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BabyNes Bottle Feeding System: Ga Ga or Gag?

Rebecca M Gruber — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:21:05 PDT

The pods are coming! Pretty soon you may be brewing up baby's bottle the same way you brew your cup of morning joe. Earlier today, Nestlé introduced a baby milk capsule system, using the same mechanics as the popular Nespresso coffeemakers.

The high-tech BabyNes machine ($287) works with a range of six single-serving formula pods (purchased separately in packs of 26 for $56-$64) to perfectly fill a bottle with the proper portion of milk (at the right temperature) in under a minute. According to Nestlé, the "nutrition system," which the company has been working on for six years, provides a hygienic and convenient way to prepare lil ones' bottles. Made for tots up to three years old, the BabyNes formula pods include four formulations for infants and two for toddlers – the difference being the proteins, calories, and micronutrients in the capsules.

Currently only available in Switzerland, would you want to see the BabyNes make its way to the US?

Nestlé Toll House Cookie Dough Makes a Comeback

YumSugar — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:41:46 PDT

One of the food industry's more massive headlines occurred at the end of June, when a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria was discovered in a batch of Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough. Two months later, Nestle is returning its dough batter to shelves - albeit with an important warning.

At least 66 people in 28 states reported getting sick from the product. Nearly all of the victims were female, under the age of 19, and reported eating raw dough before experiencing symptoms. In response, Nestlé voluntarily recalled 3.6 million packages of its cookie dough, and shuttered the portion of its Danville, VA, plant as federal investigators tried to determine the source of contamination. After completely disassembling the equipment in the plant for inspection and sanitizing, the company is shipping out fresh refrigerated cookie dough packs. To help shoppers identify it as new and improved, the package now contains a blue, star-shaped seal that says "New Batch" - along with the warning "Do not consume raw cookie dough" on both the front and back.

Are you excited to hear that Toll House cookies are back - or are you afraid to eat them? What do you think of the new warning labeling? Does the recall situation make you reconsider the idea of eating raw cookie dough straight out of the package?

Source: Flickr User √oхέƒx™

Restaurants, Suffering From Poor Turnout, Look to Retail

YumSugar — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:50:38 PDT

These days, chain restaurants are looking for any way to eke out a profit, from offering cheaper steaks to haggling with customers. But given the economic downturn, many are no longer expecting to fill tabletops at dinner - instead, they're counting on customers at the grocery store. Restaurants from Jamba Juice to California Pizza Kitchen and even Tony Roma's plan to introduce new licensed food products in the next year. Yesterday, Starbucks unveiled its new Super-Premium Ice Cream. The new line of ice cream, created in partnership with Unilever, is inspired by coffeehouse drinks with flavors like caramel macchiato and java chip.

Healthy drink chain Jamba Juice has been sorting through production and logistics on a ready-to-drink smoothie made by Nestle that will be carried in convenience stores in addition to supermarkets. Certain chains that already have licensed, branded items in grocery stores are looking to aggressively expand them. California Pizza Kitchen recently introduced flatbread sandwiches made in partnership with Kraft, and the company plans to expand its product line. Rib specialist Tony Roma's is also broadening its line of heat-and-serve meals beyond baby back ribs to include pulled pork, pot roast, and other items.

Since consumers are dining out less and eating in more, it makes perfect sense for restaurants to move in this direction, but if the past is any indicator, I've found licensed food products are usually nothing but a letdown. Do you feel the same way? Could you see this being the moneymaker for restaurant chains this year?

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Lean Cuisine Recalls Chicken Dinners

partysugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:00:27 PST

Yesterday Lean Cuisine's parent company, Nestlé Prepared Foods, recalled approximately 879,565 pounds of frozen chicken meals.

According to the US Department of Agriculture and Food Safety, the meals may contain foreign materials like small pieces of plastic.

To find out what exactly is being recalled,

9.5-ounce packages of “Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta" brand frozen meals.
Printed on each side of each package is a production code of “8280595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best Before MAY 2010.”
10.5-ounce packages of “Lean Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean” brand frozen meals.
Printed on the side of each package is a production code of “8231595912” or “8241595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best before SEP 2010”; a production code of “8263595912,” “8269595911” or “8274595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best before OCT 2010”; or, a production code of “8291595912” or “8301595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best before NOV 2010.”
12.5-ounce packages of “Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan” brand frozen meals.
Printed on the side of each package is a production code of “8234595911” and a use-by date of “Best before SEP 2009”; a production code of “8253595911” or “8269595912” as well as a use-by date of “Best before OCT 2009”; or, a production code of “8292595911” or “8296595911” as well as a use-by date of “Best before NOV 2009.”

Last Summer, Pizza Pockets, another brand under Nestlé, recalled a large number of frozen pepperoni Hot Pockets. I can't help but think plastic in frozen foods is an alarming trend. Let's hope the manufacturers get this problem sorted out soon. Until then, be sure to check the Lean Cuisines in your freezer.

