Texas Governor Rick Perry has asked the FDA to waive a mandate that requires gasoline processors to mix ethanol into fuel. The corn used to make that ethanol, he says, could be better used to feed livestock. "When you find yourself in a hole, you have to quit digging," he said.... More

"Oh my god, yes," is one of the first things I think of when I see grilled corn. (Other thoughts include, "Get in my belly," and drool.) Serious eater unarata contributed a photo of her homemade Cuban grilled corn with queso fresco to the Serious Eats Flickr Pool. In response, my stomach is a-growlin', just in time for dinner. Check out the recipe at her blog, Una Rata En La Cocina. Related Dinner Tonight: Grilled Corn (Red Hook Ball Field Style) What do you do with fresh corn? Fresh Corn on the Cob: Your Favorite Preps and Recipes?... More

You can finally get some sleep tonight. Someone figured out how those popcorn kernels were mysteriously popping without a nearby microwave. Oh wait, there was a microwave involved! The magnetron, or the power-generator inside the machine, was hiding underneath the table. According to the video's step-by-step instructions, the process seems fairly simple: just dismember the microwave, connect a few extension cords and hook up that magnetron. BUT WE DO NOT ENDORSE TRYING THIS AT HOME. Watch the video after the jump.... More

Those videos of cellphones popping popcorn? Turns out it was a viral marketing scheme for bluetooth headsets made by the company Cardo Systems. Their website (pictured below) runs the slogan "Making popcorn with a cellphone only happens in the movies," and a disclaimer that reads "The contents of these videos are fictitious and humorous optical illusions..." Indeed. The Cardo website. Previously: Videos of cellphones popping popcorn Popcorn videos debunked Good Morning America tries to pop popcorn with cellphones, and failed.... More

Have you seen the cellphones popping popcorn kernel videos? They've been viewed more than a million times since they were uploaded last week. If not, here's a summary of the captivating 45 seconds: three friends encircle several popcorn kernels with their cells, the phones receive calls and the kernels do their popcorn thing, popping away. Lest you get overly excited, Wired bursts your bubble and debunks it. University of Virginia physics professor and How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary author Louis Bloomfield told Wired that the trick is a physical impossibility.... More

No microwaves or ovens nearby? Videos coming out of France, Japan, and the USA show a feature most cell phone manufacturers are not likely to promote: when they ring, cell phones pop popcorn kernels. And we put these things next to our heads? Is this a hoax? Update: The videos have been debunked! Update #2: Good Morning America tried to pop popcorn with cellphones, and failed. Videos after the jump.... More

Photograph by Jennie of Straight From the Farm Straight From the Farm is a blog about cooking straight from the farm, in this case the Weaver's Way Co-op Farm outside of Philadelphia, and a new addition to my regular food blog reads. I found this photo accompanying a post on how to dry corn. A couple other recent posts I've enjoyed: how to dry tomatoes and carrot "fries".... More

On a recent trip to a local Sur La Table, I discovered the Oxo Good Grips Corn Stripper, which is neither an exotic dancer from Iowa nor a tool used for foot care. Rather, it is, of course, a gadget devoted to cutting corn kernels from corn cobs. I was hesitant to dive in. First of all, historically, I have not been an advocate of Good Grips products, with their bulky, awkward knobs and handles, pandering to kitchen neophytes who are threatened either by kitchen tools in general or by the imagined fatigue, calluses, and finger dents that the occasional use of kitchen tools might cause. Secondly, I have a kitchen full of gadgets that never get used—crank-action apple peelers,... More

Knee high by the Fourth of July, they say. But how does the rest of that corn mnemonic go? Is there more? I don't know. All I need to know is that corn, sweet corn, is in season and on my mind, so this photo caught my eye in the Serious Eats photo pool. It was taken by the Homesick Texan, who provides the recipe on her site.... More