Al Dente

Almost Edlibe Photo: Huckleberry Ice Cream

From Sibby's Organic Zone Ice Cream Parlor in Viroqua, Wisconsin.

--Spanno

Almost Edible Photo: The Naked Lobster Roll

From flickr, via Lobster Shack in San Francisco. Lobster Shack serves up two versions of this sandwich--one with mayo, called The Maine Lobster Roll, and one without (pictured). Can someone from the east coast explain why lobster needs to be drenched in mayonnaise?

--Spanno

Almost Edible Photo: Kobe Steak Sashimi

From flickr, via Yoshi's.

--Spanno

Almost Edible Photo: Maple Bacon Donut

From Food in Mouth. This is Voodoo Donut's famous maple bacon donut. I've never eaten a better one.

--Spanno

Almost Edible Photo: New York Deep Dish Pizza

From flickr, via Andriaccio's in New York. Andriaccio's claims that this is Chicago style, but what do New Yorkers know about Chicago style pizza? Let's just call it "New York deep dish". Despite the cheese being on top, it looks darn tasty.

--Spanno

Burger King Creates King of Burgers

A Burger King in West London now offers a $200 burger available only once a week. The company claims it's all in the name of publicity charity and that they've sold 30 of them.

According to Sky News, "The fine ingredients of what is called simply 'The Burger' include Wagyu beef, white truffles, Pata Negra ham slices, Cristal onion straws, Modena balsamic vinegar, lambs lettuce, pink Himalayan rock salt, organic white wine and shallot infused mayonnaise in an Iranian saffron and white truffle dusted bun."

Despite the incredibly edible picture provided by Burger King's marketing department, my guess is that the real thing looks more like somebody sat on it. I'm sure there's a rich British William Foster just waiting to take that place down. 

--Spanno

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

M-Squared: Watch an adorable video of Mark Bittman and his "mini-Minimalist" three-year-old sidekick making Mexican ice pops. [NY Times]

Mmmm.... Doughnuts: I'm very lucky to live two blocks away from Top Pot, easily the best bets for doughnuts in Seattle, but my heart (and stomach) hold a soft spot for New York's amazing Doughnut Plant. [Boston Globe]

Not Your Mother's Clam Dip: Go beyond the junk-food aisle with gourmet upgrades to classic chip-and-dip combos. [Chicago Tribune]

Gourmet Gizmos: Do you really need a stainless steel jalapeño pepper roaster? Emily Dwass test drives some of this summer's silliest cooking gadgets. [LA Times]

Bruni Beat: Two stars ("very good") for Bleecker Street's  Bar Q: "In terms of its variability from one stretch of the menu to another, Bar Q is a riddle, but it's a riddle with a solution: don't pay too much attention to the restaurant’s name, which alludes to barbecue, or to the culinary direction in which that name points you." And steer clear of the Warm Walnut Soup, which "tasted like a mishap involving cookie dough and dishwater." [NY Times]

--BTP

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

The Swifty  Lazar of the Food World: Allen Salkin profiles Lee Schrager, food festival booker extraordinaire. [NY Times]

"The Imperfect Hostess": Denise Martin profiles Padma Lakshmi, who, "despite her bountiful and broad-based food experience, she still struggles with being taken at face value." [LA Times]

Look Out, Cupcakes...: Rebekah Denn offers a nice overview of Seattle's artisan ice cream scene. [Seattle PI]

Seasoned with Sass: Laura Reiley catches up with Paula Deen during a sold-out swing through Tampa. [St. Petersburg Times]

Hugh Did It!: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's brilliant River Cottage Meat Book won Cookbook of the Year at the James Beard Foundation Awards. [James Beard Foundation]

Fit for a King?: Higher prices, increased fuel costs, and overall economic woes are keeping consumer's from celebrating this year's Copper River salmon run. [Seattle Times]

Bruni Beat: Ago, the restaurant in the new Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca, comes in with a no-star rating of "poor." "This restaurant isn't in the hospitality business. It's in the attitude business, projecting an aloofness that permeated all of my meals there, nights of wine and poses for swingers on the make, cougars on the prowl and anyone else who values a sort of facile fabulousness over competent service or a breaded veal Milanese with any discernible meat." A "Poseidon Adventure of wine spills," an hour-delayed reservation, and the worst seat in the house probably didn't help matters. [NY Times]

A Very Punny List of Stores

Best Week Ever has put together a list of the top 50 pun stores they could find on the internet. You can read the entire list here.

