pileofcrapola

Admitting it when you're wrong is always uncomfortable. Knowing when you're wrong in the first place is tricky enough, and then there's making the right apology . But how you handle your admission can make a big difference.

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How do you motivate a child to do homework, practice the violin, or any other activity they deem uninteresting? The secret may be to reward them—surprisingly, with neat information.

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If you use Gmail's tabbed interface and have the Promotions tab enabled, that tab could get a little prettier in the near future. Gmail is currently field-testing a thumbnail view of the Promotions tab and you can sign up to try it out.

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Anyone who wants to be successful needs to learn how to present. It doesn't matter if you're sharing information online using software like join.me or if you're speaking to a large crowd — you should always feel confident and prepared. Of course, that's easier said than done. If you were captain of the debate team you may have been born ready, but if you were the math nerd who never presented in class, you probably need some practice. Below are some frequently asked questions I regularly answer as a professional speaker.

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Most of us probably poach our eggs in water (or even the microwave ), but here's a different technique that results in a more unusual, luscious egg. Poach the egg in olive oil and it's like you're making a fried egg, but with a creamy poached yolk in the center.

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By now, most of us know that our packages are not always handled with loving care, getting tossed around warehouses, onto trucks, onto planes, and back onto trucks, etc. But could USPS drivers please at least keep up the thin, delusional veil that they take even the slightest care when it comes to actually delivering a package to the customer’s door?

At the very least, please don’t hurl the box out of your van and onto the recipient’s driveway like you’re delivering the morning paper.

That’s exactly what has been happening to the person who has repeatedly caught his local USPS driver bowling his packages up his driveway with total disregard to the contents.

In the latest video, which is getting some attention on Reddit today, the customer says the package being tossed carelessly to the ground by the driver contained a hard drive.

“This time, the box is fine, but have a few minor dings in my garage door because of this,” he writes. “I’m having trouble formatting the external hard drive which was in that box, so who knows. I need to do some more testing before claiming it’s DOA, hopefully it’s just user error somehow.”

According to the customer, it had been shipped via FedEx SmartPost, which as regular Consumerist readers know, combines the absolute worst aspects of FedEx and the USPS.

He says he has no problem shipping things through USPS, but that the local delivery service has repeatedly mistreated packages.

Here are two previous videos of the same driver lobbing boxes against the customer’s garage door:

I don’t know if I believe in ghosts, never having seen* one myself, but I do know who to call if one’s around. And because the Ghostbusters only exist in fiction, sadly, a store in New Hampshire that caught a strange incident on surveillance video had to go the second-best route and call the ghost hunters.

While there are likely many out there scoffing at such a story, the country store has released the footage showing what must be a very strong gust of wind or maybe a tiny earthquake.

But of course a ghost is the explanation most are latching on to for how a glass dish can suddenly fling itself off a counter and crash to the floor in such spectacular fashion.

In the video, via WMUR News, a store employee is seen walking out of the room, which has no one else in it once she leaves. A few minutes later, the glass top to a cake display takes to the air.

“I heard this big bang,” the employee tells the news station. “I walked around and looked, and it was on the floor. It took several minutes to set in, [it's] still freaking me out.”

The store’s owner says the place has had haunting reports before, where people have said they’ve felt their shoulders being pulled or other unexplained incidents.

We’ll have to wait and see what the ghost hunters scare up (pun totally intended) but hey, what’s more quaint than a country store? A country store with a resident ghost who gets angry when there’s no cake in the display. I’d name him Hank and always leave out plenty of treats for him.

*I’ve never seen a ghost but I swear one smacked me on the top of the head once.

Ghost hunters to investigate Gilford store surveillance video [WMUR News]

Since 2011, we’ve followed the proliferation of tiny Walmarts across America (well, mostly Arkansas) as they fan out and threaten to take over our retailscape like the splinters that grew into enchanted brooms in the “Sorceror’s Apprentice” section of Disney’s “Fantasia.” In the chain’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, they’re experimenting with yet another new store format: the “Walmart To Go” convenience store, complete with gas pumps and a deli counter.

