annabelle

There is a measure before the state house in Oklahoma to promote the processing of horsemeat for food. I've not kept on top of the debate, but there seem to be few who are against it, there were less than a dozen protesters at the state house last week. When the matter is resolved, I'll report on the results. I also don't have any problems with horseflesh being used for food, fwiw.

Is it against the rules to direct these unhappy patrons to a lounge that is more their style? It mentions a couple of different bars in the article that are more old school and probably even have draft beer.

Definitely agree, Katie.

They were my favorites. Them and The Chairman, of course. He was sort of a cross between Liberace and Dracula.

I've never been able to warm up to Iron Chef: American Style. I loved Iron Chef when it was (poorly) dubbed in English and the judges were all some sort of Japanese celebrities and food writers. It was so weird and charming and, well Japanese. The American version is just undignified, to my mind.

Is it on again? I've watched it in the past, in fact I had mentioned a couple of pages back that the last one I watched was when Jonathan Waxman had had enough.

Are master chefs going to be willing to play to all the shenanigans that Bravo loves to throw into the challenges? "Today, chefs, we want to you to prepare a meal of protein X and starch Y over an open campfire on the beach in the middle of a hurricane warning! Your time. Starts. NOW!" To hell with that.

I really don't care to see a Top Chef Winners challenge. Harold (season 1) is still my favorite, just for breaking the trail for all the rest to follow and I don't think he'd participate some ten years on.

Certainly, the ideal is that all children will have healthy nutritious lunches packed by a loving mother in a committed, financially stable two parent household. This isn't the case, has never been the case and most likely won't ever be the case. As Jaymes has stated above there are times when trying to make ends meet (timewise), someone moves the ends. A note about a field-trip found too late in a young child's backpack. A once in a lifetime visit with a famous person, et al. All of these have happened with my children. Life happens.

Blais bashing? He's earned it and it has nothing to do with jealousy. It's because he sees everything through a prism of him. Certainly he's a talented chef, but not nearly as life changing or forward thinking as he seems to think he is.

I knew Kristen would win! I am so glad for her. Talk about the Comeback Kid. Still, it was one of the better finales, regardless of the silly Iron Chefish set up. Both ladies were classy and the food looked excellent. I didn't enjoy having to see Ilan and Richard hogging up the talking heads. We know, Richard, no one but no one is as awesome as you. You even wow you. Cripes, what an ego. Anyway on to Season 11 and as Brown Hornet says, a Southern city.

I see that many are still conflating addiction with dependence. Science, per se, does not set out to prove anything. Science must be falsifiable or it is no longer science. Without falsifiability, it becomes a matter of Faith. mm84321, I have said nothing about willpower. What I speak to in cessation of bad behaviors that are unhealthy, is behavior modification. Specifically, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, in which one retrains one's brain. This Is certainly not new science, but science it is and it is quite effective. Not only is it effective, it is inexpensive, requires little homework for the client and is relatively quick to show results. It is a matter of learning to recognize environmental/physical/emotional cues and not engaging in the destructive behavior but recognizing the cue(s) and thinking not acting impulsively or automatically.

Well, explain why please.

I agree with Heidi. The disease model of addiction posits that the path of addiction is chronic, persistent, escalating and finally culminating in death. I am not a believer in disease models of addiction for this reason; there are many alcoholics and drug addicts who are long time sober members of society. If one can quit a distructive behavior, it is not a disease since the only treatment is cessation of the behavior. I have never heard of anyone turning to a life of crime to support an addiction to food, be it donuts and cappuccinos, David Chang's Crack Pie (a most unfortunate name, and irresponsible, too) or deli sandwiches. The marketing campaign is invidious and I don't care for it regarding the Lunchables. However, that is how marketing is done, be it food items or Subarus.

I'll appeal to authority here and tell you that one of my degrees is in addiction studies. I understand the mechanisms quite well, thank you.

Hardly. There are many theories about addiction and everyone is different as you say yourself. I don't appreciate being labeled as ignorant since I most certainly am not. It is popular to conflate dependence and addiction. It isn't accurate, but that doesn't stop people who should know better from doing so.

The first sentence of that study states that "Scientists have finally confirmed . . ." It is three years old and was printed up in CNN, not a medical journal. Food is pleasurable, it isn't addictive. We can stop drinking or smoking; we can't stop eating or we will die.

