cookiesinheaven

Congress is poised to cut food stamps, taking away an extended benefit created by the 2009 stimulus before its original expiry date and setting up an unprecedented “cliff” in food stamps, now known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. To demonstrate how hurtful this might prove, hunger advocate Joel Berg recently spent a week eating according to the SNAP budget.

....The cliff in food stamps means that one month, a family will receive a set amount of money, about $4.50 per person per day. The next month, they will get less. In his week eating according to the SNAP budget, Berg shopped for the first three days as if he received full benefits. For the second two, he shopped as if he received cut benefits. The result? Less food, or less healthy food. - Washington Independent

Labels: childhood, food insecurity, Food Stamps, poverty

Labels: California, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Sea Otters

A food truck frenzy is currently sweeping the nation, and Valencia is about to take part in it! On Saturday, October 16 come be a part of the festivities when Awesometown becomes the epicenter of rolling culinary greatness as it hosts Valencia’s Gourmet Food Truck Festival in the Santa Clarita Valley. This event will take place at the Bridgeport Marketplace, located at McBean Parkway and Newhall Ranch Road, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. There will be an assortment of delicious food and great company, so bring your friends, family and a hearty appetite! - Valencia.com

Labels: Festivals, Food, Food Network, Food Trucks, tyler florence, Valencia, YouTube

Even in this terrible economy, Santa Barbara is still one of the best, most sought-after – and expensive places to live in the world.

That’s according to a housing report released on Wednesday by Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

The average four-bedroom, three-bath home in Santa Barbara lists for about $1 million, making the American Riviera the 10th most expensive place to live, the report states. - Daily Sound

Labels: California, Santa Barbara

Labels: tweets, twitter

Labels: FDA, food safety, grocery stores, tweets, twitter

Labels: Congress, egg recall, eggs, food safety, twitter

What to Do:
On the day of the event open a bottle of #Grenache or two then tweet, facebook, and blog on #Grenache. You can do this for 24 hours! Yes, 24 hours of #Grenache as this day of celebration will span the entire globe! During International #Grenache Day, ask questions and share facts from your favorite social media sites or even via email to the Hospice du Rhône team. Most importantly this day is all about #Grenache so we encourage you to open a bottle of #Grenache and enjoy with friends and family. Also, don't forget to take photos of your activities as we will be asking for them!

How to Interact:
You can interact with Hospice du Rhône and the rest of the world #Grenache lovers virtually by heading over to Twitter, Tastelive.com or Facebook. Have questions about Grenache or fun facts you would like us to share, send them our way at hdrinfo@hospicedurhone.org. View the official International #Grenache Day Google map to see an event near you. We secretly hope you will be joining us at the bowling alley in Paso Robles, California.

Labels: grenache, Hospice du Rhone, Paso Robles, Rhone, Rhone Rangers, Wine

From their Etsy site:
"What are your cupcakes missing? An adorable cupcake wrapper to make your cupcakes pop! My mission is to make every wedding, birthday party, and holiday more special and unique with my elegant cupcake wrappers. These wrappers look fabulous in photographs, and will give your event that wow factor. Your guests will be raving!"

They even whip up some cupcakes to go with these fun wrappers.
Some of the flavors of cupcakes offered up:

• Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake
• Boston Creme Pie
• Carrot Cake
• Chocolate Syrah
• Coconut-Pineapple
• Cookies n' Cream
• Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
• Double Chocolate Chip
• Ginger with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Green Tea
• Hazelnut Chocolate Chip with Chocolate Buttercream
• Key-Lime Pie
• Lemon Cream
• Lemon Cheesecake
• Mint Chocolate Chip
• Pink Champagne with Champagne Buttercream Frosting
• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Orange Kahlua
• Red Velvet
• Salted Caramel Cheesecake
• Tiramisu Cupcakes
• Vanilla Rainbow Sprinkle
• White Chocolate Raspberry

Labels: Art, cupcakes, design, Etsy, Santa Barbara

Most of you are probably aware that Syrah faces a challenging marketplace. Even articles complimentary about Syrahs (as nearly all of them are) feel compelled to begin with a story about how hard they are to sell. A recent article by Eric Asimov in the New York Times began "There’s a joke going around West Coast wine circles: What’s the difference between a case of syrah and a case of pneumonia? You can get rid of the pneumonia."

...When mainstream articles about Syrah (which is, after all, as widely planted in California as all other Rhone varietals combined) lead with anecdotes about how hard they are to sell, it's time for more deliberate action. And Asimov's article started a chain of events that we Rhone Rangers hope may help turn around Syrah's fortunes.

Asimov’s article spurred a blog on Huffington Post by Dr. Orin Levine, Executive Director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr Levine, who is one of the world's leading experts on pneumonia and also a wine lover, posted a challenge to Syrah producers and retailers to both promote their Syrah and help eradicate pneumonia by donating $10 of each case of Syrah sold to consumers in November 2010 to pneumonia vaccine dissemination. Why $10? That’s the cost to produce and administer one dose of vaccine. Why pneumonia? It’s the leading cause of death in children worldwide, and is totally preventable. Why November? November 12th is World Pneumonia Day. - Tablas Creek Blog

Labels: Blogger Challenge, bloggers, Pneumonia, Rhone, Rhone Rangers, Syrah, Tablas Creek, Wine

Consumers should not rely on inspectors to make sure that expired or recalled foods, like the 500 million eggs recalled last month, are no longer being sold, public health experts said.

In most cases, inspectors rarely check grocery shelves for recalled products, and instead rely on the producers of the tainted product to make sure that the recall was effective.

No regulations exist to prevent stores from selling expired food, which inspectors view as a food quality issue rather than a food safety concern. Agencies only intervene when the expired product has been found to cause illness, which public health specialists say is rare.

Food recalls sound official, but actually they are voluntary. Removing the tainted food is up to the stores and restaurants after they receive the recall notice from the company that produced it. Government agencies try to monitor to make sure the recall is happening but they have limited authority or resources to intervene. - Minnesota Public Radio

Labels: food safety, Government, Recalls, regulations, Restaurant

Labels: EdHat, Santa Barbara, spiders, tarantula, YouTube

Labels: Books, Cookbooks, Earl Warren Showgrounds, sale

"....The thing that made California so great was our world-class education system, an education system that was the envy of the world. I was fortunate enough to grow up having good public schools and great teachers. I also had great teachers at SBCC, who helped me secure a scholarship to UC Berkeley and I went on to earn a graduate degree from UCSB. Growing up in poverty, I would not have been able to become the person I am now, or enjoyed the many opportunities in my life, if it weren’t for the public school system.

Every child, regardless of where they grow up, deserves access to the same educational opportunities that helped me succeed. For our state and children to remain competitive in the 21st-century economy, we are going to need the best schools and best teachers. We will meet that challenge not only by securing necessary education funding, but also by ensuring that teachers are not hamstrung and can have the opportunity to provide students with an enriched educational experience so they are prepared to compete in an increasingly competitive economy." - Das

Labels: Das Williams, Education, elections, local, Santa Barbara

Midwestern coffee company Espresso Royale has purchased popular downtown Santa Barbara coffee shops Coffee Cat and Northstar Coffee Company, and plans on soon opening another cafe in Goleta.

Labels: Coffee, Flickr, For Sale, local

Labels: Birthdays, bloggers, internets

Labels: Birthdays

Labels: Benefit, Edible Communities, farmers, locavore, Movie, Santa Barbara

Labels: Dragonette, Jalama Vineyard, Longoria, Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Rosa Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills, Wine

Labels: Birthdays, celebrity chefs, downtown, Restaurant, Santa Barbara