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SandeeA. is nothing if not an inventive cook. We’ve previously featured her use of a banana peel as a jello mold. Now she’s figured out a way to make a yeast bread in the shape of adorable little teddy bears. She informs us that the eyes and mouths were made with an edible ink pen, which can be easily found in pastry supply stores.
Link (Google Translate) -via Tasteologie
Next Father’s Day, don’t get Pop a tie. He’s got a closet full of them anyway. Make him a tie sandwich! Adrian Fiorino of Insanewiches invented a tie-shaped steak sandwich. He has an instructional video at the link.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!
These Apple-themed cake pops will be part of the Steve Jobs Inspired Cake Shop, a fundraiser in London next Wednesday for the organization Pancreatic Cancer UK. It’s part of series of events called Internet Week Europe. Oh yes, they’ll have candied apples, too! Find out more at Cakehead Loves Evil. Link
Designer Elsa Lambinet created this brilliant idea for chocolate flavoring mix and match sessions. You can put whatever you want in the middle and then put anything in the little center hole and experiment with all the flavor combinations you can possibly handle. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d love to go to a tasting party for these things.
Link Via Laughing Squid
If you love Jell-O and Harry Potter, these might just be the ultimate adult party treat. The recipe sounds delicious, as it includes amaretto, vanilla ice cream, Bailey’s and chocolate liquor. If that’s not enough for you, they also have a link to a butter beer Jell-O shot recipe with cream soda and butterscotch schnapps.
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Now this is super-sizing! Behold the Pizza-Size Burger from Burger King of Japan:
Wide is what you get with Burger King Japan's 8.8 inch (22cm) diameter Pizza-Size Burger. Note that only the buns are extra-wide, in between are four regular Whopper-sized beef patties arranged in a four-leaf-clover pattern. The fillings and toppings are also normally sized but at least they're provided in abundance.
Well, they ain't the world's largest bra but these buns from Danish baker Kohberg are doing their part in fighting breast cancer. Part of the profit from the sale of bread with this clever package design by Envision go to benefit The Danish Cancer Society.
Link - via Inspire Me Now
A group of artists and game designers, plus a teenage apprentice, built a one-of-a-kind video game for a restaurant in Eugene, Oregon called Off The Waffle. The tale of how it was born all hinged on the sign at the Orian brothers’ restaurant that says, “We Barter.”
Richard Hofmeier saw the sign a little over a year ago when he first visited the restaurant, then located in the Orian brothers’ home in Eugene’s funky Whiteaker neighborhood. Hofmeier wondered if the Orians would be interested in anything he had or could make.
Hofmeier, 28, was constantly bringing projects back to his Eugene gallery, Ink Thirsty, and the cast of characters who worked or hung out there. They’d done video games before – if there’s a hulking lump under a drop cloth at Hofmeier’s place, that’s probably an arcade cabinet. This time he had a wild idea for the guys.
‘Let’s make a video game and see if we can get free waffles for life.’
Did they succeed? Find out at Kotaku. Link -via Metafilter
And after you read the story, you’ll want this recipe. Link
Comments Off Did you know that hard candy is technically a glass? Dr. Richard Hartel is a professor of food engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Watch him make lemon drops and act like it’s a chemistry lesson. -via the Presurfer
Tired of all those junk food in regular ol' vending machines in their building, designer Mette Hornung Rankin of the Bureau of Betterment and Mark Jacobs of 58 Minutes decided to take matters into their own hands: by operating their very own vending machine.
Say hello to the Goodie Monster Vending Machine, which is not only packed with healthy snacks, but also dressed up in a cute monster outfit: Link - via Notcot
Previously on Neatorama: Strange and Wonderful Vending Machines
Everything’s better deep fried, right? Butter, beer, lattes — everything! Especially money.
Alex, this is how I want to get paid from now on. Maybe dust it with a bit of powdered sugar while you’re at it.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!
Mmm-mmmm. Sweet, delicious candied apples. Here, try one.
Link -via Geekosystem
Every year, the Upton family of Slindon, West Sussex, England displays their crop of gourds by arranging them to make an artwork. It’s a tradition that started by accident in the late 1960s. This picture is from 2009. You can see this year’s creation and images from other seasons at Kuriositas. Link -via the Presurfer
(Image credit: Flickr user Badly Drawn Dad)
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(Image credit: Flicker user stephanie vacher)
by Marc Abrahams, Improbable Research staff
The Ham Sandwich Theorem has been a treat and a spur to mathematicians for more than half a century. It first cropped up in a branch of mathematics called algebraic topology. The theorem describes a particular truth about certain shapes. Most published papers on the topic make a hash of explaining it to anyone who is not an algebraic topologist. But the authors of a 2001 paper called “Leftovers from the Ham Sandwich Theorem” wrapped up an important little leftover: they put the idea into clear language.
“Leftovers from the Ham Sandwich Theorem,” Graham Byrnes, Grant Cairns, and Barry Jessup, The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 108, no. 3, March 2001, pp. 246-9.
