Consumers looking for antioxidants in food to control aging
A pomegranate salad, a Frozen Sangria Rita and an oxygen facial.
According to the Arizona Republic, these are the ingredients for a more youthful appearance, and restaurants are jumping on the trend by offering antioxidant-rich dishes.
Annika Stensson, spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association, said the association recently conducted a survey asking more than 1,200 professional chefs in the United States to list the trendiest items on their menus. Out of almost 200 items, pomegranate finished 16th, fresh fruits were 61st and scallops were 100th. All are foods rich in antioxidants.
The interest in antioxidants also has been transforming beverage lists. Trudy Thomas, director of beverages for Camelback Inn, said the resort created an antioxidant-rich margarita, the Frozen Sangria Rita, after guests expressed interest in red wine's antioxidant qualities.
Since its debut in February, the concoction of red wine, pomegranate and blueberry has been one of the most popular drinks on the menu, she said.
Diane Aiello, owner of Glam Lounge in Scottsdale, said,
"I am a huge believer in antioxidants. … When we do an oxygen facial, we can see the person's skin actually changing. The skin is more hydrated, more plump, and lines are softer."
Michelle Mazur, guest barfblogger: Insect, the other white meat
Earlier this month Doug talked about entomophagy, the practice of eating insects as food. It’s no mystery that many cultures eat bugs for nutrition. However this is not the case for the cultures of the United States and Europe, where not only are bugs unappetizing, but there is an entire market devoted to their extermination.
Western culture has put a certain social taboo on insects in general. If a cockroach is found in a kitchen of a restaurant, health inspectors will shut the place down. But who can blame them? Most Americans are brought up to find bugs disgusting and dirty. 
As part of an introductory entomology class in my undergraduate work, I had the chance to try cookies containing dried crickets and salsa containing live mealworms. I definitely was not excited about tasting either of them, but you would be surprised what some students would do for extra credit. After sampling the supposedly “tasty treats” I have to admit that they weren’t half bad; in fact they tasted completely normal.
Just as a cook might add tofu to a noodle dish, there is also the option of earthworms or grasshoppers for an extra dose of protein. And a large number of countries have a booming market for raising insects, just as there is a market here in Kansas for raising beef cattle.
Not only would there be a little more variety in food options, but also the option to “go green” in other ways than driving a hybrid. Multiple studies and articles have been written about how insects are much more efficient converters of energy compared to typical farm animals. Bryan Walsh of Time.com has a terrific article about how environmentally friendly insects can be used as a food source.
Now I’ve read the articles too, but the first large hurdle to jump over will be the cultural taboo. The food industry of Western culture will have a hard time changing “Waiter, waiter, there is a fly in my soup!” into “Waiter, waiter, I do not have enough flies in my soup!”
Michelle Mazur, guest barfblogger: Gus, the World's Ugliest Dog
Gus the dog is anything but a beauty queen, but on Saturday he won a contest for his looks. The World’s Ugliest Dog of 2008 is a three-legged, one eyed, Chinese crested dog, named Gus. The Chinese crested dog is a popular breed in the contest; in fact eleven of the seventeen contestants for this year are of this breed. (See all there pictures here)
The World's Ugliest Dog contest has taken place each year in Petaluma, California since 1976, and each year many people gather to look at faces of dogs that only a mother could love. It’s kind of like a bad car wreck, these dogs are so disgustingly ugly, but you can’t look away.
There are numerous sites on the web that showcase photos of the cutest, cuddliest pets. So why do people care about the ugly ones? I suppose that just as beauty is celebrated throughout the media, it would be only fair to display the ugliness as well. Many magazines at the checkout line in the grocery stores have photos of celebrities on the red carpet in all their glory, and they also have photos of celebrities looking their worst, without any makeup or fancy clothes.
American culture will continue to celebrate the cutest of the cute pets, but there will always be a special place in our hearts for those truly ugly dogs.
Entomophagy -- it's all the rage
The practice of people eating insects, that is.
The New Zealand Herald reports that scientists at the National Autonomous University of Mexico have catalogued 1,700 different species and found that bugs are eaten in at least 113 countries worldwide.
David George Gordon, a Seattle-based naturalist and author, said,
"Insects are the most valuable, underused and delicious animals in the world," and the West "is one the few cultures" that doesn't eat them. "Maybe we are the weirdos."
A plate of maguey worms - larvae of a giant butterfly - sell for NZ$31.50 in smart Mexican restaurants (right).
Sago grubs wrapped in banana leaves are a delicacy in Papua New Guinea.
Large leafcutter ants are popular in Colombia.
Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: Perhaps it will help keep poop out of food?
I've always found it interesting when disparate objects or ideas come together.
