finding cain

One of my most satisfying activities is tending my garden. My front yard is flourishing with culinary herbs, fruits, and vegetables, and I don't think I'm ever going to tire of seeing home-sown seedlings. Here's the newest addition to my plant family. I don't really like the taste of guyabano (soursop) but findings suggest that it could be beneficial for those with diabetes, which runs in my family. Who would have thought that I would get into gardening? I could barely keep a mung bean plant alive in science class. For me gardening is a stress buster, and it feels cool to eat stuff you grew yourself.

Quarantine does weird things to people, and in this case food writer Angela Hansberger decided to open her own restaurant for a chipmunk. And each day would make a different pop-up cafe for him. From Bon Appétit : "Important to dining, especially now, is tipping. Thelonious, I’ll admit, had always been a poor tipper. Then one evening I watched as he carried over a mysterious wad of leaves and bits of flowers, things not available near my porch, and left them at the table. For me? Did he leave these special things for me? I considered it an excellent tip. Thelonious Munk comes every day now. Sometimes he sits at the table, waiting for me. He is the diner critiquing my meals; I am the chef and the server, waiting for positive reviews. I switch up the menu, making sure not to overfeed, as chipmunks are hoarders and can eat to their detriment. I watch like a new parent introducing foods to a baby, cataloging likes and dislikes. Google be damned, Thelonious doesn’t dig mushrooms, fresh...

To welcome the new European football season, this is the limited edition pizza box created by Pizza Hut and Ogilvy with a fully playable foosball integrated into the lid. The box not only serves as a storage for your precious pie, but it also provides an entertaining game for customers to enjoy while grabbing a slice. Unfortunately, this unique foosball is only available to Hong Kong customers and they have to try their luck by visiting the Pizza Hut app or by leaving a creative comment on Pizza Hut HK's Facebook page . [h/t: The Drum ]

Hong Kong's Louis To creates edible figurines that are sweet inside and out. With his bare hands, a pair of scissors and a blow pipe, he transforms chunks of melted sugar into colorful animal sculptures. Sugar blowing dates back hundreds of years, but today only a few people are keeping the tradition alive. Read the full story here .

Have you read this gem of a book yet? I bought a copy at a thrift shop last week and finished reading it in two days. Rarely has a book with so much information been such an enjoyable read. In Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat, British food writer Bee Wilson outlines the evolution of the kitchen and its contents with wit and skill. The paperback features history, science, and personal anecdotes on how our culinary tools—from spoons to pots to rice cookers—came to be and how their influence has shaped today's food culture. It is well researched and insanely detailed. Bee's style of writing makes it easy for readers to engage in her passion. Here's an excerpt. "Making toast is satisfying. You could say that's because it's such a comforting substance—the crispness, the heavenly aroma as yellow butter slowly melts into the crevices. But the satisfaction is also mechanical and childish: fitting the slices in the slots, setting the timer, and...

There's no doubt coffee is one of the world's favorite stimulants, but most cafe owners know it takes more than just rich, flavorful coffee to create a successful business. Tired of your local coffee chain? There's a place in Yangpyeong county — about 40 miles outside of Seoul, South Korea — that allows its visitors to crawl inside of a giant twin-lens camera.  Opened in 2013, the Dreamy Camera Cafe is a two-story building modeled after the vintage Rolleiflex 2.8F. It was built by Army aviation pilot Park Sung-Hwan and his wife, who also used to work in the military but is now retired and manages the shop. The married couple has built the cafe right next to their quaint house. Inside the restaurant, the decor reflects the owners' love of photography and their interest in collecting cameras. On each level is a massive hole in the wall, protected by a circular window that mimics the lens of the Rolleiflex. Customers can sit near the porthole, drink coffee, and ...

Li Ziqi is a Chinese food and lifestyle vlogger whose videos about her rural life in Sichuan have attracted more than 6 million YouTube subscribers. In this clip, she turns corn into a feast. The dishes are shot professionally and edited stylishly to look like a mouthwatering slide show. WARNING: It's torture to watch the last three minutes of the video if you are on an empty stomach.

