Best Methods for Preventing Tears While Chopping an Onion

4 great tips to keep you tear free.

I never fail to produce an excessive amount of tears every time I even think about peeling an onion. Keeping onions in my diet, however, is important because onions contain such nutrients as vitamin B1, fiber, vitamin C, and potassium. Since many other individuals also have trouble chopping onions, I decided it was worth investigating. Sure enough, there are some tride and true methods you can incorporate in order to prevent the next avalanche of tears from emerging.

1. Place your onion in the refrigerator 30 minutes before you intend on chopping it. The gases that cause your eyes to become irritated are slowed down. If you are quick with the knife, you should be able to dice the onion before it makes you cry. Of course, if you are in a hurry, use the freezer for 10 minutes instead of the refrigerator.

2. Turn on the fan above your stove, and cut the onion on a cutting board directly underneath of it. The fan will draw the gasses up into it instead of having them make their way into your eyes. If all you have is a ceiling fan, however, than use that to help redirect the onion gasses away from you.

3. Peel the onion and cut it in half. Immediately set the onion halves inside a food chopper. Automated food choppers dice the onions so quickly that they don’t have time to make you cry like a baby.

4. Put a pair of safety or swim goggles over your eyes to prevent the gasses from being able to reach your eyes. This is necessary for me because I have such a high sensitivity to the onions. Others may not have to take such a drastic step.

Whichever method you choose, it is best if you wear a pair of food service gloves. Without gloves, some of the onion juices may remain on your hands, which can cause you to cry when your hands get to close to your face.
 

Heinz Announces New Ketchup

The old classic gets a revamp with balsamic vinegar
Big news in the condiment world this week: for the first time in a decade, Heinz is releasing a new ketchup flavor, "Balsamic Vinegar." Aside from the intriguing new flavor, one interesting feature of this story is that Heinz has no plans to advertise the ketchup, but will be "banking on the power of social media to get the word out."
 
Preliminary reviews of the new flavor have been positive so far. The original ketchup is made with white vinegar, so the balsamic vinegar substitution apparently creates a much richer flavor with even more umami. Of course, umami has always been ketchup's strong suit, so I am particularly intrigued by the idea of a ketchup with more of it.

 
Starting on November 14, you will be able to purchase the new ketchup only through the Heinz Ketchup Facebook page. Or just wait two weeks, because in December Heinz will start releasing the ketchup to "select retailers" (including Safeway and Walmart). 
 
(I just set a calendar reminder to check out their Facebook page on November 14. My first question is, how much shipping are they going to charge on ketchup? And they had better get the turnaround out quickly, if I can buy it at Walmart just a few weeks later.)
 
This comes on the heels of a controversial update to their ketchup packages which they announced last month. The new packaging will transform the old tiny packets into larger, dip-friendly miniature plastic containers that are easier to open. These packets are reportedly handy for dipping fries (so much better than having to squeeze five or six packets out into the top lid of your burger box!) but harder to squeeze all the ketchup out of, and they contain more ketchup - which means that it costs the stores more when people grab a big handful of them. Apparently there has been some hoarding activity, as well, which presumably will level off as the new packets lose their novelty factor.
 
Previous efforts to give Heinz ketchup more "zazz" have not been particularly successful. About ten years ago, their experiment with marketing brightly colored green and purple ketchup under the "EZ Squirt" moniker was something of a disaster. (An obvious one in hindsight. Kids put ketchup on everything. If a kid isn't using ketchup, it's not because they object to the color of the stuff.)
 
This new ketchup sounds like something more akin to the UK's favorite "brown sauce," like HP Sauce and others. I look forward to giving it a taste!

Satisfy your Cravings

With Chocolate Waffles

 

It’s always a great idea to switch things up a bit to keep them from getting boring, especially when it comes to food. There are only so many different combinations that can be made to make each meal a little different than the last. That is, until you start adding chocolate to waffles.

When it comes to chocolate cravings, nothing quite tops it than chocolate fudge brownies. With this craving, why not make it acceptable for breakfast, so you can satisfy it at any time? Try chocolate brownie waffles for a little bit of dessert for breakfast.

Bananas usually are a common breakfast food whether on the run, or cutting it up to put on top of cereal. To take breakfast to the next level of sweet, take this fruit and turn it into something sweet to lie atop of chocolate waffles by making a caramel banana topping. Check out the recipe – chocolate waffles with caramel banana topping.

