70s and early 80s. Pretty much the only bottled beverages were carbonated, and I just could never abide by the bubbles. So when things such as bottled water and bottled juices etc. became mainstream, there was much rejoicing. But, hey, I guess we plebes need to know that we're destroying our planet without giving ourselves any health benefit (all the while stupidly wasting our very few hard-earned dollars because, hey, this stuff is very expensive compared to tap water). If only there weren't for that bottled water, Mother Gaia would stop weeping. I'll continue wasting my money, thanks.

hln

Original Original Recipe

KFC's original original recipe was moved today.

So important is the 68-year-old concoction that coats the chain's Original Recipe chicken that only two company executives at any time have access to it. The company refuses to release their name or title, and it uses multiple suppliers who produce and blend the ingredients but know only a part of the entire contents.

The spice mix comes in a packet to the restaurants - at one time it was very nondescript, and the cook just emptied the packet into a premeasured pit of flour, and there was your breading flour. I remember being dismayed that that was as close as I would ever get to the recipe when I worked there.

Larry Miller, a restaurant analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said the recipe's value is "almost an immeasurable thing. It's part of that important brand image that helps differentiate the KFC product."

I'd agree. Yummy stuff. Even if you had the recipe, it's not like you're going to be pressure frying chicken in the home anyway, though I've seen lots of replica recipes with funky things like tomato soup mix.

hln

The Cake

There's a cake called dump cake where you do just that - dump the ingredents into the pan and bake. It's quite good, but it has a bunch of butter, so it's not exactly low calorie. I was looking for a way to lighten a cake that didn't have frosting, so here's what I did:

1 yellow cake mix (make as the box says)
1 can of cherry pie filling - spoon into cake batter after it's in the pan before baking. Swirl a bit with a knife.

Bake two minutes longer than the box says to.

It's sublime. No need for frosting. I'll be experimenting to see if I can cut an egg or add more filling and cut two eggs (box called for 3) or something like that.

hln

ROM

This exercise machine claims that 4 minutes a day on it is all you need. It carries a price tag of $14,615, though. At that price, it'd better do windows when not in exercise use.

Seriously. 4 minutes. Suuuuure.

Seen in Fortune magazine.

hln

Tilt-a-Whirl

Oh, to be 8 again. I miss the carnival rides.

I reintroduce you to the Tilt-a-Whirl.

hln