Short and Sweet, Pitch

Pink Box Bakeshop: a lot of sweet for $5

Emily Johnson — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:30:37 -0600

From the pink-painted storefront to the hearts-filled window display, Lawrence's Pink Box Bakeshop (727 Massachusetts) is frosted in cloying sweetness. But the treats inside temper the visual blood-sugar spike.…

Golden Corral will start serving cotton candy

Mandy Mendon — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:00:49 -0600

When you think of cotton candy, it might bring back memories or the circus or the county fair. Well, Golden Corral is about to crush all of those memories.…

Fresher than Fresh hits its fundraising goal

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:00:35 -0500

People no longer scream for just ice cream -- there seems to be plenty of demand for snow cones.

Eighteen days ago, we noted that Lindsay Laricks of Fresher Than Fresh Snow Cones was trying to raise $6,300 -- via the online fundraising Web site Kickstarter -- to expand her business.…

Cream cheese and chocolate at Boulevard Bakery

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:00:05 -0500

With bakeries, it's all too easy to get into routines. I get my povitica at MeMa's (unless I'm near Strawberry Hill), my lemon cookie at JaWa Le's Bakery-Bistro, and my mini muffins at the Classic Cookie.…

Cookie ornaments from KCK at the Blaire House in Washington D.C.

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:00:31 -0600

The next time you need to decorate your tree because world leaders are coming over for Christmas dinner, you should call Kodi Malott.

Malott, of Kodi's Cakes in Kansas City, Kansas, was recently asked to create a series of cookie ornaments for the Christmas tree at the Blair House -- the President's guest house, across the street from the White House.…

Chewing on Trident Layers gum

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:45:44 -0600

Gum has become complicated. The packaging is slick and the flavors are complex.…

Milk Men -- a Mad Men parody

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:46:14 -0600

Milk Men - A Mad Men Parody

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If you yearn to know what it was like back when cold bottles arrived on doorsteps every morning, Milk Men provides a peek inside the routes of the men and women who delivered the dairy.

The trailer -- a clever parody of AMC's Mad Men, which just wrapped up its third season -- covers the intrigue and excitement of door-to-door milk deliveries set in the turbulent and trendy 1960s.…

Pranks and beans

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:00:50 -0500

The world of pranks has come to jelly beans with Bean Boozled Jelly Beans -- the latest product from the Jelly Belly Candy Company.

It's a clever repackaging of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans -- a licensed Harry Potter candy that featured ear wax, vomit and bacon flavors.…

The hallowed candy bowl

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:55 -0500

It was a wicker basket, roughly the size of a birthday sheet cake. The bags of bulk candy were placed next to it, awaiting the traditional layout to maximize space and presentation -- an effort to be neither appreciated nor acknowledged by the first group of trick-or-treaters who would tear my efforts asunder in their desire to get to the Snickers faster.…

Union Station's chocolate-scented come-on

Charles Ferruzza — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:43 -0500

Union Station celebrates the art of chocolate

Everyone loves chocolate -- right? That's what the management of Kansas City's Union Station is counting on as it opens Chocolate The Exhibition (the show and the tour were developed by Chicago's Field Museum), a family-friendly educational experience that runs today through January 3 and will lure, hopefully, plenty of ticket-buying tourists through the holiday season.…

You can't escape the California Raisins

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:00:00 -0500

If you weren't scared of the California Raisins long ago, this might do the trick. Here's a face-painting homage to the ubiquitous mascots of the 1980s.…

Today is National Strawberry Cream Pie Day!

Charles Ferruzza — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:45:40 -0500

Strawberry Cream ... a nice pie, if you can find one

Yes, Monday, September 28 is National Strawberry Cream Pie Day. There are lots of places in town to find cheesecake with strawberry sauce (including Winstead's) or baked berry pies, but strawberry cream pie?…

Joe Posnanski fears The King, too

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:30:10 -0500

It's nice to know you're not alone when it comes to the irrational fear of waking up next to The King -- the ever-smiling mascot for Burger King.

