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Don't go crazy with the wet towel Sanga Park/Shutterstock Many restaurants provide you with a wet towel right after you get seated. While that steaming hot sensation may ignite your every desire to stop, drop, and spa, do not use the towel on your face or neck. The towel is solely meant to clean your hands. Once you have done this, simply fold it and put it aside. "The wet towel is there because you are expected to eat everything with your hands and wipe your fingertips with the towel as you go," Chase Kojima , executive chef at Sydney-based Sokyo, told the Australian website SBS. Slurp away! kazoka/Shutterstock It's generally considered rude in American culture to pick up your bowl of soup and slurp like it's your last meal on earth (soup is one of those tricky foods to eat in a polite manner ). But this is not the case with Japanese etiquette. In fact, it's encouraged to lift your miso-filled bowl to your mouth, using the spoon with the other hand to sc...

Apples Africa Studio/Shutterstock Visit your local farmer's market or take the family on an apple picking trip for the freshest apples. They're perfect for snacking, baking, and even stopping headaches. Check out these other genius uses for apples (besides eating them) . Oranges malialeon/Shutterstock Oranges are commonly associated with summer, but from Florida to California, autumn is the best time to enjoy this citrus favorite. Use them to make healthy breakfast smoothies or eat them as a quick vitamin C-packed snack. Grapes Tim UR/Shutterstock While you won't find any grape ice cream this season (or any season), fall’s harvest brings in a bounty of fresh grapes in all varieties. Either as a snack or made into your favorite jam, now is the perfect time to bag a bunch. Pomegranates Tosa/Shutterstock Filled with antioxidants, stock up on this wonder fruit during the fall. Try juicing them to tap their full heart health benefits. (After all, that's why th...

  Strawberry sandwiches Nataliia Leontieva/Shutterstock When I was in high school I specifically went to a now-defunct restaurant only to eat a version of this sandwich; its demise doesn’t stop me from enjoying it still. Not to mention, there are bunches of science-backed reasons you should be eating more bread . Simply place three-grain bread on a plate and spread it with farmer cheese. Top evenly with strawberries and drizzle with honey. Add black pepper, if desired. Peanut butter-banana-apple bites Elena Shashkina/Shutterstock Certainly a snack most beloved by children, but most of the adults I know also love these little bites. The flavors and textures cover all the bases: crunchy, creamy, smooth, sweet and tart with a touch of cinnamon spiciness. Plus, the swipe of peanut butter is a great way to sneakily pack more protein into your diet . To make them, spread apple slices with peanut butter. Top with banana and sprinkle on some sugar, cinnamon and, if desired, blueberries. ...

aleknext/Shutterstock Sure, a rich piece of chocolate cake practically begs to get washed down with a cup of coffee. But have you ever noticed the opposite happens, too? The minute you sip a cup of coffee to get out of your mid-afternoon slump, you suddenly start craving something sweet to go with it. A study published in the Journal of Food Science might have answered why coffee makes you crave dessert—and it’s not just about balancing out the bitterness. Cornell University researchers gave volunteers decaf coffee with either 200 milligrams of caffeine (about the amount in a cup of regular coffee) or nothing added. Both types had sugar to add a bit of sweetness. (Take your coffee without sugar? Learn the disturbing personality trait black coffee drinkers share .) When the researchers asked the volunteers how sweet the coffee was, they found some interesting results. Those who’d had the caffeinated cups rated the brew as less sweet than the decaf drinkers. Normally, a chemical ...

leungchopan Sixty-six percent of the time, a sneeze response is secular. You’re walking through your local artisanal spice shop and draw just a bit too many notes of fresh paprika, and suddenly  you send spice particulates flying all over the place. An aisle over you hear “God bless you,” behind you a “salud” (translation: health) and the stock boy at the front refrains with “gesundheit” (translation: health). All eyes on you, covered in the purest Hungarian paprika. If only there was a way to avoid this entire debacle, a way to turn back the hands of time to an era before the oregano explosion. If only there was a way to stop that sneeze in its tracks. According to Lifehacker , there is. As soon as you hear a sneeze coming on, take your tongue and firmly press it against the roof of your mouth. The motion will overload your brain’s benign sensory input, and cease your schnoz soot.  Your synapses have been shut up. Everyone may sneeze differently , but this trick should work across ...

StudioPhotoDFlorez/shutterstock We already know that avocado, sometimes called an “ alligator pear ,” is full of nutrients like potassium, magnesium, folate, healthy omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A, C, E, protein, and fiber. It’s even good for your brain ! We also know that avocado can be added to almost anything and still taste great (like in these 9 delicious avocado recipes ). Salads, sandwiches, pasta, even ice cream—you name it. But what if we told you this whole time you’ve been throwing out the part that has a plethora of potentially useful molecules? Debasish Bandyopadhyay, PhD, and four of his students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley conducted an experiment resulting in some interesting finds (besides these powerhouse benefits ). Bandyopadhyay and his students crushed up about 300 dried avocado seed husks (the middle part of an avocado) into 21 ounces of powder. (By the way, did you know the origin of the word “avocado” is actually kind of dirty?). The powder ...

Jo Millington Tomato sauce is not Italian; the tomato is native to South America and was not introduced to Europe until the 16th century. Tea isn’t British, it wasn’t even all that popular for Britons until the 17th century. But now it’s as British as dreary weather and red phone booths.  Tea is of such utmost importance, that it warranted a feature in the Evening Standard written by George Orwell back in 1946. The famous author describes the beverage thusly “ tea is one of the main stays of civilization in this country.”  But when, exactly, did this practice become in vogue? The year was 1662, a mere 111 years before insurgents from the soon-to-be reigning champions of the Revolutionary War (read: U-S-A, U-S-A) dumped a whole bunch of tea into Boston Harbor. Catherine of Braganza of Portuguese royalty wed King Charles II, and then proceeded to make teatime a thing. Tea was being downed by Britons at the time, but the costs to transport it from the Far East made it an expensive...