my fyre blog

Dear Hipsters, Stop.

2012-02-09T04:53:00.001-08:00

Sent to you by David via Google Reader:

Dear Hipsters, Stop.

via There, I Fixed It - Redneck Repairs by Cheezburger Network on 2/9/12

Okay, okay. The merry-go-round horse is quirky and fun, but did you seriously have to put pegs on a beach cruiser? Neigh to you, sir.

~NSHA

Submitted by: Unknown

Via: Hamburgler

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Why You Should Check All Your Layers Before Saving For Web

2012-02-02T17:58:00.001-08:00

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Why You Should Check All Your Layers Before Saving For Web

via PetaPixel by Michael Zhang on 2/2/12

Here's a Photoshop protip: before saving a final version of a photo for publishing on the web, make sure all the layers you want in the image are actually visible. Apparently some Photoshopper working for JCrew got careless with his layers, which led to the above catalog photo showing a model with transparent hair (in fact, the hair appeared by itself in a separate photo). The catalog entry has since been fixed, with the invisible-haired woman replaced with a boring photo of a blue blazer.

(via PSDisasters via Neatorama)

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Leg Hair Font: A Bizarre Typeface Created with Photos of Leg Hair

2011-11-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

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Leg Hair Font: A Bizarre Typeface Created with Photos of Leg Hair

via PetaPixel by Michael Zhang on 11/9/11

Mayuko Kanazawa of Tama Art University in Japan was recently given the assignment of creating a typeface without the aid of a computer. She decided to use a camera, but instead of doing a more ordinary alphabet photo project, she decided to photograph leg hair manipulated into different characters.

Yes, there are uppercase letters as well:

She also created a concept design of what it would look like if Adidas decided to use her font for an advertisement:

(via myk via Laughing Squid)

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Dried Beans

2011-11-02T08:41:00.001-07:00

good reference for the future...

Sent to you by David via Google Reader:

Dried Beans

via Daphne's Dandelions by Daphne on 11/2/11

Dried beans have got to be one of my favorite things in the winter. I love bean soups. I love hummus made from any kind of bean. I love beans done in any Mexican fashion. Now as a garden crop they are really easy. I plant them and then just let them grow all season long until the pods are dry on the vine. But they aren't very productive. They take the bed for all season and the pounds per square foot is pretty small.

Green beans are different. I had a 5.5'x1' section of Kentucky Wonder green beans. They yielded just over two pounds of beans per square foot. Which for any gardening crop is fantastic. But my dried beans do well if they yield a third of a pound per square foot. And since I was trialing so many kinds, I don't expect to get that yield from much.

I don't start to weigh the beans until they are fully dried. Then I take a hammer out and smash a few of the beans. If they shatter they are done. If they smoosh they need more time. Then I stick them in my deep freeze for a few days. Drying them will make sure that the seed doesn't die while frozen. And freezing them makes sure any pest eggs that are on them die so my beans don't get eaten in storage.

So far I have three types that are dry enough to weigh. Cherokee Trail of Tears, Ottawa Cranberry, and Mexican Pinto. The first two yielded the expected third of a pound per square foot. They are my tried and true beans (originally from the Ottawa Gardener years ago). The Mexican pinto was just under half that. Since half of the vines died unexpectedly early on, it was to be expected. I'll keep them, but I thought the Ga Ga Hut pintos yielded more. I can't really tell though as only one Ga Ga Hut bean plant survived the unexpected cold spell in late May. I had enough Mexican Pinto beans to replant, but I had no extra Ga Ga Huts. In addition the beans of Ga Ga Hut are larger. I might do the same trial again next year. We will see. I might try a bush pinto instead.

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Bizarre Portraits Showing Parents and Kids with Swapped Heads

2011-10-11T10:00:00.001-07:00

creepy, creepy, creepy.

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Bizarre Portraits Showing Parents and Kids with Swapped Heads

via PetaPixel by Michael Zhang on 10/11/11

Advertising photographer Paul Ripke's project "Man Babies" features portraits of parents with their children… with their heads swapped. Ripke enlisted the help of two professional Photoshoppin' friends, and says that the photographs were purely for fun and to test the limits of Photoshop.

You can find more photographs from this series over on Ripke's website.

Paul Ripke's "Man Babies" (via Beautiful/Decay)

Image credits: Photographs by Paul Ripke and used with permission

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Flip Over a Muffin Tin to Make Delicious Ready-to-Fill Cookie Bowls [Food Ha...

2011-10-06T09:58:00.001-07:00

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Flip Over a Muffin Tin to Make Delicious Ready-to-Fill Cookie Bowls [Food Hacks]

via Lifehacker by Alan Henry on 9/30/11

The dream of enjoying cookies and milk—or cookies and ice cream—at the same time is real, and all you need to do it is cookie dough and a muffin tin. Flip the muffin tin over, form the cookie dough around the cups instead of inside it, and bake the tin upside down. When the dough is cooked through, you'll have cookie cups, ready for any delicious filling.

