Well, this couldn't have happened at a worse time. We discovered John Kelly truffle fudge bars, just in time for bikini season. John Kelly Chocolates specializes in a unique style of fudge called truffle fudge. It offers intense chocolate flavor, a creamy texture that's hard to describe and a chocolate shell. The company was founded by John Kelson and Kelly Green who wanted to do something rich, gourmet and totally decadent. We'd say they succeeded. The fudge comes in a number of flavors, with or without nuts and is totally addictive.
One bar runs $14.00, but it's so rich it will last quite awhile. Unless you have roommates, friends or family lurking around. Then it will last about five seconds. You can buy the products online at
JohnKellyChocolates.com, or at various stores nationwide, such as Central Market and Neiman Marcus.
Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow swear by the exercise and diet regime enforced by their mutual trainer, Tracy Anderson. Tracy shares her diet plan with US Weekly and it's pretty rough. No spice (what's wrong with spices?), no alcohol, no oil, no fat, no caffeine (the horror!) and... not much food, really. Here's a sample menu:
WEEK ONE
Sunday
Breakfast
1 cup Kashi cereal, with ½ cup plain (or vanilla) nonfat rice milk
Lunch
3 oz grilled chicken breast -- or fresh turkey breast (no deli meat!) -- with ½ cup each of chopped cucumber and tomatoes
Snack
1 cup mixed berries (try raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
Dinner
1 cup organic pasta with ½ cup steamed spinach
Monday
Breakfast
1 cup Kashi cereal, with ½ cup plain (or vanilla) nonfat rice milk
Lunch
2 hardboiled eggs with ½ cup each of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes
Dinner
3 to 5 oz grilled sea bass with ½ cup steamed spinach
Tuesday
Breakfast
1 cup steel-cut oatmeal made with water and ½ cup fresh blueberries
Lunch
3 oz grilled chicken breast -- or fresh turkey breast (no deli meat!) -- with ½ cup each of chopped cucumber and tomatoes
Snack
1 cup mixed berries (try raspberries, blueberries or red grapes)
Dinner
3 to 5 oz grilled salmon with ½ cup steamed broccoli
In addition, you have to work out two hours a day for six days a week. Now you know why Madonna has a body of a woman twenty years her junior.
The record high prices are affecting everyone. Daniel Gross of Slate bemoans the fact that high food prices are forcing food snobs to downgrade.
Alas, the cost of being precious about food has also never been greater. Despite the vast advances in American food culture, the finest ingredients frequently must travel a great distance to arrive at your local Whole Foods: wines from Europe, California, and South America; Moroccan harissa and Thai fish sauce; South African guava juice; and pistachios from Turkey and Iran. (I know a place. ...) The best smoked salmon-the only one that will e'er darken a bagel in my house-arrives on the banks of the Hudson from distant Scotland, not nearby Nova Scotia.
*****
Some are trading down. Gourmands who swore by New York strip are now singing the praises of the more quotidian hanger steak. Having dinner the other night at an Italian restaurant, I noticed two couples ardently extolling the praises of the bottle of two-buck-chuck they had brought.
*****
But for many food snobs, trading down for everything is unacceptable. Any food snob worth his sel de mer can tick off a few products that he'd rather do without than switch to a cheaper alternative. Swapping the suddenly insanely expensive Italian buffalo mozzarella ($9.99 for 7 ounces) for the American stuff ($8.99 a pound) is like swapping front-row seats at the New York City Ballet for general admission to a community production of The Nutcracker. The reduction in quality is so significant that it renders the formerly sublime experience one not worth having at all.
Alas, the agony of the food snobs shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. Domestic beer? Smoked salmon from Nova Scotia? Domestic buffalo mozzarella? Will the horror never end?
Have you ever left behind one of your shopping lists at the grocery store? Well, author Hillary Carlip might have picked it up. Ms. Carlip has been collecting these discarded lists for years and she's turned them into a book called A la Cart: The Secret Lives of Shoppers. Ms. Carlip says you can tell al lot about a person by his or her shopping list, so she imagined each character based on her observations.
The Wall Street Journal's Bob Hughes goes shopping with the author in this interesting video.
Organic foods have always cost more than non-organic foods. But with the price of oil rising, consumers are facing sticker shock
when they buy their favorite organic foods.
Shoppers have long been willing to pay a premium for organic food. But how much is too much?