One such collision was the subject of an earlier barfblog contribution when I wrote about a norovirus at a boy scout camp, integrating my interest in food safety and the the volunteer work I do with the boy scouts.
It also happened twice this week. The first example has nothing to do with food safety, but hey, if Doug can write about Blacky the donkey, all's fair. I just can't resist plugging this amazing YouTube video, where the band Phish covers the Lou Reed classic "Sweet Jane". Hippy culture meets New York grit. Cool stuff.
Anyway, on with the food safety story, sort of. I need to explain: I'm a productivity pr0n addict. For more on this addiction look here. I think that one of the most entertaining and useful productivity gurus out there is Merlin Mann (yes, that's his real name), the editor and founder of productivity website 43Folders.com. Anyway, when Merlin is not blogging about productivity, talking at The Google or Macworld, he's scouring the interweb looking for cool stuff.
And... now we get to the point of this article... and the second collision, where productivity guru meets food safety: Bottom Toilet Tissue Aid Self-wipe Cleaning: Health & Personal Care. As Merlin quips, "Why is all the cool stuff for "disabled" people? I could totally use this". And maybe he right. This might be something we could all use, and as Amazon notes "After use the tissue is discarded by pressing an easy-to-use release button on the end of the handle.
This might be the solution to fecal cross contamination, and allow us all to avoid what O. Pete Snyder calls "toilet paper slips", helping us all to eat less poop.
--
Don Schaffner is an Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers University, the newly appointed director of the Center for Advanced Food Technology, and a self-confessed productivity pr0n addict.
Celebrity jackasses jailed, now a donkey
Paris. Nicole. Lindsay.
Nick. Kid. Hugh.
A donkey.
In an apparent logical extension of the latest Hollywood fad of acting like an ass and doing time, Blacky the donkey was incarcerated for three days in a Mexican jail that normally holds people for public drunkenness and other disturbances after biting and kicking two men near a ranch outside Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of the southern state of Chiapas.
Blacky was freed last week after its parents owner paid a fine of $36 and the $115 hospital bill of the men, who suffered bites to the chest and a broken ankle. Authorities say the owner must also pay $480 to each man for missed work days.
Sleeps with the fishes - Australian style
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that organized crime in Australia is targeting mud crabs, prawns and barramundi to fuel an illicit domestic seafood market.
A study by the Australian Institute of Criminology warns that thieves - including bikie gangs - are exploiting national parks in New South Wales by using illegal divers and families using the guise of indigenous hunting.
Oyster theft is so well organised that thieves use lifting equipment on vehicles to steal whole racks from farms, the report says.
The report says that while the main market for abalone and shark fin is Hong Kong, there is "an extensive illicit Australian market for these other species. The market includes clubs, restaurants, hotels, fish and chip shops."
The study was prompted by research showing there had been growth in organised crime involving abalone and rock lobster, and an increase in criminals using the industry to launder money and make drugs at aquaculture farms.
Nip/tuck -- doggy style
Cosmetic surgery for dogs is real and lucrative business.
Now, for the first time, liposuction is available outside Germany at the University of Sydney's new $2.3 million Canine Teaching Hospital, which opened last week.
The university's associate professor in small animal surgery, Geraldine Hunt, introduced the technology here two years ago, and has so far performed the procedure, which can cost about $2000, on 15 dogs.
However, Dr Hunt urged owners to review their pets' exercise and diet regime before considering any surgical procedures.
"I would have to be very careful about whether to recommend it for cosmetic reasons. It is much more responsible to look at what is in the best interests of the dog."
The story also says that owners were asking for testicular implants for their pooches, most often so they could compete in dog shows, be exported for sale overseas or to negate a prostate problem.
But, occasionally, people requested the $400 procedure — which excludes the cost of the implants in small, medium and large — for the sake of appearances.
Randwick Veterinary Hospital's Andrew Herron said,
"I would definitely be counselling these people that this is a cosmetic procedure and they'd have to give me a pretty good reason to do it. If it was to show off down the park, I'd probably suggest I take them from him and put his in the dog."
UK foodies going nuts about squirrel -- tastes like chicken
Low in fat, low in food kilometres and completely free range, the grey squirrel is, to some UK diners, about as ethical a dish as it is possible to serve on a dinner plate.
At Ridley's Fish and Game shop in Corbridge, Northumberland, owner David Ridley said he has sold 1000 - at 3.50 ($8.89) a squirrel - since the beginning of the year.
"I wasn't sure at first, and wondered would people really eat it. Now I take every squirrel I can get my hands on. I've had days when I have managed to get 60 and they've all sold straight away."
Some say squirrel tastes like wild boar. Others think it is more a cross between duck and lamb.
Amy says squirrel tastes like chicken -- if you add ketchup.
