"carbonated water" news and stories

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Getting the big O -- Cat Cora has a new TV show in the works.
• Shocking, we know: an onion dip recipe that's better than anything from a packet.
• These facts are fizzy.
• Pork is always in season and pairs perfectly with rosemary when grilled.
• Selecting wedding wines doesn't have to be as painful as the post-nuptial hangover.
• Say fuggedaboutit with cherry esplanade, an Absolut Brooklyn cocktail.

With a little baking soda, you can turn sparkling water into club soda.

These days, there's all sorts of talk about the environment, about eating fresh and local. However, there's not a lot of talk about what we drink. Cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles -- we go through these at a huge rate. But we don't need to -- at least, not totally. We might not be able to quickly whip up our own beer or wine at home, but we can make all of those tasty carbonated beverages.

As soon as I heard about the Soda Club over at The Kitchn in February, I wanted one. Sparkling water at my finger tips? Without having to pay a buck a bottle? It seemed to good to be true. Then, a good friend of mine got me one for my birthday last month. I don't know how I ever went without it, and I really don't know why everyone isn't doing this.

It requires no electricity -- just a CO2 carbonator. You attach a bottle of water, push the magic button a few times, and there's some fizzy seltzer. You can also put in flavoring for flavored water, or a number of other syrups to make your own soda/pop. I've tried the root beer and lemon lime varieties so far, and I was completely happy with them. There's no walking to the store. I just walk over to my kitchen, pop on a bottle of cold water, and seconds later, I have the perfectly fizzed drink.