Is it still junk food if you make it yourself? If you feel guilty about buying junk food and have lots of time on your hands, here are a few links that might inspire you to try recreating some popular snacks at home.

• Here's a recipe for homemade Cheez-It crackers, which supposedly taste better than the store-bought version. By the time you're done making these, you'll wish that you had just gone to the store and bought a box of Cheez-Its. [url]
• McDonald's Canada has revealed exactly how they make their fries, "from the farm to the fryer." If you've ever wondered whether their fries are made from real potatoes, the answer is yes. Their fries are cut from whole potatoes harvested from farms in New Brunswick, Alberta, and Manitoba. [url]
• Read about one junk food enthusiast's attempts to recreate Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, Oreos, and Fritos. While some of the homemade versions were somewhat "healthier" calorie-wise, the general concensus was that there's just nothing like the real thing. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Some restaurants guard their recipes as if they were the blueprints for a nuclear bomb. But it's usually not that difficult to reverse-engineer some kind of copycat meal that tastes pretty good, and there are tons of foodies out there with blogs dedicated to replicating all kinds of famous dishes. Here are just some examples of folks giving away the secret recipes for a few fast food favorites.

• A McDonald's chef shows everyone how to make a Big Mac at home and points out that the secret sauce is actually published on the company's website. Here's the big secret for the sauce: Soybean oil, pickle relish [diced pickles, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, vinegar, corn syrup, salt, calcium chloride, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate (preservative), spice extractives, polysorbate 80], distilled vinegar, water, egg yolks, high fructose corn syrup, onion powder, mustard seed, salt, spices, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate (preservative), mustard bran, sugar, garlic powder, vegetable protein (hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat), caramel color, extractives of paprika, soy lecithin, turmeric (color), calcium disodium EDTA (protect flavor). [url]
• Making a a Taco Bell Chalupa doesn't look so difficult, but it takes a bit more effort than sitting in your car and shouting your order at a big menu sign. Now if someone wants to figure out a home-made Dorito big enough to be a taco shell... [url]
• Some customers don't like Chick-Fil-A's political leanings when it comes to gay marriage, but they still want some tasty sandwiches. The Chick-Fil-Gay is just one solution to that problem. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

The USA has no monopoly on hamburger innovations. Sure, Americans probably eat more burgers than any other country, and we came up with the drive-thru and drive-in processes for burger orders. But the possibilities for burgers have no limits, and here are just a few global developments in the world of burger technology.

• In Germany, McDonald's crowdsourced a few new menu suggestions which were released as actual products for sale over the month of May. The "Pretzelnator" was the first item -- offering folks a ham & cheese sandwich on a pretzel-like bun. [url]
• In Japan, the phrase "have it your way" translates to "put as much bacon as humanly possible on my Whopper, please." Japanese Burger Kings will put 15 slices of bacon on your burger for about 100 yen, and for about 7,000 yen, that's 1,050 slices of bacon on your order. [url]
• Pizza Hut in Dubai has added cute little cheeseburgers to pizza crust. They've also added mini chicken fillets on pizza crusts and cream cheese, too. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

We know it's bad for our health, but somehow we just can't get enough of artery-clogging fried foods because they taste so good. If you get tired of dry oven-roasted Thanksgiving turkeys, try deep frying them next time. Deep frying is not only a quicker way to cook a turkey, but it also produces a very moist and juicy bird with super crunchy skin. (However, deep frying whole turkeys is dangerous if not done properly -- take it from William Shatner, who nearly burned down his house trying to deep fry a turkey.) Fried turkey isn't particularly unusual, but there are some pretty crazy, deep fried food ideas out there. Here are a few examples.

• In Austria, McDonald's recently offered a sandwich called the McRibster, which was essentially a McRib that had been breaded and fried. And as if that weren't enough, it also came with bacon and cheese (and some healthier stuff like lettuce and onions). [url]
• Fried butter balls first debuted at the State Fair of Texas in 2009. However, the Iowa State Fair took it to the next level last year with a 2-ounce stick of butter, dipped in cinnamon honey batter, deep fried, and then covered in a sugar glaze. [url]
• Every year, the San Diego County Fair features some interesting deep fried foods. Some examples include: fried Krispy Kreme chicken sandwiches, fried Twinkies, fried avocados, fried brownies, fried Klondike bars, fried frog legs, deep fried Girl Scout cookies, and deep fried Kool-Aid. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Hamburgers are one of America's best-known foods, and McDonald's has popularized this kind of fast food all over the world. (The Economist even publishes its Big Mac Index to compare national economies according to the price of McD's iconic burgers.) Here are just a few more interesting tidbits with all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions -- all on a sesame seed bun.

