Free Republic

Annacarla Berta’s first taste of grappa came right around the time that most of us would be learning to form full sentences. While spending time with her father Gianfranco in their family’s Piedmontese distillery, the then-three-year-old stuck her finger in a recently distilled batch of grappa upon her father’s insistence. Her first impression? “I don’t remember loving it!” laughs Annacarla, now in her mid-twenties. “But now I like it much more.” As the latest generation to carry on the legacy of Distillerie Berta, Annacarla knows that the general idea of grappa among Americans falls a bit closer to the first...

The sugary hazelnut paste Nutella has been beloved the world over for 50 years. But is it a dessert or a jam? The makers of the cocoa-flavored spread say consumers in the United States are far more likely to spread it on toast than on ice cream, and they are pressuring US authorities to recognize this -- a move that would halve the product's official serving size, and thus reduce the fat, sugar and calories appearing on the required label. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday began accepting public comments on the ways consumers use cocoa, cookie and coffee-flavored...

Alcohol consumption caused more than 700,000 new cancer cases and around 366,000 cancer deaths in 2012, mainly in rich countries, according to data reported Wednesday to the World Cancer Congress in Paris. Comparing the cancer risk of people who drink, to that of people who do not, researchers calculated that alcohol was responsible for an estimated five percent of all new cancer cases, and 4.5 percent of deaths per year. “A large part of the population is unaware that cancer can be caused by alcohol,” study co-author Kevin Shield of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), told AFP...

Once I have seen it, I can a longer on see it. Dozens of the Podesta emails released our sex trafficking. It's just that they use some code words, so they slipped by. Once you know what their code is, it makes perfect but horrifying sense. They are constantly talking about "pizza", flying to Somalia for "an hour of pizza", Pizza parties, etc. in fact they have a weird obsession about pizza. Pizza equals young girl. Read this thread from Reddit and it will all make sense, although you will be sick. http://boards.4chan.org/pol/thread/95782324#p95784249

The phrase “get ’em while they’re hot” certainly applied when it came to Arby’s new seasonal offering. Last week, Arby’s announced they would be unveiling a venison sandwich, made from 100 percent deer meat. In addition to the venison steak, the sandwich also came with onions and a berry sauce on a toasted roll. The sandwich was to be available from Friday through Sunday, but as of about noon Friday, a spokesperson reported that all five Minnesota locations carrying the sandwich had sold out. In some case, it sold out in less than a half-hour. The sandwiches were briefly available...

If it sounds too good to be true, it definitely isHangovers suck, and all the related calling in sick or totally-phoning-it-in-at-work days cost the U.S. economy an estimated $77 billion annually. Being able to rid ourselves of the unpleasant after-effects of a night of heavy drinking would not only be a triumph for the human spirit, but also for our nation’s GDP — so naturally, a Dutch brewer’s announcement that he’d created a “hangover-free beer” has been met with plenty of excitement. Beer maker Thomas Gesink of Amsterdam’s De Prael brewery “says that he’s cracked the code for brewing beer...

Beer is completely delicious and refreshing – regardless of the season. After a long day at work, what could be better than settling down in your local pub with a few pints of cold lager? When are the best times to go to the supermarket to get reduced items? However, many of us soon regret it when on waking the next day for work, we feel like our soul has been ripped out and s**t upon. Well potentially, not anymore. In what could possible be life-changing news, someone claims to have finally created the formula for hangover-free beer. Thomas Gesink,...

What will happen to the White House veggie garden? (photos) By Janet Eastman | The Oregonian/OregonLive Email the author | Follow on Twitter on November 02, 2016 at 1:00 PM, updated November 02, 2016 at 1:02 PM Everyone who has left behind a beloved garden to move to a new home can feel First lady Michelle Obama's pain. She worries that her vegetable garden on the South Lawn might be altered -- or worse -- when new occupants take over the White House. Her husband, President Barack Obama, voiced his concern during a Wednesday radio interview on the syndicated Tom...

