Remember last year when we told you that Starbucks was closing 616 of its under performing stores?  That was a sad day for coffee lovers.  

It looks like things for Starbucks are going to have to get worse before they get better.  Starbucks has just announced that they’re going to close 300 more stores.  That means cutting about 6,700 jobs.  Closing store locations have not yet been named.

Hard times seem to be the prevailing headline.  I suppose the best we can do is keep our heads up and treat ourselves to a Starbucks coffee whenever we can.  Do it in the name of job security!

You haven’t lived until you’ve had Prosciutto di Parma.  

Bold statement, but it’s absolutely true.  Prosciutto is a salted and aged hind leg of a pig.  It’s sliced super thin and served up on cheese plates, on steaming pizzas, around satueed asparagus or around fresh melon slices.  It’s salty, slightly fatty and just all together beautiful.  

Italians have been making prosciutto for thousands of years, but recently a couple in Iowa is giving generations of Italians a run for their money.  Herb Eckhouse and his wife have spent the last four years studying prosciutto making, and salting and curing meats in their garage and spare room.  The result has foodies floored.  

Vogue food writer Jeffrey Steingarten, dubbed La Quercia the best prosciutto he’s ever tasted.  Now that’s saying something.  Find out what all the buzz is about by visiting your local Whole Foods market and checking out La Quercia cured meats.  

photo from ny times.

Cereal boxes have come in one shape and size for all of history, right?  For as long as I can remember, cereal boxes have been long and lean and fit perfectly on my shelf specifically dedicated to my seven favorite cereal flavors.   

Leave it to the Kellogg’s cereal brand to try and change everything.  They’re testing a new “space saving” cereal box that is shorter and fatter than the original size.  Both long and lean and short and fat carry 12-ounces of cereal.  

So what’s the deal?  Why the switch?  Kellogg’s thinks the new cereal box will fit better into home kitchens.  Really?  But I had it all worked out quite nicely with the long and lean boxes.  Why mess with a good thing Kellogg’s?

I knew Kettle Chips were awesome, but I didn’t know just how awesome until I discovered their Spicy Thai potato chips. Spicy, slightly sweet, with some sort of chili and coconut goodness. I thought the Spicy Thai chips were the peak of tasty when I discovered them a few years ago.

Since then, the folks at Kettle Chips have delighted me with flavor after flavor. My favorite recent flavor is Buffalo Bleu, a spicy blue cheese potato chip.

For the big Sunday game Kettle Chips have released some new, unbelievably enticing flavors. Backyard Barbecue sounds perfectly tangy. Sweet Onion, named after the best onions from Walla Walla Washington, and Death Valley Chipotle. They’re also releasing their Sea Salt and Vinegar in a baked chip. Healthy!

That’s all the chip news that’s fit for print.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the 34th annual Fancy Food Show is trying to tell me what to eat. If they have anything to do with food trends, we’re all going to be munching on gourmet chocolate, fancy bottled water, and loads of tea in the coming year.

With over 1,500 exhibitors from over 35 countries, the mega food show concluded its three day invasion of San Francisco’s Moscone Center on Tuesday. Sure, the economy is in the tanks these days, but people still have to eat! Specialty foods have found their place in the American pocketbook by offering consumers small, and immediately satisfying ways to indulge.

Many foreign countries banded together to create super booths from Italy, France, Australia, Chile, and Canada. Leave it to the Italians to place a giant flat screen TV playing a heated soccer game in their section. I’m not sure if it was the wine or the football, but the Italian section seemed like the place to be!

With more than 50,000 products on display, the Fancy Food Show is more than just a little overwhelming. Here are some of my favorite finds from my day amongst the foodies. More tomorrow!

The Tea Room’s tea infused chocolates were pretty wild. With flavors like While Chocolate infused with Chamomile Tea and Honey or Milk Chocolate infused with Masala Chai Tea, how could I not stop by for a sample? My favorite was the Milk Chocolate infused with Jasmine tea. The chocolate was super creamy and the jasmine was just enough to sneak up and scare you as you swallowed the chocolate. It’s looks like they’re gotten some new packaging since their website photos.

Rishi Tea is pretty. In my book, half of the fun of making tea is enjoying the beauty of the tea leaf as I put it in the pot. Rishi Tea seems to be designed for people who really enjoy beauty and flavor in tea. They’re also fair trade and organic. The most lovely tea I tried was the Tropical Crimson Oranic Iced Tea.

Hint Water is pretty clever. Instead of those fancy flavored waters that are packed with sugar, Hint Water somehow takes the essence of a fruit of veggie, infusing it into the water. My favorite was the cucumber water that was super light and refreshing and magically tasted of fresh cucumber. Do I really need my water to taste like anything but water? Hint Water seems to be for those that just can’t bear to drink a glass of regular old water.

I’m going to try, with all sincerity, to keep this as clean as possible.