Fish and ice cream: together at least
If you're like me and like your seafood as long as it doesn't taste too much like fish, then maybe a new ice cream called Maricream, developed by India's Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) and containing fish flesh, cream and sugar, is for you.
CIFT director K Devadasan told The Economic Times that cooked cuttle fish is used in the ice cream because cuttle fish has white flesh and it has far less fishy smell, thus blending well with other ingredients. It can also be substituted with squid which displays similar properties.
And since I'm watching the Simpson's, Mmmhhhhh, squid ice cream.
Guerrilla gardening
An army of self-styled Guerrilla Gardeners is growing across the world, fighting to transform urban wastelands into horticultural havens.
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The handbook, On Guerrilla Gardening, by Richard Reynolds, defines the activity as "the illicit cultivation" of someone else's land.
"Land is a finite resource, and yet areas like this are not being used. That seems crazy to me. And if the authorities want to get in the way of that logic, then we will fight them, but peacefully, showing them what we can achieve with plants. … Scattering seeds is the easiest way to guerrilla gardening. You do not even have to stop moving to do it."
Albert Hofmann, the father of LSD, dies at 102
Albert Hofmann, the mystical Swiss chemist who gave the world LSD, the most powerful psychotropic substance known, died Tuesday at his hilltop home near Basel, Switzerland. He was 102.
I mention this because a lot of people come to barfblog because of this groovy LSD-inspired picture. And Amy and I watched a fairly heady documentary about psychedlics last week.
According to the obituary in the N.Y. Times:
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Dr. Hofmann first synthesized the compound lysergic acid diethylamide in 1938 but did not discover its psychopharmacological effects until five years later, when he accidentally ingested the substance that became known to the 1960s counterculture as acid.
He then took LSD hundreds of times, but regarded it as a powerful and potentially dangerous psychotropic drug that demanded respect. More important to him than the pleasures of the psychedelic experience was the drug’s value as a revelatory aid for contemplating and understanding what he saw as humanity’s oneness with nature. That perception, of union, which came to Dr. Hofmann as almost a religious epiphany while still a child, directed much of his personal and professional life.
“It happened on a May morning — I have forgotten the year — but I can still point to the exact spot where it occurred, on a forest path on Martinsberg above Baden,” he wrote in “LSD: My Problem Child.” “As I strolled through the freshly greened woods filled with bird song and lit up by the morning sun, all at once everything appeared in an uncommonly clear light.
“It shone with the most beautiful radiance, speaking to the heart, as though it wanted to encompass me in its majesty. I was filled with an indescribable sensation of joy, oneness and blissful security.”
He earned his Ph.D. there in 1929, when he was just 23. He then took a job with Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, attracted by a program there that sought to synthesize pharmacological compounds from medicinally important plants.
It was during his work on the ergot fungus, which grows in rye kernels, that he stumbled on LSD, accidentally ingesting a trace of the compound one Friday afternoon in April 1943. Soon he experienced an altered state of consciousness similar to the one he had experienced as a child.
On the following Monday, he deliberately swallowed a dose of LSD and rode his bicycle home as the effects of the drug overwhelmed him. That day, April 19, later became memorialized by LSD enthusiasts as “bicycle day.”
Kansas wins NCAA men's basketball
The fans have taken to the streets 90 miles east of Manhattan (Kansas) in Lawrence, celebrating the dramatic come-from-behind-overtime KU victory over Memphis in the U.S. men's college basketball championship tonight.
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People on TV swarming the streets in Lawrence are saying this is the happiest moment of their entire lives.
Ahem …
Being Canadian, I don't get all the intra-state rivalry; this KU logo may draw more vigorous complaints than Honduran cantaloupes.
But I say, good for Kansas. And besides, Kansas State was one of three teams that actually beat KU this season.
Now, about that hockey arena …
Man throws hedgehog at teenager, charged with assault
Careful with that hedgehog, Eugene, especially in New Zealand.
The Herald on Sunday say police alleged that William Singalargh, 27, picked up the hedgehog and threw it at a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on February 9.
Police Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said Monday,
"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks."
Police arrested Singalargh shortly after the incident, and charged him with assault with a weapon -- the hedgehog.
The Herald said the hedgehog was dead when it was collected as evidence, but did not know if it was dead or alive at the time of the alleged attack.
The Herald reported Singalargh's arrest under the headline "Raise your hands and step away from the hedgehog."
California high school girls microwave hamster, face charges
Two California girls aged 14 and 15 are in Juvenile Hall facing animal cruelty charges over allegedly microwaving a hamster.
They also briefly put him a freezer.
An investigating police officer said the girls have admitting microwaving Bugsy because they were bored.
"These girls showed no remorse."
