This is an interesting idea from a village pub in Norfolk. They are utilising produce grown in the local area by introducing a bartering system. Locals can barter something they have grown or killed for a beer or food in the pub. Some examples include taking a rabbit you have shot, some vegetables you have grown or eggs that your hens have laid. The idea helps to make the best of the available produce in the local area and allows the pub to feature fresh ingredients on its specials board. It make a lot more sense than sourcing items from suppliers who are miles away, although it must make it harder to plan a menu, never knowing what's going to arrive next.

An Australian scientist has said that eating kangaroo burgers could help cut greenhouse gas emissions. The scientist Dr George Wilson says that removing seven million cows and 36 million sheep by 2020 and replacing them with 175 million kangaroos could lower greenhouse gases by 3% a year. Currently sheep and cattle produce 11% pf Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions but kangaroos in comparison produce very little methane. Apparently kangaroos taste a little like venison. It sounds very interesting I wonder if you can get kangaroo in Sainsbury's?

A candy ship in Santa Cruz has started selling chocolate covered bacon. The bacon is sprinkled with sea salt and then covered in dark chocolate and according to this article is "a good combination of sweet and salty". I'm not convinced.

Sainsbury's will launch a new range of chickens that are kept in better conditions meaning that a third of its stock will no longer come from battery farms. It will also start phasing out chickens from battery farms completely so that all of its stock will meet RSPCA standards. Sainsbury's have said that sales of poultry reared in better surroundings were up 60 per cent since January so I wonder whether this move is simply in response to consumer demand for better quality chicken.

Unagi Nobori is a rather strange drink made from eels. It has been launched in Japan with the translation of the name meaning "surging eel". The drink is a yellow liquid which contains eel extract and vitamins that are found in the fish. It has been launched to coincide with the start of Japan's annual eel eating season which starts on the 5th of August. Its main ingredients include extracts from the head and bones of eels, and five vitamins – A, B1, B2, D and E.  Apparently it tastes similar to broiled eels, an acquired taste perhaps?

This article suggests that customers are more likely to buy something when the price ends in 99. It is based on a study where French researchers demonstrated how lowering the price of a pizza from 8.00 euros to 7.99 euros boosted sale by 15%. The team of researchers studied more than 1,200 customers in a pizzeria. The menu included five pizzas alongside other meat and fish dishes. In the first week of the experiment the pizzas were all priced at 8.00 euros. In the second week the Pizza Valencia was dropped to 7.99 euros with the others remaining at the original price and in the last week all the pizzas were reduced to 7.99 euros. When the prices were identical 35% of customers opted for the Pizza Valencia but this increased to nearly half of customers when the price was dropped. In the final stage of the test there was no difference in sales between the five pizzas. Researchers also found that the 99 effect appears to work when customers are choosing between similar items and often pay less attention to the end of the price.

If you have a bit of spare cash to spend then you might be able to afford a box of £5,000 chocolates from Harrods. The chocolates are made by the Lebanese chocolatier Patchi. The box itself is made from the finest materials, wrapped with leather and handmade silk. It contains 49 individually wrapped chocolates which sit on suede separated by gold and platinum lining. The chocolates are made from organically grown cocoa and decorated with gold and a Swarowski crystal flower or a hand made silk rose. A little too expensive for me, I'm afraid.

With costs of conventional fertiliser rising, farmers are turning to a new way to fertilise their crops. Many have now started using human waste in the form of treated human sewage. Water companies are no longer allowed to dump this into the sea but appear to have a ready market in supplying farmers. In fact Severn Trent Water have said they are struggling to keep up with demand. Human fertiliser costs farmers around a fifth of the price of the more expensive alternative but does have the disadvantage of being more smelly. However, farmer Jonathan Barrett says the smell can be reduced once it is incorporated into the soil and turned regularly. He also said it is best to take into account the wind direction when using it. Human sewage is currently allowed to be used on grassland and crops but not on salads, fruit and root crops.

KFC is often jokingly referred to as "Can't find the Chicken" well in this case the name could be justified. KFC Canada has introduced a vegan alternative that contains no chicken. Known as unchicken it is soy based and it is completely meat free. It is currently only available in a handful of outlets but it will be interesting to see if it becomes more widespread.

Sometimes I come across something really strange, well how about bacon chocolate chip cookies? I found the recipe on this blog and they look truly awful (this is no reflection on the authors cooking or pictures, rather the bacon and chocolate combination itself). I'm not sure whether I am brave enough to try the recipe myself but apparently they are delicious.

I read this article that suggests eating a large breakfast can help you lose weight. It is based on research carried out on a group of women. Over several months the women who ate half their daily intake of calories in the morning lost more weight than those who ate a smaller amount. The bigger breakfast apparently helps because it makes you feel fuller during the day, meaning you are less likely to snack.

We found a recipe for strawberry souffle and thought we would give it a go. Unfortunately we must have done something wrong because although the end result tasted quite good, our souffles failed to rise. Below is the recipe we used.

