In an effort to cleanse our minds of lungs, brains, rat and tripe, I give you….donuts, chocolate and spaghetti with meatballs!

Those are the three topics of this Friday smorgasbord of food news. Don’t forget to read to the bottom of this entry, because I’m going to give away a $30 hardcover book for the holidays called “I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas” by Marcel Desaulniers.

Item #1: A recent study for the Center for Science in the Public Interest may have you thinking twice about those restaurant meals this weekend.

Now, I don’t want to tick off that guy who got mad about the “danger P’Zone,” but this study indicates that entrees at the Olive Garden and Romano’s Macaroni Grill are packing more calories and fat than they — or anyone, for that matter — would like to admit.

The study, which was forwarded to me by a concerned reader, says just about every plate of pasta at those restaurants contains more than 1,000 calories. Spaghetti and Meatballs at Olive Garden? 1,200 calories and 19 grams of fat.

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