And now, some of the food-oriented puns:

--Spanno

James Beard Foundation Awards: 2008 Winners

Tonight, in a very humid Manhattan, the bars and restaurants around the city are probably swimming with chefs, food writers, journalists, and well-connected foodies hitting the James Beard Award after-party circuit. Early yesterday I jotted down my personal picks and predictions for the book awards, and was much improved from my 1/14 record with the decidedly more eclectic IACP Awards. This time around I went 8/14 with bonus points for calling Cookbook of the Year, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's brilliant River Cottage Meat Book. We are not the type to brag, but this is the second year in a row (see The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook) where Amazon's Best Cookbook of the Year also took home James Beard's prestigious Cookbook of the Year.

On the chef front, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich won the Outstanding Restaurateur Award for Babbo; Chicago's Grant Achatz (whose battle with tongue cancer was recently profiled in The New Yorker) won Outstanding Chef for Alinea (and whose gorgeous upcoming fall cookbook will surely be on the Beard's short-list next year); Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern took home Outstanding Restaurant; and foodie favorite David Chang won Best Chef: New York City.

Book winners featured below. See the complete list of nominees and winners across categories and catch up with official blog coverage.

--BTP

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

What Do You Like to Eat?: Top Chef's Gail Simmons talks about her favorite restaurants, comfort food favorites, guilty pleasures, and the perfect meal. Hint: it doesn't include root beer ("I despise root beer. It makes my skin crawl.") [Serious Eats]

See Spot Eat: Russ Parsons celebrates the West Coast's spot prawn, with a brief history and recipes. [LA Times]

Break Out the Tux: It's a black-tie affair this Sunday as the winners of the 2008 James Beard Awards, the "Oscars of the food world," will be revealed. Bobby Flay and SATC's Kim Cattrall share hosting duties. [James Beard Foundation]

Your Own Personal Joy of Cooking: Learn how to turn all of your favorite hand-written recipes into a one-of-a-kind family cookbook. [Chicago Tribune]

You've Been Served: What do Daily Show alum Ben Karlin and celebrity chef Mario Batali have in common? One big fat lawsuit over Batali's upcoming cookbook on Spain. [The NY Sun via Grub Street]

Bruni Beat: It's one star ("good") for cozy Greenwich Village eatery, Elettaria. "It's whimsical and adorable and reflects significant investments of money, thought and, yes, hope by its principal owners... But Elettaria doesn;t work as well practically as it does visually." [NY Times]

--BTP

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

Fun with Knives: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's an adorable little bear carved from a lemon. James Parker works his magic and takes fruit and vegetable carving to a whole new level (radish rose garnishes need not apply).  [NY Times]

Say Cheese(cake)!: Amy Scattergood takes a loving look at the simple pleasure of the iconic cheesecake. [LA Times]

Digital Dish: The Bon Appétit website gets a whole new look with a very modern, user-friendly face-lift. EIC Barbara Fairchild calls the relaunch "redesigned, redefined, and-in my not-so-humble opinion-super-cool and infinitely useful bonappetit.com Web site." [bonappetit.com via doriegreespan.com] 

Into the Woods: Author and forager Katie Letcher Lyle seeks out morels and other "prized fungi" on a Virginia mountain range. [Washington Post]

Future TiVo Alert: No new episodes of Everyday Italian will be filmed (but will continue to air), but the Food Network has announced new mom Giada De Laurentiis' new show, Giada at Home. [Food Network via Food Network Addict]

Kids in the Kitchen: It's much more than PB&J and mac-and-cheese in the new wave of cookbooks for the younger set. [NY Times]

The Bruni Beat: It's two stars ("very good") for Eighty One, a new restaurant which "provides an especially clear example of a kind of culinary preening--call it ego food--that may speak less to the satisfaction of customers than to the self-regard of proprietors, who want you to marvel at the effort-per-bite ratio and the variety of techniques at play." [NY Times]

--BTP

Raise a Scoop to Irv Robbins

I didn't know Irv Robbins. In fact, until today, I'd never even heard of him. But, I had heard his last name, as part of the dynamic duo of Baskin-Robbins. Despite not knowing him personally, when I read of his death earlier this week, I was sad. Though, he did live a good long life (90 years!) and clearly got to eat a lot of ice cream, which is a good way to live. Epicurious has a lovely article on him, worth checking out not just to learn that he was a pioneer of the franchise concept, but also to find out that the 31st flavor was chocolate mint and that there was once a flavor called 0031 Secret Bonded.