You don't have to use pre-made cookie dough for this trick: cookie maker Wilton actually has the recipe for these sugar cookie bowls on their site. They also happen to sell cookie bowl "pan," but you can use any upturned muffin tin and your own favorite cookie recipe to make this work.

What do you think, delicious-looking or crazy? What would you fill the cups with? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks to John for sending in the tip!

Sugar Cookie Bowls | Wilton via Imgur and Reddit

You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.

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Sprout Your Own Seeds [Video]

2011-10-06T09:44:00.001-07:00

is it worth trying this again?

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Sprout Your Own Seeds [Video]

via Lifehacker by David Galloway on 9/24/11

If you enjoy eating sprouts in your salads or sandwiches, consider growing your own sprouts from seed using nothing more than a mason jar and a piece of screen material from a hardware store. You can buy seeds for sprouting online or use garden seeds as well.

Sprouts are full of nutrition. According to Chef Keith Snow at Harvest Eating:

Just a few ounces of sprouts per week can provide plenty of fiber, vitamin C and other minerals your body needs. Sprouts are terrific survival food as well. Because they take up so little space and only need moisture and a little time, many people store sprout kits to be prepared for a long term power outage or other potential food shortages.

Another advantage of sprouts is that you can make them in the dead of winter to have fresh veggies at any time. Using the instructions in the video above, you can grow fresh sprouts from seed in about four days, rinsing the seeds twice daily.

Seed Sprouting Basics | Harvest Eating

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10+ Dishes and Drinks Everyone Should Know How to Make At Home (Including Yo...

2011-09-26T17:00:00.001-07:00

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10+ Dishes and Drinks Everyone Should Know How to Make At Home (Including You) [Video]

via Lifehacker by Alan Henry on 9/9/11

Whether you have trouble boiling water or you know your way around an immersion circulator, there are some foods that everyone should know how to make, either because they're delicious, they're easy, or they require skills that will benefit you as you learn your way around the kitchen. We asked some professional chefs (and the Lifehacker team) what you should be able to make, no matter who you are, and how.

Photo by Buck.

Chef Anthony Thomas - Roasted Garlic and Spaghetti Sauce

Chef Anthony Thomas, of Fresh and Natural Food Service, Inc in California, points out that a basic spaghetti sauce is a great way to practice the basics in a fun and family-friendly way. He also explained that if you're making spaghetti but also planning garlic bread and a salad, for example, you'll need to learn to multi-task, time your food, and prioritize: all very important skills for any cook. When you perfect it, you'll understand some of the fundamentals, and you'll be able to cook something delicious for you, a guest, or your family. Photo by H Michael Karshis.

Even so, Chef Thomas warned me about the temptation to cling to recipes. He writes: "When I think of what a person should be able to make, I lean toward not the what but the how. I am a firm believer that you should learn the basic techniques rather than recipes. For example: searing, grilling, braising, poaching, simmering, roasting… Now rather than identifying these techniques and perfecting them, end users tend to cook recipe after recipe blindly, not soaking in the basics that underlie the recipe."

He continues, "Now if you were to take braising itself and learn the basics, (like adding your veg and starch, browning, adding tomato paste and flour making your roux and simmering the product until it is heavenly tender,) you will learn not just a recipe but a technique, and you'll be able to add protein, vegetables and starches and make it your own. A lot of what I see in recipes is that the user is so focused on following the recipe they do not focus on the important basics. I think this is how real creativity and cooking is born; it is also the corner stone on which all culinary students are taught."

Chef Anthony Thomas' Roasted Garlic and Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Chef Shaya Klechevsky - Basmati Rice

Chef Shaya Klechevsky, of At Your Palate and author of the At Your Palate Blog, knows his way around the professional and the home kitchen. He competed on an episode of Food Network's competition cooking show Chopped, and is a personal chef in the New York metro area as well as a food writer. When I asked him what food he thinks everyone should be able to make, he reminded me of one of the most important gains on earth: rice. Photo by Laura Turner.

Chef Klechevsky wrote: "I think that everyone should know how to make rice. Every culture has a distinct starch "backbone" to their diet, and growing up in a Middle Eastern home meant not only lots of rice, but a variety of them. The family is split between Carolina rice - a starchier long-grain rice, and Basmati rice - a thinner long-grain rice which tends to maintain its own individual character once cooked. I'm partial to Basmati (grown in India or Pakistan and means "fragrant" in Sanskrit) rice, since when cooked right, is light, fluffy and delicious. Unfortunately, rice seems to be very difficult for a lot of people to prepare, and I think with a few easy steps and principles could make the process a lot easier. Rice is such a versatile ingredient and goes well with almost any dish and almost anything could be added to it. It's great plain, as a pilaf with nuts and dried fruit, mixed with fresh herbs, great for stuffing....the list goes on."

