New Devices, New Food Labels, and Other Food News

Food stories from around the Internet:

Food-Label Rules Finally Take Effect by Paul Rogers (Seattle Times): Finally, country of origin labeling (COOL) takes effect, after the government stalled it for years. Now you can check your packages to see if your beef was raised in Mexico or your peanuts were grown in Thailand.

The Steamy Way to Dinner by Julia Moskin (NY Times): Do I need another appliance? Perhaps I need another appliance. Do I need another appliance? Perhaps I need another appliance. (Bonus: The Times food section actually writes a piece about home cooking in which most of the people interviewed are not white.)

This Ice Cream Is Smokin' (Toronto Globe & Mail): Do I need a canister of liquid nitrogen? Perhaps I need a canister of liquid nitrogen. And some safety goggles. And a whisk.

Feeling the Pain by Sam Hurst (Gourmet.com): How the Wall Street meltdown is affecting the soybean harvest. Part of Gourmet's interesting series on farming -- if you have an afternoon, check out the first 13 installments.

Man Dies After Eating Chili Sauce (UK Guardian): Apparently, when they say, "Hey, kids, don't try this at home," sometimes they mean it.

Your bonus link for today. Warning: For a certain generation of music fan, watching this may leave you depressed for the rest of the day.

Speaking of rice-cooker recipes, here is the best cooking video of all time: