Guilty Pleasures, Pitch

Stewart & Claire's Old Fashioned lip balm is a classic cocktail kiss

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:04:46 -0500

You can file this one under things I never expected to be writing about in this space. But I'd be remiss if I didn't share Stewart & Claire's Old Fashioned Lip Balm ($6).…

Men's Health takes the joy out of your candy box

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:22:27 -0600

The Men's Health 'Eat This, Not That' series is a juggernaut for two very simple reasons: It preaches substitution, rather than denial, and it does a beautiful job of making us simultaneously covet and feel grossed out by a 2,000-calorie bacon-cheeseburger monstrosity. For Valentine's Day, the either/or maxim was applied to candy, and our very own Russell Stover made the list.…

The world's most expensive cannoli on display at Jasper's Restaurant

Charles Ferruzza — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:17:00 -0500

Chef and restaurateur Jasper Mirabile Jr. is determined to make September "National Cannoli Month." (It's already National Biscuit Month, National Honey Month, National Chicken Month and National Mushroom Month).…

Murray's Ice Cream is open again -- can summer be far away?

Charles Ferruzza — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:06:31 -0500

Last week, Murray Nixon opened her namesake ice-cream and cookie emporium in Westport for her 27th season. Tomorrow she introduces her newest flavor: Red Velvet Cake.

"There's 5 pounds of cake in every tub of ice cream," Nixon says.…

Annedore's has the rarest chocolate, but you can't taste it ... yet

Charles Ferruzza — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:56:53 -0600

A month ago, The New York Times reported on a discovery made two years ago of a rare cacao tree, the Nacional, in Peru. The Nacional was thought to be extinct after pure varieties of the tree had succumbed to disease in Ecuador -- the world's largest producer of cacao.

The chocolate made from Nacional cacao beans is also rare -- and expensive.…

How to be happy in two easy steps

Joe Tone — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:31:47 -0600

Step 1: Buy this ice cream, unarguably the best flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream ever to be packed in a carton.

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The Upper Crust Bakery's frosted banana is one weird cookie

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:30:26 -0600

If you venture into the basement level of Pryde's Old Westport, you can't escape the wonderful smells wafting from The Upper Crust Bakery. The air is thick with the homey aroma of baking, which trails fingers under your nostril pulling you toward the tiny shop in the back of the store.…

Teahouse & Coffeepot proves: Great hot chocolate doesn't come from a mix

Charles Ferruzza — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:26:59 -0600

As the temperatures continue to drop, there's no question that one of the best ways to warm up on a bone-chilling afternoon is with a cup of hot chocolate. But Keith Buchanan, the British-born operator of Westport's Teahouse & Coffeepot, is concerned that too many Americans are too accustomed to the processed cocoa-and-sugar beverage made from a mix and stirred with hot water.…

Is 2011 the year of the pastry chef?

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:00:49 -0600

Pastry chefs have long been like Christmas elves -- toiling in the back of restaurants and known only insofar as their creations are magically revealed at the table.

But with the recent run of Top Chef: Just Desserts and an upcoming piece in The New Yorker, pastry chefs might just be the headlining attractions of 2011.…

The cheapest and priciest sweet rolls in town

Charles Ferruzza — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 13:10:12 -0600

It's time-consuming but not all that difficult to bake a tray of sweet rolls. It's not that expensive, either, especially if you have the ingredients on hand.…

It's officially gas-station hot chocolate season

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:15:45 -0600

When Mother Nature decides to spit freezing rain down upon me, I know only two ways to cope -- salting my steps and stopping for gas-station hot chocolate.

After a yearlong layoff, I inevitably fail to stop holding the button before the cup is full and hot cocoa runs freely into the catch basin beneath.…

A defense of Hershey's Kisses

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:15:57 -0600

There are lots of things about American cuisine that can be tough to defend. Yes, we fry a lot of things.…

Pie should be the new greeting card

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 08:15:51 -0500

We've always let cake carry the weight when it comes to celebrations. Sheet cakes for retirements, ice cream cakes for birthdays.…

The Philly Taco is eaten in daylight for the first time

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:15:31 -0500

The Philly Taco is not something I would mention in polite company. And until this post, I doubt my mother knows the term, let alone that I had eaten one with gusto.…

Candy cigarettes for Halloween? Back to the '60s at Crown Center

Charles Ferruzza — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:00:47 -0500

I used to love getting a few packs of candy cigarettes in my Halloween bag as a

youngster. Did those pretend-tobacco confections influence my later

pack-a-day habit?…

Pumpple cake corners the dessert market

Mandy Mendon — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:00:39 -0500

For those of us crippled by having to decide between pumpkin pie and apple pie, there's a new dessert on the table. The Flying Monkey, in Philadelphia, is now serving "pumpple cake."

Each slice has a piece of pumpkin pie and a piece of apple pie, baked into a vanilla-and-chocolate cake.…

IHOP's pumpkin pancakes really stack up

Charles Ferruzza — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:30:22 -0500

If you haven't tasted IHOP's pumpkin pancakes, you have just six more days to sample a stack. The California-based restaurant chain stops serving the seasonal special on Sunday, October 31.…

It's National Sausage Pizza Day. Have you hugged a sausage pizza today?

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 11:15:21 -0500

Humankind can't live on veggie pizza alone. Tap into your carnivore cravings today and celebrate National Sausage Pizza Day.…

The doughnut proves to be recession-proof

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:00:55 -0500

While cupcake stands and burger joints are getting all the press, it turns out that one of America's favorite breakfast items could be the hottest food of 2010.

Time reports that even amid a difficult restaurant climate, the number of doughnut shops in America is increasing. The NPD Group, an international market research firm, estimates that 1.8 billion doughnuts were served this spring, a 6 percent uptick from last year.…

Count Chocula is like a bowl of Halloween

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:00:38 -0500

The scariest cereals of our childhood have returned for a limited engagement. General Mills is putting Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry back on shelves until October 31.…

Bacon-flavored pancakes in a spray can will forever change breakfast

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:10:43 -0500

All that mixing. All that frying.…

Grilled pizza should be the pizza we're known for in Kansas City

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:00:32 -0500

You can get your deep dish at Rosati's and your thin crust at Waldo Pizza. But when it comes to finding a pizza that is truly representative of Kansas City, that's a question to which there doesn't seem to be a single answer.…

K-State professor sheds pounds on the Twinkie Diet

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:15:41 -0500

Morgan Spurlock had McDonald's, Mark Haub has Twinkies. The nutrition professor at Kansas State University is challenging conventional wisdom about junk food, one fat-laden day at a time.…

Women, Food and God author Geneen Roth preaches gusto, may get gut

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:00:36 -0500

Do you love the food you eat? Allow me to rephrase that.…

A guide to making your own nacho cheese sauce

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:30:16 -0500

Who among us has not thought about taking a job at the drive-in or a movie theater just for that one glorious moment when you can stick your head under the nacho cheese dispenser and discover your upper limit for the fake, spicy, cheeselike sauce?

Well, Serious Eats wants to save you the embarrassment of a public firing with the latest entry in their Burger Lab series, which teaches you how to make cheese sauce at home.…