In honor of Mr. Robbins, I've been thinking about some of my favorite Baskin-Robbins memories from childhood:

• Saving up the little bubble gum pieces from my scoop of Pink Bubblegum and taking them home in a napkin to enjoy later--only to have my dog gobble them down instead (napkin and all).
• Enjoying the line of "international cream" flavors, particularly Chocolate Raspberry Truffle--with real bits of truffle!
• Picking out an ice-cream cake for Father's Day. I kept the little plastic hat decoration for years.
• Ogling the Daiquiri Ice container and marveling that ice cream could come in such a cool color.
• Tasting at least five different flavors before finally picking Chocolate Mousse Royale every time.

Your turn! Add a comment and share your favorite Baskin-Robbins memories. Also, check out these Baskin-Robbins fun facts!

--KitchenMaus

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

A Family Affair: Russ Parsons explores the next generation of farmers' markets. [LA Times]

Meat Man: After cooking in the kitchen at Pizzeria Mozza, St. Louis native Mark Sanfilippo returns home to follow his passion for creating and curing artisinal salumi. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Pop Secret? Mark Bittman offers some tips on how to microwave popcorn at home in a simple brown bag--no "special bag" required. [Bitten]

Reducing Their Carbon Hoof-print: The journey from farm to table takes place on a horse-and-buggy when you're heading to a Amish produce auction. [Kansas City Star]
 
Bruni Beat: Even with the caveat that you'll probably never be able to score a reservation, it's three bright shiny stars ("excellent") for David Chang's Momofuku Ko.[NY Times]

--BTP

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

Where to Eat in Liberty City: If exploring the streets of Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City leaves you hungry, you can visit the NYC locations that inspired LC's virtual dining spots. [Ed Levine Eats]

Derby Day for Flay: Bobby Flay celebrates Derby Week as this year's official Kentucky Derby party host and grand marshal of the Derby Festival's Pegasus Parade (and offers a recipe for a Kentucky Hot Brown). [The Courier-Journal]

Hot Diggity Dog!: Charles Perry rounds up LA's hot dog scene, from Pink's to Dodger Dogs and everything organic (and not so organic) in between. [LA Times]

Say it Ain't Ko!: The first not-over-the-moon rave review of Momofuku Ko, David Chang's impossible-to-get-into 12-seat restaurant arrives. [Wall St. Journal via Grub Street]

A Chef's Life: Stacy Finz offers a profile of Michael Mina and his "$80-million-a-year empire of 13 restaurants." [San Francisco Chronicle]

Bruni Beat: It's one lone star ("good") for the  Greenwich Village bistro Commerce ("While there's some wonderful food that reflects the talent [Harold Moore] showed and the experience he received at Montrachet and then March, there's also some food that's not cooked or seasoned as it should be, and there’s food that's too fussy, not just for the ambience but also for its own good"). [NY Times]

--BTP

Having a Drink in Church

At Pennel, in North Wales, a church may soon not only provide religion to its parishioners, but also, at least on occasion, a little liquid pick-me-up. According to an article on the BBC website, the Reverend Geraint ap Iorwerth, from St Peter ad Vincula Church, is going to the courts to apply for a license to sell and serve spirits, as well as beer and wine, in church. Naturally, the first reason is for events such as weddings, but the forward-looking reverend is also thinking about opening a bar in the church café for more regular sipping. The idea is that more people who aren’t coming to church will come to spend time relaxing and socializing and then stay for services. Dr. Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales, says of the plan, "Indeed, sharing bread and wine is an essential part of the Christian ministry." And, "we see alcohol, taken in moderation and used responsibly, as something to enjoy with others." As someone who believes drinking with friends is one of life’s true pleasures, I say "amen" to that.

