"clamp" news and stories

Now this is one of the weirdest food recalls you'll ever see.

A teen in Omaha found a big clamp inside a Fit & Active frozen dinner. And this wasn't just inside the box, it was actually on top of the sesame chicken meal itself, underneath the plastic (see photo on the right). The Aldi grocery store chain took all of the dinners off of their shelves and officials are going to investigate the matter to see if any further action has to be taken.

When I first saw the picture I thought it was some sort of lock that came with the meal so dieters could lock their refrigerators so they wouldn't overeat.

Yep, an entire site (and domain, for that matter) dedicated to defeating and enjoying the world's largest seed. Having grown up in the tropics, I've opened my share of coconuts. That's not to say I'm any good at it, but I was definitely curious to see which method this site suggested. I was with them for part about using a nail or drill to let out the milk through the three holes at the top. And, while I'm sure a hammer and towel works just fine, I've always had the best luck with a C-clamp. Just clamp it on to the sides opposite the holes made for the milk and twist it down until the coconut cracks. I've also heard of putting coconuts in the oven to make them easier to open, but I've never had to resort to that. Differences in methods aside, the step-by-step photo walkthrough on this site is a good one. Aside from HowToOpenACoconut.com, there are also similar sites for pineapples, corn, burgers and baked potatoes.