cookiesinheaven

• Dr. Oetker Cake and Icing Mixes - available at health food stores across the country in chocolate and vanilla ($5).
• Goodbaker Chocolate Cake and Cupcake Mix - whole-wheat vegan version ($5).
• Pamela's Products Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix - gluten-free goodness ($5).
• Ma snax Carob-Peanut Cake Mix - organic cake-mix for your pooch ($8).

Labels: Birthdays, Cyberculture, Environmental, Organic

Labels: Cyberculture, Fun

David Dain Smith lives in Missouri, but his California winery is just a click away, waiting to spring to life in the dim glow of his computer screen.

Smith is making wine through Crushpad, a winery where the grapes are real but the experience is as virtual as members want it to be with e-mail updates, live chat and Web cams.

For Smith, a 49-year-old microbiologist working in pharmaceutical sales, the dream of making wine seemed like it would have to wait until retirement."Do you have $3 million sitting around? Well, I don't," Smith said.

He's now making Dain wines, to some acclaim, while keeping his day job. At $5,000 to $10,000 to make the minimum one barrel a year, Crushpad costs more than stomping grapes in a garage. But it's far from the financial plunge of setting up a winery. - AP

Labels: blogs, Cyberculture, Wine