The authors are at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. The Ham Sandwich Theorem, they wrote, “rescues the careless sandwich maker by guaranteeing that it is always possible to slice the sandwich with one cut so that the ham and both slices of bread are each divided into equal halves, no matter how haphazardly the ingredients are arranged.”
For a while, most ham sandwich theorizing dealt with simple cases. A paper called “Computing a Ham-Sandwich Cut in Two Dimensions,” published in 1986, is typical.
Detail from the Edelsbrunner/Waupotitsch study “Computing a Ham-Sandwich Cut in Two Dimensions.”
“Computing a Ham-Sandwich Cut in Two Dimensions,” H. Edelsbrunner and R. Waupotitsch, Journal of Symbolic Computation, vol. 2, no. 2, June 1986, pp. 171–8.
It considered only ham sandwiches that had been flattened flatter than even the chintziest cook would dare devise. Mathematicians often do things this way, first considering the extreme cases, digesting those thoroughly, and only then moving on to more substantial versions. Indeed, the “Computing a Ham-Sandwich Cut in Two Dimensions” paper itself contains a section called “Getting Rid of Degenerate Cases”.
People did solve the mystery of slicing a thick ham sandwich. And inevitably, they developed a hunger for more substantial problems.
more …
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Where does the candy you’ll give to trick-or-treaters rank among internet users? Science writers David Ng and Ben Cohen put together a candy hierarchy lastyear and received a lot of feedback. They took those opinions into account when publishing their 2011 Candy Hierarchy. Some of the findings:
(1) That despite various lobbying efforts, clear consensus within the peer review process was wholly absent. No agreement on any specific candy was represented higher than 5% of the total comments (although status of fresh versus stale versus fruit flavored Tootsie Rolls was especially hotly debated). Indeed, consensus was only noted in the following: that last year’s hierarchy, in a word, sucked. In fact, the word “travesty” and similar synonyms were uttered more than a few times (Koerth-Baker, 2010).
(2) That with current data, Candy Corn is impossible to rank. It is liken to the “String Theory” of candy: largely theoretical nature and difficult to pin down. In the hopes of moving forward on this strange phenomenon, we are currently exploring a grant proposal that would give us time on the LHC.
(3) That this study was a great portal to science culture in general. This was demonstrated by an example of scientific plagiarism (link), as well as the prevalence of scientist bias, because despite repeated commentary on the contrary, we stubbornly stand by our evaluation of Whoppers.
Of course, the new hierarchy, published at Boing Boing, has already sparked a debate over the merits of a certain American brand of chocolate. Link
This dessert looks creepy, but it’s actually delicious cake with brain-shaped frosting and a bit of raspberry jelly for blood, all stuffed on a jar. The instructions for making your own are at Living Locurto. Link -via Everlasting Blort
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When it comes to parents on Halloween, there are those that let the kids gorge, those that parcel the candy out, and the parents who steal most of their kid’s candy. If you’re wondering which one dentists suggest, you might be surprised. They suggest it’s better to let the kids go crazy on Halloween night and then cut back their candy consumption rather than letting them eat a couple pieces every day after Halloween. Dentists warn:
Slowly snacking on Halloween candy every few hours, day after day, keeps your teeth bathed in enamel-corroding acid, the byproduct of bacteria feeding on sugar and other carbohydrates in your mouth. This leads to dental caries, or cavities.
So I guess even if you’re a candy stealer, it’s still better to steal it all in one night than stretch your thievery out.
Link Via The Mary Sue
If you still aren’t convinced that turtles are utterly adorable, then just look at this precious little guy working so hard for a few bites of delicious pumpkin pie. Is anyone else getting hungry?
Via BuzzFeed
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The skinny:
Everyone knows junk food–especially fast food–is bad for you. In recent years, restaurants and food manufacturers have been required to list nutritional information in more obvious and realistic ways (including labels for trans fat content and more conspicuous serving size info), but some say that public health regulations should go further, by imposing a “fat tax” on junk food.
The idea was first presented in 1942, by a physiologist who suggested individuals be tax per pound they were overweight. The idea has moved from individuals to groups of food, particularly those which have been shown to increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease (such as non-diet soda and foods containing high levels of saturated or trans fat). Fat taxing has moved in and out of the news over the last half century, but recently Denmark recently instituted such a program to promote public health.
Tax all the fat
Supporters argue that “revenue from a ‘fat tax’ could be used in various ways, such as financing subsidies for healthy foods or exercise equipment, funding advertising campaigns for healthy eating or in schools. Alternatively, it could form part of general government receipts. Backers also say the move would create “a potential $50 billion windfall,” and that the revenue “could help offset the estimated $147 billion cost of treating obesity-related diseases and fund programs to battle the expanding girths of Americans.”