Here are the facts: Paul Photenhauer is a man with a dream. He had a dream to write a cookbook. His highlighted ingredient? Semen… yes.. semen. Thanks to lulu.com, the site that lets you create your own cookbook masterpiece, Photenhauer’s Natural Harvest: A collection of semen based recipes, is available for you, for me, for everyone.

Really Paul Photenhauer? Semen? Are you serious?

Oh he’s serious. According to Paul “”Semen is not only nutritious, but has a palatable texture and wonderful cooking properties.” It’s widely available, has a complex flavor and the taste will vary according to the dude’s diet.

Some of his recipes include the Almost White Russian, Man Made Oysters and Tuna Sashimi with dipping sauce (no! please no dipping sauce!). Are you totally grossed out? Yea, me too. Don’t even get me started on the stuffed crepes.

What do you think? Are you in for this kind of cookbook or are you horrified?

Rush over to lulu.com if you can’t stand to live without this cookbook for another minute. As a side note, the comments section is a serious laugh. Oh humanity!

Remember last week I was telling you about a new food book I couldn’t live without?  Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating.  I got it, and it’s fantastic!

I know this book is one of my new favorites for two reason. I’ve had it for three days, I’m half way through reading it, and the cover is already bent beyond belief. I have a nasty habit of falling asleep with a book and then sleeping all over that book all night. For that reason, my favorite books, the ones I read over and over again, either have no covers or are bent beyond recognition. Some might call this habit of mine charming. It is.

Let me tell you about Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating. In two simple words: super awesome! It’s a book for people who care about food, where it comes from and how it’s made. This book makes food a story about people and places, time and craft.

Take traditional balsamic vinegars, for example. Traditional balsamic vinegars come from the town of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.  That’s it!  That’s the only place where traditional balsamic vinegars come from!  Are you still with me?  Balsamic vinegars weren’t even available for purchase until the 1980’s. For centuries, balsamic vinegars were lovingly crafted and passed down from family to family. Vinegars were carefully dema by the matriarchs of the family and kept under lock and key by the patriarch of the family. They were so essential to family history that they were often given as dowries.

See, I learned all that from Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating!  The book is so inspiring!  It makes me want to go out, ask questions and seek out shops that are as nutty about food as I am.  

Nowadays you can hop down to your local grocery store and buy virtually everything you’ll ever need, including an unassuming bottle of balsamic vinegar. I have to tell you that this isn’t the stuff that old Italian women are making in their attics. The real stuff, the good Italian stuff, the stuff approved by the Italian government is expensive. While the price may deter most of us, the taste and the experience is absolutely astonishing. The brilliant part about beautifully crafted food is that it inspires others to create good food in its imagine. That’s when those of us with tighter pocket books win.

For those of us who can’t spend $200 on a small bottle of tradition balsamic vinegar, there are inspired artisan varieties that have some pretty sultry depths. A bottle of artisan Elderberry Balsamic Vinegar (made from elderberries instead of grapes) will set you back $40, for example. Totally doable!

The amazing thing about good food, prepared with care is that your tongue will tell you what’s what. You don’t have to be a fancy vinegar connoisseur, or a cheese expert to tell the good stuff from the crap.

What I love about Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating is its totally unpretentious and approachable attitude. It shows us that good food come from people who really care about it, and that care translates into the quality of their product. Good food comes from culture and time and tradition.  Most importantly, good food is for everybody. This book totally warms my heart. Yea, it’s that good.

Have I told you about Tastebook?  I’m so excited I found a spot like this!  Tastebook is a super clever website that allows you to create your own cookbook.  You can either upload personal recipes and photos, or upload already great recipes from websites like Epicurious or the Food Network.  With Tastebook you can design your own cover and fill you book with up to 100 recipes.  

The book itself is a lovely spiral bound hardcover.  Pages are easily removed and added to the book.  Say you order your Tastebook with 30 great recipes from your kitchen and 20 of your favorite Food Network recipes, that means that you can still fill your book with 50 more great recipes. Upload and order recipes as you go.  

I’m working on a Tastebook for my friends and family.  I’m thinking Christmas presents.  Great, right?  You can get started too.  Visit Tastebook!

This is my next culinary gift to myself. Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating is all about food-  good food.  A friend just printed out a few pages from the chapter on Balsamic Vinegars and I’m totally hooked.  The language is super casual, approachable and funny, and the man really loves food.  From how to choose the best breads and cheeses, to how balsamic vinegar is produced in Italy, this book is all about food and how it’s made.  For those of us who are nutty about the food we put on our tables, this is a must read!

Amazon has it super cheap, and I have a feeling I’ll be up most nights well past my bed time teaching myself all about chocolate, olive oil, bread and pasta.  Check it out!

Dean and deluca Custom Kids Cookies

Delightfully decorated butter cookies. These things couldn’t be cuter.

Jack O Lantern Artisan Chocolates

Milk chocolate with chocolate hazelnut filling and dark chocolate with orange and cinnamon ganache. It’s Halloween candy for grown ups!

Pumpkin Cake

Vanilla Spice cake with praline buttercream frosting. Serves fourteen to eighteen people. What more could you want from life?