Bryan from BiteoftheBest.com

We've written about the O lines of Oils & Vinegars.. In a word, they're fantastic! The O Balsamic Vinegar Trio recently won the Gold Medal 'Best Food Gift' at the Fancy Food Show and I thought I would give it its due. The set includes three of the most interesting and flavorful from the O lines: the O Port Balsamic Vinegar, O White Balsamic Vinegar & O California Balsamic Vinegar. It really is a handsome gift pack, perfect for any passionate home chef. The O vinegars are true craftsmanship, hand-made in Sonoma and oak-aged in small batches. These are less like vinegars and more like fine wines. You'll find notes [...]

So you always wondered what happened when the dish ran away with the spoon, right? Ok, well maybe it's not the child of this star-crossed pair, but say hello to the Spife anyway.. Spifes (yes, it's a spoon/knife) are being handed out to kiwi-fruit lovers everywhere. This tool is specially crafted and perfectly designed to slice open a kiwi and allow you to eat it, all with one utensil! The kiwi is an often overlooked fruit. Most people don't realize that this small but mighty fruit packs more essential nutrients, bite for bite, than the 27 most popular fruits (apples, oranges, plums, bananas, etc, etc).  A Rutgers University study concluded [...]

The theatrical release of Food, Inc. has certainly got a lot of people talking. It is in this line of thinking that Cinema Libre Studios has released their own eye-opening documentary about the environmental hazards of our modern meat and poultry production farms. The film, entitled A River of Waste: The Hazardous Truth about Factory Farms, delves deeply into the subject of CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) in its examination of our food system. These factory farms are at the center of the maelstrom, getting much of the attention for many legislative campaigns fighting against practices like  animal cruelty, environmental violations and the depletion of natural resources. The film features [...]

Just a quick update on what's going on from the folks over at Food Should Taste Good. Well, they still believe 'it', and they continue to roll out the flavors. I recently got the opportunity to try a few of the newer tastes that should be good, and was more than pleasantly surprised. The Yellow Corn tortilla chips were very good, hearty, crunch, and not overly salty. I dove right into a bag and made them stand up against a hearty black bean & corn salsa; test passed! I moved on to the Lime, and then quickly past it (ok, I just don't like the whole hint of lime phase [...]

Green tea.. it just might be the next "it" ingredient. Many people are starting to realize the incredible flavor of green tea.. heck, Snapple and Arizona are even on board with commercial production! Though many have sampled, not many yet realize the incredible health benefits (including cancer-fighting capabilities) that green tea has. And then there is matcha... Matcha is powdered green tea (generally imported from Japan) that can be added to many types of foods and beverages -- everything from smoothies, to baked goods, to pasta salad, fish and eggs. Matcha is the newest way to reap the powerful health benefits of green tea. Though new to the United States, [...]

Kefir is becoming popular, well.. at least more popular than it used to be! Modern drinkers know Kefir as a healthy, nourishing, drink.. almost as a 'yogurt shake'. The drink is actually a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus region of Europe over 2000 years ago; prepared by inoculating milk (cow, goat, sheep or even soy) with 'kefir grains' (a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars). Sound complicated? Yeah, I thought so too.. Much more important than the chemistry lesson it would take to understand the nuts and bolts of Kefir, is the nutritional value This drink, a staple in much [...]