People across the United States have different words they use for "soft drink." While this is an interesting linguistics case study, people also often engage in friendly debate about which is "correct." Those familiar with linguistics know there is no "right" answer, but instead, they're all right, according to, most often, where you are located.

I say "pop."And I do joke with others when they say "soda," because it sounds southern to me. But if you look at the map above (that has been around for 10 years now), most of the southern states say Coke. If I said Coke, it would be referring to the brand-name cola beverage. You can vote for what you say here. And if you want to see individual responses for "other," click on a state here.

Sometimes this debate goes beyond friendly, but it's definitely interesting to see how one specific term gets people riled up. But looking at the history of the soft drink, soda people may win this battle.

Quick timeline here:

• 1798 The term "soda water" first coined.
• 1835 The first bottled soda water in the U.S.
• 1851 Ginger ale created in Ireland.
• 1861 The term "pop" first coined.
• 1874 The first ice-cream soda sold.
• 1876 Root beer mass produced for public sale.
• 1881 The first cola-flavored beverage introduced.
• 1885 Charles Aderton invented "Dr Pepper" in Waco, Texas.
• 1886 Dr. John S. Pemberton invented "Coca-Cola" in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1898 "Pepsi-Cola" is invented by Caleb Bradham.
• 1919 The American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages formed.
• Early 1920's The first automatic vending machines dispensed sodas into cups.
• 1929 The Howdy Company debuted its new drink "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Sodas" later called "7 Up".
• 1952 The first diet soft drink sold called the "No-Cal Beverage" a gingerale sold by Kirsch.
• 1957 The first aluminum cans used.
• 1959 The first diet cola sold.
• 1962 The pull-ring tab first marketed by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company of Pittsburgh, PA.
• 1965 Soft drinks in cans dispensed from vending machines.
• 1965 The resealable top invented.
• 1970 Plastic bottles are used for soft drinks.
• 1974 The stay-on tab invented.
• 1979 Mello Yello soft drink is introduced by the Coca Cola company as competition against Mountain Dew.
• 1981 The "talking" vending machine invented.

And, maybe the coolest yet, is the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine that allows customers to make their own pop flavor ... 100+ different ways. Now, Morgantown is home to one. Five Guys restaurant has one. Check out my blog on that here. Maybe once we're all making our own combinations, the "soda" vs. "pop" debate will end, and we'll name each of our creations.

Can't wait to try the "Candace" pop soon.

Last week, I blogged about the various types of diets out there. Whether you are strictly a raw veggie person or you are a vegetarian who eats fish, there's probably a certain label out there for you. And there's probably a restaurant that will help cater to your dietary requests, too. Morgantown has a handful that have developed a reputation for having dishes specifically for vegetarians or vegans, and we're not talking about a chicken salad sans chicken. Check out some of the most popular ones:

Black Bear - In addition to serving some local food, Black Bear Burritos makes some dishes with vegetarians in mind. Their rice is vegan, they use 100 percent organic Spring Creek tofu from Spencer, W.Va., they have 100% vegetarian beans, and they have separate grill from vegetarian dishes.

Maxwell's - Maxwell's has little asterisks next to items on their menu that are suitable for vegetarians. And there's quite the variety, too, from nachos and eggs to avocado sandwiches and bean burgers.

Blue Moose Cafe - As a hip, "cyber cafe," this coffeeshop offers tons of choices in that area, including organic houseblends and soymilk. But their menu is also all-natural and primarily vegetarian. Eggs (bacon or fakin'), Reubens, bean burgers, salads and other melts are all here. Blue Moose also does a good job at taking a traditional sandwich and turning it vegetarian- or vegan- friendly.

ZenClay - As an artistic mecca, this place has options like noodles, soups, "moo shu" pocket, eggplant sandwich, and many more creative, fresh, veggie-filled dishes. I like the creativity here, and you get to see some original veggie dishes.

What have I missed? I know there are some other great ones out there. Anyone have a specific vegetarian-friendly dish that is fantastic?

I went to Naticakes when it just opened up in the Suncrest Towne Centre. It's great to see businesses finally opening up there. Naticakes has a cool story about why it was started, and 10 percent of all its proceeds go to the Natalie Wynn Carter Foundation, which is committed to improving the lives of children throughout the world.

I have never been to a solely frozen yogurt shop, so I was excited to try a new place. When you walk inside, it has a Victorian-esque feel. The decorations are slightly mismatched in a very elegant way, and some of the tables are so white, they're sterile, while others are weathered and fancy.


As soon as we walked in, we were greeted. The young man explained the process to me. Basically, there are a dozen choices of frozen yogurt and a plethora of toppings to put on. He asked us if we'd like to sample any of the frozen yogurts. He had small cups that he filled with whichever yogurt we wished. I tried the peanut butter - not bad, the cookies and cream - very creamy, cheesecake - had some bite to it, the original tart - a unique flavor, and a few others. They also had some sorbet - fruity and slightly tart.


After tasting most of them, I grabbed one of the cups that are located to the left of the machines and filled it to my heart's content. Naticakes prices your dessert upon weight. So it doesn't matter how many yogurts you put in it or how many toppings you choose, it just matters what the total weight is. So, I filled half my cup with cookies and cream and the other half with pomegranate raspberry sorbet. That way I could try the fruity toppings and the chocolate toppings.

I scooted over to the toppings area. It was packed: Reese's, Snickers, Twix, Oreos, Gummi Bears, Gummi Worms, chocolate chips, M&Ms, Heath bars, Whoppers, Butterfingers, Reese's Pieces, Fruity Pebbles, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, pound cake, coconut, Junior Mints, nuts, Rice Krispie treats, sprinkles, raspberries and strawberries - I probably missed a few, too.

