"Salt is salt" most people would say, and for most people this is probably true. However, for foodies with discriminating palates, they will tell you that there is salt and there is salt. All you have to do is look in gourmet magazines and foodie blogs and you will find out the vast array of salt varieties now available.

So what's the difference? Some will tell you that the taste is purer in sea salts compared to regular table salt. Really, that is the main reason foodies lean towards sea salts, the taste. But now some people are leaning towards a sea salt diet because of the claim that some sea salts have a lower amount of sodium than regular table salt; making it healthier for you. All you have to do is perform a quick search on the sea salt health benefits online and you will glean a ton of information, some you probably have never even heard of before. As one who has hyper-tension, I am repeatedly advised by my doctors to cut down on the salt; but aside from carbs, salt is my second largest addiction. I just can't do without it! So I reduce my salt intake, but I can never totally live without it.

So, I cut down on the amount of salt I use for cooking. But wouldn't it be great to not have to sacrifice the taste of salt if we are assured that it doesn't have as much of the health impairing component, sodium? Another quick online search will give you sea salt food recipes that will enhance and showcase the taste of food instead of overpowering them. I am surprised when I run across recipes that practically blanket food with sea salt only to learn that the salt used makes little difference in the amount of sodium in the dish. Some sea salts boast over 50% less sodium than regular table salt! That is surprising to me!

Planning on an Asian Pacific vacation over the holidays? Accor, one of the leading hotel groups in the world is holding the Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific for hotel stays between December 9, 2009 to April 10, 2010. This campaign will run run for only 3 days, from Oct 27, 2009 to Oct 29, 2009.

If you book online before October 30. 2009, you can book luxury hotel rooms for as low as $30 per night. Accor has hotels in Thailand, Korea, China, Japan, HK, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, and Bali. Some of the hotel names under the Accor umbrella and therefore are all offering this 3-day Super Sale Asia Pacific are: Sofitel, Pullman, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons and Ibis hotels.

If you love Chinese food as much as I do (and what better reason to travel than to sample a country's cuisine and culture, right?), there is a China gastronome package where you can experience the rich and varied cuisine of China while staying in luxurious hotels such as the Sofitel Shanghai, Novotel Shanghai Atlantis or the Ibis Shanghai Lianyang. All these fine hotels are in the best neighborhoods to discover all the gastronomic finds in China.

A case of these sexy POMs arrived at our door not long ago. If you didn't know what POM juice is or had never seen them at your grocer's before, then you're in for a treat. These are 100% pomegranate juice and only juice and that's the honest to goodness truth. Because they do not contain any preservatives, do not look for them on the juice aisle. Look for them in the refrigerated section, most likely in the produce area (that's where I've always found them).

My girls and I have always loved fresh pomegranates. We get them all the time when they are available (mostly around fall) and when they are on sale. We've tried to get their dad to eat the fruit with us especially since it's been found to be beneficial to prostate health. Studies claim that men who have been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer were found to have reduced PSA levels after drinking POM juice regularly. The seeds on the fresh pomegranates have always been a deterrent to my husband liking them or eating them on a regular basis. In its juice form though, he would gladly drink it daily. He said he liked the flavor. It reminded him of cranberry juice which he also likes.

Besides prostate health, pomegranate juice is also beneficial to your cardiovascular health. Research has shown that people who drank pomegranate juice regularly had reduced the amount of plaque in their arteries. If you didn't know, atherosclerosis, the build up of plaque in the arteries is a leading factor in heart disease which is one of the deadliest disease in our society today.

So for your health or just because they taste so good, make sure you try out POM juice next time you're at the grocery story. They come in the original pomegranate flavor (my favorite) but they also come blended with other flavors like blueberry, cherry, mango and tangerine.

You can also cook with pomegranate juice, just take a look at the various recipes you can make with POM. I was thinking of making a flan with POM syrup, but wouldn't you know it, my husband and kids drank all the juice before I could get to it! Now I'll have to go buy some more.

At least I got to taste a glass full before it was all gone :) It was very refreshing!






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My daughter, for some reason, has gotten obsessed with expiration dates. She checks the label of anything she uses and if it's beyond what's printed on the label, she tosses it out. Sometimes she'll go through the pantry and start tossing canned goods and others that she deems too old. I keep telling her some things can keep for a long time but I think she doesn't believe me. If you're as skeptical as she is, then maybe this guideline on how long you can keep things in storage will help:

Beer

Unopened: 4 months.

Brown sugar

Indefinite shelf life, stored in a moistureproof container in a cool, dry place.