When it's warm and sunny, my daughter wants fried chicken. When it's cold and rainy, she wants fried chicken. But would she ever try one of these? In a partnership with Beyond Meat, KFC is launching a plant-based, chicken substitute (available in nuggets or boneless wings) at one of its Atlanta stores starting Tuesday. Customers will get a free sample of the faux meat when they buy something that day, and the restaurant will ask for their feedback. Depending on customer response, the fast food giant will decide how to move forward with the product for "a broader test or potential national rollout". Beyond Meat has teamed up with several fast food chains, including Carls Jr. and Subway, to provide plant-based meat options. Rival company Impossible Foods has options at Burger King, Little Caesars, and Red Robin, among others. It looks like chicken, it smells like chicken, it tastes like chicken and it cooks like chicken, but hardcore real meat lovers may find K...

The National Gallery Singapore has partnered with Marou Chocolate to co-brand a line of limited-edition chocolate bars which represent both Vietnam and the architecture of the newly established art museum. The packaging features the design work of Rice Creative , who worked with artisans skilled in the traditional Vietnamese printmaking called Dong Ho . "Everything in the process is hand made. The paper is made from Mulberry bark, with a sparkle added from crushed oyster shell. Red pigment is derived from terra cotta, green and blue pigments are from natural indigo plant parts. Black ink comes from charred bamboo leaves, and the white pigment is simply powdered shell. We worked with a family whom have been practicing this art form for 500 years (21 generations)."  [h/t: Packaging of the World ]

Dr. Who's telephone booth (TARDIS) may function as a futuristic time machine, but these days call boxes are pretty much obsolete. Instead of letting one of them slowly decay, a London entrepreneur refurbished it into a pop-up salad bar. Called Spier's Salads , the shop launched earlier this month and is located in Bloomsbury Square, a park in central London. From the outside, Ben Spier's tiny eatery looks like your typical phone booth. Inside, however, it's equipped with a fully-functioning fridge and offers a selection of fresh salads, costing between $5 to $8.50. Ben says his dishes are all organic and packed with protein, vitamins and minerals. Spier's Salads is open every Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30am to 2:30pm. This week, Ben's doing a roasted chicken salad with sumac, pomegranate molasses, chilli and sesame seeds. There's also a cauliflower couscous, messicani pasta, rhubarb, radish and green beans in an almond pesto and a whole lot mor...

Dancakes is the brainchild of Daniel 'Dr. Dan' Drake and Henry 'Hank' Gustafson, a duo from St. Louis, Missouri who make some of the most extraordinary pancake art you'll ever see. Their YouTube page is full of amazing videos for mouthwatering creations like these Game of Thrones flapjacks. They look too incredible to eat — well, almost. They're still pancakes, after all.

Why do Japanese people always get the good stuff first? McDonald's Japan has launched a new super-sized version of its Big Mac that contains nearly three times as much meat as the original. Called the Giga Big Mac, the monster sandwich has four beef patties, with a bun in the middle separating each pair. It's so big that the fast food giant says you'll feel "a satisfied sense of accomplishment" for eating the whole thing.  Like the regular Big Mac, the Giga also consists of lettuce, onion, pickles, cheese, and mayo. There's no word yet on when or if the burger will be made available elsewhere, but it will go on sale for a limited-time in the Land of the Rising Sun, beginning April 6. [h/t: Grub Street ]

You know what's cooler than art? Edible art. World-renowned sugar artist and cake sculptor Michelle Wibowo doesn't just bake and decorate cakes, she designs and sculpts them into beautiful pieces of artwork. She's won numerous awards, and her creations are exhibited around the world. Her most recent project is a gingerbread replica of King's Landing. Aside from the fictional city, the British artist has also recreated Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet in jelly beans, Michelangelo's  The Creation of Adam  in marshmallows and cake sprinkles, and a portrait of Prince William and Prince George in chocolate bars. Be sure to check out Michelle 's website to see more of her creations, and her blog and Facebook page for updates on her latest projects.

