GOOD TASTES.DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS: With the ever-increasing interest and introduction of all kinds of darker chocolates these days, Hershey Foods Corp. has introduced Hershey's Special Dark Chips just in time for holiday baking. In a recent preference test, the majority of consumers surveyed preferred the dark chips to semisweet sem·i·sweet adj. Having a small amount of sweetening: semisweet chocolate. Adj. 1. semisweet - having a taste that is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness bittersweet ones in chocolate chip cookies sampled. Consumers liked the taste of the chips - and so did we. Today, chocolate chip cookies are reported to be America's most popular cookie with 7 billion eaten annually. Now you can whip them up with dark chocolate pieces without having to chop them up yourself. Suggested retail price is $2.29 per 12-ounce bag of chips. Look for them on supermarket shelves. - Natalie Haughton AUTOGRAPHED APRON AUCTION: The Aprons With Attitude auction, sponsored by Bertolli Pasta Sauce, is taking place on eBay now through Nov. 13. It's your chance to bid on an apron designed by more than two dozen celebrities and other well-known personalities such as the Border Girls, Jacques Pepin, Clint Black, Jennifer Capriati, Donald Trump, and Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa - showcasing how he or she embraces life. Minimum bid is $50, and proceeds will benefit the Starlight Children's Foundation. For details or to view or bid on an apron (and be linked to eBay), go online to www.bertolliaprons.com. - N.H. NEW SALAD DRESSING: A new ranch-style dressing pairs two favorite flavors - sweet and tangy barbecue and cool and creamy ranch - to make Hidden Valley BBQ BBQ barbecue Ranch Dressing. While the flavor combo may sound weird, it's really delicious - and good on salads, grilled chicken pieces, hamburgers and more. Try it as a dressing for potato salad, a topping for baked potatoes or a dipper dipper, common name for the only aquatic member of the order Perciformes (perching birds) found near cold mountain streams. With their short, stubby wings and tails and their thick brownish plumage, dippers are thought to be closely related to the wrens. for fries, onion rings or buffalo wings. You might even use it to dress up tacos or tostadas. Available in 16-ounce bottles in supermarkets, suggested retail price is $3.19. You'll find 36-ounce bottles for a suggested retail price of about $4.29. - N.H. ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE: Breeze restaurant in the Century Plaza Hotel The Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles is a landmark 19-story luxury hotel forming a sweeping crescent design fronting the spectacular fountains on Avenue of the Stars adjacent to the twin Century Plaza Towers. & Spa (2025 Avenue of the Stars) is offering a special, decadent Chocolate Lovers Dessert for $15 per person nightly through November. Created by executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi, it features a handmade chocolate centerpiece surrounded by an array of mini chocolate delights, including warm chocolate emulsion cake, chocolate mocha Mocha (mō`kə), town (1990 est. pop. 2,000), S Yemen, a port on the Red Sea. It was noted for the export of the coffee to which it gave its name but declined as a trading port in the late 19th cent. with the rise of Hodeida and Aden. tart, chocolate creme brulee or chocolate truffle truffle (trŭf`əl) [Fr.], subterranean edible fungus that forms a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with the roots of certain trees and plants. The part of the fungus used as food is the ascoma, the fruiting body of the fungus. - all served with chocolate ice cream. For a special splurge, skip dinner and stop by and indulge in dessert. In addition to the regular menu, the restaurant's chef, Andreas Nieto, is also offering an Umbria white truffle four-course prix fixe dinner menu for $85 per person through November. For reservations, call (310) 551-3334. - N.H. PESTO pes·to n. A sauce consisting of usually fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and grated cheese. [Italian, from past participle of pistare, pestare, to pound; see piston. FESTIVAL The Los Angeles Pesto Festival runs from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday following the Veterans Day Parade (at 10 a.m.) on the Veterans Administration campus adjacent to Brentwood (Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards). Los Angeles restaurant chefs will compete in a pesto taste-off - and there will be pesto-making demos, pesto creations for sale, music and a classic car show. Proceeds will benefit the local Veterans hospice program. Admission is free; fee for food tastings. - N.H. DINING OUT Restaurateur John Makhani (Piacere, Barefoot Bar & Grill) has opened Cinch on the long-shuttered Verdi site in Santa Monica. With a Dodd Mitchell-designed interior, an internationally experienced chef named Chris Behre (who has cooked in Sydney, London and Shanghai) and other top people in the kitchen and on the dining room floor, Makhani obviously believes Cinch is a cinch to succeed. Behre's menu of East-West blends includes tempura Tempura - Language based on temporal logic. "Executing Temporal Logic Programs", B. Moszkowski, Camb U Press 1986. appetizers of beet and goat cheese ($8.50) and enoki e·no·ki n. pl. e·no·kis Enokidake. [Short for enokidake.] mushrooms on asparagus ($11), entrees of soba noodles with twice-cooked pork ($11.50), black striped sea bass with chorizo cho·ri·zo n. pl. cho·ri·zos A very spicy pork sausage seasoned especially with garlic. [Spanish.] Noun 1. sausage ($19.50) and New Zealand venison venison (vĕn`ĭzən) [O.Fr.,=hunting], term formerly applied to the flesh of any wild beast or game hunted and used for food but now restricted to the flesh of members of the deer family. with a black pepper and fig sauce ($24.50). Cinch also serves sushi. A double-baked almond brioche with marinated plums and sweet cream panna cotta with a strawberry and tangerine tangerine: see orange. tangerine Small, thin-skinned variety of the mandarin orange species (Citrus reticulata deliciosa) of the rue family (citrus family). salad are among the desserts ($8 each). The well-rounded opening wine list offers 28 wines by the glass ($6 to $15) and a broad selection of bottles from $21 and up. Cinch, 1519 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, serves dinners and cocktails nightly from 6 p.m. to midnight, until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Reservations and information: (310) 395-4139. - Larry Lipson CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Hershey's Special Dark Chips) (2) no caption (apron) (3) no caption (Hidden Valley BBQ Ranch Dressing) |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion