so sick!

in a good way. this mag cover is awesome!

LADY GAGA COOKIES!!!

ummm two of my fave things! cookies and gaga! yes or yes? pretty sure the answer is yes...

these are hi-freaking-larious. someone had a lot of time on their hands, but a lot of creativity too! love it!

http://fashionindie.com/random-lady-gaga-cookies/

junk food is "as addictive as drugs"

i sooooo could have told you that!!!  

A diet of burgers, chips [that'd be french fries, for you yanks], sausages and cake will programme your brain into craving even more foods that are high in sugar, salt and fat, according to new research.

Over the years these junk foods can become a substitute for happiness and will lead bingers to become addicted.

Dr Paul Kenny, a neuroscientist, carried out the research which shows how dangerous high fat and high sugar foods can be to our health .

“You lose control. It’s the hallmark of addiction,” he said.

The researchers believe it is one of the first studies to suggest brains may react in the same way to junk food as they do to drugs.

“This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neuro-biological foundations,” said Paul Johnson, Dr Kenny’s work colleague.

Dr Kenny, who began his research at Guy’s Hospital, London, but now works at Florida’s Scripps Research Institute, divided rats into three groups for his research, due to be published in teh US soon.

One got normal amounts of healthy food to eat. Another lot was given restricted amounts of junk food and the third group was given unlimited amounts of junk, including cheesecake, fatty meat products, and cheap sponge cakes and chocolate snacks.

There were no adverse effects on the first two groups, but the rats who ate as much junk food as they wanted quickly became very fat and started bingeing.

When researchers electronically stimulated the part of the brain that feels pleasure, they found that the rats on unlimited junk food needed more and more stimulation to register the same level of pleasure as the animals on healthier diets.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6451119/Junk-food-as-addictive-as-drugs.html image via getty

another useful food tip: prolonging the life of your berries.

this tends to be a problem in our house. we never eat our berries fast enough! so i will try this next time. :)


One of summer’s great pleasures is eating berries of all kinds by the basketful. One of summer’s great frustrations is having baskets of berries go moldy overnight, or even by nightfall.

Steven Senne/Associated Press

SPORES BE GONE To protect blueberries, pop them in a pot.

Over the years I’ve come up with various strategies for limiting my losses, but this summer I came across a surprising one, the most effective I’ve ever tried. Thermotherapy, it’s been called. A very hot fruit bath.
Fruits go moldy because mold spores are everywhere, readily germinate on the humid surfaces of actively respiring, moisture-exhaling fruits, and easily penetrate the smallest breach of their thin skins.
The first thing I do with a haul of berries, after eating my fill straight from the basket, is to unpack the rest and spread them out on kitchen or paper towels, so they’re not pressing against one another and trapping moisture.
If I want to keep them overnight or longer, I refrigerate them, because cold temperatures slow fruit metabolism and mold growth. I repack the berries as sparsely as possible, nest each basket in a second empty one to leave an air space at the bottom, and inflate and tie off a plastic produce bag around the baskets, so there’s room for the berries to breathe and the bag itself doesn’t cling to their surfaces.
Even with these precautions I’ve had baskets mold overnight in the refrigerator. So I followed up right away when I saw a reference in an agricultural journal on extending the shelf life of strawberries not with a chemical treatment or gamma irradiation, but with heat.
I gathered a dozen or so reports that hot-water treatments suppress mold growth on berries, grapes and stone fruits. The test temperatures ranged from 113 to 145 degrees, with exposure times of a few minutes at the lower temperatures, and 12 seconds at the highest.
I found it hard to believe that any part of a plant could tolerate 145-degree water. My finger in the same water would get a third-degree burn in less than 5 seconds, and eventually reach medium rare.
I bought pints of various berries, divided each batch into two samples, and heated one by immersing and swishing its plastic basket in a pot of hot water. I emptied the heated sample onto towels to cool down and dry. Then I repacked it, and encouraged both baskets to spoil by wrapping them airtight and letting them sweat on the kitchen counter. After 24 hours I counted the moldy berries in each basket.
The strawberries fared best when I heated them at 125 degrees for 30 seconds. In two samples from different sources, this treatment gave a total of 1 moldy berry out of 30, where the untreated baskets had 14. I also treated some bruised berries, including one with a moldy tip. After 24 hours none were moldy. The tip mold not only hadn’t spread, it had disappeared.
I tried the same treatment, 125 degrees for 30 seconds, on raspberries and blackberries, and got the same good results. There were many fewer moldy berries in the heated samples.
For thicker-skinned blueberries, a Canadian study recommended a 140-degree treatment for 30 seconds. I tested it twice, with samples of around 150 berries each time. That heat took the bloom off. It melted the natural wax that gives the berries their whitish cast, and left them midnight blue. It also cut the number of moldy berries from around 20 per sample to 2.
Research has also shown that exposure to hot air slows fruit spoilage. But hot air can take several hours, and I found it harder than hot water to apply precisely in the kitchen. I did spread some raspberries out on a sheet pan lined with towels, and put them in a 150-degree non-convection oven for 20 minutes. The berry bottoms got hotter than the tops, which were cooled by evaporation. Still, only 1 out of 48 heated berries became moldy, compared with 7 out of 52 in the unheated basket.
Why is it that delicate berries can survive heat high enough to kill mold and injure fingers? Probably because they have to do so in the field. One study of tomatoes found that intense sunlight raised their interiors to 122 degrees. Such heat hurts the quality of growing fruits, but I couldn’t taste much of an effect on briefly heated ripe fruits.
So if you find yourself plagued by quickly spoiling fruits, start giving them a brief hot bath before you spread them out or chill them. Thermotherapy can be healthy for all concerned.