There's a quaint little restaurant in Quezon City that serves quirky and delectable dishes that make you happy (or at least improve your mood) when you feel down. Van Gogh is Bipolar is Jetro Rafael's house slash resto at Maginhawa Street in Sikatuna Village. Just like the iconic Dutch artist, Jetro has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, so he built a place where people can dine on delicious meals that trigger happy hormones in the body. "It's healing me," Jetro told Rappler . "So it's my best way to share whatever gift and experience I've had in this place." On the menu he has included salmon, honey, turkey, cabbage, nuts and tea to name a few ingredients, which are thought to have mood-boosting properties. He's also named dishes after temperamental historical figures and celebrities. There's a Courtney Love's Potion, intended to reduce anxiety, and Virginia Woolf's Tears, aimed at staving off depression. I haven't ...

There is nothing like comfort food to warm up rainy days. Some of them may be bad for your health, but they're actually good for your emotions. In TIME magazine , Alexandra Sifferlin writes: "It makes intuitive sense that positive experiences with a given food could influence our craving for it later on, but recent research also suggests something else is at play, too: comfort foods remind us of our social ties, which means they may help us feel less lonesome when we feel isolated. In a recent July 2015 study, Jordan Troisi, an assistant professor of psychology at Sewanee, The University of The South, and his colleagues found that people with strong relationships preferred the taste of comfort food when they experienced feelings of social isolation. Of course, what counts as comfort food is different person to person. When Troisi has asked people write about an experience they've had with a comfort food, essays have ranged from soup to kimchi. 'It's not jus...

At first glance, Chicago's Ed Debevic's looks much like many of the Windy City's other tourist restaurants: Waiters and waitresses in flashy costumes serving up tasty burgers, hot dogs, salads, milkshakes and fries. But take a closer look at it's website and you'll discover their service is anything but ordinary. Servers at Ed Debevic's are known for their rudeness and snarky remarks. However, they are paid to be cheeky, and would likely get fired from the restaurant if they were nice to customers. This waitress, for example, has taken customer service to a whole new level. Some might deem it gimmicky. I prefer to use the term "theatrical." [h/t: UPROXX ]

"Don't play with your food," our mothers always told us. We obediently listened, but those who didn't became successful fashion illustrators.    Take, for example,  Gretchen Röehrs . The San Francisco-based artist creates beautiful fashion sketches and combines real food into her drawings. From watermelon slices to green leafy vegetables, Röehrs has the ability to transform these snacks into fashionable clothes in her designs.    If you'll excuse me, I have to go grab a salad because my mouth is watering over the amount of detail in these illustrations. [h/t: Elite Daily ]

Some people like the feel of satin against their skin. Some want to wrap themselves in wool. But how about wearing clothes made from bagels? Food and fashion enthusiasts will be intrigued by this bizarrely awesome, mouth-watering 'Bagel Suit' by self-proclaimed food-fashionista Ishara Jayakody.  From Bon Appétit : The bagel suit took about 100 hours to make, and the wearable version—a vest—took her between 60 and 70 hours. It’s always a long process of experimentation and trial and error, according to Jayakody. "I"ll spray [the food] with different things, leave it out in the sun, put it in the fridge, dissolve it, and so on, until I find something that works," she said. She also goes method on these projects: "When I'm making a bagel dress, all I'm eating is bagels." The process is all-consuming, and between designing and her full-time job, Jayakody doesn't sleep much. The 'Bagel Suit' is not Ishara's first time e...

Ad firm Tribal Buenos Aires in Argentina has designed a new disposable takeout packaging for McDonald's that's made to hang from bicycle handlebars. Dubbed "McBike," the carrier is made out of cardboard and holds a burger, fries and drink. It was first introduced in Denmark, and then in Colombia. McDonald's aims to roll this concept out in Japan and the Netherlands soon. I really like the design. It's very practical. [h/t: DesignTaxi ]

Brother Victor-Antoine d' Avila-Latourrette is a Benedictine monk who lives at a secluded monastery in New York's Hudson Valley. He's an internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of several cookbooks, including From a Monastery Kitchen and Twelve Months of Monastery Salads . And he makes vinegars unlike those found in most markets.