Around Christmas, our local semi-gourmet grocery got a selection of flavored baked ricotta cheeses. My son and wife both loved the chocolate ricotta. Alas, it was a seasonal thing, and by the end of January, it was all gone.

As my four-year-old son is a bit of a cheese fanatic anyway and I want to get him excited about cooking, I decided that we'd try to make cheese today. I'd read that it was really easy to make ricotta at home, and my research bore that out. The recipe is basically...

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A friend posted on his Facebook profile that he was feeling a bit run down. So I thought a Bloody Mary (tomato juice, various spices, worcestershire, vodka) is a heck of a hangover cure. I wondered if anyone had made a spicy energy drink that could be layered into a Bloody Mary. A quick googling turned up a bloody mary mix / energy drink called HotD Wake Up Juice and somehow I also stumbled upon what you see pictured to the left... Tabasco infused tequila.

I wondered if using tequila in a Bloody Mary was legit. Turns out it is. Some people call it a Bloody Maria or a Bloody Mariachi.

So, HotD Wake-Up Juice with Tabasco infused tequila... mmmm. My mouth is watering. But since I'm trying to lose 100 pounds, I've pretty much sworn off alcohol. So if any of you out there try this hot, spicy concept drink, please drop me a line so I can live vicariously through you.

I recently read a post on Foodista telling people to take the United Way's Hunger Challenge, which is basically trying to live for five days on the budget people on food stamps get. I'm not against hunger charities or educating people about hunger, but the Hunger challenge is just bogus in a number of ways.

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Nissin's Top Ramen noodles have kept many a college student alive and kicking when they ran out of money before they ran out of month. At 380 calories per package, this mix of flour, fat, spices, and preservatives provides an inexpensive source of bulk calories that will keep your heart beating, your brain operating, and get you through until the next check comes and you can afford things like meat and produce.

The thing that gets me is that they seem to be the same price now as when I was in college 20+ years ago. How can they keep their price this low for this long?

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