Ingredients
Souffle aux Fraises
Strawberry souffle
to serve 6
450g of strawberries
350g if frozen
3 eggs size 2 separated
1 extra egg white
200g of caster sugar
25g of cornflour
50g of double cream
1 dessertspoon strawberry liqueur or kirsch
juice of 1/4 of a lemon
18cm / 7 1/4 in diameter souffle dish
Strawberry Souffle

Heat the oven to 190c or 375f gas 5 hull the strawberries and blend to a puree.
If frozen thaw and drain first. Butter the souffle dish, beat the yolks and sugar together until white and frothy.
Add the cornflour, cream, liqueur and a few drops of lemon juice and beat until smooth.
Add the strawberry puree and mix well.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff peak and fold into the strawberry and egg yolk mixture very carefully.
Pour into the souffle dish about three quarters full.
Bake in the oven for 30 mins serve straight away.
You now have a strawberry souffle

The mixture before it went into the oven.

I and Rory checking the progress of the souffle.

The finished dessert, tasty but disappointingly flat.

We will try this again in a few weeks, perhaps with a different recipe. Watch this space for attempt number 2.

I often come across articles that make me think scientists have a little too much time on their hands. This is a good example. A group of scientists have been working really hard and have found the formula for the perfect sandwich. What a relief. It is based on algebraic variables and takes into account factors such as the thickness of the cheese and the bread and the amount of margarine that is used. You can give it a go here and can be sure you will never mess your sandwich up ever again. Thank you science.

In case you are wondering my perfect sandwich had the following dimensions.

White Bread : 10mm
Farmhouse Cheddar : 2.25 mm
Pickle : 3 mm (3 teaspoons, random chunk distribution)
Butter : 1 mm (average spread thickness)
White Bread : 10mm

The optimum thickness of Parkham Mature Cheddar for your sarnie strata selection is 2.25 mm.   

This article suggests that people are now so busy that they cannot find time to peel and orange. It looks at figures that show the consumption of oranges has fallen by 2% in the last twelve months. The figures from TNS are attributed to the fact that the average worker only has 15 minutes for lunch and so is choosing not to eat oranges because they take too long to peel. I'm not really sure how much true there is in this, personally I buy a lot of oranges but don't peel them, instead I like to juice them.

Asda are selling sausages that cost just 16p for eight, or 2p per sausage. The sausages contain just 34% pork with the rest made up of water, wheatflower, pork fat and pork rinds. Whilst the chef is this article didn't find them particularly appetising, with food prices rising and many families struggling to make ends meet, I'm sure there are plenty of people who will try them.

A New York restaurant is offering a burger that costs $175. At that price you would expect a little more than the average burger. For your money you get a burger made of Kobe beef, topped with gold flakes, black truffles, seared foie gras and aged Gryere Cheese. It is served with golden truffle mayonnaise, Belgian style fires and a mixed salad. It sounds tasty but a little pricey. Surprisingly the restaurant that makes them currently sells 20 to 25 of these every month in their fine dining room.

I read this article that suggests a kebab can contain as much as a wine glass full of cooking oil which amounts to around 111g of fat and 1,000 calories. Other fast food such a chicken korma or a medium pizza also had fairly high levels of both salt and fat. I find the article interesting not because it shows that fast food is bad for you, but because it implies that people still don't know that fast food is bad for you. We all know that a kebab is bad for you but that's why we don't eat them everyday and just indulge every now and again on the way home from the pub. mmm kebab.

I read this article that suggests fruit smoothies can lead to widespread tooth damage. Although fruit smoothies are supposed to have many health benefits, dentists have warned that these benefits are outweighed by the the damage that the drinks can cause to your teeth. The problem is that they contain high level of sugar and acid which can damage teeth. Dentists recommend brushing your teeth before drinking fruit juice because this can help protect teeth against the damaging effects of the acid contained in the juice.

If you are one of those people that has never got used to calling Opal Fruits Starburst then you will pleased to know that Opal Fruits are back for a limited time. The manufacturer will sell Opal Fruits for a period of three months before reverting back to calling them Starburst. The sweets will be available in the original four flavours, orange, lime, lemon and strawberry. They will be sold exclusively through Asda from the 11th of May for 12 weeks so get them while you can.

I don’t eat chocolate very often but when I do I like to have something a little bit special. My husband came home the other day with a selection from Hotel Chocolat. It is called a Peepster Box and contains four of what they call their mini slabs. The mini slabs are as the name suggests small slabs of individually wrapped chocolate. The pack I had included one each of Belgium chocolate, milk chocolate, honey milk chocolate and dark chocolate. I have sampled all of them and still can’t quite decide whether my favourite is the milk chocolate or the honey milk chocolate. Mmm chocolate.

I read this article that suggests some sandwich chains are selling sandwiches that contain more calories, salt and fat than you would find in a Big Mac. In some cases customers could be consuming two thirds of their daily salt and saturated fat intake, just by eating one sandwich. The National Consumer Council also found that many sandwich chains do not provide any information to show customers how much salt and fat their sandwich contains. A chicken sandwich from the sandwich chain Greggs for example contains 3.6 grams of salt which is two thirds of recommended maximum intake for an adult. In many cases the Big Mac and fries actually turns out to be healthier than a sandwich or a salad from one of the leading sandwich chains. Personally I never purchase sandwiches when I am out, mainly because I tend to be a little fussy. As some one who can’t stand mayonnaise or tomato, finding a sandwich that does not contain either of these ingredients is next to impossible, I do however quite like visiting Burger King.