Chocolate (Hershey bar)

1 year from production date

Coffee, canned ground

Unopened: 2 years
Opened: 1 month refrigerated

Coffee, gourmet

Beans: 3 weeks in paper bag, longer in vacuum-seal bag (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Ground: 1 week in sealed container

Coffee, instant

Unopened: Up to 2 years
Opened: Up to 1 month

Diet soda (and soft drinks in plastic bottles)

Unopened: 3 months from "best by" date.
Opened: Doesn't spoil, but taste is affected.

Dried pasta

12 months

Frozen dinners

Unopened: 12 to 18 months

Frozen vegetables

Unopened: 18 to 24 months
Opened: 1 month

Honey

Indefinite shelf life

Juice, bottled (apple or cranberry)

Unopened: 8 months from production date
Opened: 7 to 10 days

Ketchup

Unopened: 1 year (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Opened or used: 4 to 6 months (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)

Maple syrup, real or imitation

1 year

Maraschino cherries

Unopened: 3 to 4 years
Opened: 2 weeks at room temperature; 6 months refrigerated

Marshmallows

Unopened: 40 weeks
Opened: 3 months

Mayonnaise

Unopened: Indefinitely
Opened: 2 to 3 months from “purchase by” date (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)

Mustard

2 years (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)

Olives, jarred (green with pimento)

Unopened: 3 years
Opened: 3 months

Olive oil

2 years from manufacture date (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)

Peanuts

Unopened: 1 to 2 years unless frozen or refrigerated
Opened: 1 to 2 weeks in airtight container

Peanut butter, natural

9 months

Peanut butter, processed (Jif)

Unopened: 2 years
Opened: 6 months; refrigerate after 3 months

Pickles

Unopened: 18 months
Opened: No conclusive data. Discard if slippery or excessively soft.

Protein bars (PowerBars)

Unopened: 10 to 12 months. Check "best by" date on the package.

Rice, white

2 years from date on box or date of purchase

Salad dressing, bottled

Unopened: 12 months after "best by" date
Opened: 9 months refrigerated

Soda, regular

Unopened: In cans or glass bottles, 9 months from "best by" date
Opened: Doesn't spoil, but taste is affected

Steak sauce

33 months (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)

Tabasco

5 years, stored in a cool, dry place

Tea bags (Lipton)

Use within 2 years of opening the package

Tuna, canned

Unopened: 1 year from purchase date
Opened: 3 to 4 days, not stored in can

Soy sauce, bottled

Unopened: 2 years
Opened: 3 months (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)

Vinegar

42 months

Wine (red, white)

Unopened: 3 years from vintage date; 20 to 100 years for fine wines
Opened: 1 week refrigerated and corked

Worcestershire sauce

Unopened: 5 to 10 years (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Opened: 2 years

Source: Surprising Expriration Dates


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Normally, rice really loves water. Most of the rice I've seen growing were in flooded rice paddies but as we all know, there can be such a thing as too much of a good thing. One of the ways rice crops are devastated is from floods. In this country a flooded rice crop probably won't make much of a difference but in other countries where rice is a staple, this could make the difference between having something to eat or going hungry.

Scientists at UC Davis (with collaboration from the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, I'm proud to say) have discovered a flood tolerant variety of rice. The implications of this discovery is huge especially in areas that are prone to floods like Bangladesh. Click on the here to read the full story.


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This year was a historic milestone in politics. We finally have a black president in office. For this country, that is astounding. President Barack Obama is making huge impacts on this country already even before he took office last week.

According to this article, he may even affect the way we eat and that's a good thing. The article suggests these four areas may be subject to change under the new administration.

1. He’s expected to support local and organic farmers
2. Food prices may go down…or up
3. Food safety should improve
4. School nutrition will be in the spotlight

From what we already know of the President, he seems to follow a pretty healthy diet. He doesn't eat a lot of sweets and favors simple and fresh foods. Whether the President causes our eating habits to change or not (I'm sure nutrition and agriculture aren't on the top of his to-do list right now) just the fact that people are noticing and waiting is already a good sign to me.



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I have a daughter who does not eat seafood. Any kind of seafood, even the most benign. Imagine that... from a family who loves sushi and anything that comes out of the sea.

So I was really intrigued when I saw this post on Rice Krispies Sushi. I have a feeling this is a sushi my daughter would eat. It has rice krispies treats, gummy bears (or rather fish) and fruit roll ups. How cute is that!

I think this would be a great cooking project for kids too.


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The number of people who travel usually increases during the holidays and this season was no different even with the stressed out economy. We still all have to be with our families, after all. However, what with unexpectedly severe weather conditions in some areas of the country, the delays and cancellations have affected travel plans all over. There are people right now who are stranded at hotel rooms if they're lucky, but many more are just camping out at the airport.

I thought it was kind of funny that just as I was watching the news talking about the stranded travelers, I stumble on this wiki-how page on how to cook food in a hotel room. There are instructions on how to make oatmeal and bacon for breakfast, ramen noodles for lunch or a grilled cheese for dinner! If you need some convincing, just watch the video below of Alton Brown demonstrating how to make oatmeal. It actually sounds yummy!







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I can't believe I've spawned a sushi hater, but I have. As much as I love seafood and anything sushi, my youngest daughter hates it all. By all I mean everything seafood. The mildest fish, even the nori wrapper in most sushi rolls, she won't go near those. There was a time when I can get her to take bites of popcorn shrimp but even that phase has passed. Mention sushi and her whole disposition sours.

That's why I thought these Koo-ko Sushi would be a great gag gift for her! Because although they look just like a plateful of sushi, they are actually a collection of artfully made chocolate and cookie confections! I would love to get a taste of one of these. If you're as curious as I am, check out the Koo-ki Sushi website.



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I just love Paula Dean and this clip of her and her friend Kim making brunch is just hilarious but also informational. The informational part, is how she cooks cheese grits. If you've ever wondered how to make cheese grits that aren't gummy, you gotta watch this video. Paula says that the secret to making the perfect cheese grits is "to keep them sturred" lol! Y'all, I really, I love her Southern accent. This is not a dis :P

The video is actually on how to make Krispy Kreme burgers so I didn't really see how the grits eventually turned out. It looked really creamy though like everything Paula Dean makes, it was a little scary watching how much butter, eggs and cheese were going into that concoction! As for the burgers, well you just gotta watch the video and see. Would you eat one?

Thanks to this Squidoo lens about Krispy Kreme, I ran across this video.

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Food is probably one of the most appreciated gift during the holidays and during these hard economic times, it could also be one of the most frugal gifts to give.

One good idea, especially if you don't cook, is coffee and chocolate. One of the best places to get organic coffee is Green Mountain's Fair Trade. Check out their reasonably priced packs of coffee and/or chocolates. Much cheaper than that over roasted stuff you'd get from that seattle coffee company :).




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What is it about food on a stick that is so appealing? Take this doughnut on a stick that we found at the Chinese deli inside the Grand Asia Market in Cary, N.C. The girls and I love going to that market on weekends because it is just bustling with activity. Plus, they have only-on-weekends fare like sweet or savory silken tofu, freshly made noodles with your choice of toppings and of course, freshly baked goods from baos to these doughnuts on a stick.

The doughnuts were light, not too greasy and rolled in sugar. The girls love them.

Grand Asia Market
1253 Buck Jones Rd
Raleigh, NC 27606
(919) 468-2988



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These are sweet days indeed! One Obama fan celebrated the victory by rendering President Elect Obama's portrait in cupcake. Zilly Rosen of Zilly Cakes baked 1,200 cupcakes frosted with fondant in 19 shades which she then displayed on a 5'x6' case at the "Buffalo Obama Headquarters in honor of the volunteers and the work they did on the campaign."

When she started making the cupcakes she didn't know whether they will be for a celebration or a consolation party, but to have gone through all this trouble, I am sure she is glad it was for a celebration party. The volunteers at the Obama headquarters sure were glad to get this rare treat. Visit the Zilly Cakes website to see photos of their celebration.




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Remember when I made tamales? I was thinking of making some more over the weekend and had even made some pork filling for it. But wouldn't you know it, some kitchen fiends got to the pork before I could put it in tamales! grrr!

Anyway, I'm thinking that I am just destined to make tamales because this morning, not only did my old friend Chas tell me that he's back from his hiatus, he also pointed me to a sweet tamales that I've just got to try. It's too bad the last of the fresh summer corns have passed, but I'm thinking the recipe will do just as well with some frozen white sweet corn. So off to the market I am this evening to get the ingredients for the sweet tamales.



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I love seafood! Unfortunately, we've had a hard time finding a good seafood restaurant here in our area of North Carolina. Sure, there are plenty of restaurants around, many of them serve seafood, but not one of them a truly memorable seafood experience.

The Oceanaire is a fine dining restaurant fashioned after a classic 1930s ocean liner, giving that classic ambiance of being in the middle of the ocean and partaking of its bounty. Their seafood is flown in daily and they claim to use only the freshest 'catch of the day' available from top seafood suppliers. By following what is fresh and available from the ocean, their menu changes constantly. You may not always get what you had last time, but you will always get something fresh and delicious.

Oceanaire has locations all over the country. Luckily, there is one here in N.C., at Charlotte so you can bet we'll be checking them out soon. One of the features offered by the restaurant is their ability to accommodate private parties and corporate events at any of their locations nationwide. Private Dining San Diego? They can help you with that. Or maybe you're looking for a venue for restaurant corporate events Atlanta. Whatever your needs, check the Oceanaire website for a unique solution.

