December 29, 2011 – 10:11 AM
I hate taxes as much as the next dad, but taxes are sometimes good. They raise prices and change behavior, such as smoking. And often, legislators best efforts to tie taxes to consumer education (anti-smoking campaigns) or health effects (cancer research) are reversed when new legislatures need the cash to fund other pet projects (remember when lotteries were only to be used to fund education?) Often too, they are regressive, affecting poor people disproportionately. Price elasticity is real however, and anything that gets people off the sugar drink habit has to be good. People are still free to drink a Coke now and then, but are de-motivated to drink Coke for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which is sometimes the case.
[From AFP: France approves soda tax]
Disagree? Let me know!
November 3, 2011 – 4:45 PM
The good people at Sally’s Treats send us cookies from time to time. This is just a big “thanks” to them for keeping us fat and happy while we sit at the computer all day. We listed them in top food gifts to send for father’s day, and that could go for the holidays for anyone a long way from home cooking.
For Thanksgiving and beyond, they just sent us their Pumpkin Scones and a Pumpkin-cranberry strudel, both of which are very tasty and perfect to send to someone who lives far away, but are thinking about during the holidays.
October 21, 2011 – 4:58 AM
You’ve got to love the iGrill. It has such a silly name, you’d expect it to be sold on Saturday Night Live. However, the jokes about i- things are passé. We are now into an era where stuff can be made that adds value simply by harnessing the power of the iPhone as computer in your pocket. IGrill is one of those products that would have been a joke a few years ago, but is now a very powerful device for the serious griller.
I love this video starring Chris Allen, one of the inventors of iGrill. He’s so earnest and truly cares about making sure this product fits your needs. If you can’t get to the video, the principle of iGrill is easy. It’s basically a meat thermometer connected to a bluetooth relay box that sends a signal to you anywhere in a 200 ft. radius. The app on the iPhone does the rest.
October 7, 2011 – 1:55 PM
After four years of discussion and recommendations, the rules went into effect this week. The French government has banned ketchup in all schools and colleges, as a way to promote healthful eating. The decision was likely made easier because the French would prefer you don’t put ketchup on your croissant with ham.
I’m sure most Americans will say, “Oh those French…” But food habits start early and putting sugar (yes, ketchup is tomatoes plus corn syrup) on your food just teaches you to eat that way. It doesn’t help parents when schools serve cookies and juice boxes when they aren’t at home.
Ketchup banned in French cafeterias?
I find I still have a lot to learn about how to grill. I’m still living in a world where you throw the burgers on, wait till they look dark with black stripes and then throw some cheese on. Now, I’m doing steaks and pork chops and have a bigger fear that I’ll ruin a $10 piece of meat because of my ignorance. Meat and grills all seem to be very temperamental and many are in the ranks of grillers who live with ancient apparatus because they know where all the grill hot and cold spots are.
What I do know how to do is follow a recipe. I volunteered to try out a new one using raisins the other day. Seems the California Raisin Board is promoting the use of raisins as a natural sweetener and sticking them in a sauce seems like a natural idea. I ran out and bought all the ingredients including tomatillos, raisins, and a can of chipotle chiles “in adobo” (whatever that is), as well as four nice pork chops for a surprise Friday night treat for my hard-working wife.
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