TIP OF THE DAY: Learn About Fair Trade

October is Fair Trade Month. If you don’t know about Fair Trade, it’s important enough to devote a minute to read this. Small family farmers in developing-world countries grow much of the world’s cacao, coffee, tea, fruits and vegetables, cotton, flowers, ingredients for beauty products—more than 3,000 products in all. The vast majority of family…
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A Year Of Cupcake Holidays & More Cupcake Fun

[1] Our favorite from Junior’s: the retro “Hostess cupcake” with a creme center (photo by Katharine Pollak | © THE NIBBLE). [2] The first of numerous Hostess Brands snack cakes (photo © Hostess Cakes). [3] Something more conventional: a cupcake with blackberry frosting and a fresh blackberry (photo © Gelson’s). [4] Too elegant to eat?…
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CHEESE: Piave Vecchio

It’s Columbus Day, so let’s celebrate a great Italian cheese. Here’s a favorite cheese of professional cheese buyer and guest blogger Jeff Shearer, of Mandi Foods: As the long summer days turn over to the cooler nights of autumn, our food choices move away from the fresh cheeses and lighter dishes to more of the…
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FOOD HOLIDAY: National Pierogi Day & Pierogi Recipe

“Unstuffed cabbage” with pierogies. Photo courtesy Mrs. T’s.   Pierogi (pronounced PYEH-roe-gy and also spelled pierogy and a dozen other variations) is a stuffed dumpling, usually in a half-moon shape, that can be boiled, baked or fried. Although many Americans refer to “pierogies,“ the word “pierogi” is the plural form. The singular form is pieróg.…
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FOOD FACTS: The History Of Carrots

What’s up, doc? Here’s a little history of one of our most popular veggies: carrots. According to the USDA, Americans consume 11.8 pounds a person per year. (Beyond raw carrots, this figure includes carrot cake, carrots in soups and stews, and so forth.) In the beginning, all plants and animals were wild. Over thousands of…
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