Canadian Mountain Dew

I have a new Canadian coworker and I have been learning a ton about our neighbor to the north (unless you're reading this from Detroit, where Canada is your neighbor due south).

Apparently Canada used to have a law banning the sale of caffeinated clear sodas. Actually, the Canadian government didn't allow the sale of artificially-added caffeine in any foods. Therefore, only the naturally occurring caffeine in coffee, chocolate, tea, and dark-colored cola-drinks (since the kola plant has caffeine) was legal.

Many clear sodas in the United States don't have caffeine anyway - Sprite, 7-Up, Ginger Ale - so that may not seem that odd. Then you remember the most caffeinated soda is... Mountain Dew, right? Yep, Canadian Mountain Dew = caffeine-free. (!!!)

In 2002, Pepsi Co did come up with a caffeinated version, called "Dew Fuel", just for sale in Canada, but it wasn't sold as soft drink, it was marketed as "health drink". It went out of production in 2007.

Nice try.

Luckily for Canadians, the law changed in 2012, and now natural caffeine can be added to soft drinks, thus restoring Mountain Dew to its intended glory.

So if you were driving through Canada any time before 2012 and grabbed a Mountain Dew through a drive-thru or at a store, you probably didn't know that you weren't getting the caffeine you desired. Maybe all the sugar made up for it?

To read current Canadian guidelines on caffeine: click here!

How To "Tone Down" Raw Onions

Are you like me, where you love raw onions on your salads and sandwiches, but sometimes they can taste a bit too tangy?

Lifehacker posted a simple solution - one I have been using successfully! All you have to do is place your chopped onions in a strainer and pour boiling water over them. This will take away some of their intense flavor without "cooking" them, so they are still crunchy and taste like raw onions!

Which Fresh Vegetables Last The Longest?

If you're like me, you may buy fresh veggies and fruits with the best of intentions, just to forget about them and find them weeks later, rotting in the crisper drawer.

My own onions, taking matters into their own hands after being ignored for a while.

Thankfully, OrganicGardening.com compiled a list of the top 11 longest-lasting types of produce and how to keep them fresh. Here's the rundown (click on the address link to see more details and tips):

1. Apples: they can last for weeks sealed in a bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge.

2. Beets: remove the stems and they can last 2-4 months in your fridge.

3. Cabbage: they can last up to 2 months wrapped in plastic in the fridge.

4. Carrots: keep them as dry as possible by putting paper towel in their bag, and they can last several weeks to a couple of months.

5. Celeriac: as long as you keep it moist (or wrapped to preserve its own moisture) and in the fridge, it will last a couple of weeks, even after being cut.

6. Garlic: it will last the longest in a dark kitchen cabinet or in a brown paper bag in the fridge.

7. Onions: keep in a cool, dark location in a mesh bag and they can last for up to a month or longer.

8. Potatoes: they will last usually between 2-4 months in a cool, dark location, like in a basement cabinet.

9. Winter Radishes: remove the greens and store them like you would carrots and they'll last for about a month.

10. Winter Squash (Pumpkins, Butternut, etc): these can last for 2-6 months when kept in a dark place.

11. Rutabagas: store them as you would celeriac and they'll last several weeks.

Of course, as the website also recommends, you can also opt for frozen veggies, which are frozen within hours of being picked (so they are always fresh!) and will never go bad. :)

How To Chop An Onion

According to Lifehacker.com, knife accidents led to 33,000 ER visits in 2011. The following video shows how you can chop or dice an onion safely and effectively, so you save kitchen time and hopefully don't become another statistic. :)

(thanks to Debra Shigley, Lifehacker contributor and chopper extraordinaire!)

Vinegar: A Dieter's Friend?

For those of you just joining us, I am recapping some of the things I've learned this year (so far) from my favorite little magazine Reader's Digest.

Today's fact comes from April's issue in an article about their new book, The Digest Diet. It explains the health benefits of eating vinegar (their example was in a salad dressing):

[Why do salads at the beginning of meals starves off hunger?] One reason is that salads are a great source of fiber: lettuce greens, carrots, tomatoes, and the like all have plenty of this macronutrient. Fiber's effects on increasing feelings of satiety are well documented. 

