Quick Tips

If you’re feeling really hungry, you may not even notice the loose, white powder strewn among the noodles in your single serving cup of Kraft Triple Cheese Macaroni & Cheese.

Kraft doesn’t promise “natural ingredients,” and with a nuclear orange cheese powder that comes ready to stir from an aluminum packet, it’d be foolish to think “natural” is what you’re getting. Ahem:

But even before you stir in that iconic cheese powder, your uncooked noodles are already dressed with a bit of powder.

You can probably mix up a bowl of instant mac and cheese with your eyes closed, which means you rarely read the label. Upon closer inspection you’ll see this little note:

So, what exactly is this mystery macaroni dust? The Huffington Post reached out to the Kraft Foods Consumer Center, where a representative identified the stuff simply as “modified food starch.” According to the representative, the starch is added to prevent the product from boiling over in the microwave. Starch thickens water, which keeps it from boiling so violently.

It’s good to know that this little addition to the noodle bowl is keeping microwaves from becoming a mess; chances are, if you’re eating a portable bowl of something promoted as “cheesy made easy,” you’re not planning to spend a lot of time on clean up.

Modified starch is pretty common. It’s used in other foods, like desserts and frozen goods, as a thickening agent. Still, if you’re turned off by the loose powder and want to be in control of what tops your noodles, we welcome you to try any one of these homemade recipes. Happy cheesin’.

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Guests come in all shapes and sizes — and with all sorts of appetites. Sure, everyone loves cheeseburgers, but if you really want to be that perfect host, you’re going to have to dig deeper in your recipe book.

We partnered up with Sargento to cook up a bunch of burger ideas that will appeal to every kind of visitor.

For the Guest Who Wants to Spice Things Up

Double Cheese Jalapeño Burger
If your guest loves the heat, oblige them with this fiery little number. The sautéed jalapeño and sharp cheddar will ignite their taste buds, while the Muenster and beer-and-brown-sugar marinade will cool ’em off.

For the Guest Who Loves Vegetables:

BBQ Cheddar Veggie Burger
This barbecue-and-cheddar-and-pepper masterpiece is so fresh, so juicy, SO delicious, you don’t even need to be a vegetarian to enjoy it. Satisfy your veggie-guests, and surprise your meat-eating friends.

For the Guest With Continental Flair:

Open Faced Chicken Burger with Horseradish Mayonnaise
Even your least sophisticated visitor will shout “s’il vous plait!” for this gourmet burger. With a juicy chicken patty, a slice of cheddar-Jack, and a salad of arugula, we recommend it with a glass of red wine. (Then again, we recommend everything with a glass of red wine.)

For the Guest Who Really Wanted to Go to the Beach, But Ended Up Staying With You Instead:

The Island Jerk Burger with Habanero Lime Coleslaw
So his three-week “surf-and-yoga experience” in St. Bart’s fell apart at the last minute, and it’s up to you to keep the entire vacation from being a wash. Enter the Carib-burger. The jerk seasoning, spicy habanero, and smokey chipotle cheddar brings the summer heat, while the lime coleslaw splashes their taste buds with a citrus cool.

For the Guest Clinging To A Diet:

Mini Wisconsin Cheddar Burgers
You’re hosting the rare, courageous individual who actually sticks to a diet (!) for an entire summer. Don’t panic. Fire up these delicious, albeit calorie-conscious, cheddar sliders. Note: you can still eat as many as you want.

For the Jet-lagged Guest That Desperately Needs Some Coffee:

The Espresso Barbecue Burger
Even the exhausted guest who appears to have melted into your couch will perk up when she catches a whiff of this coffee-rubbed, barbecue-drizzled, Colby-Jack-cheese-smothered kickstarter on the grill. It’s their vacation, for Pete’s sake, so get ‘er going.

For the Guest That *Just* Had a Burger Last Night

The Asian Salmon Burger With Green Onion and Soy Mayonnaise
You were about to fire up the range when you get the bad news. Your guest is burgered out. Luckily, you are a resourceful host: you know that this light and delicious salmon, soy, and provolone revamp will overcome even the strongest burger fatigue.