To keep with the idea of fruit, try using the tartness of berries to play off the sweetness of the waffle in this recipe for double chocolate waffles with berry sauce.

If your cravings tend to be a little more spicy than sweet, try chocolate chipotle waffles instead. The undertone of bitterness in the chocolate lends itself nicely to being mixed with spice, and don’t worry the spice is only a slight kick at the end after you’ve bitten into the waffle.

Any of these waffles pair well with a tall glass of milk, so sit down, relax, grab the morning paper and enjoy!

The McRib Returns

 

As you might have heard, the McRib is back for a limited time. LIMITED TIME YOU GUYS. I finally gave in to nostalgia, hunger, and "feeling sorry for myself" and had a McRib today. I returned home filled with tangy barbecue sauce and regret.
 
The McRib is one of those cult favorite McDonalds foods. And yes, I feel like a sell-out just by having typed those words. Like the Shamrock Shake, the McRib was an elusive creation for many years. Sometimes they would pop up unexpectedly in one part of the country, only to vanish away just as quickly. An entire database-driven website was dedicated to tracking the McRib. I once made a detour on my way to Chicago O'Hare airport just to try and snag one. (Failed.)
 
And now? The McRib's season has come. All McDonalds everywhere are offering them through November 14th. And judging by what I saw there today, this promotion has been a smashing success. While I was waiting for mine, I witnessed five orders being processed. All of them included at least one McRib.

 
I hate myself for loving the McRib.
 
This sandwich was first introduced in 1981, when we all made fun of its "riblets" and fake barbecue grill lines. It was a sloppy sandwich, and an unsettling experience to be eating pork at McDonalds. Is there anything more indicative of America's horrifying relationship with food than the idea of a pressed pork patty shaped like an inexplicably boneless miniature side of ribs?
 
Worse, The Week has uncovered what is inside a McRib. The answer is: a lot of things. It contains about 70 ingredients, with 34 ingredients in the bun alone (including such mouthwatering additions as azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent which has been banned in the European Union because it contributes to respiratory problems in factory workers). As for the meat patty, it is made of "pig innards and plenty of salt." 
 
In fact, the McRib may well be one of the worst (least palatable, least aesthetically appealing, and least defensible as a meal choice) items on our nation's woefully bad fast food menus. But that didn't stop me from eating one. 
 
I tell you what will stop me from eating more than one, though: the McRib itself. From the instant heartburn to the disconcerting rumblings a few hours later, I am pretty sure that even aside from the shame, this is a meal that I will regret for a long time to come.

Fat Free Candy for Those Sweet Cravings

"Little cinnamon-y bites of chewy goodness"

Even the best dieter will occasionally need to succumb to a craving, and to be honest, most of us have them pretty frequently.  Fortunately, there are options to satisfy any sweet tooth.  My personal favorite, and one I admit to gobbling a little more than I should, is Hot Tamales candy.

Nothing says satisfying like the eye-watering, mouth-burning sensation of too many Hot Tamales.  Little cinnamon-y bites of chewy goodness, Hot Tamales are the perfect sweet snack.  They don't melt in your mouth, have no bits to fall off and make crumbs, and last forever (we probably don’t need to delve too deeply into why that is).First produced way back in 1950, their longevity is a testament to just how awesome they are.  I can think of very few things that are still around more than 60 years later, so way to go, Hot Tamales!

Not only are they fat free, they have only seven calories each, so you can get quite a few in one snacking session.  If you're a fan of the 100 calorie packs, just know you can have 14 of the candies, which is plenty to give you that nice burning sensation.

The only problem I see with Hot Tamales is how addicting they are.  If we buy a big box of them at the store, between the kids and us it usually lasts no longer than one day.  Lots of hopping, complaining and eye watering ensue when the kids grab hold of the box, but we all enjoy our Hot Tamales immensely.

 

Restaurants Not Serving The Fish You Ordered

Not only illegal and unethical but it can also lead to serious problems.
When it comes to seafood, it seems that most of the time, you're not getting what the menu says. The Boston Globe ran a series of DNA tests on local restaurant offerings and found that 24 of the 26 samples of red snapper, all of the 23 samples of white tuna, and a whole host of other samples (including fish labeled as flounder, Alaskan butterfish, baby cod, and New England cod) turned out to be cheaper species instead. 
 
The Globe focused on white tuna and red snapper because these two species are both at the upper end of the price range. Since the fraud involves substituting a cheaper fish for a more expensive one, if you order cheap fish, you're probably getting what you ordered. However, it may not be exactly as described - according to the Globe, many fish described as "fresh caught" or "locally fished" are actually just the regular products of industrial factory fishing, caught in distant oceans, frozen, and shipped cross-country.

