Single Serve Coffee Website

I recently found this website devoted to all things that coffee drinkers who own single serve makers would enjoy. It bills itself as "the one cup cofee lovers website" and has reviews of all coffees, teas and cocoas that come in single serve containers. We own a Keurig but my uncle owns a Nespresso which takes their own unique pods. Singleservecoffee.com reviews K cups and pods for the leading coffee makers and actually rates coffee based on aroms, acidity, body, flavor and mouth feel. For example, a new K Cup by VanHoutte Coffee, Raspberry Chocolate Truffle scored quite well in those mentioned areas. It scored 10 in aroma, 9 in acidity, 10 in body, 10 in flavor, and a 9 in mouth feel, totalling a 98. This would be a highly recommended K Cup for those who like flavored coffee. I found this site to be well written, informative and very visual. It is a treasure trove for those who own or perhaps use at work single serve coffee makers. Its url is : http://singleservecoffee.com/

 Photo of stacked K-Cup Boxes by Kyle Karlin

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Posted in: Coffee,Kyle

Burger King's biggest item yet & Japan as its ironic first customer

(Ignore the current no.1 cause for a heart attack on your left) To begin with, when you're asked to think about the biggest burger a fast food restaurant has to offer, what comes to your mind? A whopper? A big mac? Maybe you imagine something ridiculous, something like stacking two whoppers on top of each other. Crazy? Well Burger King is taking the cake on this one with their introduction of Meat Monster -- which doesn't really sound too great but (seriously) does justice for its name.

So what is it?

Meat Monster (ˈmētˈmän(t)-stər) n., The best burger in the world *ahem* An invention created by Burger King that may be composed of 2x whopper patties, 2x slice of cheese, 3x slice of bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, IN ADDITION TO a grilled chicken breast.

Unfortunately, it is only in Japan but it's no mystery to the world as to how much it is packing and at 1,160 calories per serving, you wonder, "WHY JAPAN?!" Actually, you might not wonder why. But you should if you take a look at their society. On one hand, for those who do watch a lot of Japanese media, you pick up on the idea that there's always a convenience store nearby -- that's true. You also pick up that a lot of people, at least for the majority, are skinny. On the other hand, let's face it. We, as Americans, are helped with the biggest servings in comparison to the rest of the world -- probably.

So why is it ironic? Calorielab provides coverage as to why Japan is so "skinny:"

• Peer pressure. Japanese society is largely based on how one fits comfortably and unabrasively into society, way more so than most Western societies. There is a huge amount of peer pressure to conform, and the pressure on women in particular to stay slim is tremendous.
• More unplanned movement. Usually people who live in Japan, especially the urban and suburban areas, just have to move a lot more. Cars aren’t practical at all except for longer trips, so almost everyone commutes by public transportation. That’s not to say there aren’t any gyms and such (there are, tons of them) but people just naturally get more exercise than in a typical American city.
• Portions are way smaller. This is true in general, despite recent supersizing trends. There are Mega-Burgers and Extreme Meals and all of that, but the average portion sizes are still quite a bit smaller than in the U.S.

Their coverage is actually quite lengthy and provides a good insight as to the differences between America's and Japan's habits in regards to weight and food. Now do you know why it is ironic? While we're ordering a medium which is probably their large, Burger King just introduced the most heart throbbing burger in Japan.

...Heck, maybe I'm just exclaiming my disappointment in not being able to experience it first. *Sigh*

\\via CalorieLab, via Food in the News

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Posted in: Fast Food,Ken

Homemade spices or prepackaged?

For those who love cooking, there will always be a conflict that they may find themselves pondering over: to use homemade spices/flavoring or to use premixed spices?

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Posted in: Flavor,Herb

Food Facts: Disturbing truths about what you eat

I thought I would change it up a little bit. So instead of the usual recent news about food, I figure i'll fill your heads with some mind blowing trivia about food.