--A.J. Rathbun

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

Puddin' on the Ritz: Melissa Clark explores chocolate pudding and the upscale upgrade restaurants have been giving this comfort food classic--"Luscious and sexy, with a haunting bittersweet flavor and a texture like a silk camisole... less family matron than femme fatale." [NY Times]

A Papal Menu: Want to know what Lidia Bastianich cooked for Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to New York? Ed Levine has the menu. [Serious Eats]

Case Closed: It turns out that Elvis Costello's new album, Momofuku, is not a tribute to NYC rock-star chef David Chang, but to Momofuku Ando, the inventor of the Cup Noodle--"Like so many things in this world of wonders, all we had to do to make this record was add water." [VH1 via Grub Street]

See You Next Year: Popular food blogger Molly Wizenberg revealed the title of her debut book, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, coming out in Spring '09--"When I first started to work on it, I intended to write a cookbook, but what came out was more like a memoir, a collection of 'food stories' and recipes." [Orangette]

Home Entertainment: Marilyn Krause talks with Ina Garten about the evolution of the dinner party. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Cookbook of the Year: Paul Johnson's Fish Forever won Cookbook of the Year at last week's IACP Cookbook Awards. [IACP]

Bruni Beat: It's one star ("good") for Merkato 55, the meatpacking district restaurant with an Africa-inspired menu assembled by Marcus Samuelsson. [NY TImes]

--BTP

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

Break Out the Swear Jar: Breaking news alert: chefs use salty language! [NY Times]

Pepcid Alert: Chicago baseball fans can finally agree on something: giant sandwiches. Wrigley Field introduces the 2-foot-long Italian beef sandwich and look for the Double-Header Dog, a 24-inch hot dog, at U.S. Cellular Field.  [Chicago Sun-Times]

Today's Forecast Calls for a "Meat Wave": Carla Spartos chronicles the "entrail-oriented" carnivores of the NYC dining scene. [NY Post]

In Memoriam: Pop Culture Eats: Eric Zimmer mourns the empty grocery store shelves for these Top 10 Awesome Nostalgic Foods We Want Back. Hi-C's Ghostbusters-themed Ecto-Cooler? Really? [Serious Eats]

Bruni Beat: Frank Bruni visits Adour Alain Ducasse in the St. Regis Hotel and hands out three stars ("excellent"): "This time around he's taking a less flamboyant approach, and he's eager to get out that message, so much so that advance reports on Adour, named for a river in France, made it sound like an embellished wine bar. Right. It's a wine bar the way Lourdes is a roadside shrine, and it proves that even a dressed-down Mr. Ducasse is still a puffed-up anybody else." [NY Times]

--BTP

Wendy Gets a Speaking Role

Wendy's has recently beefed up (sorry) their marketing and menu. They've given Wendy a speaking role, added a new catch phrase, slogans, and introduced a couple new sandwiches. Let's break it down.

New catch phrase:  "It's waaaay better than fast food. It's Wendy's." That's four A's. I bet there was a long and heated marketing meeting about the number of A's. I've been in meetings like that. It's a strange feeling to get mad at someone over how to spell aaaa word.

New marketing slogan:  "At Wendy's, we're unrivaled in our passion for giving people what they want — and uncompromising in giving people what they deserve." Now, I'm a little concerned about that last part. I thought that was Santa Claus' job.

New burger:  "The Spicy Baconator". Wendy's combined the Baconator with their jalapeno pepperjack burger to create this 880 calorie tongue-melting, heart-stopping frankenburger.

New breakfast menu:  Wendy's now has "Custom Bean" coffee and a "Maple Baked Frescuit". I'm not sure if the "Frescuit" is made with Fresca or is just freshly baked. And "Custom Bean"? WTF does that mean? Again, this was probably the result of a long and heated marketing meeting. Hopefully it doesn't have anything to do with genetic modification.

--Spanno

Living the American Dream

For years now I've had a love affair with diners. And, while I do enjoy pretty much any old diner with retro attitude, what I really lerve is the real deal--the prefab dining car with a counter and stools, and stainless steel so shiny you can see it a mile away. Sit me down there, pour me a tall chocolate Coke, and serve up some pie à la mode!

Since about 2001 I've entertained the notion of writing a book on classic diners. During my "vacation" after the dot-com bust, I scoured the web and made an authoritative listing of all existing classic diner cars, broken down by region. My original intent was to do a road trip and chronicle the foods, designs, and cultures found at these places. Thoughts of money and cholesterol held me back, and then, alas, Amazon.com came calling. So, now I just enjoy the diners on vacations, working them into the roads we travel.