I personally prefer Basmati rice as well, and after walking me through his preferred preparation (more on this in a moment,) he explained that rice is incredibly versatile. "There are many different ways you can cook it, and it's limitless in its possibilities," he said. "Of course, there are different varieties of rice: white, brown, red, long-grain, short-grain....they all have their own unique flavors and characteristics, but their cooking method is about the same. One particularly interesting tradition in rice cooking is with the Persians/Iranians where they purposefully burn the bottom part of the pot so that the rice gets all toasted and dark. They call this tahdig and is crunchy and has such a depth of flavor and is usually presented to the guest first as a symbol of honor."

Chef Shaya Klechevsky's Basmati Rice Preparation Tips

Chef Chris Whitpan – Simple Tomato and Cream Sauces

Chef Chris Whitpan is the man behind The Kitchen Hacker, a site we love and have referenced before. He's also a 20 year veteran of kitchens and the restaurant industry. To say he knows how to make the most of short time and big expectations is an understatement. When I asked him what he thought every cook, whether they're a home cook just starting out or someone who wants to take their kitchen skills to the next level should know how to make, he, much like Chef Thomas, pointed to a pair of simple sauces as the bedrock of good cooking. Photo by Neeta Lind.

"If I had to pick one thing I would want to teach someone I would say it is how to make a basic sauce, like a tomato or cream base," he explained. "The reason I say this is because it is what takes cooking from basic preparation in the home to the next level. The skill you learn from making a good sauce will benefit you for years to come."

He continued: "As chef's one of the first things we are taught to cook is stocks and sauces, and with good reason. It is the base of all good cooking. A good sauce will take a basic piece of chicken, say, and will make it so much more. It takes jarred or prepared sauces out of your life, and with it, the sodium and preservatives giving you a healthier product. It gives you control over your food, that you don't get by opening a can or popping something in the microwave."

"I would have people learn two basic sauces a light tomato and a rich cream. Being able to make these two sauces, which take less time than you may think, will give you a great base to work from."

Chef Chris Whitpan's Tomato and Cream Sauce Recipes

Doug DuCap – Fried Seafood

Doug DuCap knows a thing or two about seafood. After all, he's the Fish and Seafood Cooking Guide at About.com, the editor of HuggingTheCoast.com, and the author of The Knack Fish and Seafood Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for All Seasons, the cookbook from which his favorite recipe is taken. All that said, it's no surprise that DuCap thinks everyone should know how to prepare and enjoy some basic fried seafood. Photo by The Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau.

"I think fried seafood, properly made, is a truly glorious thing," he told me. "Yes, a broiled flounder or a grilled salmon steak or a platter of raw oysters can be very delicious and satisfying, but a heaping basket of crunchy fried shrimp or crispy fish & chips really widens my eyes. And let's not even talk about calamari, oyster po-boys, cornmeal-crusted catfish, fried clams, etc, etc."

Mouth-watering aside, DuCap went on to share some tips to make perfectly fried seafood without wrecking the flavor and texture in the process. "Frying seafood can seem intimidating — and frankly, seafood is just too expensive to make mistakes with. But just by following a few simple tips, anyone can make light, crisp, non-greasy fried seafood:"

Use a high temp oil like peanut, grapeseed, soybean, sunflower, or canola.
Use an oil thermometer — they're inexpensive and they save guesswork. Generally speaking, 360 degrees is a good choice for most seafood.
Fry in small batches so you don't lower the oil temperature too much. Low temp=greasy results.
A good rule of thumb for fish fillets is 5 minutes total cooking time per half-inch. Shrimp, oysters, and other small items require just a couple of minutes.
Ditch the paper towels: draining on a rack placed over a baking pan helps fried foods stay crisp. Plus, you can keep it in a warm oven while you fry the next batch.

DuCap explained that the most popular recipe in his cookbook is also one of his favorites to make, and it's also one of the easiest. It's perfect for families with kids or people who just want one of those recipes where everyone asks how you did it but you can keep the secret close to your chest: Butterflied shrimp in a crunchy golden crust made with cheddar-flavored Goldfish snack crackers:

Doug DuCap's Fried Butterflied Shrimp with Cheddar Goldfish Crust Recipe

Bartender Jeremy Tuite– Easy Drinks

It's all well and good to have a list of dishes that everyone should know how to prepare, but when it comes time to serve those dishes, you'll want something to wash them down with. I spoke with former bartender Jeremy Tuite about what drinks he thought anyone should be able to make, whether they have experience tending bar or they just want a few drinks in their back pocket to make for guests, and he came up with three solid suggestions:

