Odds ‘n ends posts about things happening in NYC area , plus leftover posts from original BIte of the Best site
Don't forget to enter our tagline contest to win a A KitchenAid Artisan® Series Stand Mixer (model KSM150PSER) valued at $349.99. (KITCHENAID and the mixer shape are registered trademarks of KitchenAid, U.S.A) here to enter.Contest runs through mid-January 2010.
From bachelorette parties and bridal showers to food and wine pairing rehearsal dinners, Grand Cru Classes can design the perfect wedding wine event for you. Certified Wine Educator, Tracy Ellen Kamens, combines her passion for wine, love of teaching, and experience as an event planner, to create flawless events that entertain as well as educate. For brides who want a more modern approach to their festivities, a wine-themed event can be a great way to spend time with friends and family celebrating her upcoming wedding." This is an especially fitting approach for brides choosing to get married in the Hamptons or on the North Fork, as these areas are part [...]
Unbeatable Deal Featuring $5 Soups, Salad, Burgers and Desserts! David Burke Prime at Foxwoods, named “Top Newcomer” in Zagat’s 2009/10 Connecticut Restaurants guide, is offering a special lunchtime $5 burger menu from December 28-31. Celebrity Chef David Burke and Executive Chef Christopher Shea’s menu starts with an Organic Mixed Greens Salad or Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons ($5 each). In addition, burger options include a 28-Day Dry Aged Burger, a Tuna Burger or a Turkey and Cheddar Burger ($5 each). Customizing your burger will prove to be half the fun! Add Burke’s signature Angry Shrimp ($6), Caramelized Mushrooms and Onions ($5) or a Fried Egg, Crispy Bacon or Buttermilk [...]
Don't forget to enter our tagline contest to win a A KitchenAid Artisan® Series Stand Mixer (model KSM150PSER) valued at $349.99. (KITCHENAID and the mixer shape are registered trademarks of KitchenAid, U.S.A) Click here to enter.
Good news for all of us. Most major food companies have announced a reduction in the sodium — the part of salt we're concerned with — in their processed foods. And that's because, "Americans are becoming much more aware of their sodium intake -- and you can see it in the way food and beverage companies are targeting consumers," says Joan Holleran, Director of Research for Mintel, a market research firm. "The number of new products being launched with sodium claims of some type, including low-, no-, or reduced-sodium, are way up -- more than 115% from 2005 through 2008. What's really interesting is how sodium is being positioned." On [...]
Beer... a beverage that is universally appreciated at almost all levels of society. Though likely the most consumed alcoholic beverage on the planet (at least by volume - this turned out to be a tough statistic to nail down, even on wikipedia, the best definitive answer I could find was here, not exactly science!), beer is still an under appreciated product when it comes to foodies. I've never met anyone who didn't enjoy a nice cold beer with a cheeseburger (I've obviously never met a non-drinker or a vegetarian in my life), but that aside, beer seems to fall through the cracks whenever any non-tailgate foods are introduced. For the [...]
For almost 30 years, I've been complaining about the sugars in General Mills cereals aimed at kids. I've gone as far as suggesting they sell their sugary breakfast offerings in the candy — not cereal — aisle. Well I must say, "Hallelujah!" as somebody must have been listening. General Mills — the maker of Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Reese's Puffs, Cookie Crisp and other sugary cereals — announced that they are further reducing the sugar in their cereals advertised to children under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. According to company spokesperson Heidi Geller, in 2007 they committed to reduce the sugar in those cereals to 12 [...]
General Mills just launched a website (http://liveglutenfreely.com/) to attempt to assist consumer who are looking for gluten-free foods and recipes. I say attempt, as you'll only learn only about the company's gluten-free products and using those products in recipes — you won't learn a thing about living without gluten. The site contains a list of all General Mills gluten-free products and how to identify those product using the ingredient label, plus a mere ten kitchen-tested recipes based on those products. There's also a newsletter offer, which I'll bet will only provide you with more info about the company's gluten-free products and how to use them. Live Gluten Freely is helpful only [...]