This morning I thought I'd check in on the American Diner Museum website and I discovered that they list classic diners that are for sale. How cool is that? I could just buy a diner (with my spare lunch money), ship it off to Seattle, and set up shop. I'm ready to live the American Dream! In fact, I'm kind of eying the Sunrise Diner in Pennsylvania. Seriously--check out the slide show and tell me that wouldn't be cool!

Got a favorite classic diner in your area? Add a comment and tell me about it! I'll stop by next time I'm in your neck of the woods.

--KitchenMaus

p.s. Check out this cool diner blog. And don't miss Diner City.

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

One Pricey Pig: Rebekah Denn profiles Heath Putnam, the sole US importer of the $25/pound European Mangalitsa (aka "Wooly Pig"), "a small, curly haired, super-fat porker that makes almost no sense for the typical American farmer to raise." (You can watch some very entertaining videos of Putnam's pigs in action on his website.) [Seattle PI]

Simply the Best: Last week Food & Wine revealed their lineup of the Best New Chefs in America. And it's been a very good month for Seattle's Ethan Stowell, who made the list, appeared on the TODAY Show in a hamburger cook-off, and was nominated for a James Beard Award. [Food & Wine]

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a Chef!: Iron Chef fans will recognize the bespectacled Mark Ladner ("Clark Kent in the Kitchen") from Team Batali, but Meredith Bryan puts the spotlight on the executive chef of Del Posto with a terrific profile of "Batali's anti-Batali." [New York Observer via Eater]

Ramp Season: The smelly, wild, and gone-before-you-know it ramp  is one of the first signs of spring (I'm still on the hunt for them in Seattle farmers' markets and produce stalls; I keep getting told either "next week" or "good luck"). The Chicago Sun-Times and Gourmet both take a look at the "it" vegetable of the season. [Chicago Sun-Times, Gourmet]

Emerald Isle Eats: In the April issue of Travel + Leisure, Matt Lee and Ted Lee chronicle the culinary delights of Ireland's County Cork. [Travel + Leisure]

Bruni Beat: It's one star ("good") for Chop Suey, a Times Square restaurant "which mingles Korean and other Asian traditions... an uneven mash of inspiration and clumsiness."

--BTP

Germany's 's Baggers Restaurant

Yesterday, the BBC covered a new restaurant 's Baggers in Nuremberg, Germany. The high-tech restaurant features computer monitors where you place your order, and when your meal is ready it's put on rails and sent down to you lidded and stickered to signify your specific order. There isn't anyone at the counter to greet you or take your order--the restaurant is completely wait-staff-free (aside from the cooks). This all sounds fun, right? But, what would the effects of something like this be on society?

If successful in Nuremberg and internationally scalable, we'd probably see a downturn in the number of restaurant-sector jobs worldwide. Would this downturn be significant? Possibly. But, would a downturn enable/encourage restaurant employees to move on to more exciting job opportunities. Probably.

I'm definitely not a Luddite nor a social anthropologist, but what could the effects be on a culture's social interactions? Hmm. This could get interesting!

--Sous-Chef on the Run

Hot Coffee and Doughnuts in the Nude? Seems Dangerous to Me

As most who keep up-to-date with food news know, Dunkin Doughnuts has been working over the last few years at expanding its customer base beyond those just looking for scrumptious fried dough treats, specifically targeting those who head to a café for more than regular coffee. However, I’m not sure they are aiming for the small segment of folks who like to drink their coffee and toss back those doughnuts au natural. Which is what a Marlborough man recently found out, according to this article. Okay, maybe he was taking it a bit farther than looking to have his breakfast while leaving his clothes behind, but I’m guessing there is a contingent of folks out there who are nude eaters-and-drinkers. I’m not opposed, either, if they’re not interfering with my dining. But (and this is what seems wrong to me) if you are a fan of the naked meals, wouldn’t you avoid the hot coffee? Isn’t that a painful scorching waiting to happen? If any readers out there partake in clothing-less meals on a regular basis, let us know if you avoid those hotter dishes, or if you’re just extra careful when sipping or eating them?