For the Guest From Foreign Lands in America for the First Time:

The Ultimate Cheeseburger
You’ve taken your foreign friend to the county fair, the bowling alley, the shopping mall, the National Mall, the Grand Canyon, West Hollywood and West Virginia, but he doesn’t know what it means to be a real American. Introduce him to this — the ultimate All-American experience of juicy beef, crunchy bacon, warm buns, and four melty cheeses.

For the Guest Who Also Happens to Be Chuck Norris:

The Texas Range Cheeseburger
We’re not sure why Chuck Norris is staying at your house (except that he stays where he wants), but we know your burger better not disappoint him. Give a Texas Ranger the Texas Range Burger — a direct, bold combination of beef, bacon and cheddar perfect for a man who fights crime with karate chops.

For the Guests Who Have Been Living On Ramen All Semester

The Filling Station Cheeseburger
You let them go off to college for a few years, and when you get them back they’re just skin and bones. For those with especially hungry guests, or for those moms who suspect their children are eating “rabbit food,” fill up with a tasty mountain of beef so big it has its own ecosystem of bacon, onion, egg and melted cheese.

For the Guest That is Leaving Very Soon — and We Mean Immediately After They Eat This

The Cheddar and Garlic Stuffed Hamburger
The trip is almost over, but you want to send them off with one last burst of flavor. Bust out the garlic burger. Packed with a core of garlic cloves and a flowing mantle of delicious Cheddar, this burger tastes so good your knees’ll quake. Just get them out before the garlic breath stinks up the joint.

For the Guest Feeling a Little Homesick

Italian-Style Cheeseburger
Hey, sometimes we all need a little pick-me-up on the road. This appetizing burger weds a hearty, tangy marinara sauce with a slathering of provolone. We could never replace your Mama’s spaghetti recipe … but we can get close.

For the Guest Who Never Takes Your Side in Any Argument, Despite You Being Objectively Right

The Grilled Swiss Turkey Burger with Sautéed Spinach and Mushroom
We understand you completely: The Annoyingly Neutral One does not deserve anything so delicious as this turkey, Swiss, and spinach wonder. But think about it: The subtle, scrumptious flavor of Switzerland’s national cheese will mock their inability to ever pick a side.

Pasteurized Process Cheese Food, sometimes known as American singles, is only required to contain 51% real cheese. Sargento slices are 100% real, natural cheese. Sargento slices come in delicious varieties of natural cheese, including Swiss, Chipotle Cheddar, ColbyJack, Gouda, Havarti, Sharp Cheddar, Muenster, Pepper Jack and Provolone.

For many people, a good cup of coffee is one of the great pleasures of life. But too much of the stuff can kill you, as explained in a new ASAPScience video that spotlights the curious and sometimes dangerous effects that caffeine has on the human brai…

It is a fact of life that eating beans makes you more… well… pungent.

But have you ever stopped to think about why? Men’s Health created a video explaining what exactly is happening in the body when we eat beans — and why it often leads to some unpleasant bodily functions.

And while embarrassing, keep in mind that passing gas is perfectly natural — in fact, we do it about 20 times a day, on average. (But still, if you’re trying to avoid excess gas, check out these foods that could help.)

It’s no secret that London is having a bit of a moment with coffee. In the last ten years, espresso pop up shops, coffee trolleys, and artisanal pour overs have proliferated across central London and into the furthest reaches of the city — meaning (thankfully) that an excellent cup of coffee is never more than a few streets away. An abundance of choice means a difficulty of decision, though, so we’ve honed down London’s many coffee offerings to just five of our favorite spots. Phew!

1. Nude Espresso

Nude Espresso is the little coffee shop that could. Beginning as a tiny cafe off of legendary Brick Lane, it quickly expanded to include a roastery, a second location on Soho Square, and a legion of dedicated and culturally influential fans. (They now supply upwards of sixty restaurants throughout the central London area.) The quality of the espresso is thanks to both the relentlessly trained baristas and the highly curated, perfectly roasted selection of beans — Nude purchases them in microlots from local farmers around the globe.

