Summer is Hollywood Bowl season, and one of concertgoers' favorite accompaniments to a musical night under the stars is a basket picnic, complete with wine.

Wine bars and enotecas are in abundance throughout the South Bay, especially in the beach cities. They're perfect places to sample reds and whites by the glass and to buy bottles to tuck into your cooler. For starters, try Friends of the Vine in Redondo Beach; Coco Noche in Manhattan Beach, which also happens to sell a mouth-watering selection of gourmet chocolate; Cafe Pierre, also in Manhattan Beach; and WineStyles in Torrance.

But if you've never dared to quaff beyond cocktails and beer, beware: the wine world is a daunting place to navigate. Luckily, there's Cork'd, a wine review site where anyone can put in their two cents. Whether you've seen it at the supermarket, at the Olive Garden or at an exclusive Beverly Hills wine bar, it'll probably be on Cork'd -- and if not, there's nothing keeping you from adding your own review.

Go to the Bowl's 2008 season calendar to get an overview of this summer's concerts. Just remember that alcohol is permitted only to shows produced by the L.A. Philharmonic, and the venue has a size limit on carry-in coolers and baskets. Call 323-850-2000 for more information regarding the Hollywood Bowl's policies.

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Struggling to get your coffee fix without breaking your budget on $5 mocha chip lattes? Independent coffee houses are cheaper than chains and offer a much homier, cozier atmosphere. Delocator.net is your source for finding those cafes in your area. Just plug in your zip code and you're on your way to working against the corporate man. Descriptions written by fellow users make it easy to see which cafes have wi-fi or full lunch menus. The site also provides alternatives for chain bookstores and movie theaters.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While most Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with get-togethers, barbecues and fireworks, a subculture of gourmands casts its glance toward Coney Island. July 4 is also the Super Bowl of competitive eating, the Nathan's Famous 4th of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

The contest had humble origins, starting back in 1916. According to Wikipedia -- and if it's on there, it has to be true -- four immigrants gathered at the Coney Island Nathan's stand to settle an argument over who was the most patriotic. After 90+ years, the act of devouring mass quantities of tubiform meat products has become a prize fight.

The contest has a sanctioning body -- the International Federation of Competitive Eating. It has established rules, a $10,000 prize for first place and even a championship belt. The 2008 champion is Joey Chestnut, who won it for the second year in a row. Last year, he managed to beat six-time champion and competitive eating icon Takeru Kobayashi.

There's even a training regimen involved. No big-mouthed schmo can just lumber over to Coney Island and compete. There's an international staging of qualifying events to win before going to the grand stage.

Plus, hot dogs are just one of the foods that can be gorged for sport. The federation calls the foodstuffs "disciplines." Upcoming competitions are the Chinook Winds World Rib Eating Championship in Oregon on July 13 and Cherokee Casino World BBQ (pork sandwiches) Eating Championship in Oklahoma on July 26.

Major League Eating is the franchising organization that's charged with commercializing the "sport." Successfully, too. There's a gallery with bios of professional speed eaters, and even a competitive eating video game.

In case anyone is curious, for details on how to become the next Chestnut or Kobayashi, MLE has a sign-up form. Be warned: competitive eating has serious short- and long-term health risks. Heed this warning, directly from its safety page:

"Major League Eating believes that speed eating is only suitable for those 18 years of age or older and only in a controlled environment with appropriate rules and with a licensed emergency medical technician present. Major League Eating opposes at-home training of any kind, and strongly discourages younger individuals from eating for speed or quantity under any circumstances. Major League Eating urges all parties Interested In the sport to become involved in a sanctioned event -- do not try speed eating at home."

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Here's a list including all things Fourth of July -- fun facts, fireworks and barbecue safety tips and more from the U.S. Government's official Web portal. Some of the standout links are:

• Reminders on barbecue safety from the Agriculture Department

• A virtual visit to the Liberty Bell Center

• Have your children test their knowledge on the Declaration of Independence with this quiz. This site also offers quizzes on life in the White House, First Ladies and even presidents' pets.