(For Women)... I had posted about the 125 Best Foods for Men a while back, when Men's Health originally published their list, as it had a good number of Bite of the Best notables within (Swanson Organic Chicken Broth, Sabra hummus, McCann’s steel cut oat, Dr. Krackers Classic 3-seed Crackers, Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips, Uncle Bens Whole Grain Brown Rice, Alfresco Chicken Sausage….. just to name a few). Well, Women's Health recently came out with their parallel list (it's a Title 9 thing), so I thought I'd share some of our overlaps again.. You can see the full listing of product selections here. Kashi was a [...]
Bonnie, Bryan & Eric: We are wishing all of you a deliciously wonderful turkey day tomorrow. And instead of reviewing a product this week, we wanted to share some Thanksgiving recollections and, more importantly, to ask you to share yours with all of us – both the memorable and the forgettable ones.
For instance:
• What’s your traditional holiday food (other than turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce) that must be on your holiday table? And, if you’re so inclined, how about sharing the recipe with us. We’re pretty traditional, preparing the regulars and deciding on the other sides by what looks fresh in the farmers’ market or at our local farm stand.
• Share an amusing tale about a food item that wasn’t completely cooked or never made it to the table. At our home, we call an undercooked turkey a “Harriet.”
One Thanksgiving, we all were called to the table to eat. We began to dig into the food that was passed around the table as Aunt Harriet placed the 26-pound bird in front of Uncle Ben to carve. He attempted to cut into the giant turkey, when he realized it was raw, literally raw.
Blame went back and forth, as it seemed someone had forgotten to turn on the oven.
“I thought you put the turkey in the oven.”
“I did, but I thought you had turned on the oven….”
We all giggled, and made do from the rest of the holiday offerings.
Hence, the name.
• Share a story about celebrating this all-American holiday out of the country. While Eric was studying hospitality abroad in Den Haag (The Hague, The Netherlands), we had some Thanksgiving celebrations at our relative’s home in Brussels, Belgium (about 1½ hours by train from Den Haag). Eric invited some classmates from Sweden, Israel, Spain, Bulgaria and Tunisia to experience the multicourse, very filling meal. Smart move to invite those studying hospitality, as they all pitched in to cook and clean up without even being asked!
• Share a story about cooking the multicourse meal in a small or under-equipped kitchen. Necessity is certainly the impetus for creativity, as Bonnie found when she prepared a full holiday meal in Bryan’s brand new home, sans many needed pots, pans, utensils and serving dishes.
Bonnie coped, adapting to what was there and found odds ’n ends around the house to serve foods in…
• Share what you’re thankful for this year as we’ve all been affected to some extent by economic hardships. The turkey might be smaller and the additions fewer, but the friends and family surrounding you are all that truly matter.
The Bite of the Best team is very thankful this year that we’re all in the same place and sharing Thanksgiving cooking and dinner together. And we’re thankful for having all of you who follow us on our ever-growing site.
You can now follow Bonnie on Twitter: BonnieBOTB
Food companies aim to sell their products by incorporating or removing the latest "hot buttons" into or from them. Nabisco has done just that for their Wheat Thins. First, they've doubled the whole grains for Original, Reduced-Fat, “Big” and Hint of Salt Wheat Thins from 5 grams to 11 grams per serving. The government currently recommends three (18-gram) daily servings of whole grains. And Nabisco's removed the high fructose corn syrup, which they say they " know is important to many Wheat Thins lovers." Stay tuned for the next food hot buttons! - bonnie
The “lunch wars” are taking off. Everyone is fighting for your newly reduced lunch budget. Hey, we're all tightening our belts, so who wants to have to loosen it at the same time (stay off the fast food burgers!)? There are a number of large chain restaurants (and thankfully smaller mom/pop restaurants) that have been rolling out the specials, trying to get us to still eat out in these harder times. Quiznos has fired the latest shot in the ongoing lunch saga, stepping all over Subway's $5 footlong promotion with the introduction of two different types of subs, both under $5!! Get ready for the Toasty Bullet & Toasty Torpedo [...]
