From Our Answers on Quora

Why does pairing fruit and ice cream work? Doesn't the sweetness of each one cancel each other out?

Actually, sweets can pair well together. Take a Gewurtztraminer paired with a Creme Brûlée. On it's own, Gewurtz is very sweet - in fact its about all you taste. But paired with another sweet, the "sweets" sort of raise the noise level of the sweet taste - and the floral notes of the gewurtz shine through. It's like drinking flowers.

Now one of the keys to this is the acid content of the gewurtz, which is quite high. This helps the palette to notice the difference.

Pairing fruit and ice cream goes well - when the acid content is high. So think berries, pineapple, kiwi - even oranges and citrus. You can check on the pH (acid level) of common fruits and vegetables to get a reference on the unknown - and remember that a lower number is more acidic than a higher one.

Cantaloupe, watermelon, etc. might not work as nicely. That being said, putting two delicious things together sometimes works for strange reasons... like adding bananas.

Since the goal is to make the fruit stand out, and augment it with the ice cold goodness of the ice cream, I would suggest a vanilla ice cream. Dave HamptonImage courtesy Susanne Nilsson

Everyone knows that the best part of a brownie is the edge. They even have brownie pans that wind all over the place so you get nothing but edges. Clever, but I've owned two and they are a pain to clean.

The thing is that they have edges - but hard edges that you can't clean. What makes the edge of a brownie so good is that you have the crunchy edge next to the chewy middle.

Most pans focus on edges - but create corners that don't add to the texture and are hard to clean.

The simple solution is a donut pan. Pick the size you want depending on portion - or mix em up to add some texture like in the picture above. You can pick them up on Amazon:


It has the right amount of surface area to give that crunchy edge - but since it's round, it just wipes clean. Genius.Diane Rodriguez

The Problem:
The fact is that all honey crystallizes once it's out of the hive. In fact, under the right conditions, it'll actually crystallize in the hive.

It's caused by the ratio of glucose to fructose. It's horribly affected by temperature (under 55º and it will really crystallize fast. Unfiltered honey (or raw honey) tends to crystallize even faster. Probably because of the little bits still in it that help the process get started.

There's no real way that you can stop it, and everyone knows that you can heat it up in the microwave and it'll pour just fine again.

The problem is that it will recrystallize the next day (most likely) and all of that heating and cooling ruins the flavor, texture and aroma of the honey. Seriously, once that's gone - what do you have?

So most people will end up heating it up once or twice and then tossing it. What a shame. What if there were a proven way to decrystallize the honey and have it stay that way for at least a few weeks - maybe longer? Well, after years of trying different techniques I've stumbled upon a solution.

Initially I tried everything from adding liquids, mixing with other uncrystallized honey, changing containers, re-filtering.  All of which were either to difficult or to temporary to count as an actual solution.

I started another attempt when I discovered a crystallized, half-empty squeezy bear of honey. I started to heat it up and then as luck would have it, I got busy and forgot about it. But when I remembered, I tried adding a bit of corn syrup.

But discovery requires experimentation. And even when you abandon (or forget) about the experiment - it still counts if it works.

The Solution:
So here's the technique:

1. Place your crystalized honey, in whatever jar it came, in a pot of cool water.
2. Place it on the stove on low and let it slowly heat up
   to about 100º. Don't heat it up faster than that. Don't let it get hotter than that.
3. When it gets to 100º, turn it off and watch the honey decrystallize. If you have a lot of honey, or a small pot, you may have to let it simmer longer - but don't let it get hotter.
4. Add about 1/4 tsp of corn syrup.
5. Use some of that honey if you need to, but when you are done, put the lid or cap back on it and place it back in the water to cool down slowly.
6. When the water is back down to room temperature, remove it from the water, dry off the container and keep it on the shelf.

I love the Daily Show. John Stewart's diatribe/expose on the American Diet is funny and scary as all get out. He makes some great points about the lack of regulation of ingredients in what we eat and the overall health. But what he misses is even scarier.

