I’ll have to issue a forewarning for all you college students and culinary bums: this video may put a damper on your late-night love affair with instant ramen.

For her presentation at TEDxManhattan, media artist Stefani Bardin collaborated with Dr. Branden Kuo, a Harvard gastroenterologist, to create footage contrasting the digestive journey between processed and unprocessed foods.

In order to capture the footage, subjects ingested a device known as the SmartPill, a small capsule containing sensors that measured the pressure and pH value of the gut. They also swallowed the woefully-named Mouth 2 Anus (M2A) Capsule, a 26mm pill comprised of a video camera, LED, and bluetooth capabilities.

Here is the messy, gloopy product of their findings:

If your dining experience is in dire need of some serious novelty, mosey on over to the Villa Escudero Resort in the Quezon province of the Phillipines, where tourists and guests eat their lunch at the foot of the Labasin Falls.

At the aptly-titled Waterfall Restaurant, the cascade literally floods the floor beneath your feet, and visitors are encouraged to take off their shoes, to wade in the water, and to get as close as possible to the crashing falls. Channel your inner TLC!

Not convinced? Check out this video below:

Tom Trager who? This shirt was designed by RON F@%KING SWANSON!

In one of the most anti-FOODBEAST stories of the year, this is the tale of Kailyn, an 18-year old from Sacramento, CA who consumes at least 15 pieces of plastic a day. She loves the feel of remotes in her mouth, she’s eaten 12 of them, along with over 5,000 beads, 1,000 cocktail swords, 100 swords, 10 water bottles, 2 pacifiers, 3 CD cases, 50 coat hangers and 25 plastic drink lids.

Kailyn’s 11-year-strong plastic habit has led to over 150 pounds of plastic consumed. According to the TLC My Strange Addiction episode that will be documenting the habit, Kailyn often chooses plastic over food. She mentions that it’s not the taste of plastic she’s after, but it’s “the way it crunches, and feels, and it’s a rough, but at the same time, smooth texture.“

Does anyone out there also consume plastic? I know I’ve been known to nob on the occasional plastic straw…but to actually chew it down and swallow it, not really my type snack.

What’s a better way to bond with someone than over a cheeseburger? I know! Dining on a CHEESEBURGER on top of a CHEESEBURGER table while sitting on CHEESEBURGER stools! Unfortunately, these stools only stand 11” high so that means it was built for your toddler. Dagnabit! If grownups knew how to have more fun, they’d make’em in our size. ($160 @ mauriciousfurniture.com)

These types of things are generally far too involved for me… all the steps required, they’re just too much. Even BF said he was “really impressed” with me… lol ~ I love that I can impress someone just by not being lazy. Amazing, right? So hard – make cupcakes, cool cupcakes. Make frosting, pipe frosting, chill frosting. Melt chocolate, dip cupcakes, and (worst of all) clean up melted chocolate mess.

Have you ever had to clean up melted chocolate? It’s absolutely exhausting. I might be being a little bit dramatic, but still. So hard.

The allure of chocolate and peanut butter though… I had to have these. I set aside the whole day to make these. And they were so worth it. If I could inject that peanut butter frosting straight into my veins, I’d be hooked. Light and fluffy with the perfect balance of peanut butter salty-sweetness. Amazing.

These are medium fancy and super cute… and who can resist peanut butter and chocolate? Plus the novelty of a “hand-dipped” cupcake? Irresistible. Luckily this recipe only makes 10 cupcakes – so right when I was reaching the point of being ready to give up, I was done!

Now I know 10 cupcakes is my limit before I need to lay down.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with 10 cupcake cups. In medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt until combined; set aside.

2. In large bowl, whisk sugar, buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla until combined and smooth. Whisk in dry mixture until smooth. Spoon batter into cupcake cups, dividing evenly. Bake until center is just set, about 25 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.

3. While cupcakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream. In bowl of standing mixer, whisk sugar, egg whites, and salt until combined. Set bowl over pan of simmering water and gently whisk until mixture registers 160 degrees F on instant read thermometer. Immediately transfer to mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until mixture resembles shaving cream and is just cool. On medium speed, whip in butter, one piece at a time, until combined and creamy. Add peanut butter and vanilla and beat until smooth. Transfer buttercream to pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/2-inch tip.