 
Times are tough for the restaurant business. Restaurants were never the best money-makers at the best of times, and the recession has caused a lot of people to substantially cut back on dining out, in order to make ends meet. But this has shaved a restaurant's already razor-thin margins even thinner.
 
It's easy to understand why a restaurant manager might substitute Vietnamese farmed catfish ($4/lb) for flounder ($23/fillet). But this practice is not only illegal and unethical, it can also lead to serious problems. The Globe found one restaurant substituting escolar for raw tuna - but escolar is "banned in Japan because it can make people sick." Later, the article mentions that escolar is also "nicknamed the "ex-lax" fish by some in the industry because of the digestion problems it can cause."
 
Yum!
 
Given what we know about the high ecological cost of getting wild fish to our plates, maybe this is just another sign that we as diners should stick to terrestrial meats when we go out for dinner. There are certainly plenty of problems with the terrestrial meat trade - from hens reared in battery cages to cattle on feed lots - but our nation's appetite for fish is rapidly stripping the oceans bare.
 
It's one thing to follow seafood guidelines like this set of suggestions from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. But the Seafood Watch Recommendations presume that you're getting the fish that you actually order! I can see several examples on the West Coast Guide where a cheaper red Avoid fish could be substituted for a more expensive green Best Choice fish. 

A Cup Over Seas

When I was a young man which wasn't too long ago(at least it feels that way) I was able to travel down under.  Now keep your minds out of the gutter cause I mean I traveled to Australia and New Zealand to spend a short time down there.

While being young, a high school kid, I was able to stay with a family in New Zealand which I may have never appreciated as much as I do now.  The family was just like any other with two parents and two boys.  I was welcomed with open arms and played a great deal of hacky sack as well as learning new games that were prevalent to the area.

But one thing that struck me was the family time that encompassed the idea of afternoon tea.  We sat down to the table, all of us, and enjoyed some tea and food.  It was amazing!  When American families are falling apart and leaving the family dinner or anything of the like in the past, this family still valued the tradition.

It wasn't only the tea that made it good, it was the conversation.  I think this was the key and is the key to most, if not all relationships.  With this nice break from the day, we were able to talk to each other.  This is a war ender if I have ever heard of one.

So why is it that Americans work so hard to become more disconnected when we should be doing the opposite?  Is it too much money focus or is it just an addiction to work.  It feels like we drill into our kids' heads that school is just for getting a job so you can retire and die.  I personally thought that school was for learning or bettering myself with knowledge because as a human being, we can expand ourselves and further our evolution instead of hindering it through the wrong moves.

What better way to improve ourselves than a break from the day to communicate with love over a cup of tea.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Or: how to cope with a dreary and drizzly autumn

 

Well, it's thoroughly October. For us Chicagoans, that means the sky is whipping around an icy drizzle that likes to unhood every hapless, grocery-seeking pedestrian as they traipse through the unnaturally pitch-dark early evening. It means my landlord had to come over yesterday to light--with fire!--the gas heater embedded in my wall (as someone raised on radiators this is an entirely strange and new concept to me). And it means that no matter where you go, you'll be bombarded with pumpkin-themed imagery and pumpkin-flavored treats. 'Tis the season of giant orange gourds. There is no escape. 

So, I thought, why not embrace it? It's not like it isn't delicious. There are few pies better than pumpkin pies, few muffins better than those glued together with the hollowed-out innards of Halloween fruit. It makes the process of settling into an icy wasteland of a city that much more bearable. So I braved the slushy eve and picked up the remaining ingredients needed for my very favorite dessert bread: that of the pumpkin persuasion.

I still had a can of pumpkin pack that I'd inherited from my former roommates' unrealized baking ambitions, so I was mostly good to go. What follows is a slightly modified recipe from Epicurious. I prefer the can route because I'm lazy and prefer to avoid disemboweling entire gourds when possible, but if you're a more dedicated baker, feel free to go ahead and swap in real, fresh pumpkin. This recipe also makes tasty muffins if you're into more easily hand-held treats--just bake for 20 minutes instead of 60.

