How about a shot of tequila, rum, vodka or liqueur?

The Barclay New York Hotel is helping guests beat the heat with a spiked ice cream soda menu.

Using their recipes, you can give new meaning to the concept of an ice cream social.

Pick a date, choose your “menu” from the six recipes and invite the guests! Those who don’t consume alcohol can enjoy their ice cream soda “virgin.”

• See the recipes.
• Find more ice cream soda recipes.

This vanilla float includes shots of rum and
banana liqueur. Photo courtesy
Intercontinental Hotels.

Add fresh-ground pepper to popcorn for a treat with heat (photo by Katharine Pollak | © The Nibble).

It was Salt-n-Pepper: classic salted, buttered popcorn with a healthy dose of spicy pepper.

The fresh-ground pepper provided both heat and flavor. It’s terrific.

And it’s easy to recreate the experience at home: Just grind fresh pepper over your next batch of popcorn.

We enjoyed all of the flavors of Doc Popcorn:

Better Butter, Caramel Kettle, Classic Kettle, Cheesy Cheddar, Hoppin’ Jalapeño, Sinfully Cinnamon & Sweet Butter Popcorn.

Popcorn is a whole-grain food. Three cups equal one serving of whole grains.

The government’s dietary guidelines recommend six servings of grain per day, of which at least three should be whole grain.

Read our review of Doc Popcorn. Treat yourself, or send someone a gift.

Find more of our favorite gourmet snacks.

• 3 cups popped popcorn
• 1 slice whole wheat bread
• 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal
• 1/2 small (2-ounce) whole wheat bagel
• 1/2 whole wheat English muffin
• 1/2 cup brown rice or whole wheat pasta
• 5 whole wheat crackers
• 6-inch whole wheat flour tortilla

From popular dishes like crab cakes and crab and artichoke dip to crab salads and a savory crab cheesecake, your mouth will water.

• Start with this easy recipe for crab spring rolls. You’ll be able to link to all the other recipes.
• Learn the different types of crab meat: lump, backfin, white and claw. Which should you use for what type of dish?
• You can also take a look at the different types of crab: blue crab, dungeness crab, king crab, snow crab, stone crab and more.
• Check out all the types of seafood in our Seafood Glossary.

Crab rolls are a refreshing summer dish.
Photo courtesy Miller’s Select Crabmeat.

Photo by Sam Disegno | SXC.

If you need to separate eggs but don’t have an egg separator—or the skill to separate eggs by hand without getting pieces of shell into the whites—fear not!

Simply break the eggs into a funnel!

The whites will fall through the chute and the yolks will remain in the bowl of the funnel. If you have a funnel, there’s no need to purchase an egg separator!

• Discover the different types of eggs, how to make perfect hard-cooked eggs, recipes and more in our Eggs Section.

The study showed that nine of ten California samples (90%) met the standards for extra virgin olive oils, meaning that 10% of what is sold as extra virgin isn’t. Imported oils rated much worse: 69% of imported olive oil samples failed to meet the standards. That means that almost 1/3 of the imported extra virgin olive oil sold, isn’t.

The full report on the can be downloaded from the UC Davis Olive Center. Here are the highlights:

• The extra virgin olive oil isn’t extra virgin. To be graded as extra virgin, according to the IOC (Intermational Olive Council) and USDA standards, an olive oil needs to have less than 1% acidity. Virgin olive oil can have up to 3.3% acidity.

You paid for extra virgin olive oil, but
what’s really in the bottle? Photo by Ramon Gonzalez | SXC.

• It can be processed. In addition to selling higher acidity oil, the investigation showed that products labeled “extra virgin” can be lower grade olive oil that has been processed to get the acidity below 1%. However, processing destroys the nutrients that people seek in olive oil, as well as the fine flavor.
• It isn’t 100% olive oil. While not the focus of the latest study, government investigators in Italy have found evidence indicating that the biggest olive oil brands there have been diluting their extra virgin olive oil for years with cheap, highly-refined hazelnut oil imported from Turkey. (As much as 20% hazelnut oil can be added to olive oil and still be undetectable to the consumer.)
• It isn’t where it claims to be from. Olive oil from Greece, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey are imported into Italy, bottled and sold as the more desirable “Italian olive oil.”

What can you do about it?

Be wary that “bargain” extra virgin olive oil may not be that much of a bargain. Know that the risks are higher with imported olive oils from large bottlers. And seek out products from members of the California Olive Oil Council.

• Find our favorite brands of olive oil in our Gourmet Oils Section.
• You’ll also find instructive articles on olive oil that will help you become a savvier consumer.