Blog Posts by Sarah Fuss, Shine Staff

Snake on a stick, white cod sperm, deep-fried river frog -- there are cultures that wouldn't bat one eyelash. Hard to picture that from over here in America, where backwash is enough reason to reject the last third of a Coke.

I had guinea pig in mole when I was in Peru. I like to bring this up at dinner parties. I have been lucky that Neil Setchfield has not been at one of these tables to put me in my place. He told AOL, "I've photographed nearly 200 bizarre foods, and I've tried almost every single one. I'd feel like a bit of a fraud if I didn't."

Neil's pictures from his travels around the world have recently been published by Merrell in the new book, Yuck! The Things People Eat. Take a look at some of his beautiful photographs of sickening foods, and as you browse remember that Neil has probably swallowed that...

What's the gnarliest food you've ever seen or eaten?

For anyone who's been showing off their smiley-face or heart-shaped pancakes, it's time to step up your game because jimspancakes.com has set the bar mighty high. "Just trying to make some cool pancakes for my daughter" is the tagline of his site, which chronicles the special breakfasts he makes for his extremely cute 3-year-old. How has Jim changed the game? First of all, he uses colored pancake batter. Second, as the art director of his own small ad agency he knows how to draw. Third, he works in three dimensions.

From the pictures we gather that Allie gets a kick out of her dad's edible antics, but he admits with some of the more intricate designs, like his crowning achievement, the Ferris wheel pancake, she may go in the other room to watch morning cartoons.

[Related: Sweet gallery: Husband creates food art for wife on bed rest]

Although the Ferris wheel looks like it necessitated graph paper and an X-Acto knife in addition to pancake batter, Jim says it's all about squeeze Read More »from Dad makes world's most incredible pancakes

Reuters: Mario Sepulveda, the second miner to be rescued"I am so happy that it happened to me because it was a time to make changes," said miner, Mario Sepulveda, in a video conference shortly after his rescue from the collapsed San Jose mine in Chile. After 69 days trapped a half-mile underground with 32 other workers, 40-year-old Sepulveda was pulled up to the surface of the earth in a state of gratitude.

Sepulveda spoke of two kinds of changes. First, "Changes must take place for workers," he said. "We cannot stay as we are, under no circumstances." The other kind of change he spoke of was personal. "I'm going to live a long long time to have a new beginning with my son, my dear wife who has not let go of me since I came to the surface, and my daughter...whom I love so much."

Upon his exit from the mine Sepulveda hugged his family and rescue workers. He then distributed rocks from the subterranean cavern to the workers and led the crowd in a cheer for Chile. From videos and messages sent through the small hole that rescuers

Many times while following a cookbook I have wished for a companion text, a decoder to tell me how to really steam this veg or whisk that sauce well. Sometimes the universe provides. This time in the form of Harold McGee's new book, Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Food and Recipes. It's like if Cliff's Notes had class and covered the kitchen.

Hell ya! Or as former Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine, Ruth Reichl, said, "How come nobody's done this before?" Well, Mr. McGee is the New York Times columnist of 'The Curious Cook' and he is a Time 100 most influential person. Ms. Reichl concludes, "the answer is obvious: Only Harold McGee could answer every cooking question you could possibly have."

We often skim how-to books for their most helpful moments, in 'Keys to Good Cooking' every page is a stocked fridge of helpful facts. This made it hard to pick out what to share, but here are a few hot tips:

SEASONING

"Always check the seasoning toward the end of cooking.

Pumpple Cake, Foodaphilia.comIn the world of cake vs. pie, there is a third group who doesn't get much play: those who love cake and pie equally. Careful not to favor one over the other, they have been alternating their dessert orders night after night for centuries. This post and the dessert therein is for them.

The Pumpple is much more than its name which is a fusion of the words 'pumpkin' and 'apple.' To find out how much more it is, I called the source, Flying Monkey bakery in Philadelphia. Employee Raina Beresniewicz answered the phone and explained that the Pumpple takes two days to make.

For me, making a pumpkin pie and an apple pie in the same day would probably be the greatest and final event in my baking career. For the Pumpple, it's just the beginning. The pumpkin pie is placed in chocolate cake batter and baked. The apple pie undergoes the same treatment, except in vanilla cake batter. Once these two hybrids come out of the oven, they are still not done. They are finally layered together with vanilla

"That's not even really a sandwich is it?" Jamie said when I asked about his thoughts on KFC's bread-free Double Down sandwich. Bobby admitted, "I want one so bad I can't stand it but I haven't had one yet."

Their different opinions on this fried-chicken invention seemed representative of the conflict going on inside many Americans: the craving for fast food crossed with the knowledge of how bad it is for us.

"It's all about balance," Bobby said. Jamie added that one of the aims of sandwich night, which is what we were on the phone to discuss, "is to combat exactly what KFC is doing. Can you imagine going so far as to take these two pieces of fried chicken with cheese and bacon, and saying just because it doesn't have any bread this is the great sandwich for you? That's just crazy."

Jamie and Bobby know about extreme sandwiches. As kids they ate sandwiches made with pineapple, banana, or tomatoes, and mayo. They explained that finances were tight then, and these were cheap but

Are farmers markets part of your weekly routine? I can't seem to get in the groove. Maybe I'm not enough of a planner. On occasion, fate (aka my morning coffee) brings us together. If the market near my coffee spot is open, I usually take several dreamy minutes with the romantic wares. Homemade honey, local figs, flowers, and cheese, and I think to myself, I need to be here more. Livability.com, a website that specializes in helping people decide where to live, has announced which American places they think have the best farmers markets. Maybe if I was living in one of these towns, I'd have the farmers market schedule programmed into my phone, and I'd be there with reusable bags in hand as the vendors set up. Maybe.

Santa Fe Farmers Market, Santa Fe, NM

City Market, Kansas City, MO

Chattanooga Market, Chattanooga, TN

Circle Square Commons Market, Ocala, FL

Portland Farmers Market, Portland, OR

Could "enjoy" be a dirty word? From Eater.com we learn that Michael Bauer, Chronicle restaurant critic, has agreed with the reader who wrote:

"I don't know who or where it started, or exactly when it became ubiquitous, but have you noticed that when your server delivers your food, he or she inevitably says, 'Enjoy?'"

They believe that the term is rudely commanding them to enjoy or that it's a trite, disconnected way to say something more humble, like "I hope you enjoy." Oy. Seems like they're going out of their way to be offended. We should be more forgiving of the people who serve us. And if we're going to complain, we should should talk about the really annoying stuff....

1. The special report: Waiters who say the specials fast and incomprehensibly. This necessitates an uncomfortable 15-minute follow-up session of Q&A. Neither of us wants this.

2. Dirty dishing: I know it's just for a second and it seems completely reasonable to the waiter in the moment, but don't rest another