A simple cocktail: "For an elegant cocktail hour add a splash of a nice French dry vermouth, such as Noilly Prat, to Russian Standard vodka (dollar for dollar my favorite) over ice in a rocks glass," he explained. "Throw in three (good luck) nice green olives. These should be bought fresh. Places such as Whole Foods have an olive bar that is a best bet; jarred as a last resort. Mellow it out with a tablespoon or two of water. No need for shaking or martini glasses. Give it a stir and go."
Vodka and soda: "For the perfect vodka and soda, mix it the way you like over ice in your favorite highball glasses. Squeeze in big quarter wedge of fresh lemon or lime. Pour the entire thing into a pint glass, then back into the highball. Serve." Photo by Dana Robinson.
A good hangover cure: "My hangover favorite isn't the bloody mary, it's the michelada," Tuite told me. Now we're speaking my language. "Fill a pint glass to the brim with ice. Pour a mexican beer to the 3/4 mark. Squeeze in an entire lime. Top off the glass with good tomato juice. Add three drops of Tapatìo hot sauce. Prepare a second (serving) glass by rubbing the used lime around the rim. Salt the rim by setting it upside down onto a saucer of salt. Pour the mixture into the salted pint glass, garnish with a lime wedge, serve.

Lifehacker Team

While none of us at Lifehacker HQ are professional chefs, we all share a mutual love of food. I asked the team what they thought any home cook should be able to make, and why they thought so, and got a couple of great responses.

Whitson Gordon - Oven-Cooked Steak: As the one writer that doesn't share a love of food with the rest of the team, he was reluctant to contribute—but by popular demand has added a few of his favorite meals to the pool. As an apartment-dweller, he laments his lack of a full grill outside. However, he says the great Alton Brown showed him that it's just as easy to cook a great steak in the oven as it is to cook it outside—in fact, we've written about it before, and it's been one of my favorites ever since." We'll leave it to Alton to explain it, so check out the video on the right to see how it's done.
As an addendum, he notes that if you like fish and are as afraid of deep frying as he is, you can "cook a mean pan-fried Tilapia with almost no effort at all."

While there are certainly simpler recipes that everyone should probably start out in the kitchen with, like hard boiled eggs or proper pasta, some of the most important and fundamental cooking skills can be attained by trying something that seems more daring at first than it really is.

Learning some simple sauces, a few basic dishes, and a couple of drinks, all of which you can keep in your pocket for guests or a nice meal at home alone or with your family, will take you farther towards eating better and living healthier.

Chef Anthony Thomas hails from California and works for Fresh and Natural Food Service, Inc.

Chef Shaya Klechevsky is the owner of At Your Palate and the author of the At Your Palate Blog. He competed on an episode of Food Network's competition cooking show Chopped, and is a personal chef and food writer in the New York metro area.

Chef Chris Whitpan is a 20-year kitchen and restaurant management veteran, and the author of The Kitchen Hacker.

Doug DuCap is the Fish and Seafood Cooking Guide at About.com, the editor of HuggingTheCoast.com, and the author of The Knack Fish and Seafood Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for All Seasons (Globe Pequot Press, 2010).

Jeremy Tuite was a bartender for two years, knows a lot of useful tricks, and can still make a mean cocktail.

All of these gentlemen volunteered their expertise and experience for this post, and we thank them.

You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.

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Plot Your House Color Palette to Evolve Interior Design [Home Improvement]

2011-09-26T16:36:00.001-07:00

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Plot Your House Color Palette to Evolve Interior Design [Home Improvement]

via Lifehacker by David Galloway on 9/3/11

Often when you first buy a house or decide to remodel your home you need to evaluate the colors used throughout the house, which rooms you plan on painting, and what order to wish to paint. Using a floor plan with each room's wall color represented can help you get a feel for your current color scheme as well planning for future upgrades.

Home remodeling blog Young House Love recommends using a floor plan tool such as Floorplanner, but if you already have a copy of the floor plan it's probably just as easy to use an image editor like Photoshop or GIMP to add the colors in.

Painting the walls with a hip color can be a great way of making a new house or apartment your own inexpensively. If you want to coordinate the design in most of your rooms you may want to consider using the color palette technique.

Our Home's Recently Expanded Color Palette | Young House Love

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Kill Bugs With Diatomaceous Earth [Pest Control]

2011-09-26T16:34:00.001-07:00

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Kill Bugs With Diatomaceous Earth [Pest Control]

via Lifehacker by David Galloway on 8/28/11

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is a substance made up of the fossilzed remains of plankton; it looks like an off-white talc powder. It can kill any bug with an exoskeleton easily, but is safe for any mammal to eat. It is a popular way to kill bugs without using insecticide.

Permaculture web site Rich Soil explains how DE works:

Diatomaceous Earth is almost pure silica (with some beneficial trace minerals); under a microscope, it looks like shards of glass (glass is made from silica). On any beetle-type insect that has a carapace, like fleas and cockroaches, the DE works under the shell and punctures the body, which then dehydrates and the insect dies. DE is totally nontoxic. There is no buildup of tolerance like there is to poisons because the method of killing is PHYSICAL, not chemical.

