I don't know if McDonald's food will rot or not, but Dolly Madison's Red Coconut Zingers will not rot. I worked as a computer network administrator before my retirement in 2000. At my last job we had an on-going joke in the department where ownership of a package of the red coconut Zingers was passed from one person to another whenever they earned our honorary "Super Geek" junk food trophy. Photo taken 31 Aug 2010 Whoever had last been awarded the Zingers, would at their discretion, award them to the next recipient based upon that person performing some feat of extraordinary technical brilliance. When I first awarded this trophy to one of my coworkers, I had planned to use a package of plain Twinkies which we would often share a pack of when working late, but the vending machine in the break room was sold out that day. The dyed red coconut Zingers looked even better for the purpose, so I dropped in my quarters. After 5 years being passed respectfully and gingerly from one recipient to another the trophy had made it to everyone in the department. Every recipient kept it on display in a prominent place in their cubicle. The Zingers are still red and all the coconut is still glued to the surface of the cakes. The cakes were as hard as a stone after about 3 years. The cellophane was beginning to turn yellow, and the writing on the package began to fade, so everyone avoided displaying it in a sunny location after 3 years. When I retired in 2000, the department retired the trophy as well and gave it to me to take home. These Zingers are now 15 years old and do not have a single speck of mold on them. They are every bit as un-wholesome looking now as they were when they were brand new.

LOL, Carole, that is one of the reasons I no longer live there. I got the heck out of there when it became very apparent that the city and county government was more dysfunctional than a bad reality show. Those guys are insane in Charlotte. Same thing there as Wake, City of Charlotte controls 90% of what Mecklenburg county does. Mecklenburg county is bad enough on it's own but the city compounds it. And speaking of Charlotte, they would love nothing better than to control all the other counties surrounding Mecklenburg. That is very evident with all the regulatory organizations they create trying to control things outside of the count. Shoot they have even tried to annex outside of the county boundries for big moneymakers to get those tax dollars. But Sorry I got on a rant, I lived in that mess for close to 20 years, and I'm so glad to be out of the crap and crime Charlotte has to offer. I'll hush now and go back to much more plesant things like gardening! :-)

It is an interesting story. I've read it many times. Makes you realize how valuable our work as vermicomposters is. Here is a link that might be useful: My Earthworm Farm

It was the meatloaf.......traditionally baked in a loaf-shape, that our then nine year-old declared he would eat never again. I fooled him -- changed the shape to large meatballs next time! He ate the meatballs without question for the next three or four years, then suddenly asked, "is this what I think it is?" After we agreed that it indeed was meatloaf, he eats it no matter what shape, and complains no more. A young visitor found an Italian green bean in a pasta sauce and was about to throw one of her royal fits. I had to think fast to save the day, and told her how lucky she was to have found the special bean. We held it high and announced that this was her lucky day, and that anyone finding the lucky beans would also share in the luck. It worked!! The first day I kept the two neighbor boys after school, I sliced apples, and bananas on a plate for their after school snack. The six year old took one look and announced, "we don't like fruit, and we won't eat it!" The 10 year old told me they usually have potato chips and soda at grandma's house. Those are the two things I don't keep in my house. We've found a few healthy snacks to replace their regular junk. And I've got the younger one to eat Elvis' grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich now and then. Jan