"silly" news and stories

Stop what you're doing. Kraft is about to revolutionize the cheese industry with - are you ready? - parmesan cheese that comes in a ready-to-grate block form.

Shocking, I know.

The product, called Kraft Grate-It-Fresh Natural Parmesan Cheese, was actually first introduced last year at the 2006 Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Supermarket Convention, and was available at some east coast distributors as of last November. Now, much to the chagrin of those who like their parmesan cheese to be fresh and not prepackaged, it is now nationally available.

The "natural" cheese block is packed inside a disposable, plastic grater that utilizes a "clockwise twisting motion [to keep] the cheese in place" until ready to use. Kraft is promoting it as the perfect way "to bring the restaurant experience home... without the hassle of pulling out your grater." It is aimed at those who are looking to shave off those three seconds it takes to get out your own grater (a kitchen gadget that is so inexpensive and so handy that even dorm-dwelling college students own them) and use it with a fresh chunk of parmesan.

Kate, the Accidental Hedonist, noted the same thing when she reviewed this product just after its initial introduction and was not a fan. Others, however, liked its convenience and child-friendly usability, so there appears to be a market for the product. In the long run, a cheese grater (nondisposable) will run you less than $10. You can buy the Grate-It-Fresh in a 7oz. size for $4.99 and you'll have to pay for that disposable grater every time - and you'll still have to have a regular cheese grater at home for other uses.

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"What's your sign?" has just taken on a whole new meaning. We just found a whole set of horoscopes that will help you determine everything from your favorite cocktail to the best pizza topping - all based on star signs. We've already seen that ice cream preference can be determined by the signs, but drinks and hamburgers?

With a Libra volunteer, we put the choices to the test. According to the horoscopes, her soul food is baking, gourmet pizzas will satisfying her taste buds, a blue cheese burger on a croissant will get washed down with a mimosa or a beer in a pretty glass and Kettle Corn is her ideal snack.

She agreed with the baking, kettle corn and pizza, but turned down the idea of a burger on a croissant. She also said that she wouldn't mind the food options for most of the other signs, so it looks like the accuracy of the food horoscopes might be off by a bit. We're not going to be picking our foods based on our star signs any time soon, but maybe we'll use one of the charts on the days that we really can't decide what to have for lunch.

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