Rising prices for organic groceries are prompting some consumers to question their devotion to food produced without pesticides, chemical fertilizers or antibiotics. In some parts of the country, a loaf of organic bread can cost $4.50, a pound of pasta has hit $3, and organic milk is closing in on $7 a gallon.
"The prices have gotten ridiculous," said Brenda Czarnik, who was shopping recently at a food cooperative in St. Paul.
Food prices in general have been rising, but organic food lagged somewhat behind last year because of a temporary glut of organic milk and other factors. Some grocery chains adopted private-label organic products, which are cheaper than brand products, while others hesitated to raise already high organic prices.
In recent months, however, these factors have been giving way to cost pressures in the industry. On grocery shelves across the nation, sharp price increases are taking hold.
"It's probably the most dynamic and volatile time I've seen in 25 years," said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm, an organic dairy business. "It's extremely difficult to predict where it's going."
Organic prices are rising for many of the same reasons affecting conventional food prices: higher fuel costs, rising demand and a tight supply of the grains needed for animal feed and bakery items. In fact, demand for organic wheat, soybeans and corn is so great that farmers are receiving unheard-of prices.
The cost of organic feed is now so high that many organic farmers are ditching organic and going back to selling non-organic meat and dairy products. $7.00 a gallon for organic milk is ridiculous. Even Perry Abbenante, global grocery coordinator for Whole Foods, told the Times that he thinks $6.99 for a gallon of milk is pushing it, and that at some price point consumers will simply quit buying organic.
Oil prices have now reached
$114 a barrel. A gallon of gas is at all-time high in the U.S.
Oil prices surged to a new high on Tuesday, reaching $114 a barrel, as scattered pipeline interruptions and a weak dollar agitated a tight global market.
Crude oil futures jumped $2.03, to close at $113.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have gained more than 18 percent since the beginning of the year, and have increased 125 percent since early 2007.
Rising oil prices are helping to drive up the cost of gasoline. Retail gasoline has hit a record $3.39 a gallon on average nationwide, according to AAA, the automobile club. That’s more than 50 cents higher than a year ago. Diesel prices have posted even bigger gains. Diesel now averages $4.12 a gallon, according to AAA, $1.18 more than last year.
The immediate impetus for the moves in recent days has been a string of interruptions in pipeline operations in the Midwest and in Nigeria, as well as a shutdown of Mexican export terminals in the Gulf of Mexico because of bad weather. While small, these interruptions underline how sensitive the market is to the slightest disruption.
Oil's surge indicates that energy prices are showing no signs of falling despite slowing economic growth worldwide, particularly in the United States. The higher fuel prices, along with rising food prices, are contributing to sharp inflation.
The rising price of fuel and the falling dollar means food and other goods will continue to become more expensive. We've certainly noticed that grocery store bills are quite a bit more than they were several years ago. And luxury goods, such as shoes, handbags and apparel, have risen astronomically in price. The falling dollar also means that consumers are curtailing trips to Europe, because the Euro is so strong. Still, recent reports say most U.S. consumers are continuing to take summer vacations: they're just looking for slightly less expensive destinations.
Elizabeth Hurley has been the face of Estee Lauder for 13 years. To celebrate that the company threw a party in her honor. She even got jewelry.
Thursday afternoon, Evelyn and Leonard Lauder, held a private luncheon at Le Cirque 2000 to honor Elizabeth Hurley’s 13 years as a Lauder spokeswoman.
"It's been a lovefest since the beginning," said Evelyn Lauder, who gave Hurley a gold Cartier Love bracelet. "Elizabeth resonates with everyone -- especially the consumers. They say she is the kind of person they would want as a friend."
Hurley will appear in two Estée Lauder brand ads later this year: for the new Sensuous fragrance, due out in July, and for Perfectionist, which the company is releasing with an updated formula, also in July.
When she's not at Lauder, Hurley has a host of other things keeping her busy. She continues to design and market her Elizabeth Hurley Beach collection of swimwear (a trademark fight with California-based sportswear brand Hurley International notwithstanding) and has just designed a lower-priced swimwear line for Spanish retailer Mango. Hurley will appear in advertising for the collection, Elizabeth Hurley for Mango, due out next month.