The Press Democrat reports that the hamster, Bugsy, survived, but three of his feet were severely burned. Lake County Animal Control Officer Morgan Hermann said the legs later turned black and the hamster chewed them off, adding,
“Now (Bugsy) has one leg."
The incident occurred in December, but it was not reported to Animal Control and police until the students had been released for Spring break.
Unlike the pic (right) this was not a happy hamster.
Vegan strippers
In the midst of the U.S. presidential race and the on-going sage in Iraq, the New York Times devotes some major ink to vegan strippers.
Johnny Diablo of Portland, Ore., decided to open a business to combine vegans and strippers at his Casa Diablo Gentlemen’s Club, where soy protein replaces beef in the tacos and chimichangas and the dancers wear pleather, not leather.
However, since the strip club opened last month, Portland's young feminists have been complaining “all over the Internet,” according to the aptly named Diablo. “One of them came in here once. I could tell she had an attitude right when she came in. She was all hostile.”
Mr. Diablo, who hasn’t worn or eaten animal products in 24 years and is worried about cruelty to animals says he isn’t concerned with the “feminazis,” adding, “My sole purpose in this universe is to save every possible creature from pain and suffering."
The Times says that in Los Angeles, some frown at the scantily clad Vegan Vixens — a kind of animal-loving Pussycat Dolls — who perform songs like “Real Men Don’t Hunt” at fund-raisers for animal welfare groups.
And many vegans who want to publicize cruelty within the fur industry are nonetheless dismayed by the new “Ink, Not Mink” advertising campaign from peta2, the youth arm of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It features members of the Internet-based pinup group the Suicide Girls, sporting little more than tattoos and body piercings.
Many vegans have long criticized PETA for using naked celebrities in its advertising campaigns and for staging stunts like naked protests.
As an aside, the Times says that Mr. Diablo put the club up for sale last week, although not because of the criticism. He may have underestimated the appeal of stripping to vegans, or of vegan cuisine to striptease fans; an earlier vegan restaurant he ran was poorly received.
The aside is the most important feature of this story.
Lamb leg thrown at football match
A lamb's leg (right, photo from BBC) was one of several missiles thrown onto the pitch after a football match between Ballymena 
United and Distillery on Saturday in Northern Ireland.
Animal welfare types were not amused.
A USPCA spokesman said it,
"demonstrated general disregard for animal welfare. It also follows a recent incident in which a horse's head was left outside the home of a hockey player in Cookstown."
Grapples -- will kids eat more fruit?
Daughter Courtlynn and her friend Emma discovered a product I'd never heard of or seen while grocery shopping today.
Grapple. "Looks like an apple. Tastes like a grape."
Apparently Grapples have been around for a few years. The bag of Braeburn apples I bought were $1.70/lb; the Grapples rang in about $4/lb.
Courtlynn said she liked the idea, but was underwhelmed after consuming one.
"Tastes like an apple."
Welcome to Wildcat country.
E-mailing Doug Powell? Don't send it to Guelph
Canadian journalists contact me regularly. This morning I was in Toronto's Globe and Mail, offering sage words about food safety and travel.
"Take a look at the bathroom. You want to see soap, paper towels and lots of running water. If you don't see those, you've got a problem, because those are the essentials for good hand washing."
Ok, not so sage, Boring
The journos -- and many others -- often contact me through my University of Guelph e-mail address.
Don't.
I mean yes, contact me, I love the attention, but don't go through Guelph.
In Feb. 2007, my previous institution, the University of Guelph, Canada, unilaterally decided not to continue a partnership with Kansas State, and eliminated access to my staff and funds that I had established in Guelph (about $750,000). An additional $135,000 the fine supporters of the Food Safety Network had provided to produce news has also magically disappeared.
And no one at Guelph will talk about it.
Now, the University of Guelph has frozen my e-mail account. They didn't tell me, it just stopped working. So if you sent an e-mail to my Guelph account -- and I was getting about 100 a day on that account -- please resend to dpowell@ksu.edu. You won't get an error message from the Guelph account, so you'll just think I'm being aloof or something and not bothering to respond. You may think that anyway. When I inquired about what had happened, since an e-mail account is fairly standard for adjunct professors and alumni, I was eventually told, and this is a direct quote from an admin-type,
"Your name (was removed) from sponsored accounts as we could not think of any reason why you needed a UofG account."
Oh well. The hacks and posers can busy themselves with e-mail account access management. I have news and research to produce. In the 68 F sun. With my family. In Kansas.
And there are some big changes coming to the daily news. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail me, at Kansas State University, dpowell@ksu.edu.
