National Crab Ranching in the Chesapeake, Hoping for Change April 27, 2006 • The Chesapeake Bay blue crab, a tasty and valuable crustacean, is in big trouble. Populations are down 80 percent. Desperate to reverse the trend, scientists are hoping to boost populations by hatching thousands of baby crabs and releasing them into the bay. Such ranching or "stock enhancement" programs have drawn criticism in the past. Skeptics say they raise false hopes and do little to boost wild populations. But the ranchers say they have improved their practices.
Kitchen Window How to Throw a Kentucky Derby Party April 26, 2006 • A Louisville native offers her friends a taste of Kentucky Derby excitement from her living room in Washington, D.C. She serves mint juleps and a version of Derby-Pie® worthy of Churchill Downs.
John T. Edge on Food Tamales, Another Treat from the Delta April 22, 2006 • How did "red hot tamales" get to be a staple of the Mississippi Delta? Southern Foodways Alliance director John T. Edge tells Debbie Elliott that it happened a century ago, when migrant Mexican farmworkers came to pick cotton side by side with African Americans in the deep South.
Brown and White Eggs, Unscrambled April 22, 2006 • Many listeners were disturbed by an April 15 interview that attempted to explain why some eggs are white and some are brown. Debbie Elliott conducted exhaustive follow-up research into the subject and shares her findings.
Kitchen Window Peas Offering: A Cool Soup in Spring Green April 19, 2006 • Many people equate pea soup with the heavy autumnal concoction. T. Susan Chang shares her recipe for a bright and fresh chilled pea soup that anticipates summer.
100 Years After the San Francisco Quake San Francisco's Great Quake, Recalled in Jello April 18, 2006 • Artists are commemorating the 1906 earthquake in a variety of ways, some traditional -- poetry, prose -- and some not-so, including a Jello model of the city by the bay.
National At the Old Cookbook Shop, a Taste for Nostalgia April 16, 2006 • Working from a Greenwich Village storefront, Bonnie Slotnick helps reconnect people with rare and out-of-print cookbooks... and their own childhood memories.
Tea for You and Me April 16, 2006 • As the British tea company Twinnings marks its 300th anniversary, American interest in the traditional English beverage of choice seems to be on the rise. Anyone for a cuppa?
White Eggs, Brown Eggs: What's the Difference? April 15, 2006 • Eggs hold symbolic significance for those marking both Easter and Passover. Marie Simmons, author of The Good Egg answers Debbie Elliott's simple question: What's the difference between white and brown eggs?
Science Examining the Effects of Strict Calorie Restriction April 14, 2006 • Studies in animals as diverse as mice, worms and fish show the lifespan of these animals can be extended on a strict diet. Can a very low-calorie diet help humans live longer?
Science Do Benefits of Seafood Outweigh the Risks? April 14, 2006 • A recent investigation by the Chicago Tribune found that local supermarkets sold seafood contaminated with unsafe levels of mercury. And the FDA recently warned pregnant women and children to curb their consumption of big fish -- such as tuna -- that contain high levels of mercury. How safe is the fish Americans consume?
Science Author Michael Pollan: 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' April 14, 2006 • In his new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, journalist and writer Michael Pollan argues that many Americans suffer from a national eating disorder based on super-sized, corn-fed diets.
Business Portland Moves from Specialty Beer to Vodka April 14, 2006 • The birthplace of microbreweries is now fermenting a new trend: micro distilleries. David Welch reports that boutique vodkas from Portland may be the next big thing.
Tourists and Tasters Take Up Wine in Chile April 13, 2006 • Chile is becoming a destination of choice for amateur wine enthusiasts. The size of the country's vineyards has doubled in the past 15 years. A California-like climate is ideal for making wine in Chile, which has a Pacific coastline stretching over 2,600 miles. In 2006, wine exports from Chile are expected to top $1 billion for the first time -- with most of it bound for the United States.
Diversions An Explosive Pair: Take a Mentos, and a Diet Coke... April 13, 2006 • What happens when you put a handful of Mentos candy into a bottle of diet soda? As many fans of Web video have found out, the results are pretty explosive. And there is actually a scientific explanation.