If you haven’t had Illy Coffee yet, give it a try.  It has to be my new favorite.

Have you ever wondered why drinking a soda makes you happy?

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

Source: http://www.blisstree.com/

“Coca-Cola is debuting a new soda fountain that can hold more than 100 sodas. That’s ten times more than current soda fountains.  Currently, fountains work through syrup bags. The restaurant buys a bag (actually, a bag in a rectangular box) from Coke or Pepsi, hooks it up to a soda line and then the fountain combines the carbonated water with the syrup to create your soda. The machines are limited by soda lines, which tend to gunk up with sugar mold, and by bulky soda bags that weigh 30 pounds or more.  The new Coke machine is completely different. The new fountain is like an ink printer with space for hundreds of cartridges. Each cartridge contains a concentrated formula of ingredients. When you press your choice, say Diet Coke, the machine will tell cartridge 12 to release three squirts, cartridge 81 two squirts and so on, then it combines it with carbonated water and viola! The same drink as old machines.

“Starting April 20, Pepsi will sell cans of Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, which will be made with real sugar instead of HFCS.  The drinks will only be available until June 13.”  What is up now Coke?  :)

Source: http://eater.com/

At Teah’s Christmas party last night she had all kinds of fancy foods and well I just ate the cookies so after being inspired I decided to bake cookies with Tyler today.  I know I haven’t had a chance to test my cooking skills much so I figured I might as well learn now without someone seeing my blunders while it is just me and Tyler in the kitchen.  I’ll try and remember to bring some into work tomorrow if anyone wants to risk trying my baking.  I think they turned out pretty well and let me tell you Tyler definitely approved.  The recipe below is from the back of Safeway’s chocolate chips.

Bake these luscious cookies just the way you like them – a few minutes less for soft, chewy centers, a few minutes longer for crisper cookies.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in eggs, milk or water, and vanilla.  Mix in flour, soda and salt until incorporated.  Mix in milk chocolate chips and nuts.  Drop by rounded teaspoons 1 1/2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.  Bake for 11 to 12 minutes.  Cool 2 minutes and remove to racks.  Makes about 60 cookies.  Recipies developed by cookbook author Mariene Sorosky Gray.