“Walmart To Go” is already a thing, and that name meant something else the last time we checked. That’s the company’s name for its online grocery ordering and delivery service, currently being tested in a few markets. Admittedly, it makes more sense for a gas station format, but the matching names indicate that one of these brands will never go national. Maybe neither ever will.

We couldn’t find information on how big the new store is, and whether it qualifies as the “World’s Smallest Walmart.” If it did, it would take the crown from the 3,500 square foot pharmacy-sized store in Fayetteville, AR.

The store had its grand opening last week, and it sounds like a pretty nice convenience store. It features a deli counter in partnership with a well-respected local business, we well as a Krispy Kreme stand and smoothies made from Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. On the retail/grocery side, you’ll find refrigerated and frozen food similar to what other convenience stores carry.

First Walmart to Go opens in Bentonville [KNWA] (via Liberty Voice)

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments today in a case that could have a far-reaching impact on businesses whose owners’ religious beliefs may run counter to the medical needs of their employees, as craft store chain Hobby Lobby and a Pennsylvania cabinet-making business each challenge the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that employers provide health insurance that includes coverage for contraception.

The law does provide exemptions for certain businesses owned by religious groups, but the personal religious beliefs of the owners of for-profit corporations are not a consideration, leading some owners to claim their statutory rights are being violated.

At the heart of the challengers’ argument is the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which states that “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except… if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”

According to the challengers in the case before the Supremes today, the Affordable Care Act requires them “to do precisely what their religion forbids them or face draconian consequences — including millions in fines, private lawsuits and government enforcement actions.”

However, the Obama administration counters that this legislation was meant to protect individuals and not the owners of corporations. Furthermore, contends the White House, the contraception mandate places no personal burden on business owners, as they are not the insurer and it is the employees’ choice as to whether they use that coverage. After all, just because one’s health insurance covers contraception, it does not require the insured to obtain or use contraception.

In the Hobby Lobby case, a federal appeals court agreed with the business owners, citing the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling in the Citizens United case, which found that corporations have the same political speech rights as individuals.

The second case, involving Pennsylvania-based Conestoga Wood Specialties, went the other way when it went before a federal appeals panel. In that case, the appeals court ruled that the business, owned by a Mennonite family, was obliged to obtain the coverage as set out in the Affordable Care Act. This appeals court also criticized the ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, saying that decision was made without any grounding in existing case law.

“Even if we were to disregard the lack of historical recognition of the right, we simply cannot understand how a for-profit, secular corporation — apart from its owners — can exercise religion,” wrote a judge in the Conestoga appeals court ruling.

The Supremes’ ruling on this matter will come later in the year.

At Supreme Court today: Health-law cases mix questions of religious freedom, worker rights [Washington Post]

What have you done lately that’s worthy of a national record? Nothing? That’s fine, it’s not like any of us mere mortals can feel accomplished when a 12-year-old girl beats us all by selling 18,107 boxes of cookies in a single year, nabbing the national record. That’s approximately 18,107 more boxes of anything than the rest of us have probably sold this year.

The sixth grader from Oklahoma who is way more accomplished than yours truly isn’t stopping with her impressive sales figures either, reports USA Today: She wants to up the ante by selling 20,000 boxes by the end of march, and more than 100,000 boxes over the length of her Girl Scout career.

“She’s such a go-getter. She works countless hours,” her mother said, adding that in previous years she held state records for cookie sales. This year it was on to bigger and better things.

As for how this miniature business maven scores the big sales, well, everyone likes cookies, right? So she just asks everyone she sees to buy a box.

“Cookie selling is a lot of fun and I really enjoy doing it,” she says. “I felt really happy that I could do anything because I accomplished such a huge goal.”