harold mcgee, nytimes.com

how to pick your fruits & veggies

i never know how to shop for fresh fruits and veggies. too firm? too soft? what color? IDK!!!
i found this article on nutrisystem's website. so there ya go. :)

Here are some tips for picking and enjoying the best produce for yourself and your family.

Apples: Apples should be firm, without bruising, and bright colored. When it comes to storing apples, cooler is better. Refrigerated apples will keep much longer than those left at room temperature.

Asparagus: Look for stalks that are a bright green color and have firm, stiff tips. Store in the refrigerator and eat within a few days.

Bananas: Most bananas sold in the U.S. are imported. Look for bananas that are a vibrant yellow, with a minimum of bruising or dark spots. Store bananas at room temperature, where they will continue to ripen. Bananas should be eaten within a few days of purchase.

Berries: Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries should have vibrant color, with no visible wrinkling or bruising. Once you’re home, remove any bad fruit from the bunch; one bad berry can cause the rest to spoil. Berries should be refrigerated and washed just before using. 

Broccoli: Fresh broccoli will have heads that are dark green in color, without any flowering. It should be stored in the refrigerator.

Corn: You’ll want the husks to be a fresh green. Pick medium to large ears, and feel around on the top to be sure the kernels are fully formed. Corn should ideally be eaten as soon as possible after it’s harvested.

Green Beans: These should be bright green. Avoid beans that are limp or have dark spots.

Melon: Ripe melons are one of the distinct pleasures of summer (or warm months). With cantaloupe or honeydew melons, you’ll want fruit that has no soft spots or bruising. When ripe, both melons have a fragrant smell; honeydews are a pale yellow, and cantaloupes tend to be a golden orange color. Both melons will continue to ripen at room temperature, so if you leave an unripe melon out a few days, it will be ready to eat. As far as watermelons, they seem to have no discernible aroma, so it can be difficult to tell when they are at their peak of flavor. Once cut, all melons should be refrigerated. 

Mushrooms: There are a number of edible mushrooms, but the one most commonly found in grocery stores and markets is the button mushroom. These will be white in color, without bruising or wrinkling. Mushrooms should be refrigerated and be brushed rather than washed just prior to using.

Peaches: When you’re selecting fresh peaches, first make sure they’re free of soft spots or bruises. They should be fragrant but not over-ripe. Peaches don’t continue to get sweeter once they’ve been picked, so you want to be sure you get fruit at the peak of flavor. Also, they tend to spoil quickly, so don’t buy more than you’re going to eat in a few days.

Pears: Just as with apples, there are several varieties of pears. You’ll want to find fruit that smells sweet, is blemish-free and gives slightly to the touch. Pears stored at room temperature will continue to ripen, or you can refrigerate for longer freshness. Handle pears gently, because they will bruise easily.

Peppers: Sweet bell peppers come in a variety of colors—red, green, yellow and orange. Look for peppers that have thick skin with no spots or wrinkling. Peppers can be stored in the refrigerator.

Tomatoes: When these are in peak season, look for tomatoes that are a bright, vibrant red. Make sure they don’t have any bruises or soft spots. Tomatoes should be stored at room temperature before they’re cut and are best when they’re eaten within a few days.

Zucchini: This vegetable, also called summer squash, should have dark green skin without any soft spots. Buy squash that is medium in size, and store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. For maximum freshness, it should be eaten within a week.

crêpes galore!

can you believe it??? i had my first crêpes today!!! nearly three months in france and not one crêpe! so i had two in one meal. this was my dinner crêpe. it was ham, egg and emmental (type of cheese). it was delish and also kind of a heart attack on a plate...

then i got one for dessert too. i was craving pastry today... it looks messy and gross, but trust me, it was amazing. i got one with chocolate and berry sauce.

soooooo sweet!

so yeah, better late than never!!!