Normally we'd say a lunch at Le Cirque plus a gold bracelet equals retirement time, but Elizabeth is still appearing in new campaigns. We think she's a good spokesperson for the brand and hope they keep her around for quite awhile. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has been a success at another endeavor -- she sells organic foods in England raised on her own farm. She sells Hurley Meat and Hurley lamb to upscale butchers and hotels in the Gloucestershire area.
Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham were caught splurging
on an extravagant lunch out together.
The photos that first revealed a friendship between Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham left people scratching their heads at what the two could possibly have in common. If, two years later, the answer still isn't clear, look no further than the current issue of Life & Style, which claims the friends share an affinity for splitting low-calorie meals meant for one.
The magazine reports that during a recent outing to Madeo, the duo shared a green salad sans dressing, one piece of fish and one side of steamed spinach. They also ordered one regular Coke and two glasses of ice.
"Katie poured half the soda into each of their glasses, then filled up the rest with bottled water," a Madeo regular told the magazine.
We get the salad no dressing/fish part of the meal. But what is the deal with the splitting a regular Coke and adding water to it?? Couldn't they each just have their own Diet Coke? It's most puzzling. And we can't believe they each ate half a piece of fish! Have they no shame? Pigging out like that in public just isn't done.
Giada De Laurentiis is a new mom: she now has a darling baby girl named Jade. Here's the clip from the Today Show, which has pictures of the new mom and baby. Giada looks flawless, by the way. Perhaps she had a makeup artist come to the delivery room? It's a smart idea if People magazine is lurking about the maternity ward.
Yes, those are Peeps masquerading as sushi. This is one of the fabulous photos sent in by readers to the Seattle Times. Mark Tometsko of Seattle sent this one in (it's our favorite). See the rest of the entries here. No Country for Old Peeps is pretty hilarious, as well.
We've certainly noticed that men and women tend to have different eating habits, when left to their own devices. Now a new study proves
the truth of this
If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then Mars is a land where the refrigerators are stocked with meat and frozen pizza and Venus has a bounty of yogurt, fruits and vegetables, a new study suggests.
The study of eating habits of adults -- called the most extensive of its kind -- was a telephone survey of 14,000 Americans. It confirmed conventional wisdom that most men eat more meat than women, and women eat more fruits and vegetables.
But there were a few surprising exceptions: Men were much more likely to eat asparagus, brussels sprouts, peas and peanuts. They also were bigger consumers of frozen pizzas, frozen hamburgers and frozen Mexican dinners.
Women are more likely than men to eat eggs, yogurt and fresh hamburgers.
Men also showed a little more of an appetite for runny eggs and undercooked hamburgers - two foods that health experts say carry a higher chance of contamination that can make you sick.
Women were more likely than men to eat only one risky food, raw alfalfa sprouts, which in the past 15 years have been linked to outbreaks of food poisoning.
The survey was done in 10 states, a collaboration between state and federal health officials. The results were presented Wednesday by Dr. Beletshachew Shiferaw, an Oregon health official, at a meeting of infectious disease experts in Atlanta.
Shiferaw said she could not explain some of the odder findings, like why men eat more asparagus than women.
We absolutely despise alfalfa sprouts -- in Southern California they always try to foist them off on you. They're bitter-tasting and it seems that they are always being recalled for some horrible E.coli outbreak. As for our beloved menfolk, they do seem to love meat. To see true (G-rated) male bliss, just roll out that giant Easter ham. They're putty in our hands at that point.
Just when we thought that the whole food-borne contamination epidemic was behind us, we read this horrifying article from Newsweek about how Americans are getting sicker than ever from fresh produce. Even if they wash it first.
Americans are eating more leafy greens than ever. Consumption rose 9 percent between 1996 and 2005, according to a report issued this week by the Centers for Disease Control. But the bad news is that leafy-green-associated outbreaks of foodborne illnesses went up much more: 39 percent since 1996.
Researchers say they are not sure exactly why the rate of illness has increased more than consumption, but they do note that many foodborne disease outbreaks can be traced to a local food preparation source. Of course, in outbreaks that were widespread, the contamination was likely to have originated at the farm or in the processing plant. (Think of the 2006 recall of spinach due to E. coli contamination that was traced back to the farms where it was grown.)
*****
is washing produce in tap water alone enough to make it safe, or should we be doing more?
"Washing is an important step, and it helps, but it can't guarantee elimination of contamination," says Trevor Suslow, an agriculture extension specialist at the University of California at Davis. Pathogens and bacteria can almost glue themselves onto produce and can get into wrinkles, openings or small cuts. That said, Suslow and other experts say it's far better to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, just washed at home, than to forgo them. "The benefits of a diverse diet far outweigh the very, very small risk of consuming contaminated products."
