With the two simple core ingredients of bread and cheese, the grilled cheese sandwich innately lends itself to added bells and whistles. Meat, veggies, chocolate, fruit… there’s not much you couldn’t throw in with melted cheese between two pan-fried slices of bread. Many of us associate the grilled cheese with childhood lunches and tomato soup, but there’s an army of creative chefs out there keeping the American staple alive and relevant for grown-ups. It’s back, and it’s not just for lunch anymore. Below we’ve compiled some of the most …

Why those crunchy silver balls are disappearing from California’s Christmas cookies

Mark Pollock is a Napa-based environmental lawyer, a former Bay Area student radical and lover of fine food. Gloria Alvarez is a resident of Culver City who, for the last 33 years, has owned and operated Gloria’s Cake & Candy Supplies, a tiny Westside culinary landmark jammed into a former American Legion Hall near the intersection of Sawtelle and Venice. Pollock and the seventysomething Alvarez have more than a little in common.
To be precise, on April 23, 2003, Pollock …

Botanists at Kew discover the plant is carnivorous, with ability to trap insects

Vegetarians, look away now.
Potatoes and tomatoes make good eating but they may also have a vicious side that makes them deadly killers on a par with venus fly traps and pitcher plants.
They have been identified as among a host of plants thought to have been overlooked by botanists and explorers searching the world’s remotest regions for carnivorous species.
Researchers at Royal Botanical Gardens Kew now believe there are hundreds more plants that catch and eat insects and other …

Deep fried chocolate cake, tacos wrapped in pepperoni pizza, the “fat bastard burger” … these are all reasons that America has an obesity problem, and the basis for a recent Internet phenomenon – the blog called “This Is Why You’re Fat” (TIWYF) that showcases excessive junk food items.
The blog recently joined a host of other Internet memes by scoring a book deal, and is celebrating its release by holding a very cool (and fattening) promotion in New York City today where fans of the site can enjoy the type …

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{Image by mkandlez}

STANDING in line at the coffee shop you feel a little peckish. So what will you choose to keep you going until lunchtime? Will it be that scrumptious-looking chocolate brownie or perhaps a small, nut-based muesli bar. You check the labels: the brownie contains around 250 kilocalories (kcal), while the muesli bar contains more than 300. Surprised at the higher calorie count of what looks like the healthy option, you go for the brownie.
This is the kind of decision that people watching their weight – or even just keeping …

Why are we so fat?

One of the most comprehensive data sets available about Americans—how tall they are, when they last visited a dentist, what sort of cereal they eat for breakfast, whether they have to pee during the night, and, if so, how often—comes from a series of studies conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Participants are chosen at random, interviewed at length, and subjected to a battery of tests in special trailers that the C.D.C. hauls around the country. The studies, known as the …

Excess sugar, fat and salt are just some of the tricks that get us to overeat

In the 21st century the food industry is creating and marketing unhealthy food in much the same way that tobacco companies manufactured and sold cigarettes in the 20th century.
But overeating doesn’t only affect people who are overweight. In fact, more than 70 million Americans have become conditioned to overeat, and it affects people of all different weights. Dr. David A. Kessler, the dynamic and controversial former head of the Food and Drug …

In April 2005, the World Food Programme and the Chinese government jointly announced that food aid shipments to China would stop at the end of the year. For a country where a generation ago hundreds of millions of people were chronically hungry, this was a landmark achievement. Not only has China ended its dependence on food aid, but almost overnight it has become the world’s third largest food aid donor.
As noted in Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, the key to China’s success was the economic reforms in …

I didn’t write a July 4th article this year. I was busy harvesting food out of my garden in Ecuador. Instead of celebrating geopolitical independence (which is what America’s July 4th holiday is about, after all), I was celebrating my food independence. . . .
. . .
My food acquisition process has become ridiculously simple:
Step 1: Walk to the garden (60 seconds).
Step 2: Pick what I want to eat (5-10 enjoyable minutes).
Step 3: Prepare it (juice it, boil it or whatever).
Step 4: Eat it.
(Read more at: Natural News)
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{Photography by Susie}

