10. Bikini Atoll, Marshal Islands

10. Bikini Atoll, Marshal Islands

Just looking at photos of this apparent paradise makes you want to quit your job and run away to a life of tropical bliss. Bikini Atoll is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and extremely popular with tourists who have the cash to spare. But just like all the other things on this list, not everything is what it seems here. Between the years of 1946 and 1958 the USA made Bikini Atoll its testing ground for nuclear explosives, causing it to become full of radiation.

Though it was declared radiation-free back in the 80s, most living things, including plants and sea life, are contaminated. As you can imagine, when the soil is contaminated, growing food becomes dangerous. Locals reported large numbers of birth defects and abnormalities and many ended up leaving their island homes permanently.

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Did You Know...

I

Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.

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Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.

III

Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.

IV

Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.

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