What do the food safety experts do? They wash their produce in running tap water-and eat up. For example, Al Bushway, professor of food science at the University of Maine, uses a spray nozzle on his kitchen faucet to clean lettuce and a vegetable brush to clean apples. He doesn't use chlorine washes, since they give at best a "slight" reduction in microbial load. (If you really want to use chlorine, mix a tablespoon of it with a gallon of water, then rinse it off afterward.)
But wait, there's more! Experts say you should wash the outside of fruit, even if you're going to peel it before you eat it. Melons and bananas can be covered in E.coli (great!), which can be transferred to your hands and then to your mouth. We did know that about cantaloupe -- in fact, we stopped eating it after we read that it's usually covered in manure (fertilizer, don't you know) so you have to wash and scrub like crazy before peel it and cut it up. Too much trouble, good bye fresh cantaloupe. As as for fresh pineapple, that's just waaaay too much trouble. But we know one gourmand who whips out her machete and gleefully attacks the fresh pineapple. Then we just steal some of hers.
Howard Schultz, the once again CEO of Starbucks has lots of
plans
for revitalizing the company, whose shares have dropped 40% in the past year. With most consumers believing that the U.S. is a recession because of rising fuel and food costs and the housing market crash, people are foregoing their $5 lattes. And that's hurting Starbucks. Schultz lays out his plans for weathering the storm:
On Wednesday, Schultz said Starbucks' plan offered solutions to "reaffirm our coffee authority" and make the chain feel less corporate. For instance, Baristas will be able to see customers over new low machines.
A new coffee blend is scheduled for an April debut, and a Web site, www.mystarbucksidea.com, will allow customers to submit ideas to the company and to vote on them.
Under the loyalty program due to begin in mid-April, consumers will purchase their coffee, but extras like caramel sauce or soy milk will be free, Starbucks said.
Schultz also apologized for Starbucks' recent performance.
"I humbly recognize and share both your concern and your disappointment in how the company has performed and how that has affected your investment in Starbucks," Schultz told investors. "I promise you this will not stand."
The decline in U.S. customer traffic in November was the first in Starbucks history.
Cash-strapped consumers are cutting back on Starbucks $3 to $5 coffee drinks as the costs of gasoline and other essentials rise, while competitors nibble away at different segments of the $25 billion-plus U.S. specialty coffee market that Starbucks carved out.
We like the idea of a loyalty card and free extras in our drinks. And new coffees could be good: we're obsessed with the Gazebo blend that is only offered in the summer. It makes the best iced coffee, ever. But mostly it's the price of coffee beans and fuel that is killing Starbucks. We wonder what the upper price ceiling is for consumers who drink lattes: will they pay $6? $10? We have a feeling that $5 was the breaking point for many people, but we'll see as the year goes on. As for us, it just depends on 1) how desperate we are for coffee and 2) how far away we are from home. Sometimes you just have to say, "Get me a latte -- I don't care what it costs!"
A wine taster's nose is his most valuable asset. Now Lloyd's of London has insured the nose owned by Ilja Gort for a record $8 million. Gort is seen in this photo having his nose examined and tested by a specialist in The Netherlands. Gort is the Dutch owner of Chateau de la Garde in Bordeaux and producer of Tulipe Wines.
The policy covers the loss of both his nose and his sense of smell. One wonders if Mr. Gort suffers from allergies. What if he gets a cold and cannot taste the wines properly?
Tonight is the return of Top Chef and we can't wait to see what the new contestants will be cooking up. Rocco Di Spirito will be a guest judge, so that's good. Gail is back as a judge and that's kind of boring. But Padma is back and is reported to be bitchier than ever, so that's awesome. Top Chef airs on Bravo tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern/9:00 p.m. Central time.
Walt Disney Parks announced in a statement today that they are adding a new show starring Chef Cat Cora. Cat Cora is the only female Iron Chef on the Food Network. She's also the president and founder of Chefs for Humanity. You can find some of her recipes and her blog on her website. Cat Cora's Disney Travel show will be called Disney's What's Cooking with Cat Cora.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts today announced the new line up of shows for Disney Travel on Demand, a breakthrough in original programming that combines innovation, storytelling and the power of interactive television to deliver soup-to-nuts vacation planning and entertainment experience to television viewers. Available on Cablevision and Time Warner Cable systems across the country, the first of three new shows premiers with the launch of "Disney's What's Cooking with Cat Cora." A preview of the show is currently available on the Disney Parks Web site.