I scooped as much of the candy and chocolate onto my cookies and cream side, and the gummi candies and raspberries onto my sorbet side. I put it on the scale, and my total came to around $5. That's not too shabby.

The pomegranate raspberry sorbet was nice and sweet, refreshing and fruity. The small bits of fruit added another dimension with some texture. The gummi bears were fun. The cookies and cream yogurt was rich and creamy. I had a little bit of Snickers, Reese's and Butterfinger in there, which basically boiled down to the taste of chocolate chunks in the yogurt. It was fun, tasty and interactive. I'm not sure there's anything like this in town. I liked customizing my dessert, free of restriction, to my exact specifications. And it was cold, creamy and light. I'll be back.

Grade: A

This past Sunday was finally the Iron Chef challenge at the Ronald McDonald House. I've been building this event up for quite some time mostly because I'm excited, but also because I was a celebrity judge. Honestly, this had me really nervous because I'm just a college kid giving my (sometimes unwanted) opinion on area restaurants. Was I qualified? In their eyes, yes. One day, I received an email from MaChal Forbes asking if I would be interested in being a celebrity judge for this event, I said yes, and here we are.

The challenge began at 2 p.m. I arrived around 1:15 p.m. to get situated. I hadn't met anyone, and I wanted to make sure I was in the right spot. I arrived just fine. Steve De Jesus, executive director and CEO of Morgantown's Ronald McDonald House Charities as well as another judge, gave me a tour of the house as soon as I got in. The other judges were Nikki Bowman, editor of WV Living Magazine, WV Weddings, and Morgantown Magazine; Cheryl Jones, director of WVU Children's hospital and  Jeff Hostetler, a former WVU football player and NFL quarterback.

The Ronald McDonald House is a wonderful charity. When children have an injury or illness, the families can come stay at this house. Since the house is just across the parking lot from the hospital, it's a convenient place for families to get some rest (they have 16 bedrooms), have a meal (two kitchen areas), and just relax. For families that aren't staying long term, they have day guest services so they can have a shower, get a meal and rest. They're usually always full, I believe at 99.5% capacity. That's pretty full. So the money from the purchased tickets went back to the charity. In fact, they sold about 55 tickets, when they originally only set aside 30. This was a great way to get the community involved and be able to see the great things the charity offers.

That kitchen, though, made a perfect set for an Iron Chef competition. They were able to face off. The judges table was at the very front, and the audience was behind us. The chefs had 45 minutes to create a dish of their choice - both said that these dishes in particular are specialties. Chef McDonald of Stefano's created a shrimp and grits meal, while Chef Bruner from the Waterfront created a surf and turf dish. They didn't have a surprise ingredient thrown in. Maybe next year! They began cooking, and the moderator, Lauren Saffron, a RMHC board member, entertained the audience. She asked the cooks various questions while they were preparing. She asked us judges a few questions, and we were able to hear more about what the charity does. The chefs weren't really sweating until the very end. Chef McDonald barely finished on time.

But we were served with two delicious plates. Chef McDonald has prepared his version of shrimp and grits. He made a brie & smoked cheddar polenta (essentially Italian grits/cornmeal), topped with a roasted pepper cream sauce, with a large shrimp on top and a locally produce Italian sausage on the side. This is a dish he plans to offer in the summer at Stefano's. This dish was superb! The grits were the perfect texture, the sauce was creamy, and the shrimp was large and fresh.

Che Bruner's surf and turf had some more elements. He plated a seared filet and scallop over top of a sweet corn puree, with a wild mushroom hash and a port wine reduction. This dish, too, was fantastic. perfectly. The filet was a perfect medium-rare, the corn puree was deliciously sweet and complemented the other flavors, and the scallop was perfectly cooked.

We judged based on taste (10 points), presentation (5 points), and originality (5 points). Both were fantastic, but I gave Chef McDonald one point more than Chef Bruner simply because the wine and corn together were a little too sweet at times. But really, it was so fantastic. Chef McDonald won overall and was awarded a RMHC chef's jacket. The audience was also able to get samples of the meal, and they can vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced via the RMHC's twitter and Facebook pages.

I had an amazing time judging and mingling with the audience about their favorite dishes. I talked with one family who has a daughter with a blog. It's really interesting to see how this fun hobby has turned into this. The RMHC was so kind to give us mugs just for being judges. I can't wait to see what else they have planned, since this competition went so well!

Did anyone else go to the competition? I'd love to hear some others' feedback about the event.

To donate to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Morgantown, click here.

Happy Mardi Gras! Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," which refers to people eating delicious foods on the last day before the season of Lent. While not everywhere celebrates Mardi Gras like New Orleans, Morgantown is planning a small pub crawl for those interested.

Sponsored by Main Street Morgantown, this pub crawl is held TONIGHT. So if you're interested, go check it out immediately! Registration starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Waterfront Regatta Bar & Grille. The cost is $10 per person, but that includes a T-shirt, drink & food specials, and beads at all of the participating places.

The schedule is as follows:

6 p.m. - 7 p.m. Waterfront Regatta Bar & Grille
7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Mountain State Brewing Company
8 p.m. - 9 p.m. Oliverio's Ristorante
9 p.m. - 10 p.m. McClafferty's
10 p.m. - 11 p.m. Morgantown Brewing Company

The last stop includes New Orleans Cajun food & drink specials, and the High Street Jazz Band is scheduled to play at 10 p.m.


View Mardi Gras Pub Crawl in a larger map