TV crews reporting on the political candidates and Republican straw poll at Iowa's state fair introduced the country to the boldest frontier in fattening cuisine: deep-fried butter on a stick. In case you haven't been keeping on top of your deep-fried confections, Gawker has an enlightening video from an Iowan TV station.
It's also worth noting that the Center for Science in the Public Interest released its annual Xtreme eating awards. The awards are given to restaurants with the most insanely unhealthy menu items (this year's winners include a 2,010 calorie Cold Stone milkshake and an Applebee's pasta dish with 3,700 milligrams of sodium). I actually ate some of the Red Velvet Cake Cheescake from the Cheesecake Factory, and I can verify that the frosting really is pure cream cheese.
It's hard to stay motivated to read my textbooks on keeping people healthy when I can picture my nemeses, including KFC's culinary team, dreaming up the newest ways to jam salt and saturated fat onto their customers' trays. Is the war already lost?