• All-American recipes, including a recipe for Laura Bush's Hot Chocolate.

• If you're interested in donating your time and effort for a patriotic cause, this link is a thorough compilation of donation projects, volunteering opportunities and other ways to support your country.

Be safe and have a great Fourth!

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Hot dogs are a staple of Fourth of July cookouts. No wonder July is National Hot Dog Month. In honor of the all-mighty wiener, the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council conducted a national poll confirming a strong link between hot dogs and sports -- especially baseball. The poll listed hot dogs as fans' favorite stadium fare. We're lucky to live close by to Dodger Stadium, which ranked fourth on a list of the best stadium frankfurters. A Dodger Dog and an order of the stadium's greasy, extra-strong garlic fries ... heavenly. Premium baseball eats.

The Roadium in Torrance is a South Bay hot spots for hot dogs. The open air market's dogs have a regional twist; they're topped with grilled onions and a whole jalapeño. The Roadium is open this Independence Day weekend, so you can come by and sample one of their dogs while browsing the vendors' goods.

If you're a Wienerschnitzel fan, you'll want to head over to the one at 900 W. Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington. This is the very first Wienerschnitzel location. It's almost 50 years old and still kickin'. Mark your calendars for July 15, when the chain will be giving away free chili dogs and ice cream cones.

Prefer to cook up your own hot dog creations? The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council offers a miscellany of recipes, from Asian-inspired Hoisin Glazed Dogs to traditional beans and franks.

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A site you can eat up
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If not, you're in luck, because it's National Pollinator Week. To celebrate, www.pollinator.org has loaded up its Web site with downloadable handouts to educate the masses on the importance of pollinators in our ecosystem and the plight of honey bees. There is a guide for gardeners, a guide for 4th-6th grade teachers and dozens of others. There is also a menu for chefs who might want to whip up an educational dinner party with specific ingredients that honor the work of a variety of pollinators.

If you really want to get into the spirit of the week (and get some free sunflower seeds for your garden), join the research project at www.greatsunflower.org/. This group looks for volunteers to grow a specific variety of sunflower and then record how many bees visit during a specified amount of time. The results will help a formal academic study about bee populations in the southwest.

Pollinator.org's resource page has many links to other projects to help you become actively involved in helping bees in very simple ways.

RELATED POSTS:
Haagen-dazs' campaign to help the honey bees
L.A. Farm Girl on the South Bay's best produce
Sustainable Seafood Suggestions
Find a farmers' market any day in the South Bay
Help scientists look for signs of global warming in the South Bay

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This is what we wrote last week:

Summertime is upon us, and that means we're all on the lookout for cool beverages in the South Bay. And when you can get that beverage free, that's really cool.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores have rolled out new Yogurt Ice Blended beverages, and company-owned stores in Southern California, San Francisco and Arizona will be handing out free small versions during the "Ice Blended Power Hour" from 4 to 5 p.m. on June 24. The treat is available in mango, original and strawberry flavors. Mmmmmmmmm!

Where's the nearest Coffee Bean store? Click here to find a convenient location by city or ZIP code.

And because we're talking summer drinks, here's what people are saying about Starbucks' new blended lemonade:

Definitely too tart. But it tastes pretty good with raspberry syrup. And the blended lemonade would make the PERFECT margarita mix, I think...

And then there's this response:

Too tart? Wow, is there a chance that it might actually taste more like real lemon than sugar water with a drop of lemon essence? Makes me want to try it.

The mainstream palate expects everything to be so sugared-up....I can't stand it. Lemons are supposed to be tart.

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Should reports of salmonella contamination have you saying "hold the tomatoes" forever? The outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon strain of the bacterium, has been responsible for more than 550 infectious cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since April. As a result, the fruits have been pulled from markets and restaurants. Five weeks after the first reports of an outbreak, what are your tomato-eating options?

