This is a last-minute post, so I hope at least some of you are logging on on a Saturday. Tonight (March 29), at 8pm millions of people around the world will turn their lights off for an hour to mark Earth Hour – an awareness event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour: March 29, 2008 8 - 9 PM

Even if you don’t live in one of the year-old event’s flagship cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver), I hope you’ll consider hitting the switch at 8pm your local time to help the planet.

Ahh, not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol: another George W. Bush missed opportunity, another grand blunder, another … good decision? Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves! But Clive Crook makes a compelling case that the Kyoto Protocol was nothing more than a sham in his article “Sins of Emission” in the April issue of Atlantic Monthly. more

Do you end up cooking two (or three) different dinners every night for your family: one for you and your spouse, one for your older kid(s), and another for the baby? Among many of our parent friends, this seems to be an acceptable norm. And given the way kids’ food is marketed, who can resist? Mac n’ cheese is just too easy. But longtime food guru Cynthia Lair makes the alternative (one healthy meal for the entire family) simple and delicious. more

Here’s the latest installment of my “what I learned in food testing” chronicles: Amaranth, a teeny tiny, nutritious, complete-protein, gluten-free grain, can be popped like popcorn! The raw, pale yellow grain (look for it in bulk bins) is as hard as a rock, so it’s usually cooked; but a recipe I made last week called for popping it. Here’s the procedure: Heat a 2 quart pot on very high heat; when heated, add a few amaranth kernels. When they pop, add 1 tablespoon amaranth and shake the pot constantly until most are popped, about 30 seconds. They turn white, like tiny little puffballs — and they’re a crunchy, fun texture, great for adding to cookies, bars, over cereal, or eaten straight. Don’t be tempted to pop more than a tablespoon at a time, though; it burns easily, and too much in the pan won’t pop evenly. (Yes, I found this out the hard way.)

Amaranth is also available ground up as a flour, and flaked as a cereal.

Did you know that the white filling in Oreos contains the same stuff that’s in all of your eye shadow and foundation? Neither did I before I listened to “Revealing the Secrets in Concealer” — an NPR interview with Stephen McNeil, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of British Columbia. A lot of the ingredients discussed (talc, for example) are linked to health problems. To find out exactly what’s in your favorite cosmetics, go to the Environmental Working Group’s excellent Cosmetics Database. And check out our report “About Face” for natural options.

Getting together with friends or at your place of worship this Sunday morning? Think about what you want to contribute to the brunch table. more

Welcome to the International Year of Sanitation! So has the United Nations dubbed the theme for 2008 World Water Day — the 15th annual UN-designed celebration to raise awareness of water issues around the world. more

This past week, along with over 52,000 other show goers, I attended the massive Natural Products Expo in Anaheim. I was blown away by the number of creative ways companies have found to feature uberhealthy fruits like acai, mangosteen, and goji berry in their goodies. These so-called superfruits top the charts for antioxidants, and have made their way into juices, energy bars, and cereals across the market. Check out “Fruits of Life” Delicious Living’s recent article explaining the benefits of these fruits, and get ready to see more of these yummy nutrient powerhouses in stores.

One of my favorite DL recipe developers, chef Alan Roettinger, just came out with his first cookbook, Omega-3 Cuisine. Let me tell you, his cooking is great — creative, absolutely delicious, and healthy, with a special focus on getting more omega-3s into your diet. With the recent news about salmon fisheries in trouble, his use of flaxseed oil is an excellent (and vegetarian) way to boost your omega-3 intake. I haven’t even seen a copy of the book yet, but having worked with him on stories for Delicious Living (including the Sept07 food feature on good fats, plus a couple other upcoming recipe stories), I have no hesitation in saying that it’s going to be a winner. You can buy it on his website … and soon, in health food stores and on Amazon.

Facing a stock collapse unprecedented in 40 years, the government is saying it’s probably going to have to close West Coast salmon fisheries from Oregon to Mexico (Washington and Alaska are still OK, apparently), reports today’s New York Times. No one cause can be pinpointed; both human and natural factors are at play, says the National Marine Fisheries Service.