In the recent blog post "Creepy Kings," Kansas City Star/Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski gets at the heart of why The King's mirth is so anxiety-inducing:

The reason you don't want to go to bed before him is because he will be in your eerily darkened room when you are mostly naked and he will blow an airhorn in the middle of the night or team up with someone to dump feathers on your head while he blows a leaf blower at you.…
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The cupcake has peaked

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:20:30 -0500

With the cupcake trend in full swing, one writer believes that all of the different iterations and new storefronts are leading to the bursting of the cupcake bubble. On Slate, Daniel Gross argues that cupcakes are a luxury item and all of the new options are reactionary, retro-fitted onto a pastry that is meant to be simple.…

Down the hatch: Mountain Dew Voltage

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:22:02 -0500

A recent post about sodas gone by the wayside led me to the soda aisle to see what colored and flavored offshoots are surprisingly still around. Green Tea Ginger Ale is apparently still going strong in its first year -- or is on the way out: a single two-liter bottle was all that remained on the shelves of Target.…

Fair food straight from your kitchen

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:30:04 -0500

The Missouri State Fair is in full swing (the last day is August 23), but driving to Sedalia isn't on the top of your list.

So get inspired by The Kitchn's State Fair Food Week, and take that gas money and apply it towards a deep fat fryer.…

Today is National Frozen Custard Day!

Charles Ferruzza — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:43:10 -0500

We love frozen custard in Fat City and recently did a "battle of the frozen custards" using samples from the best-known national frozen custard chains: Culver's and Sheridan's. We also explained the difference between frozen custard and soft-serve.…

File it under 'I' for ice cream

Jonathan Bender — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:30:01 -0500

Bookworms unite! A new Facebook group "People for a library-themed Ben & Jerry's flavor!" boasts more than 6,400 members.…

Whoopie pies are the new cupcakes

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:00:09 -0500

There is always some new pastry on the block attempting to dethrone cupcakes. Now, The New York Times is certain that the next best hand-held dessert is nearly as old as the tiny cakes we've been enjoying since grade school.…

Cheese art is always a matter of taste

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:40:20 -0500

In the right hands, cheese can go from a humble cube to an astronaut sculpture made of cheddar. Popped Culture argues that those hands belong to sculptor Sarah Kaufmann, who has provided the centerpiece for everything from tailgates to a likeness of Miss Rodeo New Mexico.…

Wheel...of...Lunch

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:15:04 -0500

Trying to get a large group of people to decide where to have lunch is like trying to win at the Lobster claw crane game -- a Big Choice machine filled with live lobsters: You take a long time trying to figure out how to go about it but you're likely disappointed in the end.

Well, it's time to add a bit of chance to your lunch hour and please your co-workers.…

Danica Pollard's strawberry recipes

Owen Morris — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:30:45 -0500

Danica Pollard is the pastry chef at Lidia's. She recently returned from New York, where she won over some of the biggest names in the food industry at the James Beard Awards.…

Hey, Ben & Jerry's: Bring back Economic Crunch

Owen Morris — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:30:49 -0600

Ben & Jerry's has become known for the names of its ice cream as much as for the ice cream itself. And to celebrate our dearly departed president, it decided to let the public name George W. Bush's ice cream.

Not really.…

Now Open: Cupcake A La Mode

Owen Morris — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:00:59 -0600

Lisa Clark is a mother of three children, including a nine-month-old. That's enough work for anyone, but Clark is also the owner/baker/main employee of Cupcake a la Mode at 1209 West 47th Street, five blocks west of the Country Club Plaza.

I asked Clark when she sleeps, and she just laughed.…

Ga-ga over Goo Goos

Charles Ferruzza — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:18:54 -0600

When the James Beard Foundation hosts a Valentine's Tea at the James Beard House in New York City this Sunday, the dessert offerings will include "Goo Goo Pies" created by pastry chef Jennifer Giblin (from the Blue Smoke restaurant -- a barbecue joint in Manhattan). This confection, inspired by the famous candy clusters, will be tartlets "layered with caramel, salted peanuts, cream cheese mousse, chocolate pudding and marshmallow kisses."

It sounds delicious!…