Some varieties of tomatoes are safe to eat, and some of the suspected red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes were not grown in contaminated areas. The Associated Press offers some advice on safe tomato consumption:

• Avoid raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes unless they were grown in specific states or countries that Food and Drug Administration has cleared of suspicion. The Food and Drug Administration has a salmonella updates page.
• Opt for grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached. They are unaffected.
• Choose tomatoes and other fresh produce without bruises or other damage.
• Keep uncut tomatoes at room temperature for the best flavor. Once sliced, tomatoes must be refrigerated promptly, to avoid bacterial growth.
• Wash fresh tomatoes under running water just before eating them.
• If you think you may have eaten a contaminated tomato, the CDC maintains a page on the salmonella outbreak where you can compare your symptoms and read about treatment options.

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Dining out has been made easier and more fun thanks to the web. Not only can databases make it easier to find restaurants, but interactivity allows us to share our experiences -- good and bad -- with fellow diners.

Listing/review sites are abundant, so the novelty has worn off and the quality of reviews by average Joes and Janes can be decidedly hit-and-miss.

For foodies, Eater LA strives to be the highly regarded sit-down restaurant in a world dominated by noisy fast-food dining sites.

Eater LA has its own community of reviewers, but it's a blog that writes and aggregates news about restaurants, chefs, critics and industry developments. The site is nicely polished, modeled on the template of sister sites Curbed LA for urban planning and Racked LA for shopping.

Our little corner of the world is modestly represented in the subcategories. So far, Eater has listings for the Del Reys, LAX, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and San Pedro. It will only be a matter of time before Eater readers and the internet as a whole discover Lawndale's restaurant scene.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summertime is upon us, and that means we're all on the lookout for cool beverages in the South Bay. And when you can get that beverage free, that's really cool.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores have rolled out new Yogurt Ice Blended beverages, and company-owned stores in Southern California, San Francisco and Arizona will be handing out free small versions during the "Ice Blended Power Hour" from 4 to 5 p.m. on June 24. The treat is available in mango, original and strawberry flavors. Mmmmmmmmm!

Where's the nearest Coffee Bean store? Click here to find a convenient location by city or ZIP code.

Posted by Daily Link at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The San Francisco Chronicle has an unusual little recycling story about a man on a crusade to recycle cork.
Roger Archey is promoting a pilot program for a major cork manufacturer that collects the discards from several wineries and restuarants in the Bay Area and runs drop-off centers. So far, he's collected more than 300,000. That's about a ton of cork. There's just one little problem:

Now the question is: What to do with that growing pile of corks? Amorim could recycle them into flooring, Ping-Pong paddles, insulation and other items, but the corks would have to be shipped to Portugal. A Missouri craftsman has offered to turn them into floor tiles, but that's also a long haul with a big carbon footprint. "I'm trying to focus on other options that are more local," Archey said. "Our mantra is to keep cork out of the landfills at all cost."

Find out more about the cork recycling program at www.recorkamerica.com.

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With gasoline prices flirting with $4 a gallon, experts don't think many Americans are planning to travel very far over Memorial weekend.

So one option is the backyard barbecue -- but if you're a newbie whose dad never relinquished the grill except to make you clean it, you could probably use some advice.

Barbecue'n on the Internet provides guidance in finding the right grill so that when you visit Lowe's, the Home Depot or Target, you won't be at the mercy of a salesperson.

The site also offers recipes, experts' tricks of the trade, the top seven do's of barbecuing and tools beyond the grill that will make barbecuing easier.

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Spices feeling a little flat?

Worried your containers aren't eco-friendly?

The Daily Green offers six steps to clear the clutter and the chemicals from your cabinets.

It's not just about tidying up your shelves. The solutions also focus on cleaning up your diet and your shopping choices.

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The traditional drink of Kentucky and the Kentucky Derby, the mint julep has been served for hundreds of years to help cool down the hot Kentucky summers and is now served by the thousands on Kentucky Derby day at Churchill Downs.

The Chicago Tribune offers this recipe for your own sip of springtime racing:

2 cups sugar 2 cups water Sprigs of fresh mint Crushed ice Kentucky Bourbon Silver julep cups

Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water together for five minutes. Cool and place in a covered container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint, then refrigerate overnight.

