Archive Category: Food & Drinks

The Glamorous Ads and the Sad Reality of Food

Posted by Alex in Advertising, Food & Drinks, Pictures on March 27, 2008 at 12:53 am

Talkin’ bout fast food, German website Pundo3000 has a large list of photographs of fast food, snacks, canned goods, instant noodles and other
food as depicted in advertising as compared to real life.

You can see that "food stylists" really do earn their money! Link - via AQFL

Previously on Neatorama: Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality | Secrets of Food Stylists

 
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Do Free-Range Eggs Taste Better?

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 24, 2008 at 7:49 pm

Carl Huber of theWAREHOUSE blog talked to a chicken farmer who was selling organic (though not "certified organic" - apparently, getting certified is an expensive process), free-range eggs in a farmer’s market. Naturally, the guy was touting all of the benefits of his eggs as compared to regular eggs from the grocery store.

So Carl did the next logical step: he performed a scientific test to compare the two.

We each had half of each egg. The tastes were totally different! I honestly did not think there would be much of a difference, especially since I don’t have the world’s most developed sense of taste, but in a side by side comparison: there is no comparison. The grocery store brand seemed watered down, flimsy and pale. The robust taste of the public market eggs was immediately noticeable. I really thought it might be something only noticeable by, say, testing nutrient levels in a lab. But everyone involved in the taste test (er, my wife and I) clearly preferred the public market eggs.

I’d never have guessed that free range eggs are yummier than supermarket eggs. Maybe it’s time to give ‘em a try: Link - Thanks Carl!

BTW, theWAREHOUSE blog is running a "fan sign" contest. You can win a prize simply by taking a picture of yourself holding a sign that says "I love theWAREHOUSE" and emailing it to him. Details here: Link - Sorry this didn’t get posted before Carl, I got a little swamped!

 
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Sex Sell Mushrooms? Fungtastic!

Posted by Alex in Advertising, Food & Drinks, Pictures on March 23, 2008 at 5:40 pm


Photo: simonclare [Flickr]

We all know the old advertising adage of "sex sells," but this strange juxtaposition of a scantily clothed woman (with a scary facial expression, IMHO) next to a can of sliced mushroom brings only one thought to my mind: "huh?"

Via AdRants

 
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M&M Propaganda Ad

Posted by Alex in Advertising, Food & Drinks, Pictures on March 23, 2008 at 5:30 pm

I <3 this cheeky communist propaganda-style M&M ad! It’s designed by Clemenger BBDO ad agency in Melbourne, Australia. Link

 
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Edible Birds Nests

Posted by Robert Birming in Food & Drinks on March 21, 2008 at 2:04 am

Feel like trying a different approach with your Easter eggs this year? How about a portion of chocolate bird nests?

Over at Angry Chicken you will find the recipe for this delicacy made from shredded wheat and milk chocolate.

Link - via Craftzine

 
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The Ball Inside the Guinness Can

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 20, 2008 at 5:55 am

What’s that ball doing in your can of Guinness? Well, Tory of Hobson’s Choice blog found out the answer:

Basically, the small plastic ball is called a widget. The purpose of the widget is to release CO2 from some of the beer in the can to create the head. It is meant to mimic the texture and head of Guinness on tap.

Mystery solved! Link | Longer explanation at How Stuff Works - Thanks Tory!

 
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The Silent Smoke Detector Sprays Wasabi in the Air

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Gadget, Home & Garden on March 18, 2008 at 6:13 pm

If you’ve ever eaten sushi, then you’ll know that a little dab of wasabi (or Japanese horseradish) goes a looooong way.

Now, a company in Japan has created a prototype silent smoke alarm for people with hearing disabilities. It sprays a mist of wasabi essence (from spray can wasabi!) into the air.

The pungent smell succeeded in waking up 13 out of 14 test subjects within 2 minutes. One deaf subject woke up in a mere 10 seconds.

Link (with embedded LiveLeak videos) - via Spluch

 
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The Booze Test: Do You Know Your Liquor?

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 18, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Not being a big drinker and all (I can count with my one hand how many alcoholic drinks I’ve had last year), I was surprised that I scored pretty darn high on The Booze Test.

If you can tell your vodka from your gin, then you’ll ace this web test for sure! Link - via Aramax

 
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Beer Flags

Posted by Alex in Advertising, Food & Drinks, Pictures on March 16, 2008 at 6:53 pm


Belgium Beer Flag


Brazil Beer Flag


Japanese Beer Flag

Arnold Worldwide ad agency created this cheeky "A World of Beer" flag ads for Sunset Grill and Tap in Allston, Boston - via Ads of the World

 
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Mike Huckabee’s Squirrel Recipe

Posted by John in Everything Else, Food & Drinks on March 16, 2008 at 5:42 pm

[Video Link]
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee told reporters that when he was in college, he and his friends used to cook squirrels in a popcorn popper — because that was the only appliance they were allowed to use. Slate V’s Samantha Henig headed to Central Park intent on discovering whether or not one really could cook a squirrel successfully in a popcorn popper.

That’s right. At Neatorama, we do more than just entertain you. We provide you with practical skills that you can use in your day-to-day life.

Video runtime: 2 minutes, 49 seconds.  Preceded by 30 second commercial.

 
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Snake Juice

Posted by Miss Cellania in Animal, Food & Drinks, Pictures on March 16, 2008 at 12:26 pm

snakejuice

Peter Kelly reponded to the post about rattlesnake vodka with this photograph he took in Vietnam. The caption reads

These are artistically arranges snakes in bottles of liquor. People drink this. Really.

Link -Thanks, Peter!

 
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Trivia: Oklahoma Declared Watermelon as its Official State … Vegetable!

Posted by Alex in Daily Trivia, Food & Drinks on March 14, 2008 at 4:33 am

In 2007, Oklahoma made watermelon its official state vegetable.

Yes, you read that right: on April 17, 2007, the Oklahoma State Senate passed a bill declaring that not only is watermelon a vegetable (related to cucumbers, they said), it’s also the state’s official vegetable. (Source)

Other states have official vegetables are:

Arkansas - South Arkansas vine ripe tomato
Georgia - Vidalia sweet onion

Idaho - potato (what else?)
Louisiana - sweet potato
New Mexico - chile and pinto bean
North Carolina - sweet potato
Texas - sweet onion
Utah - Spanish sweet onion
Washington - Walla Walla sweet onion

 
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To Eat or Not to Eat

Posted by Miss Cellania in Food & Drinks on March 13, 2008 at 11:57 am

150_chocolateWe read the latest research on our favorite foods, and the findings are often contradictory over time. First, this is good for you, then it’s bad for you, then good again. The truth is, most foods are fine in moderation. This article gives both the good and the bad news about some of your favorites: chocolate, coffee, eggs, beer, and more. Link -via Digg

 
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Cooking with Coolio!

Posted by Adam Stanhope in Food & Drinks, Music, Video Clips on March 12, 2008 at 7:30 pm


Like me, you may start each day with the burning question: What ever happened to Coolio? What ever happened to Coolio, indeed. Would you believe that today in 2008 he is the host of his own web-based cooking show, Cooking with Coolio? Well - believe it! In the episode embedded here Coolio teaches his fans how to cook Coolio Caprese Salad. Shaka Zulu!

 
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French Restaurant Found a Tax Loophole by Serving Alcohol in Baby Bottles

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 12, 2008 at 12:52 am

That’s not grape juice … that’s wine served in baby bottles in a restaurant called Le Refuge des Fondues in Paris, France.

Ashley Thompson of Intelligent Travel blog tells us why:

Disgruntled servers and fondue restaurants are all over Paris, we know, but this is the only place that offers up some of the lowest-end table wine served in baby bottles. It seems that Le Refuge des Fondues found a clever little shortcut to getting around the mandated tax Parisian restaurants face when serving wine out of the slightly more traditional stemmed glass.

There’s an added benefit:

You know how drinking any sort of alcoholic beverage from a straw sometimes seems to hit you much harder? That same logic applies to drinking wine from a nipple.

Link (Photo: Jay McMillan) - Thanks Marilyn!

 
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New Yorkers in search of “poo-phoria”

Posted by Adam Stanhope in Food & Drinks, Medicine, Travel & Places, Video Clips on March 11, 2008 at 9:19 pm


Salon.com just posted an article about bowel movements and health with special attention given to a new book, “What’s Your Poo Telling You?” The article is accompanied by the video above featuring on the street interviews with people in New York’s Union Square revealing their scatological secrets. This reminded me of one of my favorite Wikipedia discoveries - The Bristol Stool Scale, a helpful visual guide to categorizing your own stools. Enjoy!

 
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Eating Sushi Off of a Naked Body

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 11, 2008 at 8:28 pm

Recently, the Temple Restaurant and Bar in Minneapolis had a … um, cultural night. Yeah, that’s it: They brought the Japanese practice of eating sushi off of a naked body to the heartland of America:

The history of eating sushi off of a person ("nyotaimori" and "nantaimori" mean "female body presentation" and "male body presentation" respectively) is a bit enigmatic, and tracking down the origins of the practice is difficult. Sources differ about whether it is a longstanding tradition among geisha or whether it is a relatively recent phenomenon owed to the yakuza.

There were four models, two males and two females - and you can guess which ones were more popular:

Though the practice seems a more artistic than sensual one, there are exceptions. Two men approach a model whose sushi stocks have recently been depleted. "Oh no!" one says, never taking his eyes off Tuesdee. "There’s no more food!" But he lingers. "C’mon," his buddy says. "Let’s get more sake." I hear another man’s girlfriend ask him, "are we going to keep going back to the same girl?"

Link: Article by Jeff Shaw in City Pages | Gallery of photos by James Tran (SFW) - Thanks Jeff!

 
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Ass Burger!

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Pictures on March 11, 2008 at 8:25 pm

Neatorama reader Laura McDougall sent us this funny photo of a convenience store outside of the Village Vacances Valcatier in Quebec that also serves food. The "ass" is short for "assiette" which means "plate" or "assortment plate". Thanks Laura!

 
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Insect Candies and Cuisines

Posted by Alex in Animal, Food & Drinks, Video Clips on March 11, 2008 at 8:25 pm

Larry Peterman’s candy shop Hotlix in Pismo Beach has been making yummy (and crunchy) treats for over 20 years. Their lollipops are also nutritious but a little gross … because they have worms and insects embedded in ‘em.

Here’s a neat documentary from National Geographic about etymophagy entomophagy, the art of eating bugs: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - Thanks Christophe!

 
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Maple Bacon Lollipop

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 11, 2008 at 8:24 pm

If cricket lollipop is too much for you, then perhaps this is more suitable: maple-bacon lollipops ("The least kosher lollipop in the history of candy") by Lollyphile:

While we admit that it’s pretty far from the norm (it’s definitely not kosher!), once you make that initial leap of faith and try it out, we’re positive that you’ll love it. The salty chunks of bacon make a delicious and unique counterpoint to the subtle sweetness of the maple, and oh, yeah- you’ll be eating an oh-my-god bacon lollipop!

A perfect gift for the sweet-toothed pork aficianado in your life.

Mmmm… bacon. Is there anything it can’t do? Link - Thanks Jason!

 
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Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers in Sushi

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Food & Drinks on March 11, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Master sushi chef Ken Kawasumi (author of the sushi bible "The Encyclopedia of Sushi Rolls") created a replica of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers made entirely of sushi!

Link - via Spluch, thanks Geekazoid!

 
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Asteroids Birthday Cake

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Toy & Video Games on March 11, 2008 at 12:18 am

When he was growing up, Kirk Demarais of Secret Fun Blog always had the funnest birthday cakes. His mom is quite talented when it comes to baking and decorating cakes.

Kirk shares with the world the fantastic cake his mom made for the first 14 birthdays he had. I quite like the low-key, yet so deliciously retro (well, now - I suppose at the time it was pretty modern) Asteroids birthday cake above.

Link

 
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Ice Cube Shaped Like a Guitar

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Gadget, Home & Garden, Music on March 10, 2008 at 6:32 pm

The cool factor is pretty high on this one: Cool Jazz guitar-shaped ice that doubles as a stirrer.