4. Pipe about 1/3 cup frosting onto each cupcake. Chill cupcakes in fridge until buttercream is completely firm, about 1 hour.

5. When cupcakes have chilled, make the chocolate coating. Place chocolate and oil in a medium bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water. Gently whisk until chocolate has just melted and mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large mug.

6. Holding cupcake by the bottom, carefully dip in chocolate to submerge all of the frosting. Pull up and let excess chocolate drop off for a few seconds before turning cupcake right side up. Transfer to cooling rack and repeat with remaining cupcakes. Let cupcakes rest a few minutes to allow chocolate to set and buttercream to soften before serving.

Notes:

• When preparing buttercream, make sure the butter is soft, or it won’t easily incorporate into the buttercream.
• If you don’t have a pastry bag or tip, fill a zip-lock bag with buttercream and then snip 1/2 inch off corner.
• Avoid letting the bowl touch the simmering water, or it will overheat the mixture.
• You will have leftover chocolate coating. This is purposefully done so that there is enough to easily dip each cupcake. Freeze leftovers for the next time.
• Store the cupcakes in a cool, dry place to enjoy a creamy, soft buttercream. For continued storage, refrigerate. Before serving, allow cupcakes to come to room temperature to re-soften the buttercream.

[ original post ]

[ adapted from serious eats ]

Valentine’s Day is a bogus holiday, and I’m not saying that from a single girl’s point of view. With that being said, many of us including myself still buy into it. My idea of a splurge is buying Dove Dark Chocolates, but I guess that’s low brow stuff for anyone willing to drop a few G’s on this $55,000 cupcake by Cupcake Gourmet and Warwick Jewelers.

If my quick Googling skills are correct, an 8-carat diamond ring like the one featured here typically goes for well under $50,000 that means you’re paying about $5,000 for A CUPCAKE. A little nuts, but I’ll support the purchase if it’s really for love.

[via bornrich.com]

Chick-fil-A exceeded the $4 billion mark in 2011 sales. A 13.08 percent increase from 2010, CFA is increasing its sales and giving cows across the country a little hope.

CFA, the originators of the chicken sandwich, also generated a 7 percent same-store sales increase, its 44th consecutive year of sales growth.

The overall growth was generated from several advancements in 2011 such as: introducing the Chick-Fil-A Spicy Chicken Biscuit and Multigrain Oatmeal to its breakfast menu, the opening of 92 new restaurant locations— surpassing the 1,600 mark, and marketing strategies that included a Breakfast Variety Giveaway promotion, giving out more than 830,000 breakfast entrees, and its annual Cow Appreciation Day where nearly 600,000 customers dressed as crazed human-cows received a free meal for their effort.

Its recognition by the Zagat National Fast Food Survey as one of the “Top Large Chains,” and title of Consumer Reports’ “Top Chicken Chain” shows that CFA is only getting more serious about its poultry dreams.

So what’s on tap for 2012? An estimated job increase of 7,000 employees, the opening of another 92 restaurants, (including more on-campus locations) and new menu items in the form of grilled chicken nuggets, warm chocolate chunk cookies, fudge brownies and sundaes.

As long as it can stay away from nugget-stuffing, collapsing teenagers, 2012 looks bright for the chicken-wielding restaurant.

This new undergarment is 100% edible, and 100% meat. Using a few simple ingredients, including a couple pounds of ground beef, Slim Jims, Soy Sauce, Hot Sauce, liquid smoke and seasoning…along with tools like a dehydrator, rolling pin, X-acto knife and parchment paper, you can have meat underwear in no time.

If you’re looking for a new way to get your reluctant significant other to “eat your meat” this Valentine’s Day, this might be your best shot. Enjoy.

[Via Carleyy/Instructables]

Whataburger’s newest addition to their everyday menu is the Chicken Fajita Taco, which boasts a WHOLE chicken breast in each taco! Featuring a whole sliced grilled chicken breast, roasted poblano and red bell peppers, and grilled onions, all wrapped up with a flour tortilla, you can’t help but ask how the heck they managed to fit it all in.

The Chicken Fajita Taco lands itself a spot as one of Whataburger’s lower-calorie options at only 420 calories with 29 grams of protein. Don’t let the healthiness of it fool you into thinking it’ll be a wimpy taco, there’s a whole freaking chicken breast in there! Pick one up at a Whataburger location near you!