Tabloid Edition

Getting that outdoor kitchen together

I I think I may have mentioned it before around here, that we're in the process of getting this pair of houses together down here in the warmth where we are. And I think I might also have mentioned that we've pretty much got the houses together and are now working on things like furnishings and the garden. Which leads me on to the subject of outdoor kitchens. For where we are we are indeed very much in the warmth and thus have the luxury of being able to cook and eat outside for the majority of the year.

But if we're to furnish an outdoor kitchen we do have to decide just what it is that we're going to use to furnish it. And before we even decide that we need to think about what level of technology we want to use. Now, given where we are, in this warmth, we don't in fact have central heating. For the couple of months of the year that we do want to have some form of heating we've got log burners. Very nice and efficient cast iron ones, thank you. But what that means is that we've also of course got a supply of wood to burn in them: so perhaps we should be equiping our outside catering facilities with compatible technology?

Or perhaps we shouldn't be? Perhaps we should in fact be going in the opposite direction and using high tech gear for our kitchen? Something like one or other of these stainless steel grills perhaps? Certainly, it's easier to cook on gas than it is over wood: but then again you don't get quite the same smokey flavor that way. Or should I be thinking that if we've already got two wood stoves (one of which is indeed a top loader and thus possible to grill on) then the last thing we need is another one? And that this argues in favor of the gas technology?

Hmm, not the easiest of questions to answer really. Perhaps I should just let my wife make the decision: it's not as if I'm going to be doing any of the cooking anyway now, is it?

Heart Attack Grill

I'd heard of the Heart Attack Grill before it turned up on hte TV this morning. I think they very idea of the Heart Attack Grill is wonderful. To cook the most calorific food possible and let people decide to eat it or not as they wish.

Good grief, I mean, at the Heart Attack Grill they even cook the fries in pork lard. Which actually is going a little over the top as the best results are achieved with beef tallow, but that's their choice.

CBS recently covered a story on a restaurant called, "Heart Attack Grill" in Tempe, Arizona. They offer the “Quadruple Bypass Hamburger," which boasts a whopping 8,000 calories. You won’t get a T-shirt for finishing it, but they will offer you a ride to your car in a wheelchair if you’re just too full and bloated to walk.

Keep in mind that the average number of calories that an active, healthy man should get on a daily basis is 2,500; for a woman it’s no more than 2,000. For the whole day

Sounds great, doesn't it? Of course, that article is very snooty: how could you eat like this? Well, the answer is that no one at all is suggesting that you should eat like this every day and an occasional blowout doesn't do anyone any harm.

Heart Attack Grill | Heart Attack Grill Fast Food Restaurant | Heart Attack Grill Restaurant in Chandler, Arizona | Heart Attack Grill Nurses | Hospital Theme Restaurant | www.heartattackgrill.com heart attack grill nurses, heart attack grill locations, the heart attack grill, chandler az The Heart Attack Grill is a fast food hamburger restaurant in Arizona, USA. It has courted controversy by serving unashamedly high-calorie menu items with controversial names. The establishment is a hospital theme restaurant: waitresses (”nurses”) take orders (”prescriptions”) from the customers (”patients”). A tag is put on the patient’s wrist showing which foods they ordered and a “doctor” examines the “patients” with a stethoscope.

The whole experience at the Heart Attack Grill just sounds like a hoot, doesn't it? Click through that link to see the video of the place itself.

Realchocolate.com

Realchocolate.com is the place to go to this morning if you're looking for free candy. The manufacturer Mars (umm, yes, they also make dog food, but it's the chocolate coupons they're giving away) are giving away coupons for free products:

Mars (yes, the candy makers) feels that Americans are looking for reasons to smile. Undoubtedly true, in this recession, they are looking to stimulate your taste buds with what they are calling the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act (http://www.realchocolate.com). This promotion runs from now until September.

How does it work? Well, not only can you snag some Mars chocolate in the deal, Mars has invented a new acronym: TGIFCF (Thank God It's Free Chocolate Friday). Every Friday, Mars will give away a 250,000 full-size packages of real chocolate on Free Chocolate Fridays. You can claim one of 250,000 full-value coupons each Friday beginning on May 8 at 9 AM EST (they say standard, but it's DST now, so that's an unclear point) by visiting RealChocolate.com.

Sounds good to me although I have to admit. I wonder how easy it's going to be to get onto the site to get the coupons? For it is definitely first come first served.

Starting now till the end of September, Mars has announced its Real Chocolate Relief Act campaign. Nationwide, Mars will be giving away full-sized packages of its M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, MILKY WAY®, TWIX®, DOVE®, and 3 MUSKETEERS® brand chocolate.

