But now, consumers can choose from what some foodies call “designer eggs.” Some producers claim to treat their hens more humanely than other producers. Other cartons boast of extra health benefits from their eggs, such are more Omega-3 fatty acids.

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of regulation of some of these terms; animal welfare groups warn consumers to pay careful attention when they buy.

Here’s a brief explanation of the controversy, a glossary of terms, and some tips for wading through the competing claims.

Farm Conditions Draw Attention from Consumers
The aspect of egg production that gets the most attention from consumers, farmers, and animal welfare organizations is not what the hens eat, but how they live. Conditions differ markedly, depending on whether hens are raised on a conventional commercial farm or one that practices free range, cage free, or pasture farming.

From USA Today:

In conventional egg production, hens live in what are called battery cages In this case, the word “battery” means “array,” as in a stack of cages that can be as much as two stories high.

There are about six hens to a cage, and each hen gets up to 67 square inches of floor space, about 3/4 of a sheet of notebook paper, says Mitch Head of the United Egg Producers.

It doesn’t sound like much space, and animal welfare groups encourage egg farmers to raise hens with more space and freedom of movement. Eggs produced that way carry a price premium, but no added health benefits. Still, consumers are buying: sales increased 30% between 2002 and 2006.

Read Carefully Before You Buy
Some phrases on the box have no legal meaning, and some of the pictures are misleading. Some companies just put the eggs in a carton labeled “natural” or “animal friendly” and decorated with a pastoral drawing of apple-cheeked children scattering seed to eager, uncaged hens. All that means is that they took some time designing a nice label. It tells you nothing about how the hens were raised or treated.

Here are some often-used terms found on egg cartons along with a brief explanation of their actual meaning.

Cage Free: These hens are raised indoors, but without the tiny battery cages. They have room to move about and interact with each other. Most don’t have access to outdoors.

But, as Michael Spencer, an egg distributor in Fullerton, CA, notes, many hens don’t pine for the great outdoors: “They are very squeamish birds; they’re very defenseless. They know they have predators out there.”

Free Range: These hens aren’t raised in battery cages and have some access to the outdoors. Just how much varies. It could be a small porch, covered deck, or fenced yard.

Pasture Raised: These chickens are outside pecking around in the grass, eating grubs, and whatever else they come across. At night, they’re brought inside to roost.

Proponents claim that there’s a distinct taste difference. My husband certainly agrees; we have neighbors whose chickens live outside, eat bugs, and do regular chicken stuff all day. He claims that the taste is far superior to commercial eggs – even free-range eggs.

Kosher Certified: According to the Jewish Outreach Institute, the only requirement for an egg to be kosher is that it come from a permitted bird like a chicken, duck, or goose and that the egg have no bloodspots when cracked open. A kosher marking stamped on the carton or on the egg itself isn’t required.

There’s no difference between a chicken egg with a kosher mark (called a “heksher”) and one without. Even eggs marked as kosher may contain blood spots. The cook doesn’t know for sure until he or she cracks the egg to look.

Pasteurized: These are the eggs to buy if your kids – or you yourself – just can’t keep your fingers out of the cookie dough.

Pasteurization doesn’t affect the egg’s taste, but the process kills harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella. Reuters reported in March, 2008 that sales of Pasteurized eggs increased 43% during the year’s first quarter, mainly because of safety concerns:

More than 60 million Americans are at risk for severe reactions from exposure to egg-related salmonella, including children under 10, pregnant women, those over 50 and those with compromised immune systems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year more than 118,000 egg-related salmonella cases are confirmed, and many more go underreported or are misdiagnosed.

The FDA’s Food Code recommends using pasteurized eggs in all dishes calling for raw or softly cooked eggs.

Certified Organic:

The term “organic” is important – and lucrative. Organic eggs and poultry are some of the fastest growing food products in the US market and command premium prices. Look for the USDA label, or the label of another certification authority. Some states have their own labeling programs that may be different from Federal guidelines.

FDA organic-certified eggs come from cage-free hens who have only been given certified organic, vegetarian feed.

Vegetarian-fed: These hens must have been raised on an all-vegetarian diet, which surprisingly, isn’t a “natural” chicken diet. Just ask the gardeners to depend on their hens to snap up grubs, bugs, and other undesirable garden pests. But commercial chicken feed can have some nasty ingredients, according to the NYT article, the most disturbing of which is “spent hen meal” (ground up dead hens).

Ok. Sign me up for vegetarian-fed eggs!