• McDonald's stopped using pink slime in its burgers since about August of 2011. It's interesting that no one seemed to notice any difference in taste over the last few months.... [url]
• Happy Meal toys cost extra in San Francisco, due to a city law aimed at preventing kids from eating unhealthy fast foods. Outlaw toys and only outlaws will have toys? [url]
• Japanese folks who love burgers will be able to order a Big Mac from their car's navigation system. Next: autonomous vehicles will pick up your food and deliver it to you. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Lots of people get married or propose on Valentine's day, and the diamond industry has successfully made its shiny minerals part of the wedding tradition. But can fast food restaurants get into this romantic ritual, too? Here are just a few ways that couples can get hitched --along with a reasonably priced meal.

• Order your perfect Pizza Hut proposal for just $10,010 (plus tax) which includes a $10 dinner box. Limit 1 per customer. Supplies are limited. [url]
• An Illinois couple tied the knot at a Taco Bell -- with the bride wearing a $15 "Taco Bell purple" wedding dress. Make a run for the border, indeed. [url]
• There have actually been several white weddings at White Castles over the last few years. "It was the most amazing thing I could ever hope for..." [url]
• McDonald's in Hong Kong offers a variety of wedding-themed decorations and services -- including wedding dresses and photography sessions. Are you lovin' it? [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

There are a lot of food options out there, and fast food is certainly one of the more popular choices for people on the go. Not surprisingly, though, fast food establishments usually don't have the best reputation for healthy dining, but some of them are trying to change their image. Here are just a few stories on fast food news.

• Burger King is testing out a home delivery service for its food in the DC area. Best sentence in the coverage: "There are some real food-quality issues here," says Ron Paul, president of research firm Technomic. [url]
• McDonald's tried a social marketing campaign on Twitter, asking for customers to tell some of their #McDStories. Oops. They didn't expect the #McSnideRemarks -- which is par for the course on the internet. [url]
• Yum! Brands restaurants (eg. Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut...) in Kentucky lobbied to accept food stamps -- but some people don't think that's a good idea. Others argue that it's a step up from getting food from a gas station. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

While there are a lot of debates going around about the wisdom of genetically modified organisms, a bunch of food scientists are working with edible concoctions that aren't GMOs. Traditional breeding of naturally-occurring varieties of fruits and vegetables can still produce some pretty amazing results. And ultimately, consumers are voting with their purchases -- which is creating all kinds of food innovations. Here are just a few examples.

• This is a fascinating video on some of the latest in apple breeding -- "apples of the future" are on the way! There are apples that don't brown after their cut, apples that have as much vitamin C as oranges, apple trees that have no branches without pruning, etc. [url]
• The pork technology behind McDonald's McRib was originally meant to create a faux pork chop. Instead, McDonald's created a "restructured meat" that took the form of a boneless backrib. [url]
• Super broccoli is a variety of this vegetable that could reduce cholesterol -- without any genetic modification. Other super vegetables could have enhanced levels of vitamin D, calcium or omega-3 fatty acids. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

There are plenty of world records that no one really cares about -- but it's still entertaining to see folks keeping track of some weird records and winning contests that are just a bit bizarre. Here are some real winners, depending on your point of view.

• Don Gorske has claimed the title of having eaten the most Big Macs in a lifetime -- with over 25,000 consumed over 39 years. So as long as you don't supersize your order... [url]
• The 24th Annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest was won by a contraption called "The Time Machine" -- which used 244 steps to re-create the universe from the big bang until the 2012 apocalypse. Surely, though, the record could be broken by daisy-chaining together all the entries... [url]
• The Best Illusion of the Year Contest has named its top ten finalists for 2011. But it's hard to see which one is the best. [url]
• To find some other online challenges and games, check out what StumbleUpon has found to play. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

In the continuing saga of people thinking they have a right to what other people see, a British couple has pressured McDonalds into removing their boat from its TV commercials. Adweek dug up the ad itself, which you can see below, along with a still image of the boat from the ad:

As you can see, the boat is way off in the background. And the boat is seen for a grand total of 3 seconds. Yet, the couple got very upset:

"We didn't see the advert ourselves at first, but lots of people kept saying to us: 'Oh, we saw the Badger on the McDonald's advert.' It was quite irritating, especially as we are not fond of fast food and the Badger has a beautiful galley where we cook everything from scratch. We even make our own bread," said Gloria Parsons, 63, who owns the boat with her husband Alan, 72.

"Then one night we were watching something and the advert was on every break, right across about two hours of the programme. Lots of people were very excited to see the Badger on screen, but we weren't. She is very precious and very special to us, and we felt upset that this large corporation would just ride roughshod over our feelings. It wouldn't be acceptable to go into someone's garden and just take a shot of their house, so why use the Badger?

A radio station heard about them being upset and called McDonald's, who agreed to re-edit the commercial without the boat and issued an apology. Of course, in the end, the joke may be on the couple, as their efforts have brought a ton of attention to the original ad and just by judging from the comments on YouTube, people really like the commercial.