Lesser Evil Snacks: Empty Calorie Free Chips & Popcorn

The fabric of our snacking society has changed dramatically over the last decade, due in part to the hoards of  information about making smarter food choices infiltrating our nutritional radar: in the home, in the stores and even in the cinema, with movies like "Supersize Me", getting the message across to Americans that we all should take note of what we are feeding ourselves, and especially our children. 

This revolution of smarter eating has no doubt been the catalyst to an all out healthy snack war between battling companies, each one trying to outdo the other.  Just stroll through any snack isle and you will see lots of clever marketing and  claims to the "new, new" trendy food item that promises you and your kids extra brain power AND shiny, healthy, hair for life . The proclamations that adorn these boxes and bags are now so familiar to us all I can ask you to close your eyes and recite them with me: No trans-Fats, Gluten Free, No Cholesterol, Whole Grain....you know them all! This is what Malcolm Gladwell means by " TheTipping Point."-- everyone is now jumping on the bandwagon to be on trend.

There are a bevy of beauties in this category, so many, that the choices can become overwhelming. How do you choose?

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Tips for Great Grilled Cheese from Chef Jason Sobocinski of Caseus

King of the Grilled Cheese, Jason Sobocinski is the owner and founder of New Haven's innovative cheese-centric gastropub and cheese shop  Caseus Fromagerie Bistro. Here are his tips for the perfect Grilled Cheese sandwich. 

The crispy and the melty are no more typified than in America's greatest culinary accomplishment, the Grilled Cheese! Who thought up such a wonderful combination, to put bread to butter then heat with cheese till melted? Pure culinary Genius. 

The first signs of what we know as the Grilled Cheese sandwich surfaced around the 1940's. Sliced white bread was used often with cheese melted open faced called cheese toasties in England and was a popular dish to make in U.S. Naval galleys. These toasted melted precursors of what we now know where easy to make and super satisfying...did they come from the English Welsh Rarebit or the French Croque Madame? I'm not sure, but I do know that now more than ever this nostalgic sandwich has become increasingly popular and more and more refined. Is it because it's simplicity and comfort evoking qualities? Again, not sure but I know how to make a seriously great GC and here are some of my tips and stellar condiment suggestion to bolster your next crispy melty endeavor! 

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Forever Sweet Bakery Opens in Norwalk

Forever Sweet Bakery opened last week in the small mini-mall across from the Subaru dealership on New Canaan Avenue in Norwalk and CTbites paid a visit.

We visited after lunch on opening day and the success of the store preceded our arrival since the remaining inventory consisted of a few “Red Velvet” and a single chocolate cupcake. We decided on the Red Velvet and it was quite tasty. The cake was moist and they kept the sugar in the cake to a minimum. The icing was sweet and delicious and added great flavor.

The size of the cupcakes at Forever Sweet is also manageable, not the mega-cupcakes that have become the standard. Priced at $2.75 each, these are the perfect size and price for a kid’s party.

The Cake Pops start with a sphere of cake that are dipped in a hard shell and topped with some sparkles, priced at $2.75 each or $24.00 for a dozen. The Cupcake in a Jar is an 8-ounce mason jar filled with various layers of cake and priced $5.95 each.

With a following from its recent appearances at the Stamford Mall and current sales at local fooderies, Forever Sweets is a place to purchase some very tasty and creative cupcake inspired desserts.

Forever Sweet Bakery - 4 New Canaan Ave, Norwalk, CT - 203.939.9600

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Sweet & Simple Bakery Opens @ Fairfield’s Greenfield Hill

Michelle Jaffee is up and in her new home away from home at 75 Hillside Road long before the sun comes up. There, she’s busily getting ready for the day ahead creating delightful treats for her wholesale clients as well as the for her new SWEET & SIMPLE BAKERY. You may have seen her brand at your local retail grocer, but now Michelle has a storefront of her own, and her selection of cookies, brownies and cakes, which are available on a rotating basis, is growing daily. 

Cookies include, but are not limited to, chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter, sugar, almond butter and thumbprints. If you’re looking for a cake for a Birthday or other special occasion, Michelle offers golden yellow, chocolate, coconut, banana, carrot, lemon, Red Velvet and strawberry shortcakes, as well as a wide selection of homemade frostings, ganaches and fillings. 

Sweet & Simple isn’t just your neighborhood cookie and brownie bake shop. They are continually adding items to their menu and now offer dinner rolls, and challah.

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The Local Meatball Food Truck Rolls into Fairfield County

There is a new food truck on the block in Fairfield (well, not so much food truck as in food car – Smart Car to be exact).  The Local Meatball is rolling into town and making its debut this Saturday, April 6^th, dishing out meatballs on the Town Green in Fairfield, made with local, organic ingredients.  Meatballs, a comfort food of many, no longer need to be served over spaghetti to complete a meal.  The Local Meatball is proving these balls stand great on their own!  

