One of the many hard-working industrial plants in China was the 101 Petro Chemical Plant, which was situated at Jilin City, the capital of China's Jilin Province. In 2005, a chain reaction of explosions inside the plant ripped it to shreds, tearing the plant into pieces and decimating everything around it.
The force of the explosion meant that survival for those close to it was impossible. Six people were killed instantly, dozens were injured, and ten thousand civilians had to be evacuated for their own safety. The shattered plant leaked over one hundred tons of polluting chemicals out into the land, seeping into the Songhua River. In among the compounds were both benzene and nitro-benzene. They would have killed all of the life in that stretch of the river fairly quickly, but the impact on humans is still being felt to this day. The chemicals together can reduce the white blood cell count in the human body, significantly increasing the risk of leukemia.
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.
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.
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.
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.