Make one julep at a time by filling a julep cup with crushed ice, adding one tablespoon mint syrup and two ounces of Kentucky bourbon. Stir rapidly with a spoon to frost the outside of the cup. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

What's a "silver julep cup," you ask? According to Wikipedia, "Traditionally, mint juleps were often served in silver or pewter cups, and held only by the bottom and top edges of the cup. This allows frost to form on the outside of the cup. Traditional hand placement may have arisen as a way to reduce the cold transferred to the hand by the silver or pewter cup."

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The second annual 31 cent Baskin-Robbins Scoop Night celebration is tonight (April 30) from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. You can buy up to 10 (2.5-ounce) scoops (of any ice cream flavor) per person for 31 cents each plus applicable tax. The company is partnering with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and donating $100,000 to the organization. For more information or to find the nearest store location, click here.

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It's that time of year again -- Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day -- from noon to 8 p.m. today, which marks the 30th anniversary of the company's annual thank-you to its customers worldwide. Click here to find a participating scoop shop.

Last year, the ice-cream aficionado's paradise doled out more than 1 million free cones, to which Ben & Jerry's sweetly states: "For you to consume that many scoops, you'd have to eat more than 416 ice cream cones each hour for every day of your life if you lived to be 100!"

It is also introducing four delectable new flavors: Coconut Seven Layer Bar, Imagine Whirled Peace,
ONE Cheesecake Brownie (in a partnership with ONE.org to "make poverty history") and Cake Batter.

See you in line.

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Somehow, this city girl caught a farming bug that has become her life's passion. Torrance native Judi Gerber's love of local agriculture has sprouted two blogs where she writes about the virtues of growing your own produce and organic farming and lists a treasure trove of resources for the South Bay gardener.

On L.A. Farm Girl, she lists local farms and farmers markets, and writes about the local agriculture industry.

On The Giving Gardener, Judi is trying to establish a network of local backyard gardeners who would share their extra bounty with charity groups. But she also has a very complete list of South Bay gardening events, local gardens and clubs, educational resources and garden catalogs and nurseries.

As if that weren't enough resource material to keep a gardening fiend going, she answered our questions about the best source in the South Bay to get supplies and plants, and gave her opinion on what we should be growing and what to do with all the tomatoes we're about to be overrun with. And she even told us how to get fresh milk delivered to the door, just like in the good old days.

Here's her bio:

Judi Gerber is an agriculture and garden writer who is a Torrance native. She regularly writes about California farming and organic gardening for various publications including California Tour and Travel, California Farmer, and Organic Producer magazines, and the West's agriculture weekly, Capital Press. She has a monthly garden column that appears in the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and is the author of the upcoming book Farming in Torrance and the South Bay by Arcadia Publishing to be published in September 2008.

She received a bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz, and a Master's Of Public Administration from Cal. State Long Beach, and is a University of California Master Gardener and has a certificate in Horticultural Therapy. She has been actively involved as a volunteer at the Torrance Farmers' Market, leads a Senior Gardening Program at the Bartlett Senior Center, and is currently a Library Commissioner for the City of Torrance.

Continue reading "LA farm girl dishes on where to get the best produce in the South Bay" »

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Starting today, Starbucks will introduce the much anticipated Pike Place Roast, named after the original Starbucks location at Pike Place market in Seattle. Howard Schultz, chairman, president and ceo of Starbucks says, “Since 1971, we have sourced, roasted and sold the world's finest coffees. Pike Place Roast truly represents the best of who we are, showcasing our new quality standards for freshness – freshly roasted, hand-scooped, freshly ground and brewed with shorter hold times. Pike Place Roast takes us one step closer to achieving our goal of transforming the in-store experience by restoring the connection our customers have with our coffee.”
To celebrate the new blend, Starbucks will give complimentary short (8 oz.) to customers who come in today at 9 a.m.
For more on the Pike Place Roast click here or go to the Starbucks website.

