Surfing for Food

In honor of April Fool’s Day, Wired News has an interesting article about net hoaxes. One of them is a link to Proline Computers and West Peak Gear that purports to be the purveyor of Dehydrated Water — Revolutionary! Just add water and drink!.

I have no idea whether this is a hoax, but Richard L. Eldredge in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, reports:

On Page 154 of [Southern Living magazine’s April issue], the first line of the recipe reads: “Bring one cup of water and ½ cup shortening to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat; boil 5 minutes.”

It’s a safe bet that even Jessica Simpson could figure out that combining water, fat and high heat is not conducive to the continued well-being of your kitchen.

When the magazine began receiving complaints, it retested the recipe and rushed out a media advisory this week: “Combining the water and shortening as described in the recipe may cause the mixture to ignite, is extremely dangerous, and could result in fire and safety hazards.”