The surprise here? The vinegar that comes along for the ride in salad dressing also helps you feel full. Research has shown that vinegar can lessen the glycemic effect of a meal (meaning it tends to not spike your blood sugar), which has been linked to satiety that reduces food intake. Vinegar may also prevent body-fat accumulation, according to a 2009 animal study by Japanese researchers. Mice that were fed acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, for six weeks accumulated less body fat.

Not a bad condiment! Especially paired with something with fiber, it appears.

If you don't like salad, though, snacking on pickles or pickled things can accomplish the same goal. Or there is a long list of vinegar-based recipes on homecooking.about.com if you're interested!

How Long To Cook Hard-Boiled Eggs?

Reader's Digest recently answered this question for us thankfully. Making hard-boiled eggs is one of those things that seems like it should be common knowledge, but is it? :)

From March's issue, here are their simple hard-boiled-egg cooking instructions:

1. Place eggs in a pot large enough to hold them comfortably
2. Fill the pot with water until it's about 2 inches over the eggs
3. Bring the water in the (uncovered) pot to a boil over medium-high heat
4. Remove from heat
5. Cover

Then, based on the amount of time you leave the eggs in the hot water, you'll get different levels of "boiled"ness. They offered this handy guide:

3-Minute Soft-Boiled Egg
The yolk is completely runny and barely warm; the white is still slightly liquid.

5-Minute Soft-Boiled Egg
The yolk is cooked but runny; the white is soft.

7-Minute Medium-Boiled Egg
The yolk is partially hardened; the white is fully cooked and almost solid.

9-Minute Hard-Boiled Egg
The yolk is firm but not too dry; the white is also firm.

11-Minute Hard-Boiled Egg
The yolk is edible but "a little chalky"; the white is firm.

Also, they recommend replacing the hot water with ice-cold water in the pot right away to prevent the yolks from having a green "skin".

Hope that helps all of you hard-boiled egg and deviled egg lovers!

Avocados Help Prevent Depression

Hey friends!  Back to the Reader's Digest facts. Doesn't time fly? ;)

Today's tidbit comes from the February 2012 issue about "Nature's Best Stress Soothers". It lists superfoods fish, dark chocolate, and black tea as food that help to lower blood pressure and relax. Then it had this to say about avocados:

The flesh of these delicious green fruits is loaded with two powerful stress fighters: potassium and monounsaturated fatty acids. Both nutrients can lower blood pressure, and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) may play a part in helping ward off depression. In a large 11-year study, the more MUFAs Spanish participants ate, the less likely they were to be depressed. Researchers think the fats may improve how the brain absorbs the mood-boosting neurotransmitter serotonin.

So scrape your avocados well when making your guacamole! Getting more of the "flesh" may be a healthy way to eat your way through rough times. :)

Other foods high in MUFAs, according to livestrong.com: olive oil, seeds, and nuts. Eat away!

Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap?

Bottled water ranges from $4-$8 per gallon, whereas tap water costs less than a penny per gallon*.  Is it worth it?

Here are some answers from John Stossel's book:

Does bottled water taste better than tap water?

ABC News ran a taste test. We put two imported waters, Evian and Iceland Spring, up against Aquafina (America's best seller), American Fare (Kmart's discount brand), Poland Spring (which is bottled in America, not Poland), and some water from a public drinking fountain in the middle of New York City. 

We asked people to rate the waters. Only one water got "bad" ratings [the most expensive one, Evian]. The water our testers liked most came from Kmart, which costs a third of what Evian costs. Aquafina ranked second... 

Tied for third were [Iceland Spring] and... drum roll... New York City tap water. In other words, reservoir water -- squeezed through the antique pipes of NYC before emerging from a water fountain in Harlem -- tastes as good as expensive imports. Even people who told us that they didn't like tap water did like it, when they didn't know it was tap water.

Is bottled water more "pure" than tap water?

Many people believe that bottled water is cleaner. So we sent bottled and tap water samples to microbiologist Aaron Margolin, of the University of New Hamsphire, to test for bacteria, like E. Coli, that can make you sick. "No difference", he said. 