Just log onto their website (www.RealChocolate.com) each Friday starting at 9:00 a.m. EST (6:00 a.m. PST) to claim one of 250,000 full-value coupons. The sooner you log on the better, as it is first-come, first served. There are a limited number of coupons (250,000) given away each Friday. Coupons will be mailed to consumers and are redeemable for any full-size Mars real chocolate product. The coupons will be limited to one per person, per week.

Swine flu not kosher

This has to be one of the more absurd things that a politician has done this year. OK, I know, it's still early, there's another 8 months for better entires, but really:

"We will call it Mexico flu. We won't call it swine flu," Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman, a black-garbed Orthodox Jew, told a news conference Monday, assuring the Israeli public that authorities were prepared to handle any cases.

Under Jewish dietary laws, pigs are considered unclean and pork is forbidden food -- although the non-kosher meat is available in some stores in Israel.

Good grief, it's not called swine flu in order to piss off people who think pigs are unclean (whether Jew or Muslim) but because it is a mixture of two flu strains. One that affects humans and one that affects pigs.

Although I will admit to a certain sneaking admiration for The Daily Mash's coinage. Why not just all get over it and start calling it pork flu.

Tom Colicchio saves Joan Nathan

Tom Colicchio of Top Chef came to the rescue of cookbook author Joan Nathan as she was choking on a piece of chicken.

Colicchio performed the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the offending item from Nathan's throat.

Nathan was hosting a dinner to promote Chef Alice Water's desire to make federal policy more welcoming to local, organic and sustainable food.  It also raised money for two local soup kitchens.

When she had recovered Joan Nathan said, "Tom Colicchio saved my life."

A Heroic Turn for Top Chef's Tom Colicchio
E! Online
While most celebs were spending the days leading to the inauguration partying around Washington, DC, Top Chef chieftain Tom Colicchio was busy saving lives. ...

An Inauguration benefit with a happy ending
Boston Globe, United States
Cookbook author Joan Nathan ("Foods of Israel Today," "Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook," and others) hosted a benefit at her house last night and ...

He really is "Top Chef": Tom Colicchio saves life at benefit
The TV Guy, FL
The show's demanding main judge saved a life Monday during a benefit in Washington. The Internet Food Association said Colicchio performed the Heimlich ...

Top Chef's Tom saves the day...and a life
TV Squad, CA
If you're a regular Top Chef watcher -- like me -- you know that when it comes to being a straight-shooter, down to earth, regular person, professional chef ...

Top Chef's Tom Colicchio Saves Life
TV Guide
Top Chef head honcho Tom Colicchio may be considered the "bad guy" when it comes time to axe one of the cheftestants during judge's table, ...

Cook. Judge. Save some lives. Just another day for Tom Colicchio.
Pitch Weekly, MO
In addition to co-founding Gramercy Tavern and the Craft empire in Vegas and New York and being the head judge on Top Chef, ...

Tom Colicchio Performs Heimlich, Saves Fellow Chef's Life
YumSugar.com, CA
According to eye witness Ezra Klein, Joan Nathan, the award-winning cookbook author of Jewish Cooking in America and hostess of the event, began to choke on ...

Top Chef’s’ Tom Colicchio Turns Hero At DC Dinner Party
NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
“Top Chef’s” Tom Colicchio went from celebrity judge to hero over the weekend, after saving the life of a fellow foodie. Nathan reportedly began choking on ...

Tom Colicchio Saves Joan Nathan’s Life in DC
DCist.com, DC
Tom Colicchio (he of Top Chef and craftsteak) swooped to the rescue of cookbook ...

Which Diet Plan?

OK, so the sight of all those toned bodies at the beach has now got you thinking about your own rather larger physique. Something must be done!

But what, that's the question? Saying that you'll simply eat less and excercise more: well, we've all done that and it doesn't always work out so well, does it? No, what we need is a plan, some help to get us to our desired weight.

OK, so we also know that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different diets and plans out there. What we want to know is which one is the best, right?

Now, one thing that can definitely help is low glycemic carbohydrates for losing weight quickly : but we need to know more than just that. We also need to know how these can integrate into the wider plan. How are we to pick and choose from all of the different options for such plans?

Well, at the same site there's actually bucket loads of information on exactly that subject. You can compare the Medifast Diet, for example, with the Nutrisystem. Or either or both of them with Weight Watchers. And more such systems, of course. It's also worth noting that there are money off coupons for all of those different systems there as well: lose weight and save money?

So, go take a look, get yourself on the right track to losing that weight.
 