Just one month remains to enter recipes into the CorningWare SimplyLite National Recipe Contest. The contest kicked off in August, inviting any/all home cooks (18 years and older, sorry child prodigies) to submit original recipes for baked goods, either savory or sweet. The twist of it is that the baked goods need to be "lite". The recipe has to make a good faith effort to use ingredients that are low in fat and calories. The best part is, the grand prize recipe wins $5,000! The contest runs through December 31, with a bake-off planned for early January at the Institute of Culinary Education (New York) to help choose the grand [...]
What a great idea for our Thanksgiving NewsBite, we thought when the publicist for Trudeau’s Silicone Rack & Lift ($19.99) reached out to the Bite of the Best team. The red, silicone roast rack allows you to lift up and remove a turkey (or any roast, for that matter) from the cooking pan. Since it can hold up to a 30-pound bird, I thought it ideal for turkey day. That is until I tried it. Don't get me wrong. The nonstick holder didn't get hot in the oven (like all silicone), the side handles snapped together to make it easy to lift and, since it's so flexible, it didn't take [...]
Do I have to put my sandwich together myself? Will I need allen wrenches? IKEA offers food, lots of food actually. You may not have known this, but they've been doing it for a long time. IKEA, randomly, is the only place in the United States where you can purchase Daim candies (a European fave), but the furniture company is now really trying to promote their foods. As school gets back into the swing of things, IKEA wants you to know that they offer everything from lunch box essentials to dinners on the run. Oh yes, there is an IKEA Swedish Food Market. It's not just for piecemeal furniture anymore. [...]
Everyone has their idea of what the best are... It doesn't even matter the subject is, everyone has their own opinions. Give me the top-10 restaurants in your city, now your state, now your country, now the world. Did any of the selections from your first list make it to your last list? Well, those of us from New Haven can say so, at least when quoting the London-based, Guardian Newspaper's latest 'The 50 best things to eat in the world' article. What a statement by the way... The 50 BEST things to eat, in the WORLD! When I first saw this, I just knew I had to give it [...]
I am a sandwich lover... A food lover most importantly, but a sandwich lover most definitely. Most meals are not a meal for me without bread anyway, so why not just wrap it around my food and pick the whole thing up I say? Though we cover a lot of food products and food news at Bite of the Best, we certainly don't give sandwiches the level of attention of some other food sites. As I do love to share all bits of interesting food info, I wanted to let you know about a great blog I recently came across, Insanewiches.com. It was a picture of an intricately put together [...]
Help feed the hungry with just a click of your mouse. Seriously -- by just watching a YOU TUBE video created by Kraft Foods, you can make a difference. Every time this video is viewed, Kraft Foods will donate money to Feeding America to help provide five meals to those at risk of hunger -- up to 100,000 meals through the end of October. The employees of Kraft Foods created this online video to encourage more people to get involved by heeding the call of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which just took affect Oct. 1. Just click here, view the video, then tell your friends and help [...]
Yes, I said 'Stimulation Beverage'. I'm a bit confused too... The newest crazy drink to hit the market is Fever. Yes, Fever. My vote for 'Nausea' apparently didn't go over well with test audiences. I kid, I've not even tried this one yet, but had to share a bit, as its description caught me as unique. I will just have to give it straight from the horse's mouth on this one. Fever is an "all-natural, flavor-packed beverage that provides a sense of euphoria and stimulates body wellness". Well damn, that sounds like quite a dramatic beverage, though I might point out that those were the same medicinal qualities doctors first [...]
Oh.. I wish I were an Oscar Mayer weiner.. that is what I truly wish to be.. cause if I were an Oscar Mayer weiner, everyone would be in love with me... C'mon.. You all know the lyrics. I know you're humming along to yourself right now. If you're not, click on this link and you'll likely be soon. Classic Americana... I recently got invited for a ride on the weinermobile.. It was heart-breaking, but I couldn't make it on this fantastic voyage. I only share this thought to bring a smile, thinking about riding around in a huge hot dog car that continuously plays the Oscar Mayer Weiner song [...]