She also puts in a lot of hours at the office — err, cookie stand. She sells from the moment she gets out of school until 9:30 on weeknights and puts in 12-13 hours on the weekends. She hasn’t said whether or not she wears a kick-ass power suit but that is how I’d like to imagine it all going down.

Her biggest haul comes from Thin Mints, her mom says.

“They stand out by a pretty large percentage. Samoas are a definite second.”

The Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma are waiting until the end of cookie season on March 30 to address the girl’s claim and ostensibly give her the biggest, fanciest patch that exists.

Now back to hanging your head in shame that you’ll never have those kind of bragging rights.

Okla. Girl Scout claims national cookie-selling record [USA Today]

You can follow MBQ on Twitter for any and all insights that lie at the bottom of a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies: @marybethquirk

- A friend of one of the Boston marathon bombing suspects threatened an FBI agent and a Massachusetts state trooper with a long pole and was fatally shot by the agent just moments after he had agreed to give a statement about his involvement in a triple slaying, a Florida prosecutor said Tuesday.

- The San Diego Zoo says an infant gorilla that was successfully treated for pneumonia after a cesarean section delivery is in her mother's arms for the first time.

For more than 50 years the Surgeon General has warned consumers of the risks associated with smoking cigarettes. Since that time, many products introduced as alternatives. One of the most recent, and popular options is the use of e-cigarettes. But poison control officials say the reusable sticks contain enough nicotine to be bad for your health.

Manufacturers promote electronic cigarette as mimicking the sensation of smoking without exposing the user to the dangerous chemicals found in traditional cigarettes. But their main stimulant, liquid nicotine, could be just as dangerous to consumers, the New York Times reports.

Concerns about liquid nicotine go much farther than just affecting the person smoking. Poison control officials warn that even small amounts of the liquid pose a significant risk to the public if ingested or absorbed through the skin. Children, who may be drawn to refillable e-liquid’s bright color packaging and flavors, are at a higher risk of death from coming into contact with the toxin.

Most liquid nicotine levels in e-cigarettes range between 1.8% and 2.4%; enough to cause sickness in children and adults. Higher concentrations, 7.2% or more, which can be found through online retailers, could be lethal for children and adults.

Since 2011, there has been one death in the United States associated with liquid nicotine, the Times reports. In that case, an adult committed suicide by injecting the liquid.

“It’s not a matter of if a child will be seriously poisoned or killed,” says Lee Cantrell, director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System and a professor of pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco. “It’s a matter of when.”

In 2013, the number of accidental poisonings linked to liquid nicotine rose 300% from the previous year to 1,315 cases, many of which involved children. Minnesota reported 74 e-cigarette and nicotine poisoning cases last year, of those cases 29 involved children two and younger.

The number of accidental poisoning cases doesn’t look to be slowing down. In the first two months of this year, 23 of the 25 cases reported in Oklahoma involved children ages four and younger.

Officials say an increase in poisonings is a reflection of the more common use and the evolution of e-cigarettes in the United States. Because newer models can be refilled with a liquid combination of nicotine, flavoring and solvents, consumers may be at more risk of coming into direct contact with the toxins.

In the past, Consumerist has reported on issues with e-cigarettes, many of which have had more to do with the device itself than with liquid nicotine. The most common reports involved the products exploding while being used.

However, when an e-cigarette breaks users face the risk of shock and toxin poisoning. The Times reports a woman in Kentucky was admitted to the hospital with cardiac problems after her skin absorbed e-liquid when her e-cigarette broke.

Currently, there are no federal regulations protecting consumers from the products. However, many cities across the country have banned the products from being used in public places like parks and the subway.

Last October, 40 State Attorneys General agreed that e-cigarettes need to be regulated. The Food and Drug Administration plans to regulate the products but so far nothing has been announced. Additionally, it’s unknown how regulators would enforce rules with manufacturers outside the United States or operating online.

Some e-cigarette advocates say they would welcome regulations such as childproof bottles, warning labels and manufacturing standards.

