• Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
The orange and straw are coming back as PepsiCo Americas Beverages is reverting back to the old packaging for Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice. The decision comes after many loyal customers emailed, texted, tweeted, and generally got the word out they hated the new packaging. People said the new design, which replaced the classic orange and straw with a stock photo of orange juice, made it hard to discern between the different flavors at a glance. And also that the design was “ugly” and stupid.” more…
February 24th is National Pancake Day. That means it’s time to enjoy some delicious stacks of fluffy goodness. You could make your own, and I do recommend doing so at some point, but national pancake chain IHOP will be giving out free short stacks of buttermilk pancakes from 7 am to 10 pm. It’s not totally free as customers will be asked to donate the price of a meal – or more, if desired – to a local 
If you buy a box of toy food, what exactly are your supposed to do with it? I’m asking as an adult, clearly as a child there are worlds of imaginative opportunity. 
On April 20th Pepsi will start selling versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew that use real sugar, rather than nasty high fructose corn syrup. The drinks will only be available until June, and while I’m hoping this is a test run to bring the big soda boys back into the sugar camp it probably has a little more to do with Passover. Jewish people who observe Passover generally don’t consume grains; hence the reason for seeking out sugar based sodas. Kosher Pepsi and Kosher Coke have been providing this alternative every year for awhile now, so no Jewish persons need go without a fizzy pop. 
The finale of Top Chef began as a roller coaster of near redemption and just missed opportunity for me. What opportunity? To be right in my choosing Stefan and Jamie as the final chef’s to be left standing. Sadly that was not to be, but in better news this episode actually had the entire roster of cheftestants bringing a deep understanding of the cuisine being prepared, and in most cases passion. 
Top Chef New York is almost over. And the question is what city could they possibly go to after having spent the season in the capital of food? New Orleans turns out to be the answer, and I am a tad excited at the prospects. See, when I first started to cook seriously in my early 20’s I was a huge fan of southern food. Especially the items coming out of NOLA. I’m certain I’ve made jambalaya more than any other dish, even though I haven’t even had any in over two years. 
Bravo sent along some more info on Top Chef Masters, the spinoff of the James Beard Award winning cooking show slated for a fall premiere. For those who don’t know the new show will features twenty-four contestants competing in challenges that mimic the Quickfire and Elimination challenges of the original series. Of course the title of “top” gets a bit suspect when you now have “masters” donning the cheftestant whites to compete. 
