Most of the time, non-alcoholic drinks are simple, you open the bottle and you pour it into a glass. Sure there are a lot of great non-alcoholic options out there, but what if the drink recipient was hoping for something a little more unique? Well, don't fret, I've got the perfect recipe for you! Taking its cue from a classic Cosmopolitan, a Cosmo-Not is the perfect blend of citrus, pomegranate and cranberry. To start serving these up at your next shindig, read more

Last week, YumSugar and I were at a New Zealand wine tasting and I was a little worried about the new, crisp white shirt I was wearing. Usually to be on the safe side, I don't drink red wine when wearing white, but since this was a wine tasting, red wine would be consumed. I buttoned up my jacket until I started talking with Dan, an intelligent Wine Spectator editor. He had wrapped a napkin around the stem of his glass to ensure that any wine - red or white - that happened to drip down the side of the glass (which it inevitably always does at one point or another) would be absorbed by the napkin and not your shirt, dress, or pants. The napkin doubles as a glass identifier when the glass is placed on a table with other glasses you can immediately identify which glass is yours.

If you're a Top Chef fan who lives in New York, you might want to head over to NYC's Union Square Park next Tuesday. To kick off the 16th Annual Restaurant week, Bravo TV is hosting a Taste of Top Chef Cook-Off pitting season two winner Ilan Hall against season two fan favorite, Sam Talbot. Man I wish I lived in New York. - Will Work For Food

Last night Top Chef kicked off its new season with an All Star battle that pitted season one chefs against season two. On the season one team we had Harold, Stephen (oh how I missed his condescending smug attitude), Tiffani and Dave - surprisingly absent was Leanne, but she couldn't participate because she is now Bravo TV's food producer). The season two team consisted of fan favorite Sam, Elia, Marcel and Ilan. The two teams were going head to head and the team with the most wins contributed $20,000 to their favorite charity.

Overall it was a bit lackluster - there was no drama unfolding, as no one was getting kicked off, and all the food looked delicious - however it was fun to see my favorite contestants back in the kitchen. It was definitely a great tease (or should I say amuse-bouche) to lead into season three. There were a few good quotes and I'm sure you guys want to know about the food, and see some pictures. So let's get started, just read more

I've been eying the pretty blooms of snapdragons (scientific name of Antirrhinum) at all of the Farmer's Market flower booths. Native to the Mediterranean, the common name is taken from the fact that the flower's head resembles the face of a dragon snapping its jaw open and closed. There are a variety of species and the garden plant can grow in many colors. Snapdragons grow year round in full or partial sun and are available in a range of heights - they can grow to be 6-48 inches and have a lengthy blooming period.

Their dramatic spikes are a fantastic addition to any floral arrangement. When planting, space flowers apart to allow air circulation and avoid wetting the leaves when watering. Cut back snapdragons in hottest weather, monitoring the soil moisture to promote new growth when cooler weather returns. Snapdragons are beautiful in flower borders and paired with petunias and geraniums.

Turns out that while corn-based ethanol fuel might be a good fuel alternative, it's actually causing candy to be a good livestock feed alternative. Due to the recent demand of ethanol, corn prices have gone up, forcing farmers to find an alternative source of food for their livestock.

Dwight Hess, a cattle feedlot operator in Marietta, Pa., is located in the heart of snack country, near Hershey and Herr Foods Inc., a maker of potato chips, pretzels and snack mixes. His cattle ration consists of about 17% "candy meal," a blend of chocolate bars and large chunks of chocolate; 3% of what he calls "party mix," a blend of popcorn, pretzels, potato chips and cheese curls; 8% corn gluten; and the remainder corn and barley he grows.

I guess we're not the only ones enjoying National Candy Month?

Also, I wonder how it affects the flavor of the meat. Do you think things would have sweeter or saltier undertones?

Via: Amazon al Dente

NPR has rounded up the best cookbooks for the summer. Some of these have already made it to my shelf (loooove The Perfect Scoop and will share some recipes with you in a few weeks), but the rest of them are now on my must check out list. - The Food Section

To produce quick, healthy, and tasty dinners on busy weeknights, stock your pantry with dried pastas, spices, and canned add ons such as diced tomatoes and capers. With a quick stop at the farmer's market or local produce stand, tonight's hearty vegetarian pasta is jammed packed with flavor and is ready in less than half an hour. Traditionally a puttanesca sauce has anchovies, but this version substitutes it with meaty eggplant. To make this meal vegan, choose a plain pasta instead of cheese tortellini and omit the Parmesan garnish. Get the recipe for tonight's dinner, just read more

Remember how I told you about the Mexican Coke spotting at Costco? Well we finally made it out there and luckily there were still cases waiting for us! We snatched up a few bottles and set about doing an A/B blind taste test.

Everyone received two little cups full of soda. One was marked A and the other was B, they then had to determine which they liked better, why they liked it and if they could determine which was the Mexican version and which the regular American version.

The results were pretty even, out of thirteen taste testers, eight of them preferred the Mexican coke, three preferred the American and two thought they were the same. Also, only nine people correctly identified which was the Mexican Coke.

To find out what the taste-testers thought, read more