Free Republic

Stricter rules, economic problems and changing social habits mean that Russians are consuming less alcohol, and that's sobering news for the global vodka industryIn good news for Russian life expectancy but sobering news for vodka distilleries, the largest country in the world is turning away from alcohol. Alcohol consumption in Russia, which is believed to have fallen into economic recession, dropped by 6.3pc in 2014 amid ongoing political tension, the collapse in oil prices and a government crackdown on drinking. Russians drank 12pc less vodka last year, according to data from Euromonitor International, dragging down global sales of the clear...

McDonald’s may be developing a taste for a new ingredient as it fights to reinvent itself: Kale. The world’s biggest burger chain says it’s testing two breakfast bowls in Southern California, one of which includes the leafy green as an ingredient. The test comes as McDonald’s Corp. works to shake its junk food image, with sales at established U.S. locations declining for six straight quarters. CEO Steve Easterbrook, who stepped into the top spot March 1, has said he want to turn the chain into a “modern, progressive burger company.”

While we love Outside Lands, and the Folsom Street Fair, and maybe even the Ramen Festival for the sheer horror of watching famished people wait three hours for soup, the best fests are the unique ones that only happen once. (Before anybody bristles about how Folsom is totes unique, there’s also Up Your Alley and Folsom East.) Castroville Artichoke Festival The last weekend in May — which is not Memorial Day weekend, but the one after — Castroville throws its Artichoke Food & Wine Festival, which has been running for well over half a century to showcase the Pajaro Valley’s...

Fish! (A little early again this week, to get ahead of Mom's Day; but here is your weekly cookin' thread :-) I am not much of a meat-eater; in fact, I was largely a 'veg/fish-itarian' until I met and married my husband. I like a good hamburger now and then, or my husband's barbecued pork chops; and I like chicken pie and chicken and dumplings. But I'm not one to go into a restaurant and order a 'slab o' meat'. Steak, for instance, isn't near the top of my list. But I do love FISH! along with all the other...

Washington State University researchers have found a way to make jet fuel from a common black fungus found in decaying leaves, soil and rotting fruit. The researchers hope the process leads to economically viable production of aviation biofuels in the next five years. The researchers used Aspergillus carbonarius ITEM 5010 to create hydrocarbons, the chief component of petroleum, similar to those in aviation fuels. Led by Birgitte Ahring, director and Battelle distinguished professor of the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory at WSU Tri-cities, the researchers published their work in the April edition of Fungal Biology. The fungus produced the most...

Joshua Ozersky, a food blogger who translated appetite and ambition into columns, books and an international food festival called Meatopia, died on Monday in Chicago, where he was to attend the annual James Beard Awards. He was 47. He was found in his hotel room, the Cook County medical examiner said. An autopsy on Tuesday did not determine the cause of death, the medical examiner’s office said, and more tests were planned.

A University of South Carolina student is facing felony charges and possible jail time after allegedly being caught on camera spitting and pouring chemicals into her two roommates’ food in early February, police said. Police say Hayley King, 22, can be seen in the video taken by her roommates Feb. 4 spitting into multiple containers of food and pouring Windex into the food in the apartment they shared off campus, according to a Columbia Police Department incident report. King’s two roommates informed authorities they had set up secret cameras in their shared apartment because they were afraid of what King...

Freeman Dyson, an award-winning British scientist and retired professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, said that the science on climate change isn’t “at all clear,” and in fact, humans are actually helping the planet. […] “Well, what I would like to emphasize is that human actions have very large effects on the ecology which have nothing to do with climate. Carbon dioxide is what we’re producing in big quantities and putting into the atmosphere,” Dyson said. “It happens to be a very good fertilizer for all kinds of vegetation, good for wildlife, good for agricultural production. “So...

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is traveling to Colorado to announce funding for conservation projects in all 50 states. […] The Department of Agriculture says the projects concern water quality, soil health, wildlife habitat and agricultural viability. …

NEW YORK — McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook says he's stripping away layers of bureaucracy so the company can move faster to keep up with changing tastes.During a 23-minute video message posted online Monday, Easterbrook said the company's structure is too "cumbersome" and that it can no longer afford its "legacy structure."

"Gas or Charcoal?" The most frequently asked question since "Chicken or Egg?" The flame war between charcoal purists and gas hotheads burns brighter than the debate between Mac and PC users. You should read some of the slop slung on the barbecue message boards. On second thought, don't. Let me try to sort it out for you with a few inflammatory thoughts.

Carnivorous fans flocking to Madison Square Garden to see rocker Morrissey next month will be forced to go vegan or go hungry — because the arena is giving in to his demands to ban meat at the performance. The former frontman for the British band “The Smiths” — which had a smash-hit album called “Meat is Murder” — is scheduled to perform June 27. Concertgoers craving a burger or hot dog will be asking, “Where’s the beef” after the singer revealed that the Garden had agreed that only strictly vegan foods would be served during the show. So no meat...

Boreal Winery in Warren, east of Sudbury, is trying something new: pumpkin wine. They've used some giant pumpkins grown in Sudbury, and fermented the wine right inside the pumpkins. It was bottled just a few weeks ago, and the winery will start selling it this weekend. Owner of Boreal Winery Greg Meilien said the wine is fantastic. "[We were] quite surprised. We weren't sure what was going to happen but it turned out very, very nice," he said. Meilien said as for the taste, it's something you need to try for yourself, but added it does have a melon mid-palette...

Panzanella, and other hearty sides! Every year around the first of June, my office has a barbecue party. Thinking of a side dish to take this year, I remembered one that I haven't made in a while. I first had 'Panzanella' - or Tuscan Bread Salad - at the home of a friend, and looked for a recipe of my own. This one is very good: Tuscan Bread Salad 1/2 loaf day-old dense, country-style bread (I always use Italian bread) 3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced...

Many of the largest U.S. sellers of organic eggs boast that their hens are vegetarian, and for an increasingly food-curious public, this may be great advertising. A carton of Eggland’s Best advertises that the company uses “vegetarian fed hens.” Horizon promises that their eggs “come from hens that are fed a 100% organic, vegetarian diet.” Land O Lakes hens have a diet with no animal fat or by-products. Yet for the chickens, who are natural omnivores that readily devour bugs and small animals when they’re available, the forced vegetarianism can be a disaster.

Vietnamese foodie guide: Critic Brad A. Johnson dishes about the 25 best things to eat in Little Saigon The scent of Little Saigon hits me in the face. An intoxicating perfume of jackfruit and bananas and the vanilla-y scent of pandanus leaves wraps itself around me in a warm, tight embrace. It’s a sunny Friday afternoon, and the line to purchase something cold and sweet at Thach Che Hien Khanh in Garden Grove stretches out the front door and down the sidewalk, past a vendor of exotic fruits and knickknacks — chopsticks, paper lanterns, plastic Buddhas, various figurines of the...

An actor named Sean Whalen sits at a desk, spreading a generous helping of peanut butter on a slice of bread, listening to a classical music radio station. The scene of the ad makes it clear he’s surrounded by artifacts from the Burr-Hamilton duel, the historic 1804 showdown between U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and vice-president Aaron Burr; Whalen’s character is, apparently, something of an expert. The song on the radio fades, and the radio host announces that day’s $10,000 trivia question as the subject shoves a peanut butter sandwich — the whole thing! — into his mouth...

Hit the concession stands at MLB ballparks this year, and you’ll find Fried S’mOreo, 8,000-calorie burgers, and many more monstrosities. It’s the great American pastime: gorging on obscenely unhealthy food. In recent Major League Baseball seasons, over-the-top ballpark foods have become their own attraction. These bombastic new recruits of the concession stands are often riffs on ballpark classics like the hot dog and hamburger, but they’re jacked up and deep fried into stunt food territory. They can also cost $25 or more a pop — and still sell. One report has the Texas Rangers moving nearly 20,000 of their first...

A Placerville man was arrested in Petaluma Thursday afternoon after he broke into a house, had himself a snack of tater tots and set down on a sofa to take a nap, only to be discovered by the startled resident, police said. Around 2 p.m., the homeowner was minding her own business in an upstairs bedroom on the 1600 block of Caulfield Lane. For one reason or another, she decided to venture to the first floor, where she found a man — later identified as 44-year-old James Adams — peacefully snoozing on the sofa.

In the introduction to her book “Global Meatballs: Around the World in 100-Plus Boundary-Breaking Recipes,” Adeline Myers celebrates the imperfections that make these “humble, misshapen rounds” a home kitchen favorite. When it comes to assessing both flavor and aesthetics, Myers, 31, knows her stuff. The author, trained at Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco, has baked desserts for many area restaurants, and also works as an art conservator, recently on assignment to restore a gilded picture frame for Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Myers set off to research the worldwide variations on one of the world’s great comfort foods...