Some Pretty Cool Stuff - Issue No. 006

Yay!!! It's time for "Some Pretty Cool Stuff"...

I figured that since I'm constantly in the kitchen creating recipes, cooking and enjoying life - today's issue would consist of three must-haves for the kitchen.

Let's start off with the Quirky Ribbon Baking Pan!

 

The Ribbon is a modular baking pan that allows you to control the shape and the size of the baking area. Using the silicone band that attaches to the steel baking sheet with magnets, you can shape the baking area to fit the needs of your recipe and create different shaped molds for your cakes, brownies, and your most decadent desires. Ding! When you’re done baking simply peel away the silicone band to unleash those delicious treats!

Unfortunately this item isn't for sell yet, but they can sign me up!

The Quirky Pluck!

From bodybuilders to soccer moms, egg whites are a great healthy breakfast choice. But separating the yolk from the whites can seem like pulling a rabbit from a hat. Enter Quirky’s Pluck, the yolk extractor you’ll have to see to believe. Simply place it over the yolk of an already cracked egg, squeeze the silicone chamber, and release to suck the egg yolk up into it. To dispose of its contents, just give Pluck another squeeze and move onto the next egg. When finished, separate the two pieces and wash by hand or in the dishwasher. Buy $12.99 video

The Corn Kerneler!

Wow, this would definitely help me with making sweet corn tamales! Thanks to the stainless steel blades in this contraption, it makes plucking the corn off the cob seem like child's play. $12.95

Click here if want to see more of "Some Pretty Cool Stuff"

Things We Can Do To Save The Environment - Issue No. 01: Turn Food Into Fuel

Corn is the first topic in my new weekly blog, "Things We Can Do To Save The Environment".

Giving credit to TIME,  I'd like to thank them for showing us the many ways we can meet these goals of saving our environment.  And yes, even one person can make a difference.

The Global Warming Survival Guide

1. Turn Food Into Fuel

Are corn husks better than corn for producing energy? Ethanol is the alternative fuel that could finally wean the U.S. from its expensive oil habit and in turn prevent the millions of tons of carbon emissions that go with it. The Department of Energy has doubled its 2005 commitment to funding research into biofuels—any non-petroleum fuel source, including corn, soybean, switchgrass, municipal waste and (ick) used cooking oil. Already, half of the nearly 11 billion bushels of corn produced each year is turned into ethanol, and most new cars are capable of running on E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gas).

Yet the eco-friendly fuel is beginning to look less chummy of late. Some of the 114 ethanol plants in the U.S. use natural gas and, yes, even coal to run the processors. And ethanol has to be trucked. Existing gas pipelines can't carry it because it corrodes iron. Then there are the economics. Producers depend on federal subsidies, and increasing demand for corn as fuel means the kernels keep getting pricier.

That's why researchers are prospecting for more alternatives, preferably ones that don't rely on food crops or a 51 cents-per-gallon tax break. Municipal waste, wood pulp and leftover grain and corn husks are all quite attractive; they can produce something called cellulosic ethanol, which contains more energy than corn. But they don't give up their bounty easily, so for now they're more expensive than corn-based ethanol to produce. Undeterred, researchers at several cellulosic-ethanol plants are developing innovative enzyme concoctions and heating methods to make the process more economic. Nothing like haste to make something out of waste. 

Make sure to follow this blog every Tuesday for a new issue of Things We Can Do To Save The Environment.  Each issue is thought-provoking, informative and may hold the key to saving your children and grandchildren's future

The Woes of Being a Bad Parent - Children of the Corn

Seriously?  Who takes a 3-week old baby into a huge ass field of corn, only to get lost?  Second, if you can't seem to make it out through the maze, why didn't you just walk through the corn stalks?  And third, you were only 25 feet from the exit!  What a hot fucking mess!  

I'm sorry, but who the hell takes a 3 week (3 WEEKS!) into a corn maze the size of Texas!?!?

I'm sorry, but I struggled with listing this as one of my "What A Hot Mess" segments, and instead posted it as "The Woes of Being a Bad Parent," because that's what they are. Ugh.

Okay, maybe I'm being too harsh.  What do you think of all this?  Personally, I would love to walk through a maze with Ryan.  But we wouldn't be taking our 4 week old niece (literally) with us.