Knives are an important part of any cooks kitchen and the knife that everyone wants is the Santoku.
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Even though I generally ascribe to the Groucho Marx theory of club joining (I’d never be a member of an organization who’d have a person like me as a member), this one is worth considering. Culinary Insiders is a new group for foodies really into the restaurant and food scene. Membership ($150 or $250) gets you “restaurant and food world information that only real insiders ever know.” It’s hip to be there, you know. www.culinaryinsiders.com

Into cake decorating? Me too. Check out these edible ink pens from Kopykake. US certified food color pens come in Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Fleshtone, Pink, Red, Brown, and Black. They’re perfect for freehand drawing, in fine, medium or broad lines on any firm surface, but try them out the edible frosting sheets. Love the site too - www.kopykake.com

Roasted chestnuts are such great eats, but sometimes cutting that little “x” in the shell (the traditional cut used to release steam when cooking chestnuts) can be x-austing and cause the unwanted use of x-platives. Gadgets fiends get happy ’cause now there’s a tool that’s x-actly what you need.
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Do you have a collection of basket chianti bottles dripped with colored wax? Yep, I still have some and I love them, kitschy though they are. Speaking of kitschy, check out the cork candles from www.uncommongoods.com. These cute mini candles fit nicely into the neck of any wine bottle to add romance to dinner parties or a candle-lit dinner for two. The set of eight is $14.

Espresso fanatics are always searching for the perfect cup - the coffee, yes, but also for that perfect piece to properly cradle their beautiful brew.
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If you’re one of the last few who don’t think dining and cooking have permeated every element of our lives, this may finally convince you. The question is: are you game?
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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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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.