Dr. Neal L. Benowitz, a professor at University of Southern California, tells the Times that manufacturing standards would likely include mandating proper precautions like wearing gloves while mixing e-liquids.

“There’s no risk to a barista no matter how much caffeine they spill on themselves,” Benowitz, who specializes in nicotine research, says. “Nicotine is different.”

Selling a Poison by the Barrel: Liquid Nicotine for E-Cigarettes [The New York Times]

Coffee makers, hand mixers, and treadmills, oh my! What do they all have in common? They're all products that our readers have questions about! A few weeks ago, we put a call out on Facebook for reader questions. Here's a selection, plus replies from our experts. In some instances, queries have been edited for length or clarity.

Question: Let's hear about coffee makers. What's the best one?

Answer: You don't have to spend a lot to buy a good coffee maker—though it's easy to do. In prior issues, we've mentioned our love for the Swarovski crystal-studded Cuisinart SCC-1000 Limited Edition Perfec Temp coffee maker, which brews an excellent cup of coffee. But at $200, that's more than some people care to spend. If you want to buy a new coffee maker without breaking the bank, the Cuisinart Perfec Temp DCC-2800 is mechanically similar to the SCC-100 and it's half the price. The Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT performs nearly as well in tests and cost even less, just $40.

Q: I always get confused about buying an extended warranty. I just recently bought a treadmill and I decided not to get the extra warranty. Hope I made the right decision.

A: Our surveys of treadmill owners suggest that an extended warranty probably isn't worth it. However, if you do feel the need to purchase one, look for a warranty that provides two to three years of coverage on major moving parts and a year on labor.

Q: I'm about to replace a 15-year-old dishwasher, but only plan to be in the home another 18 months or so. Recommendations? 

A: You can spend less than $300 for a cheap dishwasher at major retailers like Home Depot. But appliances add value to a home, and even if you're planning to move eventually, you'll be using that new dishwasher for several months before you do. One dishwasher that does well in tests is the Bosch Ascenta SHX3AR7[5]UC, which sells for about $650 and delivers top-notch performance for hundreds less than other models.

Q: Please tell us which hand mixer operates at a very low speed without splattering all over. (My Sunbeam is so ferocious it wrecks the sides of the stainless mixing bowl.)

A: A good hand mixer should have multiple speed settings, including at least one very low setting, because it's the slower speeds that prevent spattering. At about $40, the Cuisinart Power Advantage HM-50 is one of the better hand  mixers we've tested. It does an excellent job of mixing, while its beaters are easier than most to clean. The only drawback: It's noisier than other models we tested.

Q: I need a replacement for my bread maker, are there any articles about the best for my money?

A: Bread makers were red hot back in the late 1990s, but these days they're far less popular among consumers. We haven't tested bread machines recently, either. We recommend shopping by price, not brand; you can find decent models for about $50 or $60 that will turn out loaves of white or raising bread with no effort.

Q:  What is the best cookware to use on glass top stoves?

A: Look for two things. First, make sure your cookware has a flat bottom, not rounded, to maximize surface contact (most cookware has a flat bottom, so this shouldn't be a big deal). Second, if your smoothtop range has an induction cooktop, your best bet is magnetic stainless-steel cookware. If you can stick a magnet on your pans, then they're magnetic and will work.

Many stores offer rewards for frequent shoppers, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could earn rewards just browsing—not just buying—online? With the Perk Browser app and website, you can. We decided to try it out to see if the Perk app and browser are worth using or not.

What it is

Perk is free a mobile app (for both Android and Apple products); there’s also a desktop web browser. Points are earned by browsing and buying from more than 2,000 online retailers—including 1-800-Flowers, Best Buy, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Sports Authority—and can be redeemed for rewards such as gift cards and merchandise.

How it works

Creating a Perk profile is quick and easy, and you can log in with Facebook to make the process even faster.