#6 Bombay Brasserie, London
Known as the Samundari Khazana (translated directly as Seafood Treasure) is a big ol’ plate of lobster, beluga caviar, sea snails, and 23-karat edible gold foil. It’s important to make sure you get all your minerals. It’s all seasoned with Iranian saffron (the most expensive kind) and topped with Devon crab and white truffle. The fish and seafood are both marinated in chilli and tamarind paste. It’s all part of a well-ballanced, £2,000 meal . . . (Read more at: mademan)
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{Photography by Dennis Wong}

Beverage helps space explorers stay hydrated, and is available to athletes

Spacewalks, extreme G forces, micro-gravity — astronauts must be able to handle it all. Staying hydrated and healthy is crucial.
To help astronauts avoid muscle fatigue and dizziness from dehydration, NASA scientists developed an electrolyte formula that is now available for weekend warriors and athletes here on Earth. The formula is a concentrated liquid that when mixed with water quickly restores hydration and prevents fluid loss.
Scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., put 15 years of research …

Olive oil has many valuable uses beyond cooking, from personal care to home improvement, natural remedies and beyond.

Olive oil is more than a cartoon character, historic symbol of peace and glory or food staple of the much-vaunted Mediterranean diet. It is actually tremendously useful stuff, finding applications in personal care, home improvement, green cleaning, natural remedies and other areas.
It’s long been reported that there are a number of health benefits of olive oil. As a foodstuff it has a high concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids, which studies show promote …

A mother is being charged with neglecting her obese teenage son, raising issues about whether the government has the right to intervene in one’s family life.
Born and raised in South Carolina, Alexander Draper grew up to reach a dangerous 555 pounds by the age of 14. That’s when law enforcement stepped in.
“The first and foremost concern is Alexander’s health,” Lt. Shea Smith told CBS News.
Alexander’s mother, Jerri Gray, was charged with unlawful neglect of a child for allowing him to become obese.
“There have been opportunities to get Alexander some …

The fast-food chain’s most surprising success.

In his new book, Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France, Slate wine columnist Mike Steinberger examines the startling decline of French cuisine over the past few decades, explaining how a country that turned eating and drinking into an art form has lost its touch for cheese, wine, food, and fine dining. In yesterday’s excerpt, Steinberger explained how the Michelin guide, which once celebrated the pinnacles of French culinary achievement, became a “millstone” around the necks of the nation’s …

Monsanto already dominates America’s food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation’s tactics–ruthless legal battles against small farmers–is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.

Gary Rinehart clearly remembers the summer day in 2002 when the stranger walked in and issued his threat. Rinehart was behind the counter of the Square Deal, his “old-time country store,” as he calls it, on the fading town square of Eagleville, Missouri, a tiny farm community 100 miles north of Kansas City.
The Square Deal …

Scientists say a natural supplement made from tomatoes, taken daily, can stave off heart disease and strokes.
The tomato pill contains an active ingredient from the Mediterranean diet – lycopene – that blocks “bad” LDL cholesterol that can clog the arteries.
Ateronon, made by a biotechnology spin-out company of Cambridge University, is being launched as a dietary supplement and will be sold on the high street.
Experts said more trials were needed to see how effective the treatment is.
Preliminary trials involving around 150 people with heart disease indicate that Ateronon can reduce …

What was a sacred crop to the Incas has been classified as a “super crop” by the United Nations because of its high protein content. It is a complete protein, which means it has all nine essential amino acids. It also contains the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous.
While many think of quinoa as a grain, the yellowish pods are actually the seed of a plant called chenopodium quinoa, native to Peru …

There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a major scientific study.
Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the rate of decline is accelerating.
Writing in the journal Science, the international team of researchers says fishery decline is closely tied to a broader loss of marine biodiversity.
But a greater use of protected areas could safeguard existing stocks.
“The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be …