Top 10 Most Dangerous Foods

Ever wonder which foods could be hazardous to your life? Well, Time Magazine recently did some research and compiled a list of the top ten most dangerous foods. Bet you never thought eating a hot dog could be so risky...

Photo Credit: iStockphoto

Spring Into Spring

With the arrival of spring comes a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables. Utilize this season's best produce by delving into delicious recipes that bring out the flavor of fresh asparagus, strawberries and crisp seasonal greens. Spring into the season with these mouthwatering recipes courtesy of the Los Angeles Times test kitchen. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times

Spring Desserts

Add some zing to your spring sweets repertoire with these exclusive Easter recipes from Martha Stewart. Yum!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Have a Sweet Weekend!

For the recipe for these decadent mini molten chocolate cakes with mocha sauce and more, go to Delish.com.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Delish

Cadbury Easter Eggs

It’s spring time and you know what that means—Easter! Along with pastels and white bunnies come fabulous Easter treats. Among my favorite spring time goodies are Cadbury eggs. These chocolaty eggs are made up of smooth milk chocolate and filled with either crème or sweet, gooey caramel (the caramel variety being my personal favorite!). These UK imports are only available during the Easter season making them all the more special. Cadbury eggs are among England’s top three bestselling candies and thanks to Hershey Foods Corporation, every spring we here in the US are enchanted with the delectable eatable egg shells every spring. We all know it’s the equinox and Easter is near once the Cadbury Easter bunny and the famous “Clucking Bunny” commercials begin airing. So as the holiday approaches, fill your baskets with these decadent delights before time runs out!

Learn more about Cadbury and Cadbury eggs!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Candy Warehouse

Creative Ways to Use Oreos

Nothing says indulgence quite as well as a glass of cold milk and Oreo cookies. These classic black and white treats are quintessential Americana but more importantly absolutely scrumptious! Just when you thought that Oreos were just fine on their own Oreo super fans have taken the tasty cookies and reinvented them. Oreos have been added as the main ingredient to classic recipes such as cheesecake and have been transformed using techniques not usually associated with dessert--deep-fried Oreo cookies, anyone?
Sneak a peak at these 15 recipes using Oreos via Springpad.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sophia via Flickr

Golden Tickets

Who hasn't watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and fantasized about getting their hands on all the sweet items in the heavenly chocolate factory? Well, this fictional delight is coming to life. Nestle-owned Wonka candy is slipping Golden Tickets into bars of its premium line of chocolates aptly named Exceptionals bars. The ten lucky winners of the grand prize along with three of their friends will be invited to take a trip around the world plus $12,500 in spending money. Among other prizes are free airline vouchers, Ticketmaster gift cards, movie certificates and chocolate, of course!

The Exceptionals line of chocolate bars come in three sweet flavors: Scrumdiddlyumptious which is made with toffee pieces, crispy cookies and crunchy peanuts all layered in pure milk chocolate, Chocolate Waterfall is a delectable combination of creamy white chocolate and velvety milk chocolate, and Domed Dark Chocolate is a bar made of rich dark chocolate topped with milk chocolate drops. At $5 a bar, the Exceptionals line is Wonka's exclusive line of chocolate. Get your chocolate fix with a Wonka bar available at Dylan's Candy Bar.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dylan's Candy Bar

Cupcakes, Anyone?

If you are actively drooling over these mini delights like I am then I suggest you try out the recipe for these killer brown sugar, pecan, caramel frosting cupcakes courtesy of Chik n' Pastry. Get bakin'!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Chik n' Pastry

America's Worst Fries

Would you like fries with that order? Well, of course, is that even a question anymore? Our love of french fries is unquestionable and has led to some interesting creations of the French culinary classic like chili cheese and gravy soaked fries. With the undoubted tastiness of these concoctions comes the caloric heftiness. David Zinczenko along with Matt Goulding, authors of Eat This, Not That have put together a list of America's worst french fries (not according to taste, of course, but according to their nutritional index). And the worst possible order of fries? Drum roll, please....
Chili's Texas Cheese Fries with Jalapeño Ranch pack a whopping 1,920 calories, 147 grams of fat and 3,580 milligrams of sodium. Well, we were warned, everything's bigger in Texas...

Want to see the rest of the list and where your favorite fries rank? Read America's Worst French Fries (and What You Should Eat Instead!)

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iStock

Pizza Cones!

Move over Chicago deep-dish and NYC pizza and make room for...Portuguese cone rolls? Leave it to the trendy Manhattanites to break-in this new food trend. After seeing the success of the pizza cone in Brazil, Portugal, and Italy, former Lisbon banker, Ingo Pinto decided to bring this venture to the ultimate grounds to test success: New York City. K! Pizzacone in Manhattan had it's grand opening this week and the verdict isn't out yet. How does it work? Well, here's the scoop: the cones are shipped in from a Connecticut bakery and are made to order. You've got your standard toppings to choose from like plain cheese and tomato, some not-so-standard ones like BBQ chicken and chili and even more nontraditional ingredients like scrambled egg and sweet toppings like chocolate and banana flambé make they're way onto the menu. Once you've settled on a topping, your cone is placed in the oven and it's ready to enjoy in five minutes flat.

What's your take? Are pizza cones the new pizza evolution or just a glitzy trend that's destined for failure?

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gothamist

(Camel) Milk Chocolate

Get ready for some seriously innovative chocolate! Al Nassma, a Dubai-based premium chocolate company is preparing to make its camel milk chocolate available to U.S. consumers within the next few months. Al Nassma’s chocolates are the first in the world to be made of camel milk. This brand new company, founded last October, has a farm filled with 3,000 camels exclusively for milk production and GM Martin Van Almsick says the company aims to produce 100 tons of the premium chocolate a year. Al Nassma plans not only to expand to the U.S. but also Europe, Japan and Australia and there are plans for opening up an online store. Van Almsick told Reuters that Al Nassma aims “to be the Godiva of the Middle East” and apparently if they reach success in the global market a comparison may not be necessary. The chocolates contain no chemicals or preservatives and are laced with local spices, nuts and honey. Besides having five times the amount of vitamin C compared to cow milk, camel milk contains less fat and lactose and more insulin making it more appealing to diabetics and the lactose-intolerant. I’m anticipating trying this new chocolate—how about you?

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Al Nassma

Cupcakes on the Go

We’re all familiar with the ice cream trucks that jingle around the neighborhood selling cool refreshments on warm summer days but did you ever expect to see a cupcake truck putting along dishing out mini delights? On the go New Yorkers jonesing for a sweet treat can have their cake and eat it too thanks to the CupcakeStop truck, a traveling cupcake-mobile. Former New York Law student, Lev Ekster, credited cupcakes for helping him survive through his grueling studies and now runs CupcakeStop. During his trial run of his new venture, Ekster ran out of cupcakes sooner than expected. Now, he estimates he will sell 1,200 to 1,500 gourmet cupcakes a day traveling between Union Square and Chelsea all ranging in price from $1 for minis and $2.50 for regular sized cupcakes.


Photo Credit: Courtesy of CupcakeStop.com

Bloomsberry & Co. Chocolates

Last month while I was on the hunt for chocolaty Easter treats for my pals, I came across Bloomsberry & Co. Chocolates. What made me focus in on these chocolates was the eye catching packaging. With amusing names for their chocolates such as, “Emergence Chocolate” and “Bochox” Bloomsberry is making its mark in the chocolate realm. This designer chocolate bar company hails from down under in New Zealand. After receiving loads of emails from customers all over the world raving about their chocolates, the folks at Bloomsberry expanded their reach and became accessible by opening up shop in Australia, Europe, and the U.S.A. Their clever casing and witty phrases help their tasty chocolates fly off the shelves. Bloomsberry & Co. Chocolates are a novelty item that surely make for an interesting alternative to the ordinary chocolate bar.

When I bought some of the chocolates for friends and family I snagged a milk chocolate bar for myself to try. I found the chocolate to be quite creamy and better than I initially thought it would be. I have not tried the dark chocolate variety but considering I was pleased with the milk chocolate I think the dark chocolate will be worth a try.

Prague Delights

If you ever thought of going to Prague I think this picture seals the deal. While checking out one of my favorite sections, the Travel section, in The New York Times I came across this mouthwatering image of desserts deliciously displayed in a Prague confectionery. The Erhartova Cukrarna is a vintage bakery dating back to 1937 complete with period decor. Read more about how to wisely spend 36 hours in Prague in this NYT article (check out the picture of the Dancing House, a remarkable architectural marvel!).

Photo Credit: Courtesy of The New York Times

Perfect Pancakes

I was browsing one of my favorite magazines, Real Simple, when I came across an interesting idea for reusing a ketchup bottle. You can recycle your ketchup bottles by using them as pancake dispensers. Make lovely round flapjacks by squeezing out the exact amount of batter without the mess caused by attempting to transfer it from a mixing bowl. Small, medium and large pancakes are easily achievable with this method and you can get crafty too! Squirt out ears for a Mickey Mouse pancake or create a three tiered snowman for the kiddies all with a few simple drops from the former bottle of ketchup.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Real Simple

Psycho Donuts

Would you buy a pastry with a name that flirts with serious mental illnesses? A new doughnut shop in Campbell, California called Psycho Donuts has stirred up some controversy since opening up last March. The store sells pastries with names like “Psycho” and “Bipolar” making light of what protesters call serious illnesses that should not be taken lightly. The community’s mental health advocates have been protesting the doughnut shop and in recent weeks the picketing has reached a new level. Mental health workers say that there is a stigma that comes with being mentally ill and that Psycho Donuts is perpetuating that stigma. Owners of the store say that their intention is not to poke fun at mental illness but to do something “that’s light-hearted and fun”. They also say that for them they are referring to the doughnuts as crazy and they are not making any statement about people. Residents of the city of Campbell are intrigued by the doughnut shop and its controversial theme. On the store’s website, they say:

Psycho Donuts has taken donuts to the next demented level. We bid a fond farewell to the tired, round ring of lameness, and the drab, time-weathered environment of doughnut past. Psycho Donuts has taken the neighborhood donut and put it on medication, and given it shock treatment.

They have a “padded cell” display and customers can take pictures with a straitjacket on. An art display called the “nutcase art display” is placed in the shop as a part of the décor as well as a flat screen TV that plays a slide show of Rorschach images. The staff at Psycho Donuts are decked out in doctor coats and nurse uniforms with stethoscopes, syringes and all. The owners of the shop Kip Berdiansky, who has done stand-up comedy and Jordan Vweigoran say that the idea behind Psycho Donuts was to reinvent the doughnut idea and to try to make their business stand out in a time of recession. The idea certainly has made them stand out but whether or not it is working to their benefit is yet to be seen. Source
Source

Would you visit Psycho Donuts? Do you find the theme of this new pastry shop to be offensive? Share your thoughts on Psycho Donuts with us by leaving a comment!






Photo Credit: Courtesy of Psycho Donuts

Birthday Party Cupcakes

This weekend I made cupcakes for a birthday party and they turned out fabulous...

I made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting...

Once I ran out of chocolate frosting I improvised and whipped up some cream cheese frosting...

Circus Animal Cookies

Step right up all of you circus animal fans: Mother’s Cookies’ scrumptious Circus Animal Cookies are back! Thanks to Kellogg’s, this month the pink and white mammals are making their way back onto the shelves and into our tummies.
Back in October of 2008, Mother’s Cookies abruptly went out of business and along with filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the company ceased production on all of their classic treats. In December of 2008, Kellogg’s Co. bought the trademarks and recipes for Mother’s most famed creations including sandwich cookies, wire cut cookies and our childhood favorite: iced animal cookies. These nostalgic goodies are all coming back in their original red and purple packaging with the smiling Mother herself in the corner.
Thanks to the fabulous folks at Foodbuzz I got a sweet sampling of these tasty animals before anyone else and I was not disappointed. I reached into the big glossy bag and pulled out a white camel with festive, colorful sprinkles and I instantly remembered how much I loved these cookies; the thought of them not existing anymore was unfathomable. After all, for finals week during college, these were my main source of nutrition! Mmm, elephants…


Photo Credit: Courtesy of Heather Scott (Ephemeron)

Lemon Bar Cupcakes

Originally I was going to share a killer recipe I use for making zestalicious lemon bars with wheat flour but as I hunted for mouthwatering images of those tangy squares I discovered a fantastic recipe for another tasty treat: lemon bar cupcakes. The mini delights are an innovative creation worth the extra baking process. Lemon bar cupcakes are made in four super simple steps: the shortbread crust, the lemon layer, the lemon cake topping and the cream cheese frosting.

Zip on over to BakeBakeBake to snag this scrumptious recipe!





Photo Credit: Courtesy of Alexis Lynn

Buitoni Pasta: Wild Mushroon Agnolotti Pasta

Thanks to the folks over at Foodbuzz I was given the opportunity to sample Buitoni’s new Wild Mushroom Agnolotti pasta. Buitoni is known for offering all natural and creative meals in minutes and I absolutely agree, my pasta was ready in minutes. After tossing a few in boiling water and letting them cook for about 5 minutes, my serving was ready. I drizzled a small amount of virgin olive oil as to enjoy this Italian specialty as au natural as possible. The pasta was generously filled with portobello and crimini mushrooms and savory Grana Padano cheese. The roasted garlic added a tangy essence and the Parmesan cheese completed the dish. I thought it was quite delicious and the pasta itself was obviously premium quality made of stone ground semolina flour. My only complaint is that it was a little on the salty side but that can be balanced out by combining it with other ingredients. So overall I would say Buitoni’s Wild Mushroom Agnolotti pasta is decent and hearty however beware of the high sodium content.