Since DE is nontoxic to humans, you'll often find it in grain-based foods, as DE is mixed in with commodity grain to keep it safe from bugs. I used it last year to kill a few mounds of fire ants in my backyard. It took a few days to fully kill all the ants, but it worked well. Keep in mind that you need to keep DE dry before using as water will make it ineffective. Also make sure you buy food grade DE instead of pool grade DE as the latter contains up to 70% crystalline silica, a substance known to be carcinogenic with sustained use.

Food grade DE can be found at most organic gardening suppliers. You can also buy it online; here's a source to purchase a 2.5 gallon jug for $11.50 plus shipping.

Diatomaceous Earth is an inexpensive, nontoxic, and effective way to kill bugs. Give it a try next time you have an infestation. Photo by Alisha Vargas.

Diatomaceous Earth (food grade): bug killer you can eat! | RichSoil - Permaculture Articles by Paul Wheaton

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Kill Bugs With Diatomaceous Earth [Pest Control]

2011-09-22T05:28:00.001-07:00

Sent to you by David via Google Reader:

Kill Bugs With Diatomaceous Earth [Pest Control]

via Lifehacker by David Galloway on 8/28/11

Permaculture web site Rich Soil explains how DE works:

Diatomaceous Earth is almost pure silica (with some beneficial trace minerals); under a microscope, it looks like shards of glass (glass is made from silica). On any beetle-type insect that has a carapace, like fleas and cockroaches, the DE works under the shell and punctures the body, which then dehydrates and the insect dies. DE is totally nontoxic. There is no buildup of tolerance like there is to poisons because the method of killing is PHYSICAL, not chemical.

Food grade DE can be found at most organic gardening suppliers. You can also buy it online; here's a source to purchase a 2.5 gallon jug for $11.50 plus shipping.

Diatomaceous Earth is an inexpensive, nontoxic, and effective way to kill bugs. Give it a try next time you have an infestation. Photo by Alisha Vargas.

Diatomaceous Earth (food grade): bug killer you can eat! | RichSoil - Permaculture Articles by Paul Wheaton

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PillowMob Turns Portraits into Pillows

2011-08-29T18:15:00.001-07:00

nice...and creepy!

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PillowMob Turns Portraits into Pillows

via PetaPixel by Michael Zhang on 8/29/11

PillowMob is a new service that transforms photos of heads into puffy pillow heads. In addition to human faces, you can also use the face of your beloved pet. They cost $25 each with free shipping — it's currently available to US residents only, but the company may begin shipping internationally soon.

Thanks for the tip, Jeremy!

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Artist Mocks the Absurd Poses in Fashion Photos by Showing Them in Real Life

2011-08-24T16:45:00.001-07:00

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Artist Mocks the Absurd Poses in Fashion Photos by Showing Them in Real Life

via PetaPixel by Michael Zhang on 8/24/11

Have you ever noticed how ridiculous many of the poses seen in fashion and glamor photographs are? Artist Yolanda Dominguez has a project called Poses highlighting how absurd and artificial the poses are by having a group of women do them in public locations and filming the reactions of passersby. It's interesting how something so ridiculous when seen in real life can look so "normal" when done by a model in the context of a fashion photograph.

(via mashKULTURE)

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Remove Yourself from All Background Check Web Sites: A Master List [Public R...

2011-08-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

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Remove Yourself from All Background Check Web Sites: A Master List [Public Records]

via Lifehacker by Melanie Pinola on 8/2/11

An alarming number of sites publish your name, address, and other information online. If you want to remove your data from sites like ZabaSearch and WhitePages.com, reddit user pibbman (via LawyerCT) has compiled a helpful list of them with links to the opt-out forms and instructions.

For most of these sites you just need to fill out an online form to have your information removed. A few annoying ones require more hoops to jump through. It's a worthwhile endeavor, though: since these are the major public record/background check sites, removing your name from all of them should get you removed from the smaller ones too, pibbman says.

How to remove yourself from all background check websites | Reddit

You can follow or contact Melanie Pinola, the author of this post, on Twitter.

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Are These Really The 25-Best Ice Cream Shops In The Country?

2011-08-10T10:25:00.001-07:00

been to 2 out of 25. i've got some work to do!

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Are These Really The 25-Best Ice Cream Shops In The Country?

via The Consumerist by Chris Morran on 8/10/11

What's that dividing line between a good spot to pick up an ice cream cone and a place truly deserving of being called the best in the country? The folks at Food & Wine magazine think they know and have put together their list of the 25 best ice cream spots in the entire U.S.

You won't find Dairy Queen, Cold Stone, Carvel or Mister Softee anywhere on this list. In fact, only one of the 25 eateries mentioned lists more than one location.

Only 19 states made the list and if you believe the Food & Wine editors, there are two areas with the highest density of quality ice cream. All three shops in California are located around the Bay Area (San Francisco, Berkeley and San Rafael) And while the three Massachusetts ice cream spots are more spread out, they're all within a short drive from the Boston area. Throw in the one listing for nearby Portsmouth, NH, and eastern Mass. may be the ice cream center of the country.

