"worst" news and stories

The best apple for making a pie, or any sort of baked apple dish, is not necessarily the type that is best for eating out of hand for several reasons. When you choose an eating apple, the primary consideration is flavor, but even though flavor is reasonably important to the apple destined to go into a pie, the most important thing is texture. A pie apple must keep its shape during baking so that you have something to bite into and don't end up with apple sauce pie. The best apples for pies include Jonathan, Jonagold, Winesap, Pippin, and the classic Granny Smith. All, excluding the fairly tart Granny Smith, have a moderate level of tartness, which will be tempered by the sugar in your pie. If you want sweeter apples, Fuji, Pink Lady, Suncrisp, Rome Beauty, and Empire will work well, too. You will probably want to avoid Red Delicious apples, which are popular for eating, but won't hold their shape in the oven, turning watery and mealy instead.

If all else fails, it is a good idea to go for a mixture of apples, not only because you won't have to remember to look for one particular type, but to give the pie a well-rounded flavor.

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If, for some reason, you aren't familiar with the practice of giving candy out to costumed children on Halloween, you might want to take a look at the guide put together by Stuff Magazine explaining the best and worst things to give out. Eager trick or treaters look forward to participating in the ritual every year and we wouldn't want to disappoint them. The worst "treats" include:

• Apples -- They're tasty, but they're not candy. They're "disappointing as hell for a little kid expecting a Snickers."
• Marshmallows -- Yes, they're candy, but they don't usually come individually wrapped -- a must for Halloween treats.
• A bag of pennies -- "It's like giving away a gift certificate for a piece of gum." Save up all those pennies and buy a bag of the real thing.
• Smarties -- The U.S. Smarties are chalky and kids don't even seem to enjoy them, despite the fact that they sometimes eat them on the grounds that they still constitute candy. Try to get U.K. Smarties (similar to M&M's) or avoid the candy mixes that include these.
• Anything homemade -- "This one is alright if you only give them to kids with neglectful parents." Any responsible parent is going to dump something unwrapped as fast as possible. Save your energy.
• Raisins -- "People generally give them out under the pretense that they want to make kids healthier. In reality, they give them out because they hate fun." The boxed raisins never taste all that fresh anyway.

The best options would include "anything made by a real candy company," preferably king-sized versions.

After all, any resulting cavities aren't going to end up on your dental bill.

[Thanks, Patrick]

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As much as I love the Food Network, sometimes they just don't quite hit right the mark. Holidays are guaranteed to turn out many interesting recipes, as all the chefs work on recipes designed to fit a particular theme. Recipes like Sarah Moulton's Chocolate Stuffed Heart Shaped French Toast and Michael Chiarello's Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter and Bittersweet Chocolate are truly excellent recipes and fit the delicious, romantic standards of the holiday wonderfully. The recipes below, however, you might want to avoid serving on Valentine's Day, assuming that you want to keep your Valentine around until next year.

MSN Health published an article about the 10 worst foods you can eat. It's an appealing concept, though the article was poorly constructed. The author wrote that she wanted to select "food categories" rather than brands, but she ended up selecting individual food additives and ingredients anyway, with a few rather narrow categories thrown in. She also failed to identify the criteria she used to compile the list. The MSN list is as follows, along with their description as given in the article, though paraphrased here:

• Hydrogenated fats - These might contain trans-fats, but it depends on the company's use of the term vs. partially hydrogenated.
• Olestra - You could be eating fruits and non-"junk food" instead of anything with this fat substitute.
• Nitrates - Used as a preservative, they could turn into nitrite, which has been deemed safe by the FDA.
• Alcohol - Only acceptable in the form of a fine glass of wine with dinner.
• Raw Oysters - Can carry deadly bacteria and should be cooked well.

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We've all done it before--eaten at our computer. Perhaps we sneak a bagel in at work, or a muffin, or even a crunchy oatmeal bar. But have you ever tried cleaning your keyboard after years of crumbs have accumulated? It's not a pretty sight. TechRepublic has an article nominating the worst foods to eat while typing at your computer. Some of the winners were jelly, seeds, pasta, and flake bars. I'm sure there are even worse things to eat over a keyboard than what they missed, like chips.

At the end, they talk about some tips to clean your keyboard, including canned air, vacuuming, and using a dishwasher. What are some of your techniques to get out those pesky little crumbs?

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