Folks, I went to Las Vegas last week for business meetings, but during the evening I did take a little break from working on Layered Technologies and Woopra stuff for a few hours to go have dinner at the Bellagio Buffet, and then do a little gambling after dinner.

Had such a great time that I thought I’d share it with you guys.
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Just wanted to share this little clip I took at Bd’s Mongolian Barbeque in Bethesda Maryland a few weeks ago.

For anyone whose never been to one of these places, the way it works is you get a bowl and you go over to the raw food bar and put whatever kind of meats, veggies, noodles, etc. you want in the bowl. Then you bring it over to the guys at the round grill, and they cook it up for you while you wait.

It’s a fantastic way to eat and be entertained, and you can do it at BD’s in the DC area, or at Fire & Ice in Harvard Square in Boston.
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Folks, this is cool. For any of you out there that routinely go camping, fishing, to outdoor sporting events, or even like to take the family to the park for picnics - the Freedom Grill Hitchmount BBQ Grill looks like a fantastic option to carry along and do the cooking on the spot.

I really like everything about the design of this unit, from the secure hitch mount to the articulating arm and even the way the side trays fold into the unit for storage and transport. If there is anything I’d complain about though, it’s the fact that the base unit (offered at Amazon) only has one 12,000 BTU burner. That’s not a lot of heat for doing any sort of serious grilling. For example, steaks are going to take a long, long time, and you’ll never be able to sear them so they’ll come out a little dry.

However for burgers, chicken breasts, hot dogs, corn, and other transportable picnic food this thing should get the job done, and the only thing you need to take with you are some portable propane cylinders.
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Ok, I know this post sounds sensational, but its not. It’s literal.

I bought a case of LaCroix flavored sparkling water either at Costco or Kroger, I can’t remember which. All it is, is lightly flavored sparkling water and I thought perhaps it might be a more healthy alternative to all of the Coke I drink.

Well, I was wrong. You see, it’s only an “alternative” if you can actually drink it. But I thought this stuff was disgusting! Instead of just throwing it out, I thought I’d give it to my dogs as a treat. But even that didn’t work! One of my dogs drank a little of it, then stopped. The other one took one little taste and then refused to drink another drop!

I’m not kidding, I can’t even get my dog to drink it! And here is the photographic proof. (Click on the photo to see her actually running away from it!)
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Mother nature is funny. Natural mutations are occurring in the world all around us, especially with regards to food crops. But we never see them because anything that appears abnormal is filtered out before it hits our grocery stores.

Uli Westphal, however, has done a fantastic job of hunting down mutant fruits and vegetables at the farmer’s market in Berlin and has meticulously and professionally photographed and cataloged them for us all to see.
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Ok, this video is a bit corny (pun intended), but it’s also an interesting concept. So take a look at how you can make fresh popcorn directly from the cob.

The process simply involves freezing a fresh ear of corn and then slapping it in the microwave! The video has all the details…
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Folks, I had to share this… A while back I told you about Restaurant.com in an article I put out called Saving Money is as Good as Making it! It’s a site that has limited numbers of really good deals to local eateries. Basically you purchase a discounted coupon there, then take it to the diner and redeem it like a gift certificate.

Well, through Sunday they are offering 50% off of their already discounted prices! This means you can typically purchase $25 certificates to local restaurants for $5! And some of these are probably places you already go!
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Today while driving from Minneapolis to St. Paul, Minnesota I spotted a White Castle and immediately detoured so that I could relish in the experience made famous by Harold and Kumar as well as the Beastie Boys.

I went inside and immediately spotted the folks at the grill working on those tiny little square burgers that make White Castle famous, and then began to peruse the menu for a half dozen or so cheeseburgers - all the while imagining the delicous taste that was heading my way.
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Every once in a while you come across a product whose packaging is so unique and compelling that you absolutely must try it out. Well, when I came across a box of Everybody’s Nuts pistachios at the local grocery store I knew I had to put them in my belly!

You know, pistachios are not exactly the kind of product people normally get emotional about, and that is what makes this story so compelling. Here you’ve got an abnormally boring food, yet someone has gone and made it deliciously desirable.

It definitely demonstrates how big of a role that creativity can play when it comes to selling your goods and services… or yourself!
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The next time you decide to drop some large coin on expensive organic food or “all natural” cosmetics you need to remember what you see here.

The BBC produces a television show called The Real Hustle which features three scam artists who demonstrate how easy it is to part you with your money.
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Wow, this is very bad news considering my complete and utter addiction to Coke. But Dr. Chi-Tang Ho, professor of food science at Rutgers University has uncovered evidence that our addiction to canned drinks is directly linked to diabetes because of the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

HFCS is a sweetener found in many foods and beverages, including non-diet soda pop, baked goods, and condiments. It is has become the sweetener of choice for many food manufacturers because it is considered more economical, sweeter and more easy to blend into beverages than table sugar. Some researchers have suggested that high-fructose corn syrup may contribute to an increased risk of diabetes as well as obesity, a claim which the food industry disputes. Until now, little laboratory evidence has been available on the topic.

In the current study, Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D., conducted chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS. He found ‘astonishingly high’ levels of reactive carbonyls in those beverages. These undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with “unbound” fructose and glucose molecules are believed to cause tissue damage, says Ho, a professor of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar, whose fructose and glucose components are “bound” and chemically stable, the researcher notes.

So, I went shopping after I read this article with a renewed interest in avoiding products with high fructose corn syrup in them, and I could not believe how many of my every day items are on the list…
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A little while back I was visiting my brother in Houston and we went to a steakhouse called Houston’s. While we were waiting for a table I took this 10 minute video of the chefs working the grill and prepping the food.

These guys were serious pros, and it’s cool to watch, but you should have smelled the food! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Anyway, at times when you watch the video it looks like the speed of the video has been altered. I assure you, this is real time and those guys are actually moving that fast! They had a serious assembly line going and these guys were a real team.
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