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Torrance resident MaryRuth writes what you might call a "comfort blog." She's lived in the South Bay for nearly 30 years, and though she says she's picked up a bit of California cynicism, her posts are cheerful and charming. She planned it that way. "From the beginning I wanted this to be a fun blog. No rants or meanness," MaryRuth writes.

In her blog Where's the Bubbler, MaryRuth looks at South Bay life from her Midwesterners' perspective. The Wisconsin native's blog is a mix of local loves, like malasadas at the Torrance farmer's market and nostalgia for the "motherland," as she calls it, with posts about the plight of candy raisins and Brett Favre.

Many of her posts deal with her love of food. In fact, her dream is to open a "comfort food" restaurant, which seems approproriate for the personality of her blog.

Read on for a Q&A with the latest South Bay blogger added to our blogroll.

Continue reading "Q&A with a South Bay blogger and foodie" »

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Seafood Watch, a program run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium helps consumers help the ocean by educating them about how to buy seafood from sustainable sources. The program writes annual regional "pocket guides" you can download and carry with you. The guides break the most common types of seafood into three categories: "Best Choices" (abundant and fished or farmed in environmentally friendly ways), "Good Alternatives" and "Avoid" (overfished or fished in a way that harms other marine life).

Download a printable guide for the West Coast.

Download the lists into your phone.

Sign up for a monthly Seafood Watch newsletter.

Learn how different types of seafood are fished and farmed.

RELATED LINKS:
Make a splash for World Water Week
Orcas in Redondo Beach
Find a Farmer's Market

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The Las Vegas Sun introduces us to Mony Vital:

He’s immortal, or at least he says he is, and he’ll be happy to teach you how to be, too.
Of course, it costs you anywhere from $450 (for six months of immortality) to $2,875 (for lifetime immortality). …
Vital has discovered a way to fix your life force. It’s right here on his laptop, a program called the Quantum Prayer System. It prays for you in “millions of frequencies of prayers — they’re not religious, they’re just prayers.” And it channels and amplifies those prayers to you. “Imagine everyone in China chanting your name. That powerful.”
… The program needs to ascertain your energy signature, for which it will need your date of birth, place of birth, home address, phone number and e-mail address. Vital says the computer’s reading is 97 percent accurate — “Nobody else in the universe has this energy.”

Intrigued? Read up on Vital Energetic Balancing and Quantum Prayer System.

But there’s more to Vital than the Quantum Prayer System. The Las Vegas man used to be a breatharian, which means he lived off light energy instead of food for 18 months. Get an overview of breatharianism, also known as inedia.

Don’t believe it works? Neither does Robert Todd Carroll. The Skeptic's Dictionary tilts suspiciously in favor of food eaters.

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It's easy for Americans to take water for granted. Just turn on any tap, and it's right there for drinking. Yet UNICEF estimates that more than one billion people worldwide have little or no access to safe water. Every 15 seconds, a child dies of thirst or a water-related disease — that's nearly 6,000 children every day.

All this week (through Saturday, March 22nd) restaurants participating in The Tap Project will be offering their tap water for a minimum $1 donation. For every dollar raised, UNICEF will make sure a child has clean drinking water for 40 days.

South Bay restaurants participating in the program include the Bluewater Grill, 655 N. Harbor Dr. in Redondo Beach; the Daily Grill, 2121 Rosecrans Avenue in El Segundo; BT Cafe, 2160 E Grand Ave. in El Segundo, and more. Check the Tap Project's search page for more.

Last year's event was in New York only, and it was such a success the project expanded to cities across the country. So make a difference this week: treat yourself to dinner, and some children to a precious natural resource.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the U.S. Census bureau, 4.6% of people in L.A. County claim Irish ancestry. That's about half a million of us. So, there's no shortage of Irish things to do in the South Bay this weekend.

PARTY LIKE THE IRISH
HERMOSA BEACH: Unleash your inner leprechaun at the 14th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pier Avenue and Valley Drive, and wending its way westbound to Hermosa Avenue. Musical entertainment for the free event will be provided by the Wrath of McGrath Band, playing at noon. Call 310-318-0280 or go to www.stpatricksday.org, where you can also see
photos of 2007’s parade.

