It’s the ultimate belt-tightening handbook: No meat? Push an eggplant through the grinder instead. Chew your food long enough for your stomach to feel full. And don’t forget to sweep crumbs off your table and into a jar.

These are some of the tips Greeks used to survive the Second World War occupation that have been collected in Starvation Recipes – a cookbook that has become a surprise hit as millions of Greeks struggle to make ends meet in a new era of hardship brought on by economic crisis.

In the grim years of the occupation, starving Athenians invented new ways to stay alive, helped by daily advice columns in the capital’s newspapers known as “survival guides.”

'Tis the season for Xmas entertaining, so here's a recipe guaranteed to be a hit. The original recipe called for ground meat but after making it once with oysters, I've never gone back.

SKY-HIGH OYSTER PIE

CRUST
1 pkg. Stove-Top Stuffing
1 egg
1 8” springform pan
Prepare stuffing as per directions and add egg. If too moist, add some Panko or bread crumbs. The mixture should hold its form when pressed onto sides of springform
.

1 pkg. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed & drained well
1 sm. tub of raw oysters
1 small onion
1 c. sliced mushrooms
3+ cloves garlic, chopped

So it was a Saturday night and we all decided to gather round the tv, watch Battlestar Galactica and have a "carpet picnic." The kids and The Brunette asked for my Mac and Cheese. I obliged.

If you are so inclined, the recipe is after the jump.

Most of you will probably laugh at me for having posted this. After all, I am maybe the Agonist Fluff Queen, or more probably, Agonist Fluff Scullery Maid.
The geniuses at Kraft Foods have added milk and cream to Cool Whip Original. Here is the most recent ingredients list, copied from the label:
INGREDIENTS: WATER, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, SKIM MILK, LIGHT CREAM, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, XANTHAN AND GUAR GUMS, POLYSORBATE 60, SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR).

LAJAMANU, Australia | February 28, 2010

Herald Sun AU - While the Top End and Central Australia have been battered by torrential rains, a Territory town has reportedly had fish falling from the sky. The freak phenomena happened not once, but twice, on Thursday and Friday afternoon about 6pm at Lajamanu, about 550km southwest of Katherine, The Northern Territory News reports.

I'm not much of a chef. I bought a huge marinated pork loin from Costco, brought it home, cut it in half, wrapped it in tin foil, tossed it on my mom's propane grille, lit it up, set all three burners to high, then walked away to watch a Minnesota Twins baseball game on TV for a few minutes while the grille warmed up.

Just for a few minutes...

Tragically, it was a really exciting, dramatic baseball game. A real barn-burner. Twins won, and then I thought, "Oh shit. What about the pork loin?" I raced to the grille, whose thermometer was pegged at 550 degrees Fahrenheit.

For three hours. Oops.