You know that knobby, fleshy, fatty thing that sticks our from the rump of a turkey (or chicken) - the part from where the tail feathers hail? On a fried chicken it’s that super crunchy, extra greasy part that almost everybody loves although they may not know what it is or that it has a nickname and a legend.
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Tea Tree oil, the intensely pungent essential oil that has been used to treat a variety of skin problems comes from the Australian paperbark tree. Now the tree provides more than an oil, its bark is being used for cooking.
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Ever tried running a search on the word yummy? Well, the number of hits is astounding, but after weeding through the mass, I found a really, um, yummy site.
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Yesterday’s N.Y. Times mentioned that Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven opened and will be open every day but Tuesday, writer Anne Isham released the book “Eat Chocolate, Lose Weight,” and candy stores, grocers and gourmet shops stock a world of chocolates. The chocolate market has gotten so thick, my fridge is known as the UN of chocolate. Every day a new company joins the mix and as we’ve noted in earlier pieces, chocolate has gone from food to beauty additive and is considered a health food too. The result of all this frenzy is a bit of a wake-up call for big-wigs like Godiva, and they are quickly rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
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If you haven’t locked in to PBS’ reality show, “Regency House Party,” get thee to a TIVO. Every Wednesday for the next three (you’ve already missed one), waltz into the English Regency era via modern-day reality television with contemporary jeune gens (young people). The “participants” live through nine weeks as if actually in the restrictive by-gone era, complete with corsets, cravats, stringent mores, and sumptuous food and drink.
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This product probably falls into the “Now I’ve seen it all” category, but who can resist the allure of a drink that is said to have anti-aging, super-hydrating, and anti-acne properties? Not me. And who would have guessed that this product is…water, flavored water.
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If Food Network’s summer shows on cake decorating didn’t set you on fire for the art of cake decorating, nothing will. That is until the recent release of two phenomenal cake decorating books: Toba Garretts, “The Well Decorated Cake,” and Colette Peters’ “Cakes To Dream On”. Beautiful.

What’s this? A new trend that combines spa and beauty treatments with cool cocktails. In New Orleans there are martinis and make-up, martinis and manicures, cocktails and yoga (can this be good?), and a personal favorite - a shot and a haircut for $10.

Fun though these events may be, it should come as no surprise that martinis and make-up turns into an “I Love Lucy” moment when lipstick wound up around my lips instead of on them. Oh well, at least the martinis were great.

I am a cola fiend - cola drinks, cola gummies, even cola chewing gum -I love the tangy-sweet, mildly chocolate-like flavor. With so many commercial colas on the market, it’s refreshing to find one with home-brew feel, zippy flavor and real Kola Nut.
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It’s cool. It’s fun. It’s food writing as it was meant to be, flirty, fun, fact-filled and absolutely for every one. Not a stodgy story in the whole book, check out “Chow” the new food magazine out of San Francisco. I’ve read it cover to cover and am hooked; you will be too. Subscribe on line, buy it at your favorite newstand or book shop, but don’t miss this - it’s a hit. www.chow.com