Jim Beam "The Neighbours"

Jim Beam have been forced to pull an advert after they received complaints about its nudity and stalker theme.

Jim Beam have been running an advert in Australia where two Swedish girls talk about being naked.  The commercial ends with the web address of an extended version of the ad, which shows the girls topless being watched by their neighbors.

After the web-site caused uproar, Jim Beam shut it down.  It's unclear whether the less salacious TV commercial will also be pulled.

Other ads in the series include The Girlfriend, The Tragedy, The Stalker, The Party

Raunchy Jim Beam ad under fire
Food Week, Australia
A television and internet advertisement for Jim Beam with topless Swedish sunbathers being stalked by peeping toms has prompted an outcry over the liquor ...

Jim Beam Shuts Down 'Racy' Website
The Shout - Hotel, Bar, Club & Liquor Industry News, Australia
Jim Beam has closed the online component of its latest media campaign in response to accusations of inappropriate advertising. ...

Spirits giant backs down over 'salacious' website
The Age, Australia
JIM Beam has been forced to shut down a salacious website featuring naked Swedish sunbathers after The Age revealed the advertising campaign had outraged ...

Dowd's Spirits Notebook: Some Jim Beam ads creep out Aussies
Some Jim Beam ads creep out Aussies. Jim Beam may be the image of perfect respectability in the U.S., but its Australian ads are downright creepy. ...

'Stalker' whisky ad on the rocks? - Sport - BrisbaneTimes ...
Outrage over alcohol ad campaign featuring topless Swedish sunbathers and peeping toms. - Brisbane Times. ... A screen shot of the new Jim Beam online ad. ...

'Stalking' whiskey ad prompts outrage | watoday.com.au
Outraged health groups will lodge formal complaints about the Jim Beam ... complaints against the ad, claiming it trivialises the criminal act of stalking, ...

'Stalking' whiskey ad prompts outrage
Outraged health groups will lodge formal complaints about the Jim Beam ... includes TV and internet ads showing two blondes in G-strings applying sunscreen, ...

Red Savina Pepper

Red Savina peppers: I wonder just how hot they are:

A Chicago tavern said on Thursday it will begin selling chicken wings coated in one of the world's hottest peppers -- a dish so hot that patrons first have to sign a waiver agreeing not to sue for injuries.    

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap said the wings made with Red Savina pepper will be served with an alarm bell for patrons to summon waiters with sour cream, milk sugar and white bread if things get out of hand.

   

Levy Restaurants, which owns the tavern, said its chef d'Cuisine Robin Rosenberg had been working on the concept for years but was never sure he'd be able to serve it.

Anyone know how high Red Savina's score on the Scoville Scale? Ah, as ever, Wikipedia has the answer. 580,000 SHU, only one pepper hotter.

Red Bull Can Kill

Well, obviously Red Bull can kill you: it's got caffeine in it:

ENERGY drinks like Red Bull can cause heart attacks and strokes by boosting blood pressure, medics warned yesterday. Doctors ordered those with heart disease or high blood pressure to avoid them completely. Just two cans a day of drinks with caffeine and taurine were shown to have an impact. They caused blood pressure to rise significantly, even in healthy people. Most energy drinks contain caffeine and taurine – an amino acid found in protein-rich foods like meat and fish thought to make people alert. Both affect heart rate but little is known about their impact on blood pressure.

The same would be true of anything containing that much caffeine cofee, tea or coke.

Your bonus trivia point for the day is that Taurene is the one amino acid that cats cannot create in their bodies: they must get it from their food. This is why they must have meat products in their diet: or if they're on a vegetarian one, it must be supplemented with taurine.

Giada De Laurentiis.

Giada De Laurentiis has announced that she is pregnant with her first child by her husband, Todd Thompson.

TV Chef Giada De Laurentiis and clothing designer Todd Thompson are expecting their first child together. Giada announced her pregnancy this morning on the Today show.

Giada and Thompson have been married since 2003, and she said everyone has been asking her when they would start a family. Giada said she is 18 weeks along with a baby girl. She added she is due the first week of April.

 

“Evert single person, every book signing I do, every public appearance, my friends, everybody telling me the same thing: ‘You know you’re getting older! You can’t have children forever!’” she said. “When I found out I was pregnant, I was in complete shock. Just shock. I truly didn’t believe it. I honestly thought, ‘there has got to be a mistake.’”

We here at the TWTE also note the photos of Giada in Esquire recently:




You can see more of the shoot here.

Hmm, a looker and can cook? Beat that Mssrs, Bourdain and co. But married since 2003? Todd, what took you so long?