So, here I present some factoids about food that will probably make you think about taking that next bite:

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Posted in: Food Facts,Herb

Maybe I'll rethink how much sodium I eat.

Ever since my grandfather has been on a low sodium diet, I've been reading food labels religiously. It's been very difficult finding food that is low sodium and has some semblance of taste. I'm told going low sodium is an acquired taste but it's something I'm not looking forward to. I've always wanted to know what level is considered low sodium and what products were rated well in many food categories that were low sodium. I did some research and found some great websites. Food that is low sodium has 5 percent of the total sodium count for the day and 100 mg or less per serving is recommended. Any foods with more than 480 mg per serving is not recommended. The other website showed a comparison of fast food restaurants and their foods by category in calories, sodium, fat and carbs. What I found was not surprising. As an example: McDonald's 6 piece chicken nuggets - 250 calories, 670 sodium, Wendy's 5 piece chicken nuggets - 230 calories, 520 mg sodium. Both would be unacceptable. The websites are: http://www.lowsaltfoods.com/ and http://www.acaloriecounter.com/fast-foods.php

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Posted in: Food,Health,Kyle

Food in the Gulf of Mexico?

The thought of food in the Gulf of Mexico would probably fuel certain thoughts ranging from BP's oil spill to the probably devastated seabed. As such, has anyone ever come across the thought of whether or not the locals, that may or may not be dependent on seafood, are able to actually eat what is caught in the gulf? Wait a minute, everything that thrives in that large body of water is dead...Right?

Wrong.

Although humans are able to significantly change the environment in both good and bad terms, the ecosystem's strength is sometimes underestimated. As such, the perfect example would be the status of the Gulf of Mexico, and the associated local seafood businesses, following BP's oil spill. Justine Sterling of Food in the News, a blog affiliated with MSN, provides coverage of local restaurants and how they're doing as of now:

Ralph Brennan, owner of the New Orleans Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, testified before the Congressional Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection after the spill. He asserted that, "The environmental, economic and societal impact cannot be underestimated, minimized or abandoned." He has personally been working with his restaurants to support the industry and has seen good things come of it.

"After the spill, I mandated each of our chefs add more Gulf seafood to the menu," Brennan told us in an email. Brennan's restaurant, Red Fish Grill, has purchased over 102,000 pounds of Gulf seafood since the spill. He is absolutely certain that the seafood is safe to consume. "Every single test has shown that Gulf seafood is safe to consume," he said. "Today 99 percent of Louisiana waters are open for fishing and our restaurant traffic is up over the same time period last year."

But the coverage also provides insight on how the general population perceives the seafood coming from the Gulf. As such, there are still speculations as to the safety of the food and that's an issue affecting many seafood businesses. Throughout all the testings that state that the food are safe, in addition to the opened waters for fishing that implies the safety of the seafood caught, the public is still not persuaded.

In the end, science tells us it's safe but public opinion still falters and we hope to one day relinquish such fears from both the locals and to the people who provide demand for the exportation of the Gulf's seafood.

Via Food In the News
Photo provided by Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog

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Posted in: Food,Health,Ken

Glowing Meat?

In recent news, a certain shanghai resident has discovered to her dismay that there was an ominous glow coming from her kitchen. When she went to investigate it, she found that it was her slab of pork.

No, this wasn't a case of radioactive meat. When she had bought it, it was just your average slab of meat from your average market (though how average a Shanghai meat market is can be debated). The slab of pork was left out on the kitchen table. Why is this fact important? Because it has been scientifically proven that meat, if stored in conditions that would make a porter-potty seem sanitary, can sometimes cause it to glow. What is the reason for this? Jason Best at Slashfood.com quotes in his article

" writers of Meat Hygiene name the likely culprit: phosphorescent bacteria, such as Pseudomonas cyanagenus, which can cause contaminated meat to appear "as if it were studded with stars."

Can you still eat? Maybe. Should you eat it? No. Can you tell time from meat? Only if you use it to  read your watch.

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Posted in: Bizzarre,Herb