The silicone ice tray makes 3 ice guitars and costs $8.

Link - via clusterflock

 
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Pickle Sickle

Posted by Miss Cellania in Food & Drinks on March 10, 2008 at 4:35 pm

pickle

It’s just what you might think from the name -pickle juice in a popsicle! John Howard, a roller rink owner in Seguin, Texas, found that his frozen pickle juice treats were very popular with kids, so he started his own company to sell them nationwide. Have you ever tried one? Link -via Slashfood

 
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British Cuisine Becoming Extinct

Posted by John in Everything Else, Food & Drinks on March 9, 2008 at 5:53 am

Spotted DickTraditional British cuisine is becoming increasingly rare in British households:

The survey by Tesco found that only five per cent of 18-40-year-olds had cooked a spotted dick, compared to 14 per cent of 41-55-year-olds.Simlarly, six per cent of the younger group had made a Beef Wellington compared to 15 per cent of the over-40s.

Tesco claims that the five above dishes - as well as coronation chicken, sherry trifle and Lancashire hot pot - are prepared so infrequently that they could disappear completely by 2021.

Foreign dishes, however, are thriving. For instance, 71 per cent and 62 per cent of under-40s had made spaghetti bolognese or curry, respectively.

Picture via Flickr user tednmiki.

Link via Ace of Spades HQ

 
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Coleslaw Wrestling

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Sports on March 7, 2008 at 2:36 am

Yay for Florida! The annual Daytona’s Bike Week in the Sunshine State came complete with … coleslaw wrestling!

The First-Ever Sopotnik’s Cabbage Patch Slaw Wrestling Tournament, held in Samsula on Wednesday before a crowd of 1,000 people displaying more than 5,000 tattoos, was not without its surprises.

Like when three contestants - all large, mean-looking women covered with equal parts coleslaw and sweat and a dab of blood here and there for effect - grabbed one of the judges, dragged him into the wrestling pit, ripped off his britches and waved his underwear in the air.

Here’s a neat report by the Orlando Sentinel: Link | Photo Gallery (Photo: Jacob Langston)

 
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Skeletal Bones Wedding Cake

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Food & Drinks, Pictures on March 5, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Jodie Carey created this fearsome looking "bone" wedding cake out of plaster, steel, wire, and sugarpaste icing. Link | Her homepage - via Who Killed Bambi?

 
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Yoda Cake Awesome It Is

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Movies & SciFi on March 5, 2008 at 5:12 pm

The Force is strong with Sandra of Socake blog. Here’s how she made the Yoda birthday cake:

I wrote the birthday message on the cake board the way Yoda would speek…."30 you are" but If I had more room I would have written "Happy Birthday you must have" (I forgot to take a photo after I added the writing)

Link (with a build log, of course) - via Star Wars Blog

 
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Ordering Wine à La Minority Report

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 5, 2008 at 12:10 am

If y’all remember the ill-fated Arby’s self-service touchscreen ordering, here’s something like it, but for expensive wine.

Andrew Blum of Wired Magazine writes about a trip to Adour, a restaurant at New York’s St. Regis Hotel where ordering a glass of wine is like something out of Minority Report:

Choose a type and a bottle — hand and finger movements reveal its details (grape, origin, tasting notes, cost). The info unfolds with an animated flourish out of a flower icon; think Minority Report meets Sideways. Behind the alcohol-enabling magic is a lot of technology: Cameras and object-recognition software track your hand gestures — and ignore stuff like glassware — following the motion with a trail of projected white pixel dust. And all that vino data stays safe on a dedicated Web server.

Link - via AndrewBlum.net

 
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The Lady’s Brunch Burger

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on March 5, 2008 at 12:05 am

We posted a tip on how to lose weight by eating breakfast before on Neatorama, but I think it’s safe to say that if you eat this, then all bets are off.

Behold the Lady’s Brunch Burger by none other than Paula Deen of Paula’s Home Cooking at the Food Network TV channel. And yes, that’s a meat patty, egg, and bacon in between glazed donuts.

Link | Recipe - Thanks raphael!

 
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