Some people worry more about traces of chemicals in water, like chlorine, lead, chromium, copper, and iron. It's possible that you will ingest more of these from some tap waters than bottled, but trace amounts of chemicals are not only harmless, they may even be helpful; that's why iron, copper, and chromium are in vitamin pills.

There are some counties where the tap water is not as safe or tasty as bottled water, but it appears that in the majority of America, you can save money (and trash) by just drinking out of the tap.

To further this point, I recently went to a wedding in Indiana where they served Absopure bottled water. As it turned out, it had been bottled (and "purified"?) from the municipal water in Plymouth, Michigan. Municipal water is city water!  I suppose Plymouth's tap water is tasty enough for these customers!

*Tap water rate for Ann Arbor, MI.

What's Broasting?

Maybe you've seen prepared "broasted chicken" at the grocery store and wondered (as I have) what it is, and how it's different than roasted or fried chicken.

Broasting is actually a very special (and trademarked) method of preparing chicken, meats, and fish with a specific marinate, breading, and spices, and then pressure frying it. It's (basically) a quicker and less greasy way of frying that makes the food crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

How come we don't hear of more people broasting? Well, it's only available for commercial use.  So you can grab a broasted whole chicken from your local grocer, or a leg from a fast food restaurant, but unfortunately you can't do this method at home.

Read more about this interesting cooking method at the Broaster Company website: broaster.com.

Side fact: L.A.M. Phelan, the inventor of the Broaster pressure fryer, also invented the the first automatic gasoline pump, the first automatic toilet, and the first automatic commercial refrigerator. We owe him a lot! :)

Keep Colored Clothing From Fading

Yet again, Reader's Digest has come up with an easy solution to our random everyday problems:

That new cherry-red shirt you just purchased is fantastic, but just think how faded the color will look after the shirt has been washed a few times. Add a teaspoon of pepper to the wash load. Pepper keeps bright colors bright and prevents them from running too.

It's worth a try, I'd say. Click on the link above for other pepper tips!

What Are Baby Corn And Baby Carrots?

While making stir-fry the other day, I got a little curious about what I was eating. As it turns out, both baby corn and baby carrots have very appropriate names! They are baby-versions of the full-grown vegetables of the same names. Read on for more information:

Baby Corn:

Baby corn is cereal grain taken from corn (maize) harvested early while the ears are very small and immature. Baby corn ears are hand-picked from the branches as soon as the corn silks emerge from the ear tips, or a few days after. Baby corn typically is eaten whole, cob included, in contrast to mature corn, whose cob is considered too tough for human consumption.

Baby Carrots:

A "true" baby carrot is a carrot grown to the "baby stage", which is to say long before the root reaches its mature size. The test is that you can see a proper "shoulder" on each carrot. They are also sometimes harvested simply as the result of crop thinning, but are also grown to this size as a specialty crop.

"Manufactured" baby carrots, or cut and peel (what you see most often in the shops) are carrot-shaped slices of peeled carrots invented in the late 1980s by Mike Yurosek, a California farmer, as a way of making use of carrots which are too twisted or knobbly for sale as full-size carrots.

[sources: wikipedia & the carrot museum]

Coffee Explained!

Nice quick info on my new favorite drink!

:)

Split An Apple With Your Bare Hands!

Lifehacker Lessons, #2

Topic:

"How to Split an Apple Without a Knife"

(from 5/23/11)

Summary:

The title says it all! You not only can do this to share an apple in a pinch, but also to impress your friends. :)

From Lifehacker:

Food Facts

Sometimes you learn things just from reading the kiddie menu at a restaurant. These "fun facts" come to you via Monical's Pizza Restaurant:

1. In 1990, Bill Carson of Arrington, TN, grew the largest watermelon at 262 pounds.

2. In the United States, a pound of potato chips costs 200 times more than a pound of potatoes.

3. Honey is the only edible food for humans that will never go bad.

4. An apple is made of 25% air, which is why it floats.

5. Chewing gum while cutting onions can help a person not produce tears.

6. Strawberries have more vitamin C than oranges.

7. The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley chewing gum!

Thanks, Monical's!

Happy Birthday Dr Pepper!

Today marks the 125th birthday of my favorite soda-pop, Dr Pepper!