2. Taylor St Baristas

Say what you will about the Aussies, they definitely know how to brew a good cup of coffee. Founded by three Australian-born siblings during “a bleak London winter” in 2006, Taylor St derives it’s charm from a veritable army of highly-trained, relentlessly charming baristas — but the quality that keeps people coming back is all in the bean. Of the nearly 3 billion pounds of coffee produced globally each year, Taylor St selectively chooses only the top 3%. It also has to be said that Taylor St was one of the first coffee shops to signal the new London coffee boom, opening the door for a landslide of hand-poured, artisanally crafted brews. Meanwhile, make sure not to miss their pop up shop in Tower 42. (It’s only around until the end of summer.)

3. Prufrock Cafe

The London coffee scene may be relatively new, but Prufrock is already a legend. Not only do they offer one of the city’s most spectacular cappucino, they also do events, special coffee tastings, barista training sessions, and a full library of coffee-related books to browse through. Prufrock also boasts a serious pedigree — it was founded by the 2009 World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies, and employs a full roster of award-winning brewers from across the globe. Come in for the espresso, but stay for the good people, homey vibes, and no frills menu. Don’t miss their original coffee trolley — it’s still parked in boutique menswear store Present.

4. Monmouth Coffee

Good luck sourcing yourself a cup of Monmouth on a Saturday at Borough Market. This wildly popular spot is regularly adorned with a line out the door, although the espresso is decidedly worth the wait. For those up to the challenge, the central, communal wooden table is a great place to settle and enjoy the bustling market vibes (or just take in the aroma of freshly ground coffee). Monmouth sources all of its beans from single farms, estates, and cooperatives, meaning that your pour over is bound to have a flavor both complex and totally singular. Yum.

5. look mum no hands!

Even if the coffee wasn’t top notch, we’d probably still want to pop into this cheekily named coffee shop — run by a crew of bicycle enthusiasts whose good-natured, community-togetherness vibes are clear from the boisterously decorated walls all thew ay down to the warmly smiling baristas. In addition to coffee, they screen films, offer bike workshops, and generally have an all around fun time.

Every once in a while I find myself with too much ripe fruit–more than can be eaten before it goes bad. Like the other day… too many peaches! I know that almost seems impossible given my deep love for summer peaches. But maybe that’s why I buy too many when they are truly ripe and then can’t eat them all. Solution? Cobbler.

Many years ago, probably even before this blog was born, I experimented with different cobbler toppings. They were utter failures! All too soggy: The topping would sink into the fruit and become mush. A good cobbler topping has to be crunchy! I remember even cooking the topping separately. (What a whole lot of trouble that was!) So I’m not sure why this topping worked so perfectly and easily… except that it did. It didn’t sink into the fruit, and it tasted totally yum — hot and crunchy (although you have to be careful not to burn your tongue).

I have lots of visions of adding nuts, seeds, ginger, spices and other ingredients on future cobbler toppings, but as with a good pair of jeans or a perfect black dress, one has to get the basics right to put together something great.

So here is the perfect basic cobbler starter:

Quick and Yummy Basic Fruit Cobbler, This Time Peach!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer

• About 4 cups fruit–any fruit
• Lemon

Yummy Crunchy Topping

• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1¼ cups flour (I used white, but I’m sure whole wheat would work, too!)
• ¾ cup rolled oats (aka oatmeal)
• 1 stick butter (½ cup), melted
• A pinch or two of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 to 375 degrees.
2. Clean and cut the fruit (unless it’s berries, which you can leave whole). I left the peach skins on, too, myself.
3. Add the fruit to a casserole dish (you can put it all in one casserole or in individual little dishes if you want to impress your guests at a dinner party or something like that). No need to butter or oil the pan.
4. Toss the fruit with a bit of lemon juice. I used half a lemon, but you can use more (or even add some zest!). The lemon juice keeps the fruit from turning brown.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. Mix until all are coated in butter.
6. Sprinkle the topping mixture on top of the fruit mixture. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping smells delightful.

Serve à la mode with vanilla ice cream or any flavor you can imagine will taste yummy with your fruits. Add some whipped cream if you’re really feeling fabulous. Enjoy!

For more from Maria Rodale, visit www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com