Once you’ve downloaded Perk to your mobile device or desktop, start searching! Points are only accumulated if you visit the sites of Perk’s sponsors. In other words, reading your favorite blog (such as this one) or searching Google won’t get you any points.  

In addition to browsing, you can “check in” at vendor’s websites to earn more points, by clicking on the browser tool bar or using the app. Every few searches also earns you points as well. (Here’s a chart of how many points you can earn for browsing different retailers)

You can accumulate more points by buying from any of Perk’s vendors, though the number of points earned varies from retailer to retailer. For example, for every dollar you spend at Petsmart, you earn four Perk points. You can also opt to set up automated monthly donations of at least $18 to charities, such as to the ASPCA, that can earn you over a thousand Perk points.

Perk points can be redeemed for gift cards to stores such as American Eagle, Groupon, and IHOP.  Points also can be swapped for merchandise, such as a Nikon Coolpix L26 digital camera, Skull Candy headphones, or even a Kindle Fire.

My tryout

Just for downloading Perk, I earned 50 points; I earned another 50 points for logging in with my Facebook account. I did a quick search on the Perk browser and picked up another point, then checked in with an affiliated retailer and earned an additional point. Already, I was racking up all the points!

As I browsed the Perk website, I was impressed by the quantity and variety of retailers they had. Many of my favorite retailers were there, and I went to shopping right away. There were also special deals and coupons available exclusively on the Perk website. For example, if you ordered $50 or more from Kohl’s you got free shipping, and for every $50 you spent on furniture and décor at Target, you earned a $10 Target gift card.

There are two drawbacks, however. First, points earned from browsing and using Perk can be redeemed immediately. However, points earned by purchasing from a Perk vendor cannot be redeemed until 90 days post-purchase. Second, some of the rewards cost a lot of points. It’s a little over 500 Perk points for a $5 gift card (your choice as to where) and 220,00 points for that Kindle Fire.

Would you use Perk? If you do a lot of online buying and browsing already, Perk could be an easy way to earn some extra, well, perks for what you’re already doing. If you’re not a regular shopper, however, Perk may be less useful to you.

An IRS audit can be a nightmare. Thankfully, only a small percentage of tax returns are audited. Here's how to further reduce your chances of getting picked.

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Figuring out how to distinguish yourself in a crowded field and land a job is a lifelong career just by itself. If you're trying to figure out the types of traits that top-tier employers are looking for, you could always ask. Google, at least, seems happy to answer.

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A few weeks ago, Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai decided to start asking hotels if their phones offered direct access to 9-1-1, or if guests would have to dial “9″ first to get an outgoing line or are routed through the front desk first. The results are in, and Pai is not pleased.

Pai was prompted to send letters to major hotel chains across the country after a petition with more than 440,000 signatures demanded that all hotels offer direct access to emergency services when guests dial 9-1-1. The petition was in response to the murder of a woman at a Texas motel, when her daughter tried to get help but couldn’t reach 9-1-1 quickly, reports the Associated Press.

The results of a national survey done by the American hotel & Lodging Association — in coordination with Pai’s office — are in, and it’s a bit scary: Only 45% of franchised hotels and motels and 32% of independent hotels have direct 9-1-1 dialing.

To put that in perspective, Pai says that the “vast majority” of around 53,000 properties in the U.S. are operated by independent owners and franchisees, even those using a brand name.

“These statistics are alarming. They show that the telephone systems at tens of thousands of lodging properties across this country could fail Americans when it counts,” Pai said in a statement released by his office. “My message to the hospitality industry has been straightforward: This is not acceptable.”

Pai isn’t stopping with this survey either, saying he’s started to send out more surveys, this time to the vendors that provide multi-line telephone systems in hotels and workplaces to see if they could easily configure their products to allow easy access to 9-1-1.