Here are some fun facts:

• Charles Alderton, the inventor, first served the drink to the owner of Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. Customers soon caught wind of the tasty drink and started ordering "Waco"s.
• Early on, Dr Pepper was marketed as an energy booster and brain tonic (I know it works like that for me!).
• Dr Pepper is the oldest major soft drink brand still in existence (a year older than Coca-Cola).
• Some interesting Dr Pepper US slogans have been: "King of Beverages" (1889-1914), "America's Most Misunderstood Soft Drink" (1960s), "The Most Original Soft Drink Ever" (1970s), "Dr Pepper, It Makes The World Taste Better" (2000).
• Since 2002, Dr Pepper has been advertised in Europe with the tagline, "Solves All Your Problems!" (I can't argue that!).
• It has been long rumored that one of the ingredients in Dr Pepper is prune juice, but the Dr Pepper Snapple Group claims that's just an urban legend.
• There is a Dr Pepper museum in Waco, Texas, complete with 3 floors of exhibits!
• Apparently, there is a huge group of people who love to drink their Dr Pepper hot.

I wish I could list out the unique blend of 23 flavors that Dr Pepper consists of, but I suppose that's proprietary (and don't read the label, it only says vaguely "natural and artificial flavors"). When I drink it next time, I'll try to figure out each one by taste. :) In the meantime, if you want to read about one writer's experience guessing, click here.

Yay for Dr Pepper!

[Sources: Wikipedia & DrPepper.com]

Pumpkin Pie!

I found out a random series of facts via my friend Mike, which he heard via the "Pumpkin Pie" episode of Good Eats:

Here's Mike's direct quote:

Pumpkins are a great source of Beta Carotene. Beta Carotene is what your body turns to Vitamin A. Speaking of Vitamin A, a polar bear's liver has enough Vitamin A to kill youuuu.

So there you go. :) Thanks Mike!

What Is Food Coloring Made Of?

Colorful Foods Day 5

Q. What is natural food coloring made of?

A. Well...

Red: Cochineal beetles, Beets, Paprika

Orange: Achiote blossom seeds

Yellow: Saffron stems & flowers

Green: Chlorophyll from algae, Pandan plant

Blue: Elderberry juice, Butterfly pea flowers

Brown: Caramelized sugar

Yum. :) Although most of the common things we eat are made from artificial food coloring... which is a subject for some other day!

[source]

Red Wine From Purple Grapes?

Colorful Foods Day 4

Q. Why do the same color grapes produce red wine but purple grape juice?

A. Yes, both are made with a combination of red, purple, and black grapes, but...

As I understand it, for red wine, the grape skins, stems, and seeds are all used. In the skins and seeds of red grapes are compounds called Tannins, which release a red color during the fermenting process. Tannins can also be released from the barrels used to store the aging wine, which can add a bit more redness, too.

Grape juice, however, is mashed and strained, and therefore contains mostly just the juice. Without the extra tannins from the skins, etc, and the barrels, the color ends up more as a blending of the natural grape-color. Plus, most commercial grape juice is made from Concord grapes, which tend to be more bluish-purple in color anyway.

That's my best guess at least. :) I have a very limited wine knowledge, so if you know other reasons, please comment!

[source]

What Makes Dirty Rice Brown?

Colorful Foods Day 3

Q. What makes the traditional Cajun side "Dirty Rice" brown?

A. Chicken liver and giblets.

Think I was going to say some sort of spice? :) That's what I thought! The rice starts as white rice, but after it's cooked with some small pieces of chicken liver and giblets, it becomes its more distinctive "dirty" color.

[source]

Why Is Red Velvet Cake Red?

Colorful Foods Day 2

A. What makes Red Velvet Cake red?

B. Food coloring and sometimes beetroot.

Originally, some of the reddish color may have occurred naturally. One of the ingredients in the cake is cocoa. Cocoa possesses a natural pigment called Anthocyanin, which can appear red or purplish. In early red velvet cake recipes, before the cocoa was more thoroughly pre-processed, bakers may have seen the red pigment come out when mixed with vinegar, baking soda, or buttermilk (again because of chemical reactions). Regardless, most ended up adding some sort of food coloring anyway!

[source]