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I know people swallow it (note that I will not reveal my own preference - this is not one of those sites), however the concept of cooking it up into a gourmet meal is totally new to me. I'm speaking, of course, of semen and the new book, "Natural Harvest: A collection of semen-based recipes" by Paul Photenhauer.

In the book, Paul tell us that, "Semen is not only nutritious, but has a palatable texture and wonderful cooking properties." It's a widely available ingredient and the flavor is complex like a fine wine. Depending on the male's diet, the flavor will vary.

The book contains recipes for the almost white Russian, man made oysters, tuna sashimi with dipping sauce (you know what that is), and (if I may insert editorial opinion here), the grossest of them all, creamy cum crepes.

Paul does give the all-important warning, "Please do not add semen to your guest's food without informing them beforehand," and I thank him for that. While I'm typically OK risking it with a mystery meat on my plate and have even gone so far as to eat fried bugs, I would definitely need a warning and perhaps a doctor's seal of approval on the producing male before digging in to any dish from Natural Harvest.

Are you totally disgusted or would you try it?

Natural Harvest is available for $24.99 at Lulu.com. You can also find pictures there of some of the other recipes.

Since we're already talking about Julie Powell today, I thought I'd pass on the news that her book—Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen—beat out 89 competitors including "the intimate diary of a prostitute and a guide to the UK's best 'greasy spoon' cafes to take the Blooker Prize." BBC News has the full story.

Powell's book not only chronicles her attempts at cooking the recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but is also a commentary on French food. It started as an online diary which quickly gained a cult following. "The entries were published as a book last year and has since sold almost 100,000 copies."

The Blooker Prize contest was set up for bloggers who have turned their blogs into books. Bob Young, founder of self-publishing site Lulu, organized and sponsored the prize.

Congratulations, Julie Powell!

[photo: Kelly Campbell]