Tips From The Spammers

First off, thank you all for the kind wishes on my blog’s birthday and enthusiasm for my giveaway Remember you have until Saturday to enter, so it’s not too late!

Although I’ve been blogging for over a year now (which totally makes me an expert, right?!) I must confess something – I have never quite figured out how to set up my spam filter. My blog is set up so that any incoming comments with new names/email addresses have to be approved, so if you’ve left me a comment before, your comments will show up right away. But all new comments (including all the new spam comments) go to a folder that I moderate, to make sure that comments from those of you who aren’t robots can be heard seen.

This is by far the most tedious and time consuming behind-the-scenes task when it comes to blogging. But there is a silver lining – occasionally in the spam comments, I find great snippets of information. So for today, I’d like to share some of the best, most hilarious spam comments with you.

From Marcos on Salads From The Archives:

What did your neighbors have to say about the Komodo dragon you let loose in your yard? I don’t think dragons are on our homeowners’ association’s approved pet list. There is tremendous wisdom in this post. I know that my own life is becoming increasingly complicated and I’m not always good about prioritizing the most important people. Then I read your post and I’m reminded that my kids along with my husband and myself deserve my best self or as much of it as I can give.

Marcos – No worries, komodo dragons are not on the approved pets list for my homeowner’s association, either, which is why I just have cats.

From Deborah on What’s Next:

That statement is just plain wrong. Gluten intolerance or celiac disease is not an allergy. There is such a thing as a wheat allergy but that is an entirely different thing. You could be allergic to wheat and still able to eat rye or spelt. So, let’s be clear; a reaction to just wheat is an allergy, while a reaction to gluten is more of a disease.

Deborah – I’m not sure which statement is wrong, because I am equally frustrated that so many are unaware of the difference between allergies and intolerances. Ever since I wrote an entire post on the subject, I’ve tried to be very clear in how I discuss them on my blog.

From Mr. Popcorn! on Dinner For One:

Ok here is my “secret” to great popcorn:
Flavor it with butter BUT clarify the butter! This makes it so the popcorn has the great butter taste BUT doesn’t get soggy or loose its crispness!
Here is how to clarify butter:
1) Melt two sticks butter in a clear microwave proof bowl or measuring cup.
2) Skim off the froth on the top.
3) The next section, the clearer section is what you want to keep for flavoring the popcorn. Carefully pour that off and set aside.
3) discard the cloudy rest of the butter.
Now use the clarified butter you set aside on the popcorn! It will have the great butter taste without making the popcorn soggy!

Mr. Popcorn – thanks for your advice. After you and another (legitimate) commenter recommended using clarified butter on popcorn, I gave it a try and it was, indeed, wonderful. My advice, though, is just make ghee. It’s a great, neutral tasting fat and does well in high temperature cooking.

From Rosiane on A Revelation and Recent Favorites:

Thank you microwave check mix does not compare. You need the oven to toast the chex (not just heat them up). And the worchester sticks it together in some places which are the pieces we all fight over. This is the only way I have ever eaten it my mama calls it Christmas trash. We cannot find bagel chips so we used regular cheerios. One year honey nut cheerios were mistakenly used and it was not good. And we are all nuts, so we use pecans and peanuts only which have been half way cooked before we do the oven thing. We end up with about 10 nice sized tins and beg to take our own home every year.

Rosiane – I’m quite impressed that you’re able to share your Chex mix. We made two batches, and neither lasted more than two days. As you said, the bits with the most butter and Worcestershire are the best.

From Jamey on What should I eat at work? Or, don’t tell ME what to eat at work!:

I’m commenting to make you be aware of what a beneficial encounter my friend’s princess developed reading through the blog. She realized a lot of things, with the inclusion of what it is like to have an awesome helping style to let a number of people really easily have an understanding of a variety of multifaceted things. You really exceeded people’s desires. Thank you for delivering these good, safe, explanatory as well as easy thoughts on this topic.

Jamey – Thanks for your kind words on Joel’s post – he exceeded my expectations as well. But the real question is: how did your friend get a princess, and how can I get one?

From Clarence on National Celiac Awareness Day

Thank you for this information! I used it for my diploma thesis =)

First of all, Clarence, did you have clearance to use the information from my blog?!?! Well, really, the bigger issue is did you really trust the information you found on my blog for YOUR DIPLOMA THESIS?!?! Seriously, you guys, I’m just some girl on the internet. I love it when you link back to me, but when it comes to your diploma thesis, best to stick to the scholarly journals.

Well, that was fun. Those of you who are bloggers, what’s the best spam comment you’ve received? For everyone, any good spam emails? My favorite one came on Valentine’s Day last year, the subject line was something like “for Valentine’s Day, give your woman something she’ll love – breast augmentation.” The best part was that this came to my work email