Why do we need yet more labeling and oversight? We've heard all about how nitrates and nitrites in packaged luncheon meats are bad, bad, bad and if you eat them you're a-gonna die! for ages. Guess what? Little League snack bars still sell hot dogs and so do MLB stadiums. My own children have eaten their share of lunch meats and so have I. My mother practically raised us on fried balogna sandwiches. Groceries prices have risen exponentially in the past year. Adding another layer of packaging is going to drive up costs further. And for what? So someone, somewhere who possibly didn't know that eating Lunchables every day, multiple times a day isn't a great idea? I don't know why you're snarking about perfect parents when you have no children of your own, Mitch. Perhaps your own parents were so perfect that after your birth, they broke the mould? Parenting is a tough job. It is trying. It is exhausting at times. But there is nothing more rewarding. Corporations aren't evil. They are businesses and the business of business is to make money. Not to raise your children. That is what parents are for and parents say "No" a lot more than they say "Yes" when it comes to a child's wants versus his needs.

Jeez, settle down, Mitch. Fwiw, taxing my cigarettes is trying to take them away ($10 for a pack of coffin nails in NYC last I was there) while using those taxes to pay for little Timmy's healthcare is hypocrisy at its finest. If anyone was unaware that cigarettes were bad for them, they obviously never coughed themselves half to death when they were learning to smoke them or heard people who smoked refered to as 'nicotine slaves' in song and slang since at least the 1920s. Likewise, alcohol has been known to be bad juju since biblical times and no one, but no one likes a drunk. Prohibition didn't work then and won't work now no matter what is being prohibited. There will always be a Black Market. This is just a part of the same argument on this board that always boils down to the "There oughta be a Law!" crowd versus "I'll Make My Own Decisions!" crowd. I used to love a pretzel unabashedly called "Mr. Salty". Tell me that wasn't on the level? Those Lunchables cost nearly $4 a package. That's a lot of money for a lousy lunch. School lunches cost $2.50. A home-packed lunch--if you don't live in Chicago where they confiscate them--cost about the same as a school lunch. There is a lot more to this discussion than Lunchables, starting with the title of the article which is a serious red herring. I don't care if the writer has won a Pulitzer Prize, either. The Pulitzer has rather lost its shine since three or four of them have been given for what was later found to be bogus reporting. You asked some questions. I answered your questions and you don't like my answers so you are mocking them. Same as it ever was.

What is? That your mayor is a loose cannon? Kids need to eat more fat than adults. It's a fact. Eating a Lunchable once in a while isn't going to put them in an early grave. Eating at a kosher deli is probably more harmful in terms of fat, salt and sugars.

How much sodium, sugar and fat do you think are in the ones you remember? We can always think of worse stuff to feed kids - Bud Light has already been mentioned! Have you been talking to your mayor? What should a kid eat for lunch if not a sandwich and a cookie? Does giving him PB&J constitute child abuse? If it doesn't already, it probably will by the end of the year.

No Ikea meatballs in the States from what I have read and heard on the news tonight.

Thanks, Baselerd. That is indeed who I meant. I grow tired of the idea that everyone who eats crappy food doesn't know better. I know loads of MDs who smoke and eat lots of fried foods and drink diet colas or gallons of coffee. We are bombarded with the whole healthy choices campaign and have been since I was in grade school in the 60s. Junkfood is advertised around the clock. Sporting events: beer and snacks, sodas and snacks, chain restaurants. The suggestion that showing up with a box of Taco Bell tacos is a surefire way into those scantily clad young ladies' lingerie. Cartoons have their own networks and have had for ten years or more where they are shown 24 hours a day. They also advertise waffles and toaster pastries along with fruit leather, chewable vitamins and snacks and toys, toys, toys. If we could keep more of our earnings and afford* to have mom (or dad) stay home to raise our own children, things would certainly improve nutritionally, provided some effort is shown. *We can. I did it on a modest income, but that is a different discussion.

Of course it's depressing, Katie. It's in the NYT Magazine. They don't have a finger on staff that doesn't love to point. No one is responsible for anything anymore. There is always some nebulous "other" out there to blame for our own bad choices. As far as "bottomless greed" goes, some restauranteurs may want to take a look in the mirror on that one. $250 apps of miniature ears of corn? Not in my lifetime.

I know quite a bit about childrearing. If you need tips, I'm your gal. Lunchables are a part of a trend toward prepared foods for people who are over-scheduled. Too much work, too many activities, too little attention to detail and putting the brakes on to reevaluate life's priorities. Having your child come to you and say "No one orders pizza like you, Dad!" isn't exactly making memories. Now, baking something simple as a boxed cake mix with a five year old is something they will remember and may help to get them interested in preparing their own meals. Lunchables is in the business of making money. Profit is not a dirty word, as even sellouts Ben and Jerrys determined when they famously sold their "We are the World" ice cream business to Unilever in 1999