I hope that nobody minds my tiny obsession with useless knowledge concerning statistics and facts about food and holidays. I happen to think that knowing a plethora of nonsensical information is an incredibly fun conversation starter, especially in awkward or uncomfortable moments. Although DearSugar may not approve, I'm all for avoiding horrid questions by quickly changing the subject. I mean how else do you deal when you're at your family's Easter brunch and your uncle asks you how your job is going and you were fired the week before? Well instead of bursting into tears or bashing your former employer say: hey did you know that 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year? Or that the world's largest jelly bean weighs over 6000 pounds?? I'm telling you read through my Easter fun facts and you'll have something interesting to say when you are at a loss for words. To find out what part of a chocolate bunny gets eaten first and just how many marshmallow Peeps get consumed each year read more

There's a restaurant here in San Francisco, Ananda Fuara, which was established as a Sri Chinmoy enterprise (translation: it would be an understatement to say that it's got a big-time new age spiritual vibe going on). To go along with its new-ageyness, the menu is completely vegetarian, with nearly half of it being vegan. I went there once with my friend Cindy and ordered the "neatloaf," a vegetarian meatloaf substitute. I wasn't sure what they put in it, but I really craved it for months. At the time, I didn't live in San Francisco, which meant I couldn't exactly pop over during lunch. So I did the next best thing, I hunted around on the internet until I found the neatloaf recipe (or at least one that claims to be it). It came out pretty fantastic, I took it to a potluck and the vegetarians there gave it a thumbs up - in fact the meat eaters did too. So if you're looking for a filling & hearty vegetarian option for tonight's dinner feast, I suggest you give this "neatloaf" a try (really, some how it is amazingly tasty). And if you're a vegetarian who misses real meatloaf, I have no idea what you're waiting for. For the recipe, read more