With the advent of Facebook and Twitter, everyone's a critic. Both social-networking sites are littered with "Just ate this -- amazing!" and "Just drank that -- delicious!"
Spreading opinions across the globe is easier than ever nowadays. But those posting bold proclamations in status updates -- such as declaring Heineken "quite possibly the best-tasting beer ever" -- shouldn't be surprised if they draw the (to our minds, hilarious) ire of a raging foodie, as this poor Facebook user did.
Although entering a "best beer" battle with a Heineken in hand may be the culinary equivalent of attempting to slice up a sirloin steak with a plastic knife, social-networking sites certainly do offer up a great new forum to wage culinary warfare. Just be careful what you type: This ain't your grandmother's dinner table.
Nowadays, the whole world could be watching. What if that cute girl from the laundromat Googles you and finds your deepest, bubbliest, Heineken-filled thoughts? We shudder at the notion. Still, the debate is half the fun. What's the one beer you'd go to battle for? Comment if we missed it.
Farming may be an endless tale of drought, pests and blight, but North Carolina agriculture officials are encouraging their state's farmers to find more succinct ways to tell their stories.
The state recently held a social-media seminar for farmers, a group that's been notably reticent in the tweet department. While experts aren't sure whether to blame spotty network coverage in rural areas or the exhaustive pace of farming for farmers' near-invisibility in Twitterville, they're hoping to encourage growers to join chefs and restaurant owners in promoting their products via online networks.
There's a point where harmless entertainment crosses a fine, delicate line into inanity. This exchange -- apparently from the Facebook pages of Top Chef's Stefan and Fabio -- shows them blithely skipping across that line, hand in hand.
Attempting to parse the tiff (purportedly sparked by Stefan's belief that Fabio is appropriating friends from his profile) is like staring into a bottomless abyss populated by stuffed animals and typos. Stefan calls Fabio a "Double sidet sword" and "prince of sandwiches and ice cream." Fabio parries, "You don't like me any more, puppy? I think you're getting old."
Light-hearted, free-association banter follows. Winky faces are involved. A few excruciating lines later, they make up, with Fabio vowing to be "Top Facebook."
Somewhere grass grows, paint peels and we are all irrevocably 45 seconds older. Check it out; tell us if we're overreacting.
All the talk in the wine world these days (besides the imploding economy) centers around one Big Question: how to capture the love and loyalty of the 70-million Millennial generation?
Millennials (born between 1977 and 1998) are already wine drinkers. Data from the Wine Market Council shows that 40 percent of 21-and-over Millennials drink wine. Millennials are willing to try new things, they explore value regions around the world, and they aren't incredibly loyal to specific brands.
Which is why the wine world is falling all over itself trying to capture that loyalty, and in the Millennials' own medium: the Internet. Kim Crawford, the New Zealand winery famous for its zingy Sauvignon Blanc, is on Facebook with events, videos, and podcasts. California's Twisted Oak Winery has a (very popular) wine blog. Wineries from Chateau Haut-Brion, a grand cru in Bordeaux, to Iron Horse Vineyards, a sparkling wine producer in California, are Twittering (or is that Tweeting?).
The question is, are Millennials listening? Part of me thinks wineries have to embrace social media to stay alive, and part of me thinks that wineries embracing social media is about as cool as one's high school teacher dressing like he's still 16. What do you think? Vote in the poll below!
I know some people roll their eyes at Facebook's current "25 Things About Me" meme, but I, for one, really enjoy reading them, even if I don't know the author. Sure, some of the facts are boring or creepily over-share-y or annoyingly self-aggrandizing. But others are really surprising or touching or insightful. They're like mini-memoirs, and I've always adored memoirs.
As a food-fan, I'm especially fond of food memoirs - Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone, Judith Jones' The Tenth Muse, Nigel Slater's Toast, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, anything by M.F.K. Fisher. Food is so much a part of our lives that sharing our food-related feelings and thoughts and memories says so much about who we are. So I thought I'd combine the two and try out "25 Things: A Foodie List." Here's mine - memories, factoids, favorites. I'd love to see yours!
As a kid, I truly believed the thing about the Bubble Yum and the spider eggs. If you came of age in the '80s, you know what I'm talking about. But I chewed it anyway!
Growing up Jewish in North Carolina, one of my favorite meals was hummus and stuffed grape leaves at a Lebanese cafe on Christmas morning. It was the only place that was open.
When my uncle from New York would visit, he'd always bring down stuff like kosher dills and chopped chicken liver and corned beef - all things my Yankee parents missed and couldn't get at the time in North Carolina. He'd bring cannolis for me, which I loved so much I hardly cared that they were completely soggy.
I imagine that I'm coming from a completely different position than most of you. When I read Bruce's account of Burger King launching a new Facebook application that allows users to banish their friends (with an alert that says they care more about Whoppers than their newly-deleted friend), I laughed. But I really don't like Facebook, from its refusal to delete information, to demanding users use their real names, to the troubles it causes in work and life, so it seemed quite appropriate way to deal with the rampant Facebook friendage I keep hearing people complain about.
Unfortunately, it's already dead. AdFreak reports that the application was suspended by Facebook. You can see the announcement on the Whopper Sacrifice page above, while Facebook says that it just needs to tweak the program for "privacy reasons." But here's the kicker -- the necessary tweak involves the alert. "We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications follow users' expectations of privacy." Basically, the alert that a Whopper is more desirable than your dumped self.