Keep the government out of it
But opponents say it’s at the expense of low-income families. With the cost of food essentially “upside-down” in the US, with healthy foods costing more than fast or junk foods, and since “the poor spend a greater proportion of their income on food,” taxing what are now cheap and readily available foods could be a regressive move that limits the funds and available food for those already struggling to keep something on the table. Michelle Obama, who heads up an anti-obesity campaign, has argued against the fat tax. “People eat what they eat because they think it’s OK. They don’t need government telling them what to do. They just need good information and access.”
What do you think, Neatoramanauts? Is a fat tax a good idea for the US?
Sources:
The
McRib sandwich is back, and with it, the horde of cult-like fans of the
McDonald's pork sandwich.
Despite its name, the McRib sandwich actually contains no rib meat. But what exactly is it made of?
The Week explains some of the 70 ingredients of the McRib (which you may want to skip if you're a fan of the sandwich):
How many ingredients are there?
At face value, the sandwich contains just pork, onions, and pickle slices slathered in barbecue sauce and laid out on a bun. But the truth is, there are roughly 70 ingredients. The bun alone contains 34, says TIME's Melnick. In addition to chemicals like ammonium sulfate and polysorbate 80, the most egregious may be azodicarbonamide — "a flour-bleaching agent most commonly used in the manufactur[ing] of foamed plastics like gym mats the and soles of shoes." According to McDonald's own ingredient list, the bun also includes calcium sulfate and ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, among other chemicals.
Link (Photo: The Impulsive Buy/Flickr)
In America, we love cereal and eggs and bacon, but every other country has their own classic breakfast and while some seem a little strange, others, like this English breakfast look utterly delicious. Learn what 50 other places eat for breakfast over at the link.
Natural
schmnatural! Bring back the yummy goodness of artificial ingredients!
You'd think that most people would prefer their favorite food to be made from natural ingredients, but not Necco Wafers fans. When the company changed their recipe to use natural flavors and colors, the fans clamored for the return of the original, artificially enhanced candy:
Perhaps the problem for Necco, which was founded in 1847, is that, chemicals and all, many people do recognize Necco Wafers as food.
"A stronger part of our customer base is probably an older demographic," Green says. "And that's the part of it that we alienated."
He says that the all-natural shift prompted people to send stories about using the wafers to practice for communion wafers, or poker chips — even, reportedly, to fool tollbooths in Chicago.
"People were reminding us of what they grew up with," he says.
And maybe that's part of the reason people like eating them — to trigger old memories, and to eat a candy that promises neither to be a "brain food" nor an answer to life's problems. It's just a little candy wafer that's sweet, and unnaturally attractive.
NPR has the story: Link
I’m not really one for Halloween — or at least making decorations like this for a Halloween party. I mean, everyone would expect this sort of thing. To use Martha’s skull cheese platter to full effect, it should be brought out when no one expects it, such as at Easter or Grandma’s birthday party.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!
Juergen Horn found a shop in Palermo, Italy, that will “fill ‘er up” -with wine! A five-liter jug pumped full will run you €7. See more pictures and watch a video of the wine pump in action at For 91 Days. Link
You can spray a coat of gold (or silver, or red, or blue) on your food, and still eat it! Each can of this tasteless color coating will cost you €24,80, but hey, that covers shipping, too. Link -via Buzzfeed
Faster, faster! We’re at the 24-minute mark! Don’t stop; you can breathe later!
If you order a Whopper set meal, you can order as many extra Whoppers as you can eat within a 30-minute period
The Whopper is Burger King’s symbol all over the world.
Burger King ran this campaign last year as well, and said it was a success, even though it might be likened to a speed-eating contest in the hands of some gluttonous customers.
Link -via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: Flickr user shinya
Admit it, you’ve experienced this scenario yourself at one time or another, haven’t you? From the webcomic Loading Artist by Gregor Czaykowski. Link -via The Daily What
It’s in the name, pizza was just invented to be delicious based on mathematical formulas. It makes so much sense now. Kind of reminds me of our puntastically fun Pi shirt in the Neatoshop.
Since 1964, General Mills has sold Lucky Charms cereal, padding the weight with toasted oat bits. Why? No idea. All they do is get in the way of the marshmallows, which contain all of the good luck (toasted oats are not good luck). Thankfully, Tom Lombardi warmed up his 3d printer and came up with this sieve to solve that problem.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!
We've
written about lab-grown
meat before on Neatorama, but that holy grail for carnivores that
love the taste of burnt flesh yet squeamish about killing animals is one
step closer to reality, thanks to Prof Mark Post of Maastricht University:
Prof Post is using cells called myosatellites - a form of muscle stem cell that is normally used by the body to repair damaged muscle.
Myosatellite cells can be extracted from a mature animal without killing it and have numerous advantages. Firstly, they are "one way" cells, in the sense that they can only become muscle cells.
Secondly, as the muscle cells proliferate they have an innate tendency to organise into muscle fibres. All that Prof Post has to do to form a strip of muscle is provide anchor points for the fibres to grow around, and the muscle forms by itself. "It's a bit like magic," he said.
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