REDONDO BEACH: This year’s St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run/Community Walk and Little Leprechaun Dash for the Gold relocates from Torrance to Riviera Village on Sunday. A benefit for Redondo Union High School’s grad night program, the race starts and ends at the Village Runner, 1811-A Catalina Ave. Late registration opens at 6:30 a.m., the 5K run/walk begins at 8 a.m., the kids’ dash at 9:30 a.m. Entry fee for adults is $30, $20 for children. The top three male and female runners win cash prizes and the three fastest finishes in each age division will receive medals. For more information, call 310-375-2626 or go to www.villagerunnerracing.com.

SAN PEDRO: The St. Patrick’s Day celebrations at San Pedro Brewing Company includes The Hollywood Stones, a ’70s-era Rolling Stones tribute band, plays Saturday at 10 p.m. Hear Irish music, including Uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes) Sunday and Monday. Corned beef, green beer and Irish car bombs will be served all weekend at the restaurant and award-winning microbrewery. Cover is $3 tonight, $10 Saturday at 331 W. Sixth St. For information, call 310-831-5663 or go to www.sanpedrobrewing.com.

For Irish eats, keep reading.

Continue reading "South Bay's Guide to St. Patrick's Day" »

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In a clever marketing ploy, Guinness claims it is sponsoring a petition in Congress to make St. Patrick’s Day a national holiday. Its Web site claims it needs 1 million signatures by March 17 to make it happen. As of 3:17 p.m. on March 15, it had 443,123.
Text of the petition:

Guinness and Proposition 3-17 supporters believe that a regulated, official holiday would not only reduce the amount of employees missing work in order to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but officially allow people to express their Irishness.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We in the South Bay love our weekend breakfasts, don't we? And we have lots of options for greasy, healthy or somewhere-in-between breakfast. But if you don't have time to wait in line or have a sit-down, leisurely breakfast, there's always the Batter Blaster. That's right, it's pancakes in a can. And it's organic.

Nobody at the Breeze has tried it -- or admitted to trying it -- but before you turn your nose up, as we reflexively did, check out Keith Bussell's blog, where he reviewed the Batter Blaster -- and liked it!

Bussell says:

It’s real pancake batter–in a can. It’s not a simulation or an approximation. The resulting pancakes and waffles are light and tasty, and the only cleanup (besides the cooking implement) is rinsing off the tip of the can.

Batter Blaster provides a zip code search on its site for product availability, and several outlets in the South Bay carry the aerosol flapjacks. Check your local Albertsons, Bristol Farms, Costco, Kmart or Smart & Final.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kite fliers take to the skies — well, at least the kites do, anyway — at the Redondo Beach pier Sunday. The pier hosts the 34th annual Festival of the Kite, a free event taking place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Kite-flying experts show off their stuff for prizes and audience delight. Kites are also on sale at Sunday’s event. Non-kite activities include a hot-dog-eating competition and music provided by a band from Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance.

Redondo Beach’s Sunshine Kite Company sponsors the festival.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Settling on a meeting spot for a lunch of a business discussion can be difficult, especially if the person you are meeting is pushy.
With mezzoman, you can be sure that a meeting spot is truly in the middle. Just enter your address and the other person's and the kind of place you want to meet - a coffee shop, an Italian restaurant - even a bowling alley. The site shows you the midpoint between your locations, along with suggestions of a meeting place. It will even give you a link to the Google Maps page so you can get directions.

Posted by Daily Link at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two California companies have recalled alfalfa sprouts sold across the West because tests detected salmonella, which can be fatal.

The Always Fresh and Alfa One sprouts were distributed to Trader Joe’s markets in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Shipments to Beach Market, KV Mart and Superior Warehouse stores in California were also recalled.

The California Department of Public Health has product descriptions and codes for the sprout recall.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many South Bay restaurants and retailers are on a partial list of hundreds of retailers and restaurants that received shipments of recalled beef.