Wanting to share his passion for meatballs with the town, chef and Fairfield resident Michael DiStassio started The Local Meatball.  “Meatballs are such a simple idea, but they resonate with so many people,” says DiStassio.  The Local Meatball was revealed online on March 9^th, National Meatball Day and “People have been so responsive to the idea,” added DiStassio.  

Working from his grandmother’s recipe, DiStassio has tweaked it slightly to come up with a variety of 5 different kinds of balls that will rotate weekly. 

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Bufalina Wood Fired Pizza in Guilford

Bufalina Wood Fired Pizza in Guilford is one of this shoreline town’s most charming and delicious destinations. Open since September 2011, Bufalina has earned a reputation for rustic, seasonally-driven, and Neapolitan-inspired pizzas.

“We wanted to recreate the feeling that you are in our kitchen and we are cooking for you,” said Melissa Pellegrino, chef and co-owner of Bufalina alongside her husband, chef Matt Scialabba.

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Debra Ponzek's The Dinnertime Survival Cookbook

Debra Ponzek, owner of Aux Delices Fine Foods, knows a few things about getting food on the table. She cooks for her family and has a successful catering and restaurant business with locations in both Westport and Greenwich. Ponzek’s fourth cookbook The Dinnertime Survival Cookbook, comes out on April 1st 2013 as an answer to the age old question, What’s for dinner?

“You write different cookbooks at different times in your life,” says Ponzek. “I have kids and the question of what will I serve for dinner is a constant.” 

To approach this mealtime conundrum, Ponzek has written her book with the organizing principle of,” What do I feel like eating tonight?” 

The Dinnertime Survival Cookbook is divided into basic mealtime genres such as: "Everybody Loves Burgers", "Pasta & Beyond", "On The Slow Side" for braises, "If You Love Chicken", as well as "Breakfast For Dinner" (my personal favorite). The concept is to take an ingredient your family enjoys and expand on what you already know. 

“I found that people tend to make the same 5 of 6 dishes every week,” states Ponzek. “I hope that people will be inspired by the recipes in The Dinnertime Survival Cookbook and find that they are simple enough to add these to their repertoire.” 

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A Good Beginning for Dino's Pizza in East Norwalk

Located in 101 1^st Street in the space formerly occupied by Beach Burger, Dino Sforza is creating very good pizza after only a few weeks. The interior still includes the familiar beach blue counter, tables and chairs and my first order was a half-pepperoni and half-sausage/ pepper.

The crust of the pie was charred in some spots and still dark blonde in others and a quick peak underneath indicated a large variability so the ovens were still going through their normal calibration. The toppings were very generous, plenty of cheese, pepperoni, sausage and green peppers. Almost completely hidden was the sauce.

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5 Ways Kids Can Help Fight Hunger in CT

People often write in to CTbites asking how their kids can get involved in helping the hungry in our local community. We decided to go to the source, Connecticut Food Bank, to see how best to assist in their efforts. It turns out there are quite a few ways kids can get involved.  Here are some places to begin:

Organize a Team to Walk Against Hunger.  We just opened Registration for the 2013 Walk Against Hunger, www.ctfoodbank.org/walk.  There are now four dates to choose from.  There also may be opportunities for young people and families to volunteer at the walk.  It’s truly a fun family event.

Organize a food drive at school, with a sports team/club or the neighborhood, here’s a link to the info. on our site, http://www.ctfoodbank.org/how-to-help/donate-food

Volunteer.  Contact Kim Damien, our Volunteer Coordinator to learn about volunteer opportunities for young people and families. There’s volunteer information the CT Food Bank's volunteer page, or you can contact Kim at kdamien@ctfoodbank.org, or call 203-469-5000.

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Must Try: Lao Sze Chuan Chinese Restaurant in Milford

“How adventurous do we want to be?” Maria asks.  “On a scale of one to 10?”  She’s poring over the menus at Lao Sze Chuan and says it’s so authentic, some of these dishes aren’t found in Chinatown in New York City. Diced rabbit with peanuts. Hot and Sour eel with cellophane noodles. Pork intestines with blood cake.

“We have to have frog’s legs,” she says. “And the clams.” She starts making a list.

Donna and Mark’s list is already on their ipod. They’ve been looking  at Lao Sze Chuan’s menu online since three in the afternoon.  Maria passes me her list. Yes, the spicy ox-tongue and tripe is on it and I’m happy not to make more decisions. The menus – two of them, the main large, multi-plastic-paged booklet and the additional four page menu of Szechuan specialties  -- are overwhelming. Pages and pages of intriguing descriptions like “Silky fowl with black mushrooms and bamboo shoots in casserole.”  

I pass Maria’s list to my husband, who glazes over at the sight of her tiny script of five appetizers and 11 entrees. He passes it to Donna and Mark. They cross-reference against their i-Pod list, and add a couple dishes to the feast. Yes! The pig’s ear. 

There’s nothing like dining with the right group of people at the right place, and our crew of 10 is excited about our adventure to the commercial belly of Route 1 Milford to see if Lao Sze Chuan makes the most authentic Szechuan cuisine in Connecticut.  

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