The 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off has announced the 100 finalists who will compete for the $1 million grand prize in March 2012. You can check out the finalist recipes at Bakeoff.com.

The winning bakers will be wearing winning aprons as well. Three designs have been created by former Project Runway Designers: Althea Harper (finalist, Season 6), Kara Janx (Season 2) and Carol Hannah Whitfield (finalist, Season 6) (designs shown left to right in the photo).

You can vote for your favorite apron design until October 17th at Facebook.com/Pillsbury.

Hopefully, Pillsbury will make the winning apron available to the rest of us. It may be our one shot at owning a garment by a Project Runway designer. (We want Carol Hannah’s apron!)

Feel like baking? See our Cookies, Cakes & Pastry Section and pick a recipe.

We could make it, of course. But for instant gratification, we buy Reese’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cups: peanut butter ice cream in a chocolate cup.

Or, to be accurate, it’s milk chocolate flavored coating,* made with vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter, so the coating will adhere better to the ice cream. Some “coatings” don’t taste like real chocolate. This one is so good, we didn’t notice the difference.

Most PB ice creams have a lighter PB flavor. The peanut butter flavor in Reese’s† ice cream is intense and satisfying, a replication of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Look for the bright orange box in your grocer’s ice cream freezer.

The product is certified kosher (dairy) by KOF-K.
Ways To Enjoy Peanut Butter Ice Cream
If you can find a quart of peanut butter ice cream—or want to make your own—here are some of our favorite serving suggestions:

 
Love to create complex desserts? Try this cutting edge peanut butter cake and ice cream recipe—an award winner.

*To be called “chocolate,” the product must be made with cocoa butter. When the less expensive vegetable oil is substituted for cocoa butter—whether to save money or to make the product function better, as in the case of chocolate-coated ice cream bars—the product must be referred to as a coating, and as chocolate-flavored instead of “chocolate.”

†Reese’s candy is made by Hershey. The ice cream is made by license to Unilever.

It comes from Sebastian Beckwith, owner of In Pursuit Of Tea in the TriBeCa neighborhood of New York City. Just as water imparts flavor nuances to everything—from pizza crusts and bagels to Scotch—it makes a difference when brewing a cup of tea.

“Recently I’ve been experimenting with water for brewing my tea,” writes Sebastian. “It’s fascinating how different the same tea can taste when brewed with different waters. Each water draws distinct characteristics out of the leaves, and one type of water is not necessarily better than another.

For instance, many people warn against using distilled water, believing that the lack of minerals results in a flatter taste. I find, though, that some teas shine when prepared with it.

For today’s tip, I chose three types of water: a reverse-osmosis filtered water that we use here in the shop; a soft, slightly acidic spring water; and a distilled water. We tasted them with a sencha (green) tea and an oolong tea, using the same parameters for each water.”

Sencha Water Test

Here are our choices for a creaky cocktail party menu:

Bloody Cocktails

 
Pick Your Favorite “Spirit” Cocktails

 
What To Serve With The Cocktails

 
More Halloween recipes will be arriving later this week.

For Ambiance: Halloween CDs

Tomatoes are genetically altered to improve
flavor and shelf life. Photo courtesy
WholeSoyCo.com.

GMOs, genetically modified organisms, are plant and animal organisms that have been created through gene-splicing, a biotechnology technique also known as genetic engineering (GE).

This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant or animal DNA that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods (fish genes have been spliced into tomatoes, for example). Successful experiments have been introduced commercially.

Why do companies create GMOs?

To create foods that better meet production goals. The goals can be anything from tomatoes that are resistant to rot to lambs that can grow larger and produce bigger lamb chops (more examples here).

While not all varieties of any particular type of food are genetically engineered, here are the foods to question:

Top 10 Genetically Engineered Food Crops
1. Corn
2. Soy
3. Potato
4. Tomato
5. Canola
6. Cottonseed Oil
7. Papaya
8. Radicchio
9. Summer Squash
10. Salmon

See why these crops have been genetically engineered, and how likely you are to run across them. Note: while natural foods may label themselves “Non GMO,” there is no requirement for a genetically engineered food to label itself as such.

Needless to say, many in the consumer and industrial communities are against genetic engineering.

What’s The Issue?

According to Discovery News, “For years, opponents have argued that genetically engineered plants wreak havoc with human health and nature, and accuse plant biotech companies, such as Monsanto, of putting profits before people. On the other hand, agricultural biotech proponents argue that engineered crops enable farmers to grow [more food] at a time of global food shortages, insidious pests, weeds and extreme weather.”

It’s a complicated issue. While the FDA believes that GMOs are safe and allows them in America, some 30 other countries, including Australia, Japan and the entire European Union, restrict or outright ban the production of GMOs—because they are not considered to be proven safe.

The FDA approved commercial production of GMOs based on studies conducted by the very companies that created them and profit from their sale. Many health-conscious shoppers find the lack of rigorous, independent, scientific examination on the impact of consuming GMO-based foods to be cause for concern.

It will require many decades of eating engineered food before we know if GMOs cause problems in humans. While we at THE NIBBLE are unqualified to have an opinion on their safety, we do have an opinion on lobbyists and the power they exert over our elected and appointed officials to gain approval and pass legislation on behalf of their employers.

So the next time you’re making a purchase decision, consider the package that says “non-GMO.”

How Can You Avoid GMO Food?

An organization called True Food Now offers a free mobile app for iPhone and Android. It is a guide to common genetically engineered ingredients, brands to look for (and look out for) and common sense tips.

For more information about GMOs, visit The Non GMO Project.