Two men, one of whom was wearing a tutu, reportedly burglarized a Tampa farmers market Tuesday. Surveillance video showed the duo inside the business eating fruit and drinking soda. They broke the glass door of the market to enter, police said. One of the men wore a tutu, wig and what looked like a cheerleading costume. The other man wore a hoodie with an image of an owl on the front. The store owner, John Sansone, is puzzled by the pair's bizarre antics. "I think it was Halloween and I don't know if it was like a prank. The way...

When Hunter Jobbins parked his car in University campus he did not know that he was about to become famous. Hunter left his car unattended for 15 minutes in front of his dorm. When he returned, he saw that his Kit Kat bar was missing and in it’s place was note. The note said, “Saw Kit-Kat in your cup holder. I love Kit-Kats so I checked your door and it was unlocked. Did not take anything other than the Kit-Kat. I am sorry and hungry.” He shared the note online which with the caption, "Left my car for maybe 15...

Goldilock's three bears would be happy at this news coming from McDonald's. Next year, the chain will be rolling out mini and mega versions of the Big Mac, meaning there will be a perfect burger size for all Golden Arches customers. The classic Big Mac is constructed with two 1/10lb all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun.

First Lady Michelle Obama got a taste of Ina Garten’s cooking when they filmed an episode of Barefoot Contessa at the White House earlier this month. In a clip released from the upcoming one-hour special episode, Barefoot in Washington, Garten spoke with Obama about what she and President Barack Obama will do once they leave the White House. “I know it’s going to be wonderful for you. You’re going to do something extraordinary going forward,” Garten said to Obama. Obama, who appears to share a universal dream to attend one of Garten’s dinner parties, replied, “Yeah, I’m going to come...

Walpole Police share photo of vodka gathered during trick or treatingA 6-year-old came home with a small bottle of vodka among the candy gathered during Halloween, according to Walpole Police. Walpole Police wrote on their Facebook page that the youngster was trick-or-treating on Haynes and Vine streets. Her grandmother noticed the apple flavored vodka in her treat bag when she got home. Following the discovery, police were urging parents to check their children's candy bags and contact the police if they received similar items. Families in the neighborhood were in a bit of shock because they say they know their...

TUCSON, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) - Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two men involved in separate weekend attempts to smuggle approximately $87,000 worth of methamphetamine through the Port of Nogales. Officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing seized about 26 pounds of meth from a 23-year-old male U.S. citizen residing in Santana, Sonora, Mexico, after finding the drugs in his Chevy SUV on Saturday. The drugs were worth nearly $78,000.

The world’s oldest woman has cracked the secret to her longevity: eggs. Emma Morano, who will turn 117 on November 27, gobbles up at least two eggs a day, and has done so for 90 years — for an egg-streme lifetime total she says is over 100,000. Born in 1899, Morano, of Verbania, Italy began eating eggs religiously when she was 20 years old, after a doctor diagnosed her with anemia and told her to consume two raw eggs and a cooked one each day.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of beer brand Bud Light, has pulled the company’s Amy Schumer-Seth Rogen-starring “Bud Light Party” television advertisements weeks ahead of schedule as sales of the beer declined in the third quarter.

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Six months into a deepening drought, the weather is killing crops, threatening cattle and sinking lakes to their lowest levels in years across much of the South. The very worst conditions — what forecasters call “exceptional drought” — are in the mountains of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia, a region known for its thick green forests, waterfalls and red clay soil. […] The drought has spread from these mountains onto the Piedmont plateau, down to the plains and across 13 southern states, from Oklahoma and Texas to Florida and Virginia, putting about 33 million people in drought conditions, according to...

The de Blasio administration is trying to limit the number of food trucks in the city by claiming that each hot-dog and kabob cart causes more pollution than a truck ride to Los Angeles. Deputy Health Commissioner Corinne Schiff made the claim at a City Council hearing Wednesday, in an apparent effort to sink a bill that would nearly double the number of food-vendor permits in the city by 2023. “Meat grilling is a significant source of air pollution in the city,” Schiff said. “One additional vendor grilling meat emits an amount of particle pollution in one day equivalent to...

Well, I just found out that my dad is sending me to Boston for a while. Don't know if I'm going to be there a week or whether longer. Now, I am open to suggestions for really great Italian restaurants. I'll be leaving next Monday.