Watch the whole video through, but pay attention to the news sections in the last half where news shows are announcing what different manufacturers are doing. What John misses is that those bits of actual news content - aren't news content at all. They're paid commercials.

Who aired that paid-for infomercial masquerading as a a news story? Good Morning America - or ABC News.

So if ABC News is willing to sell out the content of their news show to the highest bidder, how can you know what is news - and what is a sales pitch?

The reality is that you can't. It's time to filter everything - from any source - no matter how reputable (including here) through your brain for a sanity check. Is it real? Is it news? Is someone paying or making money on this?


As for Robin's Nest Cottage - we're a small Home and Garden Magazine that gets paid by the ads you see around the page. Hopefully they're not to bothersome. We don't get to pick what they are. They just show up. We don't have millions of dollars in advertising trying to sway opinion. 99% of our advertising is word of mouth (so, seriously - like share this on Facebook or something...)

And as for how to eat - check back regularly, follow us on Facebook, or sign up for our email (links on the side, and probably above and below as well...) We'll be releasing our Eat Healthy Guide later this year. It's free. No sales pitches. We don't want your money or to sell you a product - we just want to help you eat right.

Weird, huh? Let us know what you think in the comments below. Dave Hampton

Most people have wondered if they should start eating Organic or not. Here at Robin's Nest Cottage, we decided a long time ago that eating Organic was something we would strive to do. It's not always easy. It's hard to find organic items - especially if you are on a budget.

But what really is the fallout from not eating Organic? What gets in your body? Is it harmful? The research always seems to be skewed by whoever paid for the study. But one thing we can be sure of is that when you eat pesticides, herbicides, growth regulators, hormones - etc. - They do end up in your body.

So it's really your decision. Since no one is going to tell you whether a certain chemical is safe or not - and our own FDA really no longer regulates food in order to protect our food supply - it's up to you.

Here's the shocking results of tests showing the results of your eating habits. It's only a minute. Watch it.

I wish I could shop there (but it's in Sweden.) So... Are you going to change what you eat? Tell us what you think in the comments below. Dave Hampton

It turns out that rice plants are particularly good at picking up arsenic as they grow. As a consequence, all rice products have some Arsenic. Arsenic is not one of those things you want ANY of in you. It is a progressive toxin and carcinogen, meaning that even low levels can be harmful, sort of like radiation.

For most people in the USA, the amounts of arsenic in our tap water isn't very high, but there are a few places that isn't true, and in some parts of the world, like Bangladesh, the water is very high in Arsenic. Thus, unless you happen to have a spouse trying to slowly poison you with arsenic(a large box of rat poison in the pantry might be a clue - I know, I've been watching too many of those crime shows), Arsenic in your food might not be your worst concern. Consumer Reports found the alarmingly high Arsenic levels in rice a few years ago.

The good news is that you can cut out about half the arsenic in your cooked rice by starting to cook it with an over abundance of water, and pouring off the extra water right as the rice starts to boil. Normally for rice, the ratio is an easy to remember 2 to 1, two parts water to one part rice. To clean off the Arsenic, start with 6 parts water to one rice, and then pour off 4 of those parts of water, and finish the steaming. I'd actually measure the amount you pour off, so it doesn't come out too wet or dry. Of course be careful pouring off the boiling water.

Rinsing the rice thusly will also pour off some of the vitamins they spray on the rice, to replace the vitamins they grind off in polishing the rice. If you are otherwise eating your veggies and have a healthy diet, this is probably not a big deal, but some of the fish sauces and raw fish in Asian cooking have things that can further reduce your vitamin B-1 levels called thiaminases. I'd probably take a vitamin pill of this were the case. Alternatively a little Vegemite or Marmite, the Aussie and British yeast pastes could be be added as flavor enhancers that are very high in B vitamins.

Here's a chart, shared by a friend - original source unknown to me - that helps describe arsenic levels in different strains of rice and other grains.

Chuck Goecke