Free Rice- Learn and Help -downside? May 5, 2008

This may be old news, but for those of you who don’t know, Free Rice is a vocabulary game where you give rice to the needy through the United Nations World Food Program.

For each word you get right, we donate 20 grains of rice go to help the needy. I played the game and it wasn’t bad. There is something rewarding in playing a game thats altruistic, but I wonder if it’s too good to be true. I recognize that there has been lots of good press on this, and rightly so , since its well deserved. But I can’t help wondering if there is another side to this. I’d like to know where the money is so to speak and where they are getting the rice. Somehow I feel there is a hidden downside to all this. I’m not saying its a scam… it just seems too kind.
Recently there’s been a rise in world food prices that is affecting everyone, especially the poor in third world countries. The price of rice has also been raised and it can be seen even in superstores in the Americas and Canada. I wonder what the rise in rice prices means for the Free Rice program.
Reading the FAQ is a great thing to do, because it is very to the point and understandable as well as seeming down to earth. Don’t get me wrong, the program seems indisputable legit and I’m not bashing the site.

It honestly seems like a great idea and a great service. I just wish I knew more about what was going on and other benefits.

Spiked watermelon recipes April 24, 2008

Since summer is on its way… well I’m sure she will get here soon enough… The winter storm watch warning doesn’t offer me much hope, but it was truly spring just a few days ago.

Regardless, I’ve found what appear to be some good recipes and instructions to spike watermelons. The idea seems to suited for summer I just had to include links to the respected sites:

as related to the picture above

and

just a few good ideas

I didn’t do any extensive research and a google search would give probably good or even better results. But since this blog is for convenience’s sake, this post should remind me of a fun summer treat. I can’t wait till the heat rolls in and I can do this at a party.

horned melons have perfect summer colors April 24, 2008

I really wanted to use the word perusing in this post, but I checked it in the dictionary first and alas, the word would have been misused in the context I had intended.

In any case, today I was shopping at our local supermarket minding my own business when suddenly I saw it. The “it” in question, was a spiky orange looking fruit of some sort. Turns out Its called a Horned melon, or any other variation of names. A kindly employee offered to cut it open for me to taste and so I agreed.

It was pretty fun to eat actually. Its filled wit these lime green jelly jewels which you have to suck out of the fruit. Wasn’t incredibly flavorful, but since they are new to the store (from Australia) the employee didn’t know how to tell when they were ripe. The fruit itself wasn’t very bitter like I was told, and I really enjoyed the taste.

Here are some pictures: