"ice" news and stories

Well, it seemed like we may as well get the obvious punchline over with right at the beginning. Mocha, a UK company with a eccentric home gadget line--specializing in items like Swarovski crystal egg crackers and mugs with built-in cookie holders--now offers these tres barbarique drink coolers. The Nordic Rock stone ice cubes are genuine chunks of "pollution-free base rock" mined in Sweden--who else would invent this but some kind of Viking?

Just pop the Nordic Rocks (in their charming leather pouch) into your freezer (or igloo) for an hour, then drop two or three into your cocktail. On the practical end, they help conserve water and prevent your precious booze from being diluted. Impractically, you get to walk around drinking from a glass full of rocks--whether you use the opportunity to play practical jokes or share your best Hagar the Horrible/Kirk Douglas in The Vikings impersonation is up to you.

If you've ever wanted to learn how to write about food and turn that knowledge into a career, then Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) has introduced just the thing for you. They've created the Center for Food Media, which offers a range of professional development classes dealing with food and media.

The Center for Food Media offers classes on all aspects of food writing (recipes, blogs, restaurant reviews), food history and pop culture, podcasting, and food styling. You can also learn about writing cookbooks and how to deal with agents, and how to be a TV chef. Coming next year will be classes on wine writing and recipe testing. Classes start at $75 (for a one session class), which is a quite reasonable amount to learn some things that should help further your career.

[Via Eater]

Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?

I'm always cold. My mom worries that this is do to some circulatory problem. I think this it is due to me being a woman.

I have often wondered why ice comes in every drink I order. In the winter I've typically just come in from the outdoors and I'm freezing. The last thing I want is ice. In the summer, air conditioning is often so strong that I'm freezing indoors and again I don't want ice.

I'll tell you when I want ice - when it's hot! I like ice when I'm working or playing outside and sweating.

Mark Twain was quoted as saying, "The only distinguishing characteristic of the American character I've been able to discover is a fondness for ice water."

Do you like ice? Why do you think Americans like their ice so much?

I hardly ever freeze anything. I mean, yeah, I freeze that I buy frozen and are supposed to be put in the freezer, like ice cream, frozen dinners, and, um, ice. But I've just never been the type of guy who freezes leftovers or freezes foods to be used for another day. I guess I'm a cook-it-and-eat-it guy.

AOL Food has a guide to everything you need to know about freezing though, including tips on how to prevent freezer burn (you can eat food that has freezer burn, just make sure you cut off the part that has the discoloration).

They also have a list of foods that should never be frozen, including cake batter, raw celery, corn on the cob, garlic, and mayonnaise. Though I can't even think of why you'd want to freeze mayonnaise. "Frozen Mayo" is a great name for a band though.

Want more freezing tips? Try KitchenDaily's guide to freezing fruits and vegetables.