Lucky Dip – Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Some of us need a good stuff drink or two to get through the holidays, but for others, the drinking is the cause of many woes. [National Post: The Appetizer]

What chefs think about reviews of their restaurants and why “online reviewers” who hint around for free stuff and throw tantrums when they’re not treated like celebrities are skeezy dirtbags. Seriously. Whether you’re a blogger or on Yelp, don’t be that asshole who threatens a poor review unless you get freebies. [Eater]

Hands up – who actually likes candy canes? [Bon Appetit]

Awww…Mr. Biggelsworth is too much of a charmer to be your Christmas dinner. But you can have one of his tasty rare breed spawn for a good chunk of change. [Toronto Star]

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Lucky Dip – Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Toronto has officially banned the sale, possession and consumption of shark fin. Thank you city council, for doing the right thing. Let’s hope this leads to other jurisdictions passing a similar law. [Toronto Star]

The math on this seems a little sketchy (a can of Coke has 39g of sugar; so 365 cans would be 14,196g  or 31.29 pounds), but the New York City Healthy Department is claiming that drinking 1 can of soda a day is the equivalent of ingesting 50 pounds of sugar per year. Still, an extra 31 pounds can’t be good either. [CBS New York]

Goodbye potatoes, hello rice. How a changing demographic is changing how Canadians eat. [Food Navigator]

Eat your broccoli to keep colds at bay. [Globe and Mail]

Chefs and restaurants are now using Twitter regularly. Just remember – no squabbling with disgruntled customers and for the love of God, stop retweeting every nice thing anybody says about you. We know you’re great, that’s why we’re already following you! [Wall Street Journal]

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Lucky Dip – Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Is there a difference between grocery carts fitted with iPads and a handwritten list? Will the iPads make for too much distraction and accidents or is it just an easier way to get the shopping done? [Globe and Mail]

Food snobs will finally get the chance to really compare Ladurée macarons with ones made in North America. The French pastry shop has opened a location in NYC, with the iconic cookies being imported from Paris. [New York Times]

Easy cheesy – Toronto chefs are getting into making their own cheese. [Toronto Star]

This is what happens when you don’t let your kids have junk food occasionally – they become obsessed over things like cereal fun packs. [Serious Eats]

Do you have an inner vegan? Sure you do – eat some nuts and take baby steps. [National Post: The Appetizer]

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Getting Real About Cereal

I’m sure they must be terribly alluring. Those colorful bins of sweetened treats, the cute workers in their pyjamas to ring up your order. Even the sneaking knowledge that you’re getting away with something, by ordering up a bowl of your favourite childhood breakfast cereal instead of something more, well… grown up.

But here’s the deal. Cereal companies are corporations. They have a duty to their stockholders to expand their market share every quarter. Which means cereal companies have to come up with new and innovative ways to get all of us to eat more cereal. In recent years, someone clued in to the fact that cereal is comfort food for many people, and started marketing it as a tasty snack designed to replace the chips, pretzels and ice cream we used to eat.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? After all, cereal is good for you.

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