You may have seen it mentioned before, but if not I would like to introduce you to the Cruel Whimsy of Jenn. This is the place where most of the special projects come from, along with some of the better Bitter/Sweet posts, but the most prominent display of this is in the recipes.

Whenever I refer to “adjustments” or “substitutions,” that is usually the Cruel Whimsy of Jenn. My basic approach to cooking is to come up with an idea of what I want to make, then hunt down a couple recipes. I rarely find exactly what I am looking for, so I combine recipes or add my own ideas to them. Sometimes, I find the recipe first and make my own adaptations.

This is where the cruel part comes in: you never quite know what you are going to get. I might say I am going to make such-and-such, but halfway through it turns into this-and-that. Sometimes my additions or subtractions change the entire nature of the recipe, resulting in disaster.

Other times, however, making those little (or big) changes turns the dish into something brilliant. Great Northern Bean & Sausage Soup is a good example of a so-so recipe transformed into a superior meal.

The Cruel Whimsy of Jenn is also the thing that makes me roam like a bison at the grocery store or create a crusade for eggplant. It drives me to make another eggplant dish, in hopes of converting James to the ways of the eggplant. It pushes me to write about topics like the weight problems of local newspapers and the mischievous nature of advertising. It compels me create special projects like Frugal Nation, Econofest, and Soupified.

Cruel Whimsy sounds like a contradiction in terms, but really it is not so much cruel as in mean or spiteful, but that I will take a gamble with a recipe. Somestimes the gamble pays off and the recipe is great, and sometimes it does not and we have to order pizza instead.  The Cruel Whimsy of Jenn sounds Bitter, but from my perspective it is Sweet.

Sometimes, a dish is so simple that it is hard to call it a recipe. This is one of those dishes, using a container of goat cheese to create an easy but delicious sauce for pasta and asparagus. Look for goat cheese with roasted garlic and basil (or another combination if available). Plain goat cheese will also work, but add 2 teaspoons of grainy mustard for more flavor. Goat cheese will create a sauce similar to Alfredo, but without the fattening butter or cream.

Any variety of pasta will work in this dish, but my preference is a short, shaped pasta such as rotini. As the pasta boils in salted water, starch is released into the water. Reserved pasta water helps bind the sauce together (in a pinch, it can also help you stretch too little sauce without compromising flavor too much).

Pasta and Asparagus with Goat Cheese

1 box (1 lb) pasta
1 tbsp sea salt
1 lb asparagus, tough ends removed and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1 container (about 5 oz) goat cheese with basil and roasted garlic
Parmesan cheese, optional

Bring a large pot of water to a full, rolling boil. Add sea salt and pasta. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add asparagus. Cook an additional 5 minutes, until pasta is al dente and asparagus is tender. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of pasta water.

Add goat cheese to pasta and asparagus, stirring to melt. Add small amounts of reserved pasta water until sauce is at desired consistency. Top with Parmesan cheese just before serving, if desired.  

Frugal Breakdown:
1 box pasta: $0.88 
sea salt : negligible
1 lb asparagus: $2.86
1 container goat cheese: $4.79 
Parmesan cheese: $0.50
TOTAL: $9.03

Verdict: Success, though goat cheese is more expensive than a jar of Alfredosauce. Asparagus can also be an expensive produce item, depending on the time of year (in late spring, the price per pound can be as low as $0.99). Sales on pasta were a little higher this time around, $0.88 instead of $0.50 for a box, which is still not a bad deal.

If you have wondered how many bubbles are in a bottle of champaign, stop your wondering now! Clairol Herbal Essences recently designed their shampoo and conditioner bottles to include nifty little trivia questions, including this gem: 

Question: How many bubbles are in a bottle of champange?

Think about it for a moment…the answer is below.

This is the question on the bottle of “Hello Hydration!” conditioner. The answer is located on the corresponding “Hello Hydration!” shampoo (there is another trivia question on the shampoo bottle whose answer is on the conditioner, but that was not nearly as interesting to me). Unfortunately, if you do not buy the same type of shampoo and conditioner, you are stuck with mis-matched triva questions and answers.  

But the trivia question begs another question: is there an official champange bubble counter out there? And if so, what qualifications does one need to count champagne bubbles?

Drag your mouse over the blank space to see the answer:

Answer: 58 Million

My guess was embarassingly low (500,000), hopefully you did better. It’s a little more silly than Sweet, but there is nothing wrong with a bit of trivia to start the day!

The time to “Spring Forward” is upon us, along with that groan most of us mutter for losing an hour of time as the early morning plunges back into darkness. In Michigan, this change is particularly noticeable. Michigan is both one of the most western and northern points of Eastern Standard Time. Sunrise in Grand Rapids occurs significantly later then in New York City or Washington DC.  

In recent years, Congress has extended Daylight Saving Time to encompass early March through early November (in 2009, DST ends on November 1st). In conversation with co-workers, I mentioned a vague recollection that perhaps this was done for economic issues related to energy costs. No one could confirm or deny, so I decided to do a little research.

As it turns out, DST was intended as a frugal venture by design. By extending daylight hours in the afternoon and evening, energy costs are reduced. The original concept was that morning daylight was “wasted” and evening daylight provided more time for outdoor activities. This is the basis for increasing the number of weeks DST is observed.

A large number of lobbyists supported the extension of DST, however, representing sporting goods and merchandising associations, which benefit from extra daylight hours. People are more likely to shop and engage in outdoor sporting activities during the extra daylight hours.

Some initial studies conclude that DST may actually increase energy consumption due to extra afternoon cooling. Primary studies also show an increase in gasoline use.

Numerous studies also indicate that the time change can interrupt the body’s nature rhythm, including disrupting sleep-wake cycles, often with negative side effects. DST can produce both negative and positive effects on Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression. The stress from losing an hour of sleep can also cause an increase in other conditions, such as heart attacks.

DST has been presented as a means for reducing energy costs, but its origin and implementation appears to be ridden with political trappings. While decreasing energy consumption is certainly important, it appears DST also stimulates retail spending. The health implications are also concerning, especially considering the costs associated with mental and physical health care.

Here is an article from US News on 13 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Daylight Saving Time that outlines some of the implications of DST on health and public safety.

Have you ever read the ingredients on a tube of lip balm? If you haven’t, you may be intrigued to discover the words “Petroleum” or “Petrolatum” listed as one of the primary ingredients. And yes, this is derived from the same “petrol” you put in your car!

This was actually brought to my attention some time ago, causing me to promptly ditch my extensive lip balm collection and replace it with eco-friendly varieties that use beeswax, coconut oil, sunflower oil, lanolin, and even pomegranate oil to keep my pucker happy.

The folks over at Ideal Bite have issued a warning that “researchers have linked impurities in petrolatum (a common ingredient in many lip balms) to breast cancer.” Petrolatum is already listed as a probable human carcinogen, but it’s found in one out of 14 body-care products in the United States. Petrolatum can also be found in moisturizers, body waxes, and (of course) the household staple petroleum jelly.

The switch is fairly easy and painless. Non-petrol products have increased in popularity and are available at most local pharmacies and health & beauty care aisles. Burt’s Bees is one of my personal favorites, it is a little pricier than the average tube of lip balm, but peace of mind is worth a couple extra dollars (and no, unfortunately, I am not being paid to endorse their fine products…though I would not be philosophically opposed to doing so).

Petrol in your personal care products? That isn’t just Bitter, it’s downright dangerous!