Thieves beware: Englishman will defend farm with "chickenshit"
Joe Watson-Webb, a retired showman, has come up with a novel way to deal with potential thieves: firing chickenshit at them from a 30-foot catapult (Right, from Daily Mail)
Local cops have said that they will prosecute Watson-Webb if he uses the catapult to defend his property against arsonists and robbers, but he says,
"I'm not out to kill anyone or even hurt them. I just want to keep yobs off my land. … This is a serious issue. People all over Britain are sick and tired of feeling like prisoners in their own homes and seeing yobs get away with it."
Using pigs as bug control in an orchard?
Today the Associated Press reports that a farmer in Michigan has been using more than two dozen pigs in his organic apple orchards in his quest to control the plum curculio:
Jim Koan has gone hog-wild in his battle against a beetle that threatens his 120-acre organic apple orchard. [The] porkers patrol his orchard, gobbling down fallen, immature apples containing the beetle's larvae. After a successful trial run late last spring, he and some researchers at Michigan State University are preparing for year two of the experiment at AlMar Orchards & Cidery in eastern Michigan.
They hope their work will someday help fruit growers throughout the world reduce the use of pesticides while diversifying their agricultural operations, as he is doing. He plans to periodically sell off the offspring of his four original hogs, keeping only what he needs.
Interesting move, definitely thinking outside the box, as organic producers must, when it comes to pest control. I wonder if there is a segment of the research that looks at the microbiological differences between the fresh apples (and the drops) on his farm and other producers not using the hogs. This pest reduction plan might be introducing new food safety risks that weren't there before.
Feral pigs seemed to play a part in the the 2006 spinach outbreak. Last March the FDA said: "Potential environmental risk factors for E.coli O157:H7 contamination at or near the field included the presence of wild pigs, the proximity of irrigation wells used to grow produce for ready-to-eat packaging, and surface waterways exposed to feces from cattle and wildlife."
UK woman keeps 75 hibernating tortoises in her fridges
The Daily Mail reports that Shirley Neely's two refrigerators contain, on every shelf, wrapped in tea towels, slumbering tortoises. The smaller ones are snuggled up in a biscuit tin, but the bigger fellows are laid out side-by-side in their makeshift sleeping bags.
Mrs Neely who runs the Jersey-based Tortoise Sanctuary, had to set up the fridges because of the particularly mild winter.
Her tortoises hibernate for up to three months between December and March, and need steady temperatures between 3c and 8c.
They are in danger of waking early if it heats up - and then do not have enough body weight to keep themselves warm and not enough energy to eat or drink.
But fridges, at a steady 4c to 6c, are the perfect environment.
She opens the doors each day to waft fresh air inside. As tortoises breathe only once a minute during hibernation, this is sufficient to keep them healthy.
America's worst bathroom contest
Received an email from a company running a contest for the Scott Paper and White Cloud toilet paper today asking about a previous barfblog post on dirty bathrooms:
We are running an online contest for Scott Paper and White Cloud toiler paper in an effort to find America’s Worst Bathroom. We have been notified by several entrants about an entry with a photo that appeared on your blog. The link to the entry is here. Could you please contact me either via e-mail or; better yet, by phone as soon as possible? I am trying to find out who owns the copyright for the image in question. Did you take the photo? If so, I have to remove this entry and replace it with another. If not, the entry stays in the contest and I don’t have to make any changes.
Sounds like a serious contest. I didn't take the original picture, found it somewhere on the interwebs using Google Image Search (like a lot of the barfblog photos). Go check out the contest and vote for the dirtiest bathroom.
Bird flu may kill badminton grand prix
The Times of India reports today that avian influenza may cost India its first grand prix badminton tournament. 
The story says:
Bird flu outbreaks in China had made India ban import of all premium goose feathers of Chinese origin to manufacture shuttlecocks.
In a last-minute bid to save India the blushes, BAI president V K Verma has shot off letters to secretaries in the animal husbandry department and the ministries of health and agriculture, as well as to the Sports Authority of India, urging them to review the ban.
Interesting fallout from the animal disease outbreak.
Roll over Colonel Sanders
Kentucky State Rep. Charles Siler is sponsoring legislation to make KFC's ''finger lickin' good'' chicken Kentucky's official picnic food.
Siler said the fried chicken, first served by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940, deserves the title because of the worldwide attention and economic benefit it has brought to the state.
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Bruce Friedrich, vice president at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, responded,
"If the state legislature moves forward with this one, then they should change Kentucky's state bird from the cardinal to the debeaked, crippled, scalded, diseased, dead chicken."
Two years ago, PETA launched an initiative to have a bust of the bespectacled Colonel Sanders removed from the Kentucky Capitol. Sanders, with his white goatee and black string tie, became recognizable worldwide by marketing his fried chicken.
Cher's mystery illness not foodborne
With Cher set to make her return to the Vegas stage, some are speculating the mystery illness that sidelined her was foodborne.
Cher was forced to cancel appearances in Dec. 2007 and checked into a German clinic for treatment. She was subsequently diagnosed with diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets in the intestines.
Cher begins her run of performances in May, three years after her farewell tour.
Who is she, The Who?
The beefsteak ritual survives -- without silverware
"You’ve got the tender beef, butter, salt, French fries, beer — all your major food groups. But it’s very unique to North Jersey. I go to other places and nobody’s heard of it."
He's talking about a beefsteak, described by Paul Lukas of the N.Y. Times as a
"raucous all-you-can-eat-and-drink banquet."
The story says that back in the days before cholesterol testing, beefsteaks — boisterous mass feeds featuring unlimited servings of steak, lamb chops, bacon-wrapped lamb kidneys, crabmeat, shrimp and beer, all consumed without such niceties as silverware, napkins or women — held sway in New York for the better part of a century.
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The ritual was documented by the writer Joseph Mitchell for the New Yorker magazine in his 1939 article “All You Can Hold for Five Bucks.” As Mr. Mitchell told it, the beefsteak came into being in the mid-1800s, became popular as a political fund-raiser and vote-buyer, and began a slow decline when women started taking part after being granted suffrage in 1920.
Today the beefsteak features slices of beef tenderloin washed down with pitchers of beer, and has migrated from its New York roots to New Jersey.
The events, which typically attract crowds of 150 or more, with a ticket price of about $40, are popular as political meet-and-greets, annual dinners for businesses and civic groups, and charity fundraisers. Caterers said they put on about 1,000 of them in the region last year.
The story says that in 1938 a Clifton butcher and grocer named Garret Nightingale, known as Hap, began catering parties with a set formula.
He grilled tenderloins (the muscle used for filet mignon) over charcoal, sliced them, dipped the slices in melted butter, served them on slices of white sandwich bread, added French fries on the side, and let everyone eat as much as they wanted. This he called a beefsteak. Within a decade, it had become an entrenched local phenomenon.
Hap Nightingale died in 1982. By that time he had passed the business on to his son, Bob, who turned it over to his son, Rob, in 1995. The second- and third-generation Nightingales continue to run the operation today out of an unassuming Clifton house where Bob Nightingale was raised and still lives. Their business office is the house’s cramped basement, and the tenderloins are grilled over hardwood charcoal in the driveway before being taken to the beefsteak venues. From this unlikely command center, the Nightingales catered over 600 beefsteaks last year, going through 88,000 pounds of tenderloin in the process.
Proper ferret care: Don't throw it in a bathtub with a naked Jeff "The Dude" Bridges
The British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) has launched a new practical guide designed to enable owners to provide the very best of care for their pet ferrets.
Produced in association with the Ferret Education & Research Trust (FERT), the leaflet reflects the growing popularity of these intelligent and curious animals as household pets.
Carl Padgett, Chair of the BVA AWF Trustees explained that,
"while ferrets can sleep for a large period of the day, when they are awake they are very active and need a lot of stimulation to occupy their time. They live an average of eight to ten years so a high level of commitment and care is needed but our new guide should ensure that even the novice owner has all the information necessary to ensure their pet's health and welfare."
Covering the basics such as housing, feeding, health care and toilet training, the guide also offers advice on 'ferret-proofing' your home and garden, advice on games - ferrets particularly love hide-and-seek - and, very importantly, breeding and neutering as well as vaccination against Canine Distemper should owners be tempted to take their ferret for a walk on a lead and harness.
The 'Caring for your ferret' leaflet is available to download from the BVA AWF website at http://www.bva-awf.org.uk/resources/leaflets.
(Doug Powell and Ben Chapman, left, not exactly as pictured).
From Seinfeld to science: Dip once or dip twice?
Harold McGee of the New York Times reports that a new study, to be published later this year in the Journal of Food Safety, is the only one McGee's ever seen to proclaim that it was inspired by an episode of “Seinfeld.”
It was conducted as part of a Clemson University program designed to get undergraduate students involved in scientific research. Prof. Paul L. Dawson, a food microbiologist, proposed it after he saw a rerun of a 1993 “Seinfeld” show in which George Costanza is confronted at a funeral reception by Timmy, his girlfriend’s brother, after dipping the same chip twice.
“Did, did you just double dip that chip?” Timmy asks incredulously, later objecting, “That’s like putting your whole mouth right in the dip!” Finally George retorts, “You dip the way you want to dip, I’ll dip the way I want to dip,” and aims another used chip at the bowl. Timmy tries to take it away, and the scene ends as they wrestle for it.