The full list is below and awaits your scrutiny. I've only tried one of the 25, so we want to hear from people that have actually sampled these wares -- and from everyone else who thinks they know of shops that deserved to make the list instead.

ARIZONA
Scottsdale: Sweet Republic

CALIFORNIA
Berkeley: Ici Ice Cream

San Francisco: Bi-Rite Creamery

San Rafael: Three Twins Organic Ice Cream

COLORADO
Denver: Sweet Action Ice Cream

DELAWARE
Hockessin: Woodside Farm Creamery

HAWAII
Honolulu: Bubbie's Ice Cream

LOUISIANA
New Orleans: The Creole Creamery

MAINE
Bar Harbor: Mt. Desert Ice Cream

MASSACHUSETTS
Cambridge: Toscanini's

Centerville: Four Seas Ice Cream

Sharon: Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar

MICHIGAN
Traverse City: Moomers Homemade Ice Cream

MINNESOTA
Minneapolis: Pumphouse Creamery

MISSOURI
Kansas City: Glace Artisan Ice Cream

MONTANA
Missoula: Big Dipper Ice Cream

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Portsmouth: Annabelle's Natural Ice Cream

OHIO
Columbus: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

Multiple locations: Graeter's

NEW YORK
Brooklyn: Blue Marble

NORTH CAROLINA
Hillsborough: Maple View Farm and Dairy

OREGON
Portland: Cool Moon Ice Cream

TEXAS
Austin: Amy's Ice Cream

WASHINGTON
Seattle: Molly Moon Ice Cream

Bainbridge Island: Mora Iced Creamery

SLIDESHOWS: Best Ice Cream Spots in the U.S. [FoodAndWine.com]

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Get a Refund on Your Airline Ticket If You Flew During FAA Shutdown [Travel]

2011-08-05T08:34:00.001-07:00

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Get a Refund on Your Airline Ticket If You Flew During FAA Shutdown [Travel]

via Lifehacker by Alan Henry on 8/3/11

You may not have known it, but during last month's federal budget debate in Washington, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shut down, and with it went its ability to collect taxes from airlines on passenger ticket sales. That didn't stop airlines from charging those fees and pocketing the money though. If you flew during that time, you're due a refund.

While the FAA was shut down, its legal authority and its ability to collect taxes from the airlines expired. Airlines didn't lower their ticket prices however, and instead raised their base rates to pocket the extra $20 to $40 per ticket. Partially due to pressure from Congress and the IRS, Delta and US Airways have agreed to refund customers the difference.

Ideally, other carriers will follow suit, and all of them will automatically refund you the difference to the credit or debit account used to buy the ticket. If they don't, you can contact the airline and ask, or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says you can submit a claim to the them (although they note they're still investigating whether to pay the claims or direct airlines to do so.)

The IRS has published an FAQ on the topic so you can see whether you're eligible for the refund and how much you're entitled to based on the tax rate applied to airlines. Photo by James.

Expiration of Airline Ticket and Other Aviation-Related Taxes | IRS.gov via The Consumerist

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Delta And US Airways Will Refund "Taxes" Collected During FAA Shutdown

2011-08-02T17:37:00.001-07:00

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Delta And US Airways Will Refund "Taxes" Collected During FAA Shutdown

via The Consumerist by Ben Popken on 8/2/11

Delta was the first airline to start giving out refunds for the extra money they've been scalping from passengers while the FAA remains shut down. After the airline made the announcement Monday, US Airways on Tuesday said they would follow suit.

Until its mandate is re-extended, the FAA has no authority to collect federal taxes, which are assessed on each passenger's ticket. Most airlines opted to raise airfares the same amount as the tax amount, which is essentially a hidden fare increase.

Last week the IRS asked airlines to please give people refunds for the money and said that airlines can do so, just like when a refundable ticket is exchanged.

The refunds will apply to travelers who bought tickets on or before July 22 and flew between July 22 and whenever the FAA's lights go back on.

Delta has not said when the refunds are going to start coming, but a spokesperson told USA Today that, "it should be relatively soon." Yeah, when an airline tells you it should by any time now, it's time to break out a thick book.

Delta to refund taxes for travel during shutdown [The Dallas Morning News] (Thanks to Michael!)
US Airways joins Delta in refunding ticket taxes paid before FAA shutdown [Washington Post]

PREVIOUSLY
Senators Blast Airlines For Profiteering During Tax Holiday
How To Get A Tax Refund From JetBlue
Airlines Not Passing On Savings Of Not Having To Pay FAA Taxes
Delta, Continental, Others Jack Up Fares After Federal Tax Takes Vacation

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When You Don't Have Shaving Cream, Use Peanut Butter Instead [Clever Uses]

2011-07-31T06:31:00.001-07:00

your dream come true!

