Blog Posts by Mike Krumboltz

Paula Deen's perhaps too-simple peas recipe is an online target.For those of us who can't even boil water, online recipes are a lifesaver. But when is a simple recipe a bit too simple? Perhaps Paula Deen knows. We recently came across this recipe for English peas on her official site.

Here, word for glorious word, is Paula's recipe: "Melt the butter in small pot and add the peas. Cook over medium heat until peas are warm." Below those words of wisdom is a link that allows you to print the recipe. You know, in case you think you might forget a step.

Related: Paula Deen's controversial year

The recipe by itself is hilarious in a "no doy" kind of way. But what's really great is the collection of comments from readers. There are currently 334 reviews for the recipe, many of them with a level of snark worthy of the most sarcastic teen.

Commenter tr1cky1 wrote, "I clicked on the "Print Recipe" link for this recipe, but my printer only printed out a sheet of paper that read, "Your An Idiot!"...and I can't even reply to it to tell it that it

Read More »

Vitamins are generally thought of as a good thing. They give people more of the stuff they need. Right? Well, that depends on the vitamin, as well as on the age of the person taking it.

Before you give vitamins to your child, you should, of course, consult your pediatrician or a poison control hotline. However, there are some general guidelines available online.

[Related: Six power foods you should be eating]

According the American Academy of Pediatrics, most children should take vitamin D supplements. However, parents should be careful not to overdo it. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat soluble, and any excess is stored in the child's tissues. Too much of these vitamins could make the child sick.

Vitamin A can also be toxic of taken in large doses. According to the "Today" show's resident nutritionist Joy Bauer, "Chronic intake of excessive amounts through fortified food and supplements can cause big problems." Ditto for zinc. "Too much zinc can depress your immune

Read More »

Sunday, April 22, is Earth Day. The holiday wasn't initiated by stereotypical environmentalists; it was actually founded by a prominent Wisconsin politician named Gaylord Nelson.

[Related: Deals for Earth Day 2012]

Nelson, who passed away in 2005 at age 89, served as the governor of Wisconsin and, later, a three-term senator. Back in 1969, with the United States embroiled in the Vietnam War, Sen. Nelson witnessed the effects of a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. He left determined to help.

His goal, says EarthDay.org, was to harness the growing power of the antiwar movement and to "infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution." Sen. Nelson, a Democrat, didn't make it a partisan issue, recruiting Rep. Pete McClosksy, a Republican, to serve as his co-chair.

[Related: Seven green cleaners that really work]

The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, featured rallies and teach-ins across the United States.

Read More »

Ten-year anniversary of FDA approval of Botox. (Thinkstock)Ten years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Botox to treat frown lines between eyebrows. But by the time the FDA gave Botox its blessing, the injectable treatment had been around, in one form or another, for decades.

"Botox" has become shorthand for explaining why the foreheads of certain Hollywood stars never move, but the treatment's origin can be traced all the way back to the 1820s. That's when German doctor Justinus Kerner identified a toxin in spoiled sausages that would come to be known as (drumroll, please) "botulism."

Kerner speculated that small doses of the toxin might be helpful in treating nerve disorders. To test his theory he even injected it into himself. Dedication, thy name is Kerner.

Of course, that was just the discovery. It took a lot longer for Botox (in one form or another) to hit the mainstream. It began to hit the big time in the 1960s, when a San Francisco Bay Area eye doctor named Alan Scott injected a related toxin

Read More »

For decades, ketchup has been the undisputed king of condiments. People put it on burgers, fries, eggs, hot dogs, and even pasta. But now, a new (and thicker) challenger has emerged: Ranch dressing wants a shot at the title.

Hidden Valley released a new, thicker ranch dressing, calling it "the new ketchup." In fact, it says, "The New Ketchup" right on the bottle. And speaking of the bottle, it looks a lot like a traditional ketchup bottle. Get the message? Hidden Valley sees an opportunity in convincing shoppers that ranch isn't just for salads and veggies.

[Related: 10 condiments for your pantry]

A buzzy article from the Wall Street Journal explains how the product came to pass. An executive at Hidden Valley got the idea for thicker ranch dressing when he saw his daughter slather the dressing on her piece of salmon. From such family dinners are new condiments born.

What is apparently different about this version of ranch is its consistency. The makers wanted to make

Read More »

Talk show host Phil Donahue, right, interviews Wanda Webb Holloway, left, and her daughter Shanna Harper Friday, Sept. 20, 1991 in New York on NBC’s “Donahue.” (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler) In 1991, Wanda Holloway, the mother of a 13-year-old aspiring Texas cheerleader, was arrested for plotting to murder the mother of a rival cheerleader. Holloway had hoped that when her daughter's rival suffered the loss of her mother, she would leave the squad, clearing a space for Holloway's daughter, Shanna.

Fortunately, her plan didn't work. The hit man Wanda attempted to hire recorded her propositions and turned them over to the police. Wanda was arrested, and the bizarre nature of the plot and twisted logic behind it turned both her and her daughter into media sensations.

While nobody was physically hurt, the emotional toll on daughter Shanna was severe. She hadn't spoken publicly about the scandal until recently, when she sat down with People magazine. Now 34, Shanna told the magazine that she never actually wanted to be a cheerleader. It was her mother who drove her to become one. The U.K.'s Daily Mail summarizes the People story.

Her mom's overbearing nature and

Read More »

In future years, when he's all grown up, we hope "little" Chun Chun remembers to be extra nice to his mother on her birthday, and Mother's Day, and, well, pretty much every day of the year. Weighing in at 15.5 pounds, the boy may be the heaviest baby in the country's history.

Iowa woman gives birth to 13 pound baby

Chun Chun's mother, 29-year-old Wang Yujuan, remarked that had she sensed something was going to be a little different about Chun Chun, who arrived via cesarean section in China's Henan Province, even before he was born.

"I clearly felt that my body was more clumsy than when I had been pregnant with my daughter. My belly was bigger than it was then," Wang remarked to reporters. "I guessed the baby would be between 10 and 11 pounds. I never expected to hear that he weighs 15.5 pounds." The daughter, now 6, weighed a not insignificant 8.8 pounds at birth.

Celebrity baby bumps

Chun Chun's father told the Sun that he is thrilled to have a dragon baby,

Read More »

An estimated 45,000 people participate in the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure in Little Rock, Ark. (AP/Brian Chilson)The recent announcement that the Susan G. Komen Foundation, best known for its "Race for the Cure" events, will no longer support Planned Parenthood and the group's reversal today lit a firestorm on the Web. Many curious Web searchers sought more information on the woman behind the foundation. Who was Susan B. Komen?

Komen died in 1980 at the age of 36 after a brave battle with breast cancer. Thirty-plus years ago, breast cancer, considered a taboo topic, wasn't often discussed. Similarly, screening and treatment options weren't what they are today. Komen's sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker, promised Susan that she would do what she could to help raise breast cancer awareness.

The two sisters grew up in Peoria, Illinois. Their father was a real estate developer and their mother, Eleanor, taught the girls to help those in need. "When Brinker was 6 and Komen was 9, they organized a variety show to raise funds in the battle against polio. 'We had little friends who had polio, and it

Read More »