Peter Mehlman, a veteran “Seinfeld” writer, wrote the episode, and said,
"At the time I was living in Los Angeles, in Venice. There was a party on one of the canals, and apparently someone dipped twice with the same chip. And a woman flipped out. ‘You just dipped twice! How could you do that? Now all your germs are in there!’ I thought, this is just too good not to use on the show.”
The story says that on average, the students found that three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the remaining dip.
Each cracker picked up between one and two grams of dip. That means that sporadic double dipping in a cup of dip would transfer at least 50 to 100 bacteria from one mouth to another with every bite.
Pomegranate juice boosts sperm quality
Nutra Ingredients reports that a new study with male rats published in Clinical Nutrition suggestst that regular consumption of pomegranate juice may enhance the quality and mobility of sperm.
Gaffari Turk from Firat University in Turkey was quoted as writing, "The results of this study demonstrated, for the first time, that daily consumption of PJ for seven weeks caused increased spermatogenic cell density, epididymal sperm concentration, sperm motility and decreased abnormal sperm rate related with decreased lipid peroxidation in male rats."
I'll stick to my berries and beer.
KState beats KU in men's basketball; fans mob floor
It was purple madness in Manhattan (Kansas) tonight.
For the first time in 24 years, Kansas State beat number 2 ranked Kansas at home, 84-75.
I have nothing on food safety. But Amy won free tickets for the rest of the season from a draw at a local Radio Shack and this was the first college basketball game I'd ever attended.
Guess we picked a good one.
I think Bramlage Coliseum would make an excellent hockey arena.
Health department sued over inspection
The White County Health Department is being sued by a restaurant they temporarily closed due to a.jpg)
poor inspection. Owners of Mo's Restaurant in Monticello, Indiana, claim that following inspections of their restaurant, health department employees "negligently and/or intentionally prepar[ed] a false and defamatory Food Inspection Report" on three different occasions.
A story in the town's Herald-Journal says, "The lawsuit seeks a judgment against the defendants in an amount sufficient to compensate Drake and Liebner for their losses, including permanent and temporary damage, loss of value, loss of profits, loss of use, costs of repair and mental and emotional stress, as well as "such further relief as the court deems appropriate."
From the making poop on your desk file....
Steph came across this really odd story from boingboing.net about a mini cloaca gadget which, I guess sits in your office, living room, or or on your desk and makes shit from food.
The story says that this gadget is from artist Wim Delvoye, and is his latest installation of his Cloaca series.
This model is called the "Mini Cloaca." Delvoye's machines take food, grind it up, add it to a slurry of digestive juices, and make—more or less—shit. While previous models were almost industrial-sized, the Mini consumes about as much food as a breakfast meal.
Delvoye's wiki entry says that The first Cloaca machine was exhibited at the MuHKA (Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp) in 2000.
The machine was "fed" an exquisite meal twice a day, the feces coming out at the other end of the processing unit as a result of the "digestion" of the food.
There are several Cloaca set-ups: the original setup is that of a series of containers in glass on a long table, while the more modern ones are comparatively shorter, digesting food through what looks like a series of washing machines.
The logo and other promotional art work of the Cloaca project are a parody of the logos of Coca-Cola, Ford, Mr. Clean, and other brands. The feces produced by the Cloaca machines are sold vacuum-packed in translucent boxes.
Check out his website at www.cloaca.bemmm.
Bill Murray coming to Manhattan (Kansas)
But the real news is that his brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, lives here, and his wife is a student in veterinary medicine at Kansas State.
Who knew.
He not only played Lou Loomis in Caddyshack, which made his brother Bill famous, he co-wrote the script with Harold Ramis and Douglas Kenney. What about that turn in Wayne's World? And the numerous characters on the Canadian television version of Second City TV.
Anyway, the Manhattan Mercury reports that Bill Murray is expected to be in Manhattan Friday to attend the induction of Del Close into the Manhattan High School Hall of Fame.
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The story says that his fame began at the Second City comedy theater in Chicago, which is where he came under the guidance of Close. Close is regarded as the comic godfather of many Second City talents, including John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Chris Farley and others. Close was in the Manhattan High School class of 1952.
Doyle-Murray was cited as telling the Mercury today that he wouldn't be able to attend the induction ceremony because of a movie commitment in California, but that Bill would be here.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place between the boys' and girls' games — about 7:15 p.m. — at Manhattan High, in the north gym.
Can mistletoe be dangerous?
The N.Y. Times reports that mistletoe is not quite as hazardous as it is made out to be. The plant contains harmful chemicals like viscotoxins, which can cause gastrointestinal distress, a slowed heartbeat and other reactions.
But in studies of hundreds of cases of accidental ingestion over the years, there were no fatalities and only a handful of severe reactions. One study published in 1996 looked at 92 cases of mistletoe ingestion and found that only a small fraction of patients showed any symptoms. Eight of 10 people who consumed five or more berries had no symptoms, and 3 of the 11 people who consumed only leaves had upset stomachs.