"Disney is not only a thrilling vacation destination, but a mecca for fine dining," said Cat Cora, Celebrity Chef. "The audience for Disney Travel on Demand provided the perfect venue to not only inform families of the culinary thrills in the park, but to offer recipes that easily incorporate into the daily meal plan."
"What's Cooking with Cat Cora" - Tag along with Cat Cora as she helps families shift their "hum drum" dining experiences from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Cat will open their eyes (and mouths) to delicious and nutritious food by taking families into the kitchens of Disney's world-class restaurants, giving each member a task, which results in an amazing meal.
Just Born is adding a new shape of Peep to its line-up of tasty marshmallow treats. The new addition is called Marshmallow Yellow Tulips. This is the first new Spring shape of Peeps added since the 1950s. Just Born will also be making the popular Chicks, Bunnies and Eggs again this year in time for Easter.
Will Ferrell was recently transformed into a marshmallow Peep. Will Ferrell is the celebrity people think looks the most like a Peep according to a recent survey. Here's a video of Peeps tulips and chicks being made at Just Born's Peeps factory.
The Philips Senseo single-serving Coffeemaker has been a hit in Europe for quite a while, but it hasn't been as well-known in the U.S. We have a regular coffeemaker, of course, but we were curious to review the Senseo, which promises up to two cups of crema-laden coffee at a time. This isn't drip coffee: it's pressure-brewed like espresso, so you get the lovely rich taste and the crema (the foamy coffee layer) at the top.
It's easy to use: you fill the reservoir with water, put in one or two pods (we used two because we use mugs which are bigger), punch the on button. When it stops blinking (the water is now heated) you punch the button for either one or two cups of coffee. It's lightening fast after that. You do need to run just water through the machine before you use it for the first time, or it won't work, but that didn't take long.
The coffee was rich and strong, with a nice foam at the top. It was quite delicious. The only drawback to the Senseo is that you have to buy only Senseo pods: the Starbucks pods are too small and won't fit. You can order the Senseo refill pods online: we thought the Dark Roast was the best.
The coffeemaker comes in red, white or black and retails for $69.99 for the Original (model 7810) at Senseo.com. You can enter to win one for free from Senseo (you have to answer a consumer survey) here.
Starbucks will be shutting its many doors for three hours Tuesday night. It is a move that is sure to catch some Starbucks coffee drinkers by surprise. MSNBC reports that Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz instigated the shutdown as a way to teach barista's the "art of expresso."
Schultz has said the shutdown, which begins at 5:30 p.m. local time, is a way to energize its 135,000 employees and provide some barista re-education in the "art of espresso" at its 7,100 U.S. locations.
In a memo to employees and the public, Schultz said the goal of the closure was to improve the so-called "Starbucks Experience" - the company's shorthand for its mixture of service, ambience and coffee that spurred its explosive growth and success in recent years.
"We are passionate about our coffee. And we will revisit our standards of quality that are the foundation for the trust that our customers have in our coffee and in all of us," Schultz wrote in a memo titled "Howard Schultz Transformation Agenda Communication #8."
The shutdown begins at 5:30 PM local time. Starbucks competitors like the Coffee Beanery are ready to steal customers but they only have three hours to do.
Martha Stewart just bought Emeril Lagasse's company which includes his cooking shows, his website and the products he sells (his cookware is fabulous, by the way.) They both appeared on the David Letterman show to share their Top Ten Dinner Party Tips.
Elizabeth Hurley has been the face of Estee Lauder for 13 years. To celebrate that the company threw 
Walt Disney Parks announced in a statement today that they are adding a new show starring Chef Cat Cora. Cat Cora is the 
Just Born is adding a new shape of 
The Philips Senseo single-serving Coffeemaker has been a hit in Europe for quite a while, but it hasn't been as well-known in the U.S. We have a regular coffeemaker, of course, but we were curious to review the Senseo, which promises up to two cups of crema-laden coffee at a time. This isn't drip coffee: it's pressure-brewed like espresso, so you get the lovely rich taste and the crema (the foamy coffee layer) at the top.
