"60 minutes" news and stories

It's now common knowledge that a glass of red wine can lower the risks of heart disease. Last month, "60 Minutes" covered a story explaining that scientists have identified the substance in wine that protects the heart: resveratrol. Scientists are discovering that resveratrol, in high concentrations, can do a lot more than keep your heart healthy. It can significantly prolong your life.

How much longer can this "fountain of youth" pill extend life? Scientists predict as much as twenty years. Dr. Christoph Westphal states: "Our goal is to prevent and forestall many of the diseases that strike us as we reach 50, 60, and 70. All with one pill." The resveratrol pill works by slowing down genes that control the aging process.

According to our recent Valentine's Day post, you can already purchase resveratol in the form of a necklace. However, if you are now concluding that you can drink enough red wine to get the same benefits, think again. To get the same effects from just one pill, you would have to drink over 1000 glasses of red wine. Nevertheless, this discovery may explain why there is such a low incidence of heart disease in France, despite a high fat diet. So, until the pill becomes available, a glass of red wine with every meal can't hurt.

I've never made ice cream. It's one of those foods that I think it's unnecessary to make because what you can buy in the store is just as good (if not better) than what you could make at home. I feel the same way about pasta.

But I was reading one of Andy Rooney's books (he's one of my favorite writers) and he makes ice cream a lot. He has a very simple recipe, and it doesn't include eggs at all. He says that if you add eggs, it's not ice cream, it's custard. He was on Martha Stewart's show one time, making ice cream, and she agreed that adding eggs was a bad idea. But when she was on CBS a while later, she made ice cream, and she added eggs!

So I'm curious: who's right in this? Is ice cream better with no eggs? Do eggs make it richer in some way, or just turn it into something else?

MSNBC has officially uncovered the secrets that make Iron Chef America work - and unlike the Amateur Gourmet, they don't seem to have been required to sign a nondisclosure agreement. The "secret" ingredient is chosen from a list of five possible ingredients that are given to the chefs prior to the filming of the show. While they don't generally know the actual one that will be used, the time they are given to plan certainly does not make it a surprise. To get the effect of a surprise, some scenes - including the reveal of the ingredient - are subject to multiple takes. The actually cooking time is still strictly held to 60 minutes, even though some ingredients may be simmering or nearly ready to use when the clock starts.

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