No Hormones/No Antibiotics: Neither of these claims has any meaning because the USDA doesn’t authorize any hormones in egg production. If the eggs come from hens that are part of the National Organic Program, no antibiotics can be used after the chicks are 3 days old.

Fertile: This simply means that the hens have had the opportunity to cavort with roosters instead of spending their lives in tiny cages. There’s no evidence that fertilized egg are more nutritious, but it does suggest that the hens have been leading relatively normal lives – for chickens.

Omega-3: These eggs are enhanced with heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids found mostly in fish products and in the common garden weed, purslane. Omega-3 eggs command a premium price, but some health experts doubt that the benefit outweighs the cost.

In June, 2007 the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the FDA to investigate the health claims associated with Omega-3 enhanced eggs:

Even the eggs with the most DHA and EPA contain no more of those omega-3s than the amount in one and a half teaspoons of salmon, the richest source of omega-3s, according to CSPI.

Certified Humane Raised and Handled:
This is affiliated with the non-profit organization, Humane Farm Animal Care, and is the only animal welfare program audited each year by the Department of Agriculture. The organization’s Web site says it was created to improve the lives of the 10 billion farm animals raised each year.

Its Certified Humane logo assures consumers that the animals were raised and treated humanely. It partners with the National ASPCA, Humane Society, and various state and local animal welfare organizations.

After you’ve enjoyed the whole dozen, the Green Living Ideas Web site offers these 10 uses for egg cartons. It has a lot of surprising suggestions, from using discarded egg cartons for makeshift ice cube trays to a food source for worm farms. You’ll never put one in the garbage can again!

Basil pesto is delicious, but the price of prepared pesto is alarming: expect to pay $5 or more for as little as half a cup! It’s amazing how something so expensive is so easy to make.

Fresh basil is easy to grow in the garden or on your windowsill. Take a pile of leaves, add some garlic, olive oil, and turn a cup of homemade pesto into three delicious meals - some left over to freeze for later. If you grow your own basil, ingredients for all three meals won’t cost much more than that measly little jar of pesto from the supermarket.

Growing and Harvesting Your Own Basil
Growing basil is easy! The term “herb” denotes a plant that’s valued for its taste or medicinal properties. Remember though, that another name for “herb” is “weed” as in “grows like a.” Just ask any gardener who once planted “just a little” mint only to have it take over the garden in a single season.

The good news is that basil is a form of mint, but not nearly as invasive as its cousins peppermint and spearmint. Grow it from seed in pots or transplant seedlings into your garden once the weather is warm. Or, if you’ve bought some fresh-cut basil, take one of the stems (with leaves still attached) and keep it in a glass of water until the stem begins to root. Then, transplant it into a pot and it will grow into a whole new plant.

Harvest basil when the leaves are young and tender because they taste better – a lot better! Beginning gardeners often hesitate to cut much off the plant, but cutting the leaves makes the plant grow new ones. If you don’t keep the plant cut back, it will start to bloom and put more energy into flowering than making leaves. Also, the leaves from a blooming plant will have a sharper flavor that’s not as good.

Be ruthless when you harvest. The plant signals that it’s getting ready to bloom by forming this four-leaf arrangement at the top of the stem. Before the flowers start to form, pinch it back 2-3 inches or more to keep the plant producing leaves.

Three Meals from One Cup of Pesto
Each recipe contains two common ingredients: pesto and cherry tomatoes. Sweet cherry tomatoes are about the only supermarket tomato that’s reliably fit to eat all year round. They taste even better in the summer, straight out of your garden or the local farmer’s market.

You can always substitute other tomato varieties too. Just make sure to use fresh tomatoes, not canned.

Easy Basil Walnut Pesto Recipe Makes about 1 cup
This recipe uses walnuts instead of pine nuts. Walnuts cost less, are lower in fat, and also contain heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. If you prefer the taste of pine nuts, just substitute an equal amount for the walnuts. You can further reduce the fat and calories – and make the recipe vegan - by leaving out the Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh basil leaves
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 cup walnuts
4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese (optional)
½ teaspoon lemon juice
salt to taste

1. 1. In food processor, blend 1 cup basil leaves, garlic, walnuts, and olive oil, until everything is well-chopped. This pulverizes the garlic so it blends evenly into the pesto mix.
2. 2. Add remaining basil, Parmesan, and chop until mixture forms a paste. Add additional olive oil if needed to reach the desired texture.
3. 3. Add lemon juice and salt to taste. The lemon juice helps preserve the bright green color that otherwise fades quickly (within minutes) to a dull brown.

Note: traditionally, in Italy, pesto is prepared by hand. That’s certainly an option, but it’s a lot of chopping!