The list traces the largest beef recall in U.S. history — 143 million pounds from the Westland-Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino. No illnesses have been reported.

The company came under fire after the release of a Humane Society videotape showing sick cows being beaten and prodded into the slaughterhouse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday that a veterinarian and a floor inspector from the plant have been placed on paid administrative leave.

Much of the recalled beef is thought to have already been consumed, although officials warn that people who have beef in their refrigerators or freezers purchased prior to Feb. 17 either discard the meat or confirm that the retailer’s shipment did not come from Westland-Hallmark.

If you still need to check your freezer, you can get more details in the company’s recall notification letter.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For a sugary walk down memory lane, check out this nostalgic look at a collection of candy cigarette packages. Click on the pictures for some humorous comments.

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I headed to my favorite South Bay Starbucks this afternoon in an effort to see if the barista training last night made a difference in quality. The front door of the shop had a sign declaring that they offered the best espresso in the neighborhood, and above the bar, there was a newly chalked sign promising perfect drinks every time. Evidently all Starbucks made similar signs in an effort to renew their pledge for perfect drinks.

When I walked in, the staff greeted me with a smile, and chatted with me as they made my grande sugar-free vanilla non-fat latte (also known as a skinny vanilla latte). I asked the barista how training went yesterday, and she said it was informative, but that there was only one aspect of training that was useful to her. She said the espresso refresher wasn't anything she hadn't heard before, but that the training on how to make foam was extensive and useful. I knew what she was talking about after taking only one sip of my drink, a drink I have ordered many times in the past.

I thought yesterday's lattes were fine, but after having one today that was topped with foam, I realize I have definitely been missing out. The added texture made my latte richer, and more flavorful. Another Starbucks barista told me that this is how lattes are always supposed to be made, but in my experience as a Starbucks connoisseur, foam has been lacking. My barista today was certainly right--her training last night in the art of making foam was helpful and made my latte today "perfect."

Earlier, we posted the insider view on the training.

Posted by Daily Link at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Judging from the nearly 200 comments about the re-training on the Starbucks Gossip blog, baristas are a little piqued at the ribbing from customers and haters in response to the closing for re-training. Sounds like telling them they all need to be re-trained hurt their feelings. Here's one comment:

The training was great. Now if we can only train our customers to be a little more civil with those of us who want to give them a quality beverage and experience.

Who trains the customers? Scorpions?

For the most part, the comments from Starbucks employees about the training itself are positive. They feel inspired and are eager to pour their new knowledge into your cups. For example:

I just got back from the training. Well, I got back an hour ago - the last hour was dedicated to excitedly telling my SO about it.

I've worked at two mainstream coffee shops previously. I was management in one, and a barista in another. NEVER have I seen such dedication to the customer, or such cleanliness! I wouldn't drink coffee anywhere else after working with Sbux for three days. The training highlighted the main points -

Pulling the perfect shot. Yeah, it's not the old style machines (which, naturally, I miss dearly), but they're not totally flawed. The beans are ground seconds before being brewed. Everyone was given a refresher on what to look for in shot quality - timing being the most important, visual and flavor closing in at a second. Now, EVERY EMPLOYEE knows how to do it perfectly. NO EXCUSES.

Steaming milk. It's going to be good - thick, creamy, 'beautiful foam'- on top of your latte. NO EXCUSES.

Customer care. Letting you, the customer, feel comfortable enough to let us know if we screwed up in ANY aspect of your drink. Then, we can remake it for you. And make you happy. NO EXCUSES.

If they hadn't had the training all at the same time, would everyone be getting a perfect cup of coffee tomorrow? It was a great idea. I work two jobs - my full time day job is a rotating shift of ten hour days. I couldn't possibly make it in after midnight to do this. I'm so glad Sbux actually cares enough about their employees to have closed down to do this - at their cost!

The Starbucks Gossip blogger has also posted links to stories from major papers around the country about reaction to the closure.

Posted by Daily Link at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paying homage to all that is cheese just got easier with maps to the more than 250 cheesemaker farms across the U.S. here.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)