FCC: Thousands of hotels don’t offer direct 911 [Associated Press]

While Apple is still fighting the court’s ruling that it was involved in e-book price-fixing with America’s largest book publishing companies, those publishers have all reached settlements with the various regulators, attorneys general, and others over the same allegations that they colluded to set an inflated price on e-books. Today, Amazon began issuing credit to its customers who paid too much because of the publishers’ actions.

In e-mails going out to customers, Amazon writes:

“Good news! You are entitled to a credit of $X.XX for some of your past Kindle book purchases. The credit results from legal settlements reached with publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Penguin in antitrust lawsuits filed by State Attorneys General and Class Plaintiffs about the price of eBooks.

You don’t have to do anything to claim your credit, we have already added your credit to your Amazon account. We will automatically apply your available credit to your next purchase of a Kindle book or print book sold by Amazon.com, regardless of publisher. The credit applied to your purchase will appear in your order summary. If your account does not reflect this credit, please contact Amazon’s customer service.

For more information about the settlements, please visit http://www.amazon.com/ebooksettlements

Your credit is valid for one year and will expire after 03/31/2015. If you have not used your credit, we will send you another email 90 days before it expires to remind you that it is still available.

Thanks for being a Kindle customer.”

For those coming into this story late, here are the basics. When e-books first launched, they were priced and sold in much the same way that traditional books are. Publishers sold them to online retailers at wholesale prices and these e-tailers could then determine whether to sell at the sticker price or offer discounts at their own discretion.

Then Apple, wanting to wrest some e-book market share from e-tail leader Amazon, convinced the publishers to switch to what’s known as the “agency model,” in which the publisher is the one determining the final retail price, with the e-tailer getting a fixed percentage of that amount. Thus, publishers could set e-book prices at a level that best benefited them and Apple benefited by taking away Amazon’s ability to offer deep discounts.

Unfortunately, publishers got greedy and set e-book prices at curiously high levels, meaning one could often buy a physical copy of the book — which requires paper, printing, binding, shipping, and storage — from Amazon for less than an e-book that only requires the transmission of a handful of kilobytes over the Internet.

Additionally, publishers often refused to offer bundled pricing for series of e-books. One of the most notable examples was the set of the first four books in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (on which the HBO series Game of Thrones is based). Consumers could snap up the slipcased paperback set of these four titles for about $15 on Amazon, but had to pay $36 if they wanted the e-books because the publisher demanded the full $9 price for each title.

As each of the publishers reached settlement deals, they agreed that consumers who paid too much for e-books — not just on Amazon, but from Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, Apple’s iTunes bookstore, and via Kobo — would receive some credit for overpayment.

According to New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, the total amount of refunds expected to be handed back to consumers is $166 million to people in 32 states.

“Illegal actions by these publishers forced consumers in New York and across the nation to pay artificially inflated prices for E-books,” said Schneiderman in a statement. “Companies engaging in such anticompetitive conduct will be punished—and starting today, those injured by their actions will start to receive full and fair compensation.”

You can find out more about the details of the lawsuits and the settlements here.

- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York police commissioner denounced the parachute jump off 1 World Trade Center last fall by three skydiving enthusiasts as a lawless act that put others in danger.

- Tens of thousands of hotels don't allow guests to directly reach emergency services when they dial 911, according to a national survey taken after a 9-year-old girl couldn't call for help while her mother was being stabbed to death in a Texas motel.

According to court proceedings detailed by The Washington Post -- 59-year-old Martha Rigsby has been a nuisance to city emergency services for more than 30 years and is responsible for thousands of calls to 911.

- A base spokeswoman says two people were killed in a shooting at Naval Station Norfolk.

As Winston Zeddemore might say, "Dude, if someone asks if you want a job, you say YES!"

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When shopping for fruits and veggies, it's natural to pick the ones that look the best and the freshest, but there might be a better way to judge produce. Redditor Jackytar suggests weight instead.

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With millions of tons of electronics being thrown away each year, buying refurbished items is a greener choice while also being great for your wallet. Short of finding a working 60" HDTV on the side of the road, buying refurbished is the best way we know to get absolute lowest prices on good-as-new electronics.

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No matter who you are, you've failed plenty of times in your life. Chances are, you're afraid of doing it again. Over at Fast Company, author Warren Berger outlines six questions to ask yourself to kill those fears.

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Prince William County community calendar, March 23-29, 2014 Washington Post Sunday, March 23. “Operation Urgent Fury: Invasion of Grenada,” an exhibit featuring photographs and artifacts chronicling the multinational invasion of the island of Grenada. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, National Museum of the Marine Corps, 18900 Jefferson ... and more »

Have you ever craved fries with chili and melted cheese, but been in such a hurry that you had no choice but to eat them while walking or driving? Yeah, us either. But Taco Bell’s Canadian outposts are prepared for exactly that situation with their Chili Cheese Fries Griller.

This new menu item is very simple: it’s the regular fries with chili and cheese that Taco Bell serves, wrapped up in a tortilla. Only…wait a minute. Since when does Taco Bell serve fries? We have Grillers here in the US, but they have “potato bites” in them, because they don’t have fries at Taco Bell.

They’re a standard menu item at Taco Bell in Canada, as it turns out: maybe fast food establishments there simply can’t survive without serving cheese- and fry-based side dishes. North of the border, they serve cheese-slathered fries and chili-and-cheese-slathered fries. This Griller is that item in a more portable form, we suppose. Don’t expect to see this item here in the United States: Taco Bell doesn’t have the fries sitting around to stuff inside it.

The second Loaded Griller is a little less carb-heavy: it’s called the Spicy Beef Nacho Griller, but contains no tortilla chips. Maybe the logic is that the exterior tortilla stands in for the chips that we associate with nachos. Inside, you find ground beef, cheese, and jalapenos. Like inside-out nachos, maybe. Here, we have crunchy red tortilla chip strips that fill in for the chips. Maybe. It’s not really the same.

Around the World: Taco Bell Canada’s New Chili Cheese Fries Griller Actually Has Fries [Brand Eating]
Taco Bell Canada [Official Site](via Brand eating)

I know what you’re thinking/scoffing — “How tough can making toast be?” It goes beyond just sticking any piece of bread in a toaster and slathering the product in butter, believe it or not. At least according to the man behind $4 toast at a San Francisco restaurant, who probably knows his stuff if he’s charging that much for toasted bread and getting away with it.

Bon Appetit spoke with the man behind The Mill, Josey Baker, who just so happens to have taken on the profession destined by his name. And despite the fact that anyone can stick a piece of bread in the toaster and call it a day, you could be getting so much more out of the entire process, Baker explains.

1. Your ingredients matter: Apparently someone out there is telling people to use older bread for toast. That’s just wrong, Baker says — you should use the fresh stuff for the best result.

“You want the bread to still have a lot of life in it,” he explains. “What we’re doing when we toast the bread is creating that crispy crust on the outside, but inside of the toast there’s still all of that moistness of it being fresh.”

2. The thicker the slice, the tastier it’ll be: Slicing homemade bread in thicker slices will bring it from snack status to full on meal proportions. That way, the thickness lets the surface get crispy while the inside stays soft and tender, baker says.

3. Jack up the heat: Crank that puppy up — and by puppy we mean toaster oven. The idea here being you want to get a nice crust, akin to a steak.

4. Eat it while it’s hot: Letting toast sit around with butter on it will turn it into a soggy mess, as time and toast will wait for no man. Gobble it down as soon as it’s ready.

Check out the source link below for more toast tips, or just keep toasting the same way you have been forever and miss out on the whole new world of bread the rest of us will be enjoying as part of the enlightened class of consumers.

Toast So Awesome You Can Charge $4 a Slice [Bon Appetit]

Follow MBQ on Twitter for any further toast ruminations you might be seeking: @marybethquirk