| Come On, Have a Taste!
There is only one day left to send your palate off to paradise, and Saturday is the ticket as the Taste of Vail continues with cooking, wine seminars and the Grand Tasting and Dance. The Taste hit turbo drive on Friday with the Mountaintop picnic, in which dozens of the valley’s most exquisite restaurants offered exotic and delicious dishes and wineries handed out samples of their most coveted reserves. The desserts topped the treat totem for us. Vail Gourmet Cookie CO. had plenty of people loitering around its baskets of mint chocolate shortbreads and caramel-injected brownies while Chap’s dished out mini limoncello custard cakes with blueberry compote. You’re drooling, aren’t you?The savory offerings ranged from fish tacos to Colby meatballs to brie soup with truffles.If any of this sounds appealing, here’s what’s left to taste on Saturday, April 14.9:30 to 11 a.m.: The Food Network’s Michael Chiarello demonstrates the art of Southern Italian Cuisine at the Lionshead Marriott12 to 1:30 p.m.: Spanish Wine Seminar discussion and tasting of Spain’s comeback into the world of indulgent grape beverages at the Lionshead Marriott.2:30 to 4 p.m.: Grape nuts will have a ball with this rare chance to taste eight vintages from Domaine Louis Latour at the Vertical Tasting; Lionshead Marriott.7 p.m.
Eva Longoria Gets Second Bridal Shower
Typically, a woman gets to have one bridal bash before her wedding. But for Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, two bridal showers should do the trick. On Sunday, April 15, Housewives co-star Felicity Huffman gave Longoria an outdoor bridal bash at her Los Angeles home. The small co-ed gathering consisted of a sit-down lunch wherein guests feasted on a salad bar with chicken salmon, shrimp, gourmet cheeses with various wines and martinis. For desert, they gorged on chocolate chip cookies, brownies and white-chocolate pastries. Of course, guests also showered Longoria with gifts. Longoria told People, "It was such a special day! Felicity and my maid of honor, Brittany Olson, went above and beyond to make the whole afternoon beautiful and memorable. I can't thank them enough. I'm extremely blessed to be surrounded by my family, friends and co-workers and to have had them all together to celebrate this special moment in my life." Apart from Huffman’s bridal bash, Longoria aslo got an additional bridal party.shower This time, it was a girls-only party thrown by Desperate Housewives co-star Teri Hatcher.
The anatomy of a winning recipe
The deadline is approaching for the mother of all cooking contests, the Pillsbury Bake-Off.
With a $1 million grand prize, this is a contest that goes way beyond blue ribbons.
So what does it take to win that million-dollar prize? Diane Kerekes of Sapulpa came close to finding out last year when she advanced to the finals, and won $10,000 for her Southwestern Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie.
One thing that Kerekes' recipe shares with other Pillsbury winners is a creative use of Pillsbury ingredients. Taking ordinary ingredients and making them interesting, or even gourmet, is something many of the past winners have in common.
Kerekes' recipe used canned soup, plus added ingredients, and was topped with Pillsbury biscuits. Last year's grand-prize winner, from Austin, Texas, won for her Baked Chicken and Spinach Stuffing, a dressed-up concoction of chicken breasts stuffed with Green Giant spinach and Pillsbury waffle sticks.
Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. Announces 1 st Quarter 2007 Earnings Call
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. (Nasdaq:CBOU), the second largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse operator in terms of coffeehouses, announced today that it will release financial results for 1Q 2007 (ended April 1, 2007) after the market close on Thursday, May 3, 2007. Management will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time the same day as the earnings release. The conference call will be webcast and can be accessed from the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.cariboucoffee.com via the About Us tab. To listen to a replay of the conference call, dial toll-free 1-888-203-1112 or international callers 1-719-457-0820 and enter pin number 7322419. The replay will be available beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 3, 2007 through 11:59 pm Thursday, May 10, 2007.
Helping the city's homeless
SYDNEY'S homeless are eating better now the city's restaurants, catering companies and food outlets are donating their leftovers to OzHarvest. Founded by caterer Ronni Kahn, OzHarvest collects surplus sandwiches, soups, salads and gourmet meals and delivers them fresh to 118 charities throughout the city. Since 2004, OzHarvest has collected food from more than 400 donors and delivered 1.4 million meals to the hungry, needy and homeless. It is the only perishable food rescue charity operating in Australia. "No money I have ever earned feels as good as being involved in OzHarvest," said Ms Kahn. "Every single day I feel so proud and privileged to be in a position to do this." Ms Kahn came up with the idea to deliver food from the haves to the have-nots after becoming fed up with having to throw out perfectly good food after events for which she had been responsible for catering.
Oxfam launches celebrity auction as part of Darfur appeal
LONDON: International relief agency Oxfam began taking bids on Tuesday in an online celebrity auction aimed at raising money for its work in Darfur and neighbouring Chad. The auction, which will see the prized possessions of several celebrities sold to the public, is part of a five-million-pound (7.4-million-euro, 10-million-dollar) appeal launched by the charity on April 16. Among the items on offer are pop star Elton John's tailor-made Donatella Versace suit, a script of hit film The Queen signed by Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin's Dolce and Gabbana jacket, and gold-coloured designer shoes signed by actress Sienna Miller. "I'm delighted to donate this suit... and hope it raises lots of cash for the people of Darfur who have already suffered too much," Elton John said.
Life goes on after 'The Sopranos'
As The Sopranos heads toward its final episode, a former cast member has been getting on with life beyond the hit HBO mob drama. Joe Gannascoli, 47, played Vito Spatafore, and a central plot line of the prior Soprano's season had Gannascoli's character, one of boss man Tony Soprano's biggest earners, trying to come to terms with his homosexuality. Spatafore fled New Jersey for New Hampshire, where he fell in love with a short order cook. Ultimately, though, he missed his children, old life and old ways too much to accept his new way of living. Vito returned home, only to be beaten to death with a pool cue, his homosexuality a lifestyle the mobsters could not accept. "On the MSN Web site, Vito's coming out is listed as No. 7 on the list of The Sopranos Top 10 Moments.
Haagen-Dazs vs. Ben & Jerry's: Battle of the Brands
This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts. If you like ice cream, you're probably already in one camp or the other. Few people claim to love Ben & Jerry's peacenik-y, tied-up-and-twisted flavors equally as well as the upper-crust uber-richness of Haagen-Dazs' highly-crafted premium varieties. Oddly, though both have such strong brand identity and have created corporate cultures that seem pure and fiercely independent, both are tiny units of much larger (and unsexy) food companies. Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever plc (ADR) (NYSE: UL) in 2000, while Haagen-Dazs was acquired by Pillsbury in 1983, now a unit of the quite pedantic General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS).
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