{Product Review} Five Star Flex Notebinder

Growing up in the 80's and 90's I had a glorious appreciation of the trapper keeper. The handsomely designed three ring binder that held nearly all of your school work, nay, your entire educational experience in one manageable book-ish contraption.

Thankfully things have changed and improved. The five star flex hybrid notebinder (as the company states) acts like a workbook and works like a binder. Both the front and back cover are made out of tough yet relatively thin plastic. they are held together by nylon fabric that lets you fold the front cover all the way behind the back cover like a notebook.

Everything is held together by three plastic/rubbery rings to hold papers and contents in. The notebinder comes with a small supply of ruled paper and graph paper (Three hole punched and very convenient). Also included are three heavy duty sheet protectors with tabs. And two heavy duty plastic divider sheets with pockets for holding paper, index cards and other paper products. The only thing this thing is missing is maybe a small zip up pencil case. Everything is held in place by three tough plastic rings that are fixed to the back cover of the the notebinder, they are a little tough to open and close but they are very secure and I doubt they would bust open even if the notebinder was drop from quite a height.

So this really seams like a logical evolution in where binders are going. You have the flexibility of a notebook where you can fold everything away and start taking notes and the storage capacity and utility of a three ring binder. This would be perfect for any student middle school through college.

{Cookbook Review} Cookin’ With Coolio by Coolio

Dare I Say the Greatest Cookbook of 2009! (By a Rapper)

Okay the last time I checked Coolio was relevant and a pop culture force about 10 years ago.  Since then the only time I think about Coolio is when "Amish Paradise" by Weird Al comes up in my shuffle mix.  Well readers that has changed with the release of his cook book: "Cookin' with Coolio, 5 star meals at a 1 star price" by Coolio the Ghetto Gourmet.

Right of the bat, this may be the best gag cookbook gift ever.  Not only does the book come from the self-proclaimed King of Kitchen pimps, the ingredients for recipes ask for amounts of seasoning in "Dime Bag" and "Nickel Bag" form (Don't worry you can covert to regular measurements).  Recipes include "Chicken Lettuce Blunts", "Kompton Fried Chicken", "Taco Jones" and "Chili Mac Pimpi".  And instructions include directions such as "Beat those eggs like a Mother#$%&er who crossed you" or "Spin them around like a stripper on a pole". 

Suffice to say I enjoyed the writing as much or more than the recipes themselves.

Now for the amazing part; these recipes are pretty good.  The ingredients asked for are easy to find and consist of most spices and ingredients you would have in a regular kitchen.  There are no crazy cooking techniques or anything more difficult than an average home cook could handle.  I cannot attest to how healthy most of the food is, but there is a good section on salads, vegetarian food and even a nice seafood section "It's Hard Out Here For A Shrimp". 

So if you can get past the latent silliness of the presentation of the material I think you will find some good fun recipes, and you will probably laugh quite a bit too.