Other happenings

Impossible to resist. That's how I felt when  Robbin asked if I wanted to join a group of friends to make a barrel of wine at The Wine Press. You see, Robbin had attended a recent open house at this newly opened facility, experienced the fruits of their previous labors (pun intended) and decided to get a group to make some Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes recently harvested in central California. At our first gathering last week, we crushed and de-stemmed our grapes using The Wine Press's equipment. We each emptied one of the twenty-one 36-pound cases of grapes into the machine. From this machine the grapes were pumped into a [...]

Consumer Reports just confirmed what I've been saying for years: cereals marketed to children contain way too much sugar. In their first-ever nutrition report published in the November 2008 issue, Consumer Reports says that 23 of the top 27 cereals marketed to children rated only Good or Fair for nutrition because of their sugars. In fact, Consumer Reports found at least as much sugar in a serving of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks (15 grams sugar) and 10 other cereals as in a glazed doughnut from Dunkin’ Donuts. Sugar isn't the only criteria in their ratings: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies has only 4 grams sugar, but received only a Fair rating because of [...]

Health-conscious consumers — who frequent some fast food chain restaurants — will soon be aware of the calories that they're consuming. YUM! Brands — parent company to KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Long John Silver’s — just announced plans to add calorie counts to their menu boards nationwide. Four thousand stores will post the calories on their menu boards now, according to USA Today, all stores will do so by Jan 1, 2011. Fast-food critic Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a release praising YUM! for doing so and saying,  "I never thought I’d say this, but I salute Colonel Sanders!" [...]

I must be getting old. That or I haven’t been reading enough Page 6. I hadn’t a clue of what this young dapper guy was talking about when describing the hottest NY nightclubs where they were serving bottles of Ty Ku – the libation he was promoting. (Nor, by the way, did I care. I just felt out of it not knowing his reference.) Kirk Spahn (one of the founders of the company) described that bar scene with guests ordering an entire bottle of Ty Ku, his new Asian citrus liqueur — the server carrying it through the nightclub on a tray not only illuminated by sparklers to attract attention [...]

Thumbing through a recent issue of Specialty Food magazine — a publication for those in the fancy food business — I noticed that Vermont Butter & Cheese Company was recently awarded first prize in the outstanding product line category.  Congratulations to Alison Hooper and Bob Reese, the company founders, who began the company almost 25 years ago. You might recall that Bite of the Best had selected their Bijou (a hand-made, fresh ripened, artisanal goat cheese made in the style of the French "crottin") as our FeaturedBite  about a year ago, had offered a chance to win three of their products in our Marketplace up until September 2007, and had [...]

From the woodshop, to the kitchen, to the “let’s make a grater in every form possible,” Microplane, the innovative kitchen utensil company, has gone a bit too far. The classic Microplane series — specifically the zester — was one of our earlier “bites” and for good reason. When the company first launched its product line the zester was innovative, practical and one of the most useful utensils in my kitchen. The reason for me writing this TidBite is because the Microplane company recently released a new line of products, including the Sea Salt Shaver set (say that 10 times fast), retailing for $24.95 that includes a small storage jar filled [...]

A smirk crossed my face when I read yesterday's email from GE Profile describing their new refrigerator with a "media center with seven-inch LCD screen." About 7 years ago on a press trip to Korea, LG introduced a refrigerator with an LCD screen for watching TV and some other unnecessary oddities that I can no longer recall. Ridiculous, I thought, after all who wants to stand in front of their refrigerator and watch TV? At that time I suggested to our host — the executive vice president of the LG Electronics — that they instead should create something more useful with their advanced technology. My thoughts included a unit that [...]