The Food Section today picked up on a story out of Dixie: Yesterday the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that a recipe in this month's issue of Southern Living Magazine could cause serious bodily injury and property damage.

The recipe calls for boiling a pot full of shortening and water for five minutes. Of course, if you're educated enough to read a magazine, you probably know that oil and water don't mix. Follow Southern Living's instructions, and the shortening will melt and sit in a layer above the water until the latter reaches a forceful boil, at which point it will explode out of the pot, spraying scalding liquids all over your kitchen.

Now Newsday reports that the magazine is recalling every copy of its April issue: a quarter of a million all told. A stern warning, in all capital letters, is on the Southern Living website. You're all now witness to a case study in the juxtaposition of an alert free press with a ravenous personal injury bar.

Personally, I don't see why these muckrakers couldn't just let natural selection take its course.