italian gourmet food

Shoppers can save money through online price comparisons when they buy through plaza101.com! During March Madness, NCAA basketball fans can find basketball jerseys, athletic apparel and sports equipment of all kinds at plaza101.com and can save big money.

In addition to athletic apparel and sports equipment, Plaza101.com is already well known for offering computers, electronics, photography gear, baby and child products, pet needs, watches, foods - including gourmet food products, jewelry, watches, computer software and almost anything a consumer would need.

Cuzco, Inca Valley merit exploration

The high-flying Andean capital of Cuzco is the gateway to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, South America's premier tourist destination. Each year more than a million foreign visitors pass through Q'osqo (as it's known in the indigenous Quechua language), but few pause long enough to explore this Peruvian city once ruled by Inca kings and Spanish conquistadors.

Start at the nerve center of the colonial city, the Plaza de Armas. Once the site of an Inca palace, for centuries it has been lorded over by La Catedral, a jewel box of art that blends Catholic beliefs with indigenous Andean traditions. In Marcos Zapata's "The Last Supper," roast cuy (guinea pig) is a featured dish in the holy Christian feast.

Narrow alleyways beside the plaza are buttressed by complexly crafted Inca stonework.

The brand has left the building: maintaining consistency in an ...

We all know about the savings outsourcing can make. Mention it to your FD and watch him salivate. Marketing and CRM have always taken a cooler view: after all, its hard to see the brand youve carefully nurtured abandoned into the arms of strangers. Nevertheless, the time will come when you have to let go. What steps are companies taking to make sure that out-of-house doesnt mean the dog house for their brand?

Its true that unscrupulous outsourcing can do strange and awful things to just about every aspect of your brand. Look at what Asia-based investigators humorously refer to as the 'third shift': deliberate production overruns in outsourced garment manufacturing that are then offloaded as cheap counterfeits. Its an extreme example, but then outsourcing is a perilous brand environment.

Great garlic

Got some great garlic? Show it off with these recipes

While hardneck garlic will bring a distinctive flavor to these recipes, the regular supermarket variety would work just as well.

GARLIC-POTATO SOUP

(Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours. Recipe from the March 2007 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine.)

For the garlic chips:

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 medium cloves garlic, sliced thin lengthwise

Salt

For the soup:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium leek, ends trimmed, white and light green parts halved lengthwise and chopped (about 1 cup)

3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed with a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)

2 heads garlic, rinsed, loose skins removed and top third of each head cut off and discarded

6 to 7 cups low-sodium chicken broth (start with 6 cups and use extra to thin soup, if needed)

2 bay leaves

Salt

11/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 41/2 cups)

1 pound red bliss potatoes (not peeled), cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

1/2 cup heavy cream

11/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup minced fresh chives

To make the garlic chips, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the garlic in the oil, turning frequently, until light golden brown, about 3 minutes.

FUSION: Watch Out for Reactors and Power Down at SB’s Cafes

Empanadas, available for large dinner parties, at Opal Restaurant and Bar are one of the many delicious items on its vast menu of fusion foods. The eatery features a full-service bar and homemade food, specifically California cuisine. Located downtown on State Street, the restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner, catering to the hunger pangs of its loyal patrons.

Not so plain in Spain, but local chefs rate taste

IT'S A big call by any standards but many chefs, foodies and restaurant critics regard Spain's Ferran Adria as the best cook on the planet, a man who deconstructs food while playing with your mind and palate.

While El Bulli is No. 1 on the magazine's annual list of the world's best 50 restaurants, announced yesterday, only one Australian restaurant made the top 10 Tetsuya's in Sydney, which retained its fifth spot and was voted best restaurant in Australasia. One other Australian restaurant, Sydney's Rockpool, made the list, at 33, down three places from last year.

Valley Vibrations

My electric bass teacher, Art Rodriguez, said something one night in class that I thought was inspirational. We were listening to different versions of songs performed by various groups over the years and he said, "That's what's fun about music - you can always take it and make it your own."

Bet he didn't realize I was writing it down. That's what you get when there's a reporter in the group.

We can all benefit from taking classes and lessons, but if they're not available or too difficult for us to do at certain times in our lives, it's not the end of the world. I had a nice conversation with two Tai Chi instructors this week, one who had 12 years of instruction from the same teacher and the other who had eight months of instruction, moved and found his only way of learning was through books, until he finally found a new mentor years later.