I love pork, don't you? And that includes bacon. I heart bacon even though my heart is probably suffering for it. Have you seen all the bacon recipes going around lately?

It seems that the trend of wrapping stuff in bacon and poking it with a stick is back again. I see even rumaki, chicken liver wrapped in bacon, has made a comeback on the party scene!

While hopping around food blogs, I have come across bacon candy, bacon ice cream, and yes, even bacon cake. Is there no end with what you can do with bacon? Apparently not, according to the all things bacon website. Now if you really love bacon, you can even wear it or join a club over it :)



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Who doesn't love free food? Not me, certainly! I love taco bell tacos as an excuse to eat some gazillion fire sauce. Now if you like munching on tacos, especially FREE tacos, make sure you get over to a participating Taco Bell near you and go Steal A Taco tomorrow, October 28, 2008 between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Don't forget to set your reminders, and see you there! :)




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Photo credit: LAist photo essay

It's supposed to dip down to the 60's today, 40's by nightfall. It's getting cooler and the leaves are changing colors. They are falling. It must be fall and that means it must be time for the country fair!

I love going to the country fair mainly for the food. Some of my favorites are fried, I must admit. After all, that is what the fair is famous for. No, they're not popular because of the rides, attractions and exhibits! People go to the fair to see what's frying up this year.

Every year it seems that they come up with something new to fry. Me, I'm perfectly happy with the funnel cake and maybe the seasoned fries. OK, maybe the onion rings too. Corndog if they're the good kind. Oh and just to balance it out sometimes I get fried zucchini. Makes me feel less guilty, you know?

Now if you're going to the country fair or the state fair this year, keep a look out for some of these fried items that have been known to pop up at these shindigs:

• Snicker's Bar, Milky Way
• Twinkies
• Frog Legs
• Apples
• Strawberries
• Bacon
• Spam
• Squid - yumm! haven't seen this at our state fair yet though
• Moon pies
• M&M ?
• Snake
• Alligator tails

According to this list of List of Weird Fried Foods, Bacon is the weirdest!

Fernie’s All-American Fried Grilled Cheese Sandwich. White bread sandwich with American and cheddar cheeses dipped in egg-and-milk batter, coated with bread crumbs, and fried.

Chicken Fried Bacon. Bacon with seasoning, battered, breaded, deep-fried, served with ranch or honey mustard sauce.

Fried Banana Split. Banana and honey peanut butter rolled in balls, battered, and deep-fried, topped with powdered sugar, caramel and chocolate syrups, peanuts, whipped cream, banana split-flavored ice cream bites, and cherry.

Texas Fried Jelly Bellys. Jelly Bellys rolled in funnel cake batter and fried.

Deep Fried S’mores. Marshmallow and chocolate chips sandwiched between two graham crackers, dipped in batter, fried, and dusted in powdered sugar.

Fire & Ice. Pineapple ring, battered and deep-fried, topped with banana-flavored whipped cream that’s been frozen in liquid nitrogen so it smokes.

Fried Chocolate Truffles. Dark chocolate truffle rolled in cocoa powder, battered, deep-fried, dusted in cinnamon, sugar, and cocoa powder.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Waffle Balls. Strawberries in chocolate shell, dipped in waffle batter, deep-fried, custed with powdered sugar, served on a stick.

You got anymore to add to the list?




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This list/meme has been going around the blogs, and it caught up with me when my friend the Baby Rambutan tagged me a month ago. Sorry I'm just getting around to it now, but here it is. :) This list made me realize I still have a lot of eating and tasting to do!

If you’d like to play along and check off what you've eaten, here are the rules:
1. Copy the list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

The Omnivore’s Hundred List

Those I’ve eaten are in bold.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (Lucky Dog)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake




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My grandmother's house in the Philippines was surrounded by banana trees. Aside from the fruits, my grandmother used various parts of the banana plant for different things.

Did you know that banana blossoms are edible? Check out this recipe for banana blossom. It has step by step photos of how to prepare the blossoms for cooking.

The leaves, has numerous uses. I call it the tinfoil of the rain forest. It can be used to wrap anything either for cooking, storage or transport. One of the most common uses is for wrapping food to be cooked. One of most common treats is suman, a rice cake wrapped and cooked in banana leaves. My grandmother made the best.

Even the trunk of the banana plant has its use. I remember the curved layers of the trunk used for food trenches. Pretty much like paper plates. Also, did you know that the trunk of a banana tree is not really a trunk in the usual sense in that it is made up of thick layers of leaves? Interesting huh?

Read all about bananas here.

There are a number of recipes online that use banana leaves. If you ever have need of some check your local hispanic or asian markets.

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