Other studies have found similar effects, suggesting that while mistletoe can be toxic, its lethal reputation is not quite deserved.
But, like poop, don't eat it.
Glowing cats
South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating a fluorescent protein gene, a procedure that could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases.
As part of the procedure's side effects, the cloned cats glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams.
The Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday,
"It marked the first time in the world that cats with RFP genes have been cloned. The ability to produce cloned cats with the manipulated genes is significant as it could be used for developing treatments for genetic diseases and for reproducing model [cloned] animals suffering from the same diseases as humans."
Vegansexuality
As part of its annual cool ideas theme, the New York Times Magazine today included vegansexuality among its top-100 ideas.
Annie Potts, a researcher at the University of Canterbury and a director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, found in a survey of 157 vegans and vegetarians (120 of them women) which included questions about "rejecting meat eaters as intimate partners" that some of the survey respondents volunteered their reluctance to kiss meat eaters. 
A 49-year-old vegan woman from Auckland was quoted as saying,
"I couldn’t think of kissing lips that allow dead animal pieces to pass between them."
A 41-year-old Christchurch vegan woman said,
"Nonvegetarian bodies smell different to me. They are, after all, literally sustained through carcasses — the murdered flesh of others.”
A blog for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals noted that sleeping with only fellow vegans means forgoing the opportunity to turn carnivores into vegans by the most powerful recruiting tool available — sex.
Top-10 dining experiences?
A site called Trifter.com lists the top-10 ridiculously unique dining experiences people should attempt before they die.
1. Toilet
The toilet-themed restaurant is nothing new in China. Instead of serviette or napkins, customers wipe their hands and mouths using toilet paper rolls The restaurant is also decorated with various shaped urinals and toilet seats on the wall.
2. Hospital
Aurum is a newly opened hospital-themed restaurant in Clark Quay, Singapore. As you enter the Aurum, the restaurant's reception resembles a morgue. The lightings remind you of the ones in the operating theatre. Customers sit on golden wheelchairs and the meals are served on the operating tables. The cutleries used for the meal include syringes.
3. Pet-Friendly
In 2005, Dorothy Moore opened The Dining Dog Café in Edmonds, WA, a pet-friendly restaurant for dogs and their owners.
4. Condom 
The Cabbage and Condom is a popular condom-themed restaurant in Thailand that promotes safe sex and family planning. The menu consists of mostly condom-themed dishes, for example "condom salad" and the after meal mint which is normally distributed after each meal is replaced with a packet of condom.
5. Bed
Duvet, a restaurant in New York city features 30 customized, designer dining beds as the "seats" with tables, catered for extra comfort. Customers are also offered to wear customized bedroom slippers when they enter the restaurant.
6. Rude Service
If you like to experience rude service you can go to the Dick's Last Resort in Chicago. This is where you can not only enjoy a wide range of choices in its menu but also have lots of fun from watching the waiters who will inflict rude jokes and humor upon the customers (including you).
7. Prison
The Jail is a prison-themed restaurant in Taiwan. The layout is just like any other prison with sliding iron bars and metallic aluminum floors with waitresses dressed as sexy wardens. Customers will be given the option to be handcuffed and taken to their own prison cell with a dining table and comfortable seats. This is where patrons can enjoy good food and soothing music.
8. Anger Release
If you are stress and need an alternative punch bag, you can visit Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing, China. Customers can release their anger caused by stress and problems in daily life. They are allowed to throw and smash the plates and glasses or even hit the waiters who have been given special training for the job.
9. Body Platter
Hadaka Sushi, a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, USA, introduces a sensual concept of "Nyotaimori" which basically means female body as the food platter. Usually the woman chosen for the task is a beautiful model who will then lay down as still as possible on a serving table. Most parts of her body will be covered with banana leaves where clusters of sushi will be placed on them.
10. Dark
For those who would like to experience dining in total darkness, you can visit Nocti Vagus Dark Restaurant in Berlin, Germany. The well-trained waiters who will serve you are blind. Customers will be entertained with special cultural programs also in darkness.
Stephanie Maurer, guest barfblogger: See monkey? No touchy!
On Sunday, December 2nd, a woman was bitten in North Carolina when she reached out to touch a pet monkey, according to a story found at KCRA.com. “In the blink of an eye the monkey attacked, biting her cheek just below her right eye.
‘It bit the top of my eyelid and it just kind of latched onto my cheek,’ she said.”
This just goes to show that you should always ask the owner of animal if it is OK to pet the animal before you touch it. Also, it shows that people should leave their pet monkeys at home instead of taking them to a convenience store.