--A.J. Rathbun

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

Zap to It: Mark Bittman revisits his microwave to see if it serves any serious culinary purpose in his kitchen beyond re-heating leftovers. And Harold McGee explains the science behind that "quirky appliance" ([I]t can cause a mug of hot water to erupt scaldingly, char nuts and breads on the inside, and blow up eggs and butter.") [NY Times]

When Martha Calls: Sometimes Fed-Ex just won't do... especially when Martha Stewart wants to feature your gourmet S'mores cupcakes on her show. When Jennifer Shea, owner of Seattle's Trophy Cupcakes got the call, she bought a last-minute plane ticket and packed her bags with a KitchenAid stand mixer, gourmet chocolate, Madagascar bourbon vanilla, and plenty of pastry bags. [Seattle PI]

Lost in Translation: Alex Koppelman mourns the television decline of Gordon Ramsay, a man "lost beneath his own shtick," especially in the US versions of his terrific UK cooking shows on display on BBC America. [Salon.com via Serious Eats]

Does Gerber Make a Pancetta Flavor?: Congratulations to Food Network star and bestselling cookbook author Giada De Laurentiis and her husband Todd Thompson on the birth of their baby girl, Jade Marie De Laurentiis Thompson. [MSNBC.com]

Bruni Beat: Frank Bruni serves up two stars ("very good") for Mia Dona, a "big hearted new restaurant" where "you'll find pasta dishes so forcefully flavored and generously portioned they could play as well at Carmine's as at Del Posto." [NY Times]

--BTP

Burger King Wants to Pimp Your Whopper

The Whopper turned 51 this year and Burger King plans to celebrate by opening a string of bars later in the year. Instead of serving alcohol, they're going to get you drunk on a highly-potent combination of flame-broiled beef and choice.

"Customers will be treated to a smorgasbord of Whopper options" and "will also feature a build-your-own option for customers hoping to customize their burger."

Personally, I love this concept. Limited selection with hyper-customization. It would be like GM opening a Hummer-only dealership. They should take it one step further and just serve Pepsi--not only for the comedic value, but to keep me from going there altogether.

Little known fact: I've never eaten a Whopper.

--Spanno

Batter Up!

With opening day right around the corner, Al Dente readers might want to start their mouths watering by dreaming about all that great food available at baseball stadiums these days. It's no longer just peanuts and Cracker Jack! At Seattle's own Safeco Field, I can't miss the barbecue and Dippin' Dots whenever I attend a game. Here are a few other tasty treats found around the country:

• Barbecue stuffed baked potato (Houston)
• Shrimp tacos (San Diego)
• Cuban sandwich (Tampa Bay)
• 40-clove garlic chicken sandwich (San Francisco)
• Crab cake sandwich (Baltimore)

What unique treats do you eat at your stadium? Add a comment and let us know!

--KitchenMaus

The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

Is That a Bullet in My Blackened Catfish?: Legendary Louisiana chef Chef Paul Prudhomme takes "Iron Chef" a whole new level as he was grazed in the arm by a stray .22 caliber bullet  while setting up his cooking tent on the golf course at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The "falling bullet" felt like a bee sting and was fired somewhere within a 1.5-mile radius. "Within five minutes, he was back to doing his thing."  [ESPN.com]

Dollar-Store Dinner Party: Henry Alford takes a Marco Polo approach to exploring the edible delights (and downers) on the shelves in New York's 99-cent stores. "For dessert each night we turned to the slightly wanton charms of the Little Debbie product line, particularly young Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies, whose velvety filling so perfectly captures an imagined marriage between buttercream frosting and Noxzema." [NY Times]

Bee Season: Russ Parsons chronicles Colony Collapse Disorder and how the shrinking honeybee population is affecting California's almond industry.  [LA Times]

Indiana Jones and the Summer Wedding Catered by the Naked Chef:  Rumors are swirling that Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart hope to hire UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver for their summer nuptials. Let's hope that the monkey brains dinner sequence from Temple of Doom doesn't serve as inspiration for the menu. [Hello Magazine]

Collards and Candied Yams and Cobbler... Oh My!: Food critic Kevin Nance seeks out Southern "down-home deliciousness in the Windy City." [Chicago Sun-Times]

Cookbook Award Season is in Full Swing: Last week the IACP announced their 2008 nominees and on Monday the James Beard Foundation announced their 2008 finalists. Winners will be revealed on June 8. [James Beard Foundation]

Bruni Beat: Frank Bruni revisits the four-year-old West Village restaurant Mas and sticks with two stars ("very good"). "For the most part this isn’t a restaurant for diners with big, blunt appetites. It’s for those who revel in little surprises and unexpected nuances..." [NY Times]

--BTP