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When You Don't Have Shaving Cream, Use Peanut Butter Instead [Clever Uses]

via Lifehacker by Adam Dachis on 7/28/11

Whether you're shaving your face, your legs, or really anywhere else you can think of, you probably do it with shaving cream. As ridiculous as it may sound at first, peanut butter is actually a worth alternative—so long as you don't get the chunky variety. Top 10 lists site Listverse has the details:

Believe it or not, peanut butter makes a great shaving gel. Just apply it like you would apply the gel, and shave as normal. It works just as well and anyone that has bought a container of shaving gel will know, it is a hell of a lot cheaper. The end result is a very smooth shave and, as a bonus, the oils in the peanut butter are very good for your skin, so you don't need to spend even more money on moisturizer for your legs or face.

It makes sense, but I was a little skeptical. I was hoping to try this myself, but I couldn't find any peanut butter. Fortunately Listverse provided this video (contains naughty language!!), and I also found this one. It may not be your first choice for shaving aids, but it's a good trick to have in a pinch (or if you're just in the mood for spreading peanut butter all over yourself).

Photo by Breaktaker.com

Top 10 Unusual Uses for Peanut Butter | Listverse

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Line a Planter with Styrofoam Packing Peanuts for Improved Drainage [Clever ...

2011-07-31T06:16:00.001-07:00

wow, we were like 4 years ahead of our time!

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Line a Planter with Styrofoam Packing Peanuts for Improved Drainage [Clever Uses]

via Lifehacker by Alan Henry on 7/26/11

If you're moving your favorite houseplant or cubicle-friendly companion to a new, larger planter, try adding some packing peanuts to the bottom of the planter. The peanuts beneath the soil won't compact, and excess water will drain cleanly through them without sitting in the bottom of the pot, slowly rotting your plant's roots.

Root rot is a serious problem after re-potting a plant. It's easy to over-water a plant in a new, larger pot because you think you need to wet all of the new soil even if the plant only lives in the center. Use Styrofoam packing peanuts to allow the extra water to soak out of the bottom of the pot, drain past the peanuts, and then out of the pot into a dish under the pot.

This way the moisture doesn't sit in soil at the bottom of the pot, slowly drying out, and possibly endangering your freshly re-potted plant. If you want an alternative, we've heard that aquarium gravel or pebbles work just as well. What are some of your best plant-care tricks? Share your tips in the comments.

Styrofoam Peanuts as Potting Mix | Real Simple

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Google Books Announces E-Reader Deal With Harry Potter Books

2011-07-29T17:34:00.001-07:00

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Google Books Announces E-Reader Deal With Harry Potter Books

via The Consumerist by MB Quirk on 7/24/11

If there were ever two unstoppable money-making forces, it would be Google and the Harry Potter franchise. So it makes perfect sense that those two market dominators would team up for Google's eBooks.

Fans of the four-eyed wizard and his pals have been bemoaning the lack of Harry Potter on eReaders thus far. But now that J.K. Rowling's announced Pottermore.com will keep churning out Potter offerings to keep fans happy, Google has announced they'll be assisting in the e-reader launch with their own Google Books.

Techland points out a blog post by Google last week, which announced:

So when the series of Harry Potter ebooks launches on Pottermore.com in early October, these bestsellers will be available in the U.S. via the open Google eBooks platform. When you buy a Harry Potter ebook from Pottermore, you will be able to choose to keep it in your Google Books library in-the-cloud, as well as on other e-reading platforms.

Pottermore will be the only place to buy the books in e-reading format, and under this new deal with Google, "Google Checkout will be the preferred third party payment platform for all purchases made on Pottermore.com."

Nice little arrangement they've pulled off, eh? Could be seen as almost... magical.

Google E-Books Gain Momentum With 'Harry Potter' Deal [Techland]

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The Flavor Of Your OJ Is A Chemically-Induced Mirage

2011-07-29T10:17:00.001-07:00

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The Flavor Of Your OJ Is A Chemically-Induced Mirage

via The Consumerist by Ben Popken on 7/29/11

There's a dirty secret in your glass of orange juice. Even though it says "not from concentrate," it probably sat in a large vat for up to year with all the oxygen was removed from it. This allows it to be preserved and dispensed all year-round. Taking out all the O2 also gets rid of all the flavor. So the juice makers have to add the flavors back in using preformulated recipes full of chemicals called "flavor packs." Mmm, delicious, fresh-squeezed ethyl-butyrate!

Author Aliissa Hamilton covers this in her book, "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice." Of her findings, she writes on the Civl Eats blog:

Juice companies therefore hire flavor and fragrance companies, the same ones that formulate perfumes for Dior and Calvin Klein, to engineer flavor packs to add back to the juice to make it taste fresh. Flavor packs aren't listed as an ingredient on the label because technically they are derived from orange essence and oil. Yet those in the industry will tell you that the flavor packs, whether made for reconstituted or pasteurized orange juice, resemble nothing found in nature. The packs added to juice earmarked for the North American market tend to contain high amounts of ethyl butyrate, a chemical in the fragrance of fresh squeezed orange juice that, juice companies have discovered, Americans favor.