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Taste Test: Crunch vs. Krackel

partysugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:15:01 PDT

Last Friday after hearing the news that Hershey's had changed its chocolate formula, YumSugar and I decided to perform a taste test. Luckily we had the perfect place to host a chocolate taste test - CasaSugar's space at Park(ing) Day! For the taste test, we pitted Nestle's Crunch against Hershey's Krackel. To check out the taste test in action watch the video below!

To see the results,

We blind folded each participant. Next we gave them a bite of Krackel followed by a bite of Crunch. The taster had to answer the following three questions:

Which is the Krackel and which is the Crunch?
Which tastes better?
Which tastes more chocolate-y?

According to our tasters:

47 percent think Krackel tastes better
53 percent think Crunch tastes better
79 percent could identify when blindfolded, while 21 percent guessed wrong!
33 percent thought Krackel was more chocolatey
67 percent thought Crunch was more chocolatey
Split on which was crunchier

If you were to choose one, which do you prefer: Hershey's Krackel or Nestle's Crunch?

View 11 Photos ›

Nestlé Introduces Beauty Drink

YumSugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:15:04 PDT

The brand Nestlé is synonymous with chocolate bars, frozen meals, and those delectable Toll House cookies, but it's possible that the company may soon be just as recognizable at the cosmetics counter.

The world's largest food and beverage company has introduced Glowelle, a beauty drink that proclaims to have antiaging properties.

The bottled drinks come in two flavors, raspberry jasmine and pomegranate lychee, and are available for $7 a pop at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman department stores. The blends claim to "nourish and hydrate the skin from within and help fight free radicals, known contributors to the signs of aging."

This drink is just the latest in a bevy of supplements that have hit the market. I've always been perplexed by beauty drinks: do they work? Have you ever tried a beauty supplement in the form of food or drink?

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Recall Alert: Don't Bite Down on That Hot Pocket!

YumSugar — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:15:36 PDT

Yikes! Nestlé Prepared Foods, the manufacturer of Hot Pockets, is recalling more than 215,000 pounds of Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza after several pieces of red, hard plastic and clear rubber material were discovered inside some of the pockets. The recall is for 54-ounce, 12-pack cartons of Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza with the following codes printed on the sides of each carton: 8157544614D, EST 7721A, and BEST BEFORE JAN2010.

This is the second recall this Summer for Hot Pockets. Just last month, 350,000 packages of two-pack Spinach Artichoke Chicken Lean Pockets were recalled for the same reason. Perhaps it's time to lay off the pockets for a while.

Source

Celebrate the Season With Chocolate

partysugar — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:13:31 PST

Although it technically doesn't have a season, chocolate seems to taste better this time of year. It's so much easier to indulge in chocolate when you have an excuse like the holidays. Highlight the pure flavor of chocolate by making an easy, elegant mousse tart. The crust is made with cookie crumbs and the simple filling is smooth and creamy. You will need time for the tart to firm up in the fridge so plan ahead. To get this tasty recipe,

Chocolate Mousse Tart
From Nestle

1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies (about 16 cookies)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) bittersweet chocolate morsels
2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325º F.
Combine crushed cookies and butter in medium bowl. Press onto bottom and up side of ungreased 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Microwave morsels and 1 cup cream in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on high (100%) power for 1 minute; stir. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
Beat remaining cream and powdered sugar in chilled medium mixer bowl until stiff peaks form.
Carefully fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture until blended. Spoon into prepared crust; smooth top.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

Serves 12.

Substitution: For a more sophisticated flavor, add two tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur into chocolate mixture before spooning into crust.

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Think You Know Chocolate Chip Cookies?

partysugar — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:29:33 PDT

Since we are celebrating National Cookie Month, I thought it would be fun to test your knowledge on America's most beloved cookie: the chocolate chip. Think you know everything about chocolate chip cookies? Take the test to find out!

Source

Take the Quiz

Love Chocolate Chips? You Better Thank Ruth Wakefield

YumSugar — Tue, 15 May 2007 01:01:01 PDT

As much as I love fancy pastries and innovative desserts, nothing can take the place of a really great chocolate chip cookie. Everyone's familiar with chocolate chip cookies and almost everyone has a memory related to it, but how long has it existed and who invented it?

Since today is National Chocolate Chip Day, I thought I'd let you in on how they came about, and surprisingly, it seems that chocolate chips may have been one of those happy kitchen accidents. In 1937, Ruth Wakefield - owner of the Toll House Inn near Whitman, Massachusetts - decided to make a chocolate butter cookie by putting together dough and chocolate. She assumed that the chocolate chunks would melt and mix into the dough, fortunately for us, they did not melt and kept their shape instead. Ruth called her happy mistake the Chocolate Crunch Cookie and went about making herself a deal with Nestle: they could put the recipe on their chocolate bar and in return she could have all the chocolate she needed. Initially they sold the bar with a mini chopper to help cut it up into pieces, but in 1939 they began distributing chocolate morsels aka chocolate chips. I love a great chocolate chip cookie, but I also love just snacking on these right out of the bag...

To check Ruth Wakefield's original chocolate chip cookie recipe,

Mrs. Wakefield's Original Toll House Cookie Recipe
From The Kitchen Project

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.)
1 cup chopped nuts

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

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Source: The Kitchen Project