You'll need:

3 cups sugar (I like to make at least 1 of them brown)
1 cup vegetable oil (I use the lighter variety of olive oil because straight-up vegetable oil irks me out--how do you get oil from a vegetable? What kind of vegetable? Altogether too vague not to be suspicious.)
1 egg
1 large, overripe banana
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 16-oz can pumpkin
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves (I only had whole and had to grind 'em myself--I'd recommend not doing it that way)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a huge bowl, cream sugar and oil together. Mash up that banana in a small bowl, then add to mixture. Add egg, vanilla, and pumpkin. In another big bowl, sift together remaining dry ingredients. Gradually stir dry stuff into wet stuff. Pour resulting goop into 2 buttered and floured loaf pans (I only have one so I'm baking in shifts). Throw them in the oven for about an hour, possibly an hour and 10 minutes, or until sharp object inserted into center comes out clean. Take out the pans and let 'em cool for 10 minutes, then loosen loaves with a knife and let them finish cooling on a rack or plate. Allow the bread to reintroduce warmth into your swiftly cooling and darkening existence. Repeat as necessary.

Beer in Waffles?

Who Would Have Thought?

While waffle batter already has a lot of variation depending on who's making it, why not throw in the option of thousands of different kinds of beers into the mix? On a slow Sunday, why not wake up a little later and pre-game the day of football with a little bit of beer in your waffles? 

Waffles traditionally have a type of malt flavor already so it lends itself easily to being mixed with different types of brews. Any type of beer can be incorporated into the waffle batter depending on preference since the yeast in beer acts as a substitute for the yeast in waffles. To stick with the consistency of waffles, I'd recommend using a lighter beer like a pilsner or wheat beer, which contains a significant amount of malted barley. However, using a stout beer also works just as well since it is made using roasted malt or barley, hops, water, and yeast. 

One of the most popular recipes for beer battered waffles is Bourbon Stout Yam Waffles. For those of you who like beer and liquor, take time to try this savory dish that combines bourbon, stout beer, yams and spices into sweet waffle batter. The balance of the heavier items with the fluffy dough of waffles will be a sweet and savory surprise.

If you don't especially like liquor but are a fan of beer, try Beer Waffles with Cinnamon-Caramel Apples. While these waffles are hearty and savory, they remain super sweet (because the beer actually adds a sweet quality) and are perfect for the fall season. 

If you really don't fancy beer at all, try instead Root Beer Waffles. Adding this sweetened beverage to waffles will give any morning breakfast a kick and if you're like me, root beer is always in stock to make this delicious and relatively effortless.

Adorable Tea Infusers

 

If you're enough of a tea connoisseur that you indulge exclusively in loose-leaf, you'd better be armed with a good teapot. But if you still like to brew by the cup, not the pot, it couldn't hurt to pick up a trusty infuser. While the traditional tea ball route works just fine for your basic infusing needs, there are so many cleverly-designed tea accessories that the standards just seem boring. Here are some of the cutest trinkets for infusing loose-leaf. Pick them up for yourself or your favorite tea drinker. 

Armed With Technology

Now you can brew your morning cup with the help of science! One tiny vintage-looking robot will peek out over your tea as he grips the lip of your cup with his metal claws. Twist his antennae to open him up and load him with loose-leaf. Don't worry--he won't short-circuit in hot water. 

 

Yellow Submarine

The land of submarine can be yours with this little silicone vessel. Bright yellow with porthole filters, this stubby submarine isn't a perfect replica of that once piloted by animated Beatles, but it'll do for navigating your sea of green. Tea, that is. It's dishwasher-safe and certified groovy: perfect for those who dig on '60s nostalgia. 

 

Sharky

Yikes! Here be treacherous waters. Fill this shark with rose-colored herbal tea for best, bloody results. Its infusing power looks most impressive when floated in a large, transparent vessel, like a big glass mug or pot. Designed by Pablo Matteoda from Argentina, I'm not sure if this bobbing infuser has had a commercial release yet, but let's hope we see something similar on shelves soon.

The T Man

 

He looks so happy! And his little outstretched arms grab on to the sides of your teacup so he doesn't drown amongst the murky waters. Awesome. Fill him up through his hinged backside and let him steep.

Tea Duckie

If you're going to design a floating, chain-free infuser, it damn well better be in the shape of something cute. This rubber duckie will bob along in your mug until you're ready to drink up. He even comes with a holder meant to look like his own private pond. 

 

Cane You Join Me

Peppermint tea, anyone? This candy cane-shaped infuser hooks over the side of your cup and is the perfect accessory for the herbal brew-drinker. Makes a much better stocking stuffer than an actual candy cane, which I don't think anyone actually eats. 

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