Less you think this is some kind of organic hippy conspiracy theory, deaeration and pasteurization are very real in the orange juice and they do remove flavor. Here is a study to that effect posted on the USDA.gov site.

If this is the type of thing that bothers you, buying OJ from the store in May through June is the only way to ensure that most of the juice is from fresh Valencia oranges. The rest of the year it's reflavored sugar water from a tank farm.

Freshly Squeezed: The Truth About Orange Juice in Boxes [Civil Eats]
Don't get squeezed when shopping for juice [Baltimore Sun]

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16 Tales Of Frugal Fathers

2011-07-05T07:17:00.001-07:00

http://consumerist.com/2011/07/xx-frugal-things-your-dad-did.html

Cheerwine-Filled Krispy Kremes Are Back, Tennessee Can Bite In Too

2011-06-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

mmmmmm....

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Cheerwine-Filled Krispy Kremes Are Back, Tennessee Can Bite In Too

via The Consumerist by Ben Popken on 6/30/11

The lovechild of a bottle of Cheerwine soda and a Krispy Kreme doughnut is back for seconds. It's the Cheerwine-filled Krispy Kreme! The doughnut maker has brought back these two classic Carolina flavors that were such a hit last year for a one-monthly only run starting in July. And this year they've expanded the deploy zone to also include Tennessee.

Cheerwine is a regional soda sold in the Carolina area that is very bubbly has a distinctive sweet cherry flavor. They also have a cult following. I once knew again who added a 100-mile detour to his trip just so he could pick up a case.

Part of the reason the two companies got together was because they're both based in Carolina and have been around since the early 20th century. They wined and dined each other on Rock Candy Mountain and decided they were perfect for each other.

The donuts will be sold by the half-dozen at regular Krispy-Kreme dispensaries, as well as BI-LO, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Ingles Markets, Kroger, Lowes Foods, Piggly Wiggly, Publix and Walmart stores.

"The Cheerwine Kreme Filled Doughnut is a true celebration of two southern heritage icons doing something quite magical for loyal fans in the south. It is a perfect summer treat, and with the limited run of production and the introduction of the doughnut into Tennessee, we think excitement is going to be through the roof," said Tom Barbitta, Vice President of Marketing for Cheerwine. "If last year is any indication, we have to tell people to make sure to get them while they can. There's nothing worse than watching someone else walk away with the last Cheerwine Kreme Filled Doughnut."

Aw, that sounds so sad!

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Mmm... Cheerwine Filled Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

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Stretch One Chicken Over 22 Healthy Meals for Less than $50 [Food]

2011-06-23T17:41:00.001-07:00

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Stretch One Chicken Over 22 Healthy Meals for Less than $50 [Food]

via Lifehacker by Matthew Rogers on 6/20/11

A whole chicken doesn't have to last one meal, only to become a day's worth of leftovers before making its way to the trash bin. Kerry Taylor managed to stretch one enormous chicken into 22 meals over a five-day period, and it's wasn't as insane (or meatless) as you might think.

To kick the whole thing off, she started by baking a 6.28lb chicken, whole. Doing this not only guarantees the first day's food, but it also leaves enough leftover materials (like the bones) to make a large pot of chicken stock. That stock is what allowed her to stretch the bird past the three-day mark, because soup and stew are both easy and filling.

Plenty of vegetables and herbs mean any two days' soup or stew can be completely different in taste, despite coming from the same chicken stock. There's also types of noodles, beans, or pasta to consider, making the combinations pretty easy to come by. Chicken White Chili may not be too common a sight in most kitchens, but it doesn't exactly sound bad, either.

A $20 chicken seems like a big purchase when you see it at the store, but if it can stretch out to an entire week's worth of meals with a minimal investment in side items, it starts to look pretty cheap. Getting the oven-use for the week done at the outset is also a great thing for Summer, which is an added bonus. Photo by Steven Depolo.

1 Organic Chicken, 22 Healthy Meals, $49 Bucks | Squawkfox

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Whole Grain Pasta May Not Hold Many Real Health Benefits [Health]

2011-06-23T17:39:00.001-07:00

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Whole Grain Pasta May Not Hold Many Real Health Benefits [Health]

via Lifehacker by Alan Henry on 6/20/11

Whole grains are healthy for you, but only when they're intact in your meal. Dr. Darya Pino of Summer Tomato says that with pasta, the more the grain has been processed, the fewer health benefits you get, even if it's marketed as "whole grain."

For example, whole grain rice is definitely better for you than white rice, but because pasta is processed when made, the health benefits from so-called "whole grain" pasta may actually be very small, especially in comparison to non-processed grains.

In essence, if you're spending more on whole grain pasta because you think you're getting serious health benefits, don't waste your money. Instead, focus on portion control and how much pasta you eat. If you're that concerned about healthy pasta dishes, just add more vegetables to the meal. Photo by Dottie Mae.

Should I Buy Whole Grain Pasta? | Summer Tomato

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