Really? Is it that much of an issue? I bet most of those people re-friended their friends, or will soon, or did it in jest known by both parties. And those that didn't -- I think it is a telling statement of how Facebook obsessed people have become, and how silly it is to be out there in a way where people can demand to be added, fire you for what you write in it, and all that fun stuff. Privacy is already out of the window with the program, so what do they care?
Oh well, I guess you'll have to show your love for Whoppers in another way.
Just how much are your friends worth to you? Are they worth a million dollars? How about a thousand?
How about a hamburger?
The new Whopper Sacrifice application, available on Facebook, lets users exchange their friends for Whopper hamburgers. Basically, users cull through their lists of friends, picking out names that they don't recognize, people they are no longer in contact with, or relationships that have soured. They can then "excommunicate" their friends. For every ten friends that they banish, they get a coupon for a free Whopper.
The friends, on the other hand, get a notification stating that the user cares more about a Whopper than he or she cares about them. Unlike many Facebook applications, the burgers are real; moreover, unlike standard friendship dissolutions on the site, these are very open, very obvious, and sort of harsh.
This is probably the meanest thing that I've heard of in a long time, and it strikes me as completely morally repulsive. On the other hand, I've managed to pick up a lot of Facebook "friends" that I really don't recognize, and the siren song of the Burger King down the street is hard to ignore...
There's an extra-stabby brand of self-recrimination that comes about when one comes home, mouth slavering for the vegetable stew, several-bean chili or pulled pork shoulder that's occupied one's thoughts all day, only to come home to an air redolent of exactly nothing. No warm waft, no indicator light all a-wink with the tease, nay, promise of a hearty, slow-cooked dinner because (shudder....sob...sigh...) one neglected to actually engage the Crock Pot's "ON" button.
Is there a term for this happenstance and/or the all-day nagging feeling that one's forgotten to flip it on, but is too far from home to remedy the situation? If not, howzabout we put it to a vote? Cast it below, or suggest a better one in the comments.
And lest anyone fret, Jeff later reported that he in fact came home to a lovely, fully-cooked chicken cacciatore.
UPDATE: Commenter Jenna has suggested "crock blocked," which I'm entirely jealous I failed to coin.
My personal favorite cold weather, no barrel smoker, slow-cooker pulled pork recipe is after the jump.
If you're on Facebook you've probably sent or received a virtual beer or margarita, but now a UK company has set up an application called GetThemIn.com that allows you to give a real beer or bottle of wine. Users send the gift via Facebook and check out via Google Checkout. The recipient gets a voucher, redeemable at certain stores in the UK.
The wine offerings are a bit thin (just Blossom Hill and Hardy's are available, plus a couple of Champagnes) but the beer selection doesn't look too bad. There's Newcastle Brown, Heineken, Fosters, San Miguel, and others. In the spirits category, there's Courvoisier, Port, Sherry, and Scotch Whiskey. Oh, and if your friends get hungry when they drink, send them a bag of Doritos.
And just in case you're concerned that the new app will spawn rampant drinking amongst our young British Facebook users, GetThemIn.com will donate a percentage of its profits to COUNTED4, a nonprofit that treats and counsels those affected by substance abuse.
GetThemIn.com isn't available in the U.S. (and with our byzantine liquor laws, may never be), but if you have a friend across the pond it's a fun virtual (and real) gift idea.
Ok, imagine you saw an event on Facebook that was so cool you couldn't possibly pass it up. Well apparently that's what happened in East Sussex, England. There was to be a movie style pie fight, in which participants were encouraged to dress up and hit each other with whipped cream filled pie pans. The brains behind the operation were out to break the British record for pie fighting, which is currently at 70 people.
Unfortunately, it was so cool that too many people wanted in on the action. Over 1200 people indicated that they would be there for the pie fight. The local police were worried that they'd be unable to control the crowd if things went wrong, and they wouldn't be able to prevent non-participants from being hit.
The East Sussex police do have a sense of humor though. They told the original planners that a properly organized pie fight would be fine, so it's back to the drawing board for now. I know there's a record for everything, but pie fighting sounds like fun. I know I'd sign up if I saw it on Facebook. What would you do?
Well, today is March 15th and if you know PETA, then you should know what day it is. Yep, it's Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA day.
Oh, you thought I meant the other PETA. Nah, I meant People for the Eating of Tasty Animals. You can look them up on Face Book. The group even posted an event page for the occasion.
Oh, those crazy
college kids. Always partying, getting busted for their shenanigans. Like eating cake! Can you believe it?
Yep. A group of students at George Washington University got busted by campus security after advertising
a beer party on Facebook.com. It was a setup, though - the organizers had suspected
that their Facebook.com-advertised parties were getting unwelcome clicks from University officials. But when security
arrived at this particular party, the revelers were doing cake stands and playing cake pong with cupcakes decorated
with the word "BEER." Classic.
I know some people roll their eyes at Facebook's current "25 Things About Me" meme, but I, for one, really enjoy reading them, even if I don't know the author. Sure, some of the facts are boring or creepily over-share-y or annoyingly self-aggrandizing. But others are really surprising or touching or insightful. They're like mini-memoirs, and I've always adored memoirs. 
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Just how much are your friends worth to you? Are they worth a million dollars? How about a thousand? 
Ok, imagine you saw an event on Facebook that was so cool you couldn't possibly pass it up. Well apparently that's what happened in East Sussex, England. There was to be a 
Well, today is March 15th and if you know PETA, then you should know what day it is. Yep, it's Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA day.
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