Pasta with Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes Serves 2
This is an easy pasta dish that looks pretty and makes ample portions for two people. Double it – or triple it – for additional guests. There shouldn’t be many leftovers, but just in case, the dish is also good served cold or reheated.

Ingredients:
½ pound dried pasta
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3-4 tablespoons pesto (to taste)
4-6 fresh basil leaves for garnish

1. 1. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.
2. 2. Add pesto to the hot pasta and stir to coat evenly.
3. 3. Top with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

Pesto Focaccia Pizza
Focaccia is a flat, chewy Italian bread that tastes wonderful on its own or with added herbs and toppings. In this recipe, the focaccia serves as a thick, chewy pizza dough. Because you top it with fresh tomatoes and bake only until the cheese melts, the tomatoes retain their fresh flavor. It’s delicious and serves for 2-3 people as a main course or 4-6 as an appetizer.

Instructions for baking your own focaccia are below. But if you’re pressed for time, go the easy route and buy a prepared loaf for this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 prepared focaccia loaf (be prepared to pay $3 or more per loaf)
2 cups sliced fresh tomatoes (sweet cherry tomatoes complement the pesto perfectly)
2-3 tablespoons pesto (to taste)
½ to 2/3 cup shredded Mozzarella and Provolone cheese

1. 1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. 2. Mix pesto and tomatoes together in bowl until tomatoes are evenly coated with pesto.
3. 3. Top focaccia with tomato/pesto mixture and sprinkle cheese evenly over the top.
4. 4. Bake approximately 10 minutes until cheese is melted. Don’t bake too long or the focaccia will burn!

Although you can use a bakery focaccia, it’s such an easy and quick bread to make, why not give it a try? Note that to make the focaccia pizza with homemade focaccia, you bake the bread halfway, remove from the oven, add the toppings, and finish baking. Pay close attention to that step; it keeps the bread from getting wet and mushy from the tomatoes.

Easy Homemade Focaccia with Rosemary and Italian Seasoning
Even the basic focaccia recipe is tasty, but this recipe gives a layer of added flavor because you mix dried herbs in with the bread dough. Focaccia is one of the easiest yeast breads; it only rises once and the dough is easy to shape. Focaccia is supposed to be freeform and irregular. The shape adds interest and shouts: “I’m homemade!” to your family and guests.

Mix the ingredients using a large stand mixer with a dough hook. If you don’t have one, it’s ok to mix/knead by hand, but it will take longer.

Ingredients:
2 cups + 2 tablespoons bread flour
2 1/12 teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup hot water (110 to 115 degrees)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried, minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon salt

1. 1. Optional: If you have a baking stone, get it out and pour hot water over the top. Let it stand and absorb the water until the dough is ready to bak. This gives the bread a better, moister texture because the stone doesn’t pull moisture out of the dough as the bread bakes.
2. 2. Mix yeast, sugar, and water in a small bowl and let it sit until mixture foams (about 10 minutes)
3. 3. Place 2 cups flour, olive oil, and yeast mixture in mixing bowl and use the dough hook to blend – about 2 minutes.
4. 4. Add salt, garlic and Italian seasoning.
5. 5. Add additional water 1 tablespoon at a time if dough is too dry. The dough should look smooth and not feel sticky to the touch. If you accidentally add too much water, mix in a little additional flour – again 1 tablespoon at a time – until the dough feels right. There’s no exact measurement to this final step. Dough changes according to the type of flour you use and even the humidity. Don’t be afraid to feel it and adjust the flour/water measurements as needed.
6. 6. Place dough in large, oiled glass bowl (to keep dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises). Cover with either a wet towel or plastic wrap (neither should touch the dough!) and let it rise in a warm (80 degrees or so) place. If your kitchen is chilly, heat a cup of water in the microwave until the water boils. Then, place the dough inside the microwave. The yeast will love the warmth and humidity.
7. 7. Let dough rise until it doubles in size (about half an hour).
8. 8. When dough is almost finished rising, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
9. 9. wipe excess water off the baking stone and evenly spread 2-3 tablespoons cornmeal over the top or grease a 9×12 insulated baking pan.
10. 10. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour on a cutting board.
11. 11. Punch down the dough, remove it from the bowl, and knead it lightly on the cutting board. Flatten the dough and spread it out until it’s about 1 ½ inch thick.
12. 12. Transfer the flattened dough to the baking stone (or baking sheet). Use a small brush and lightly brush cold water over the top of the dough.
13. 13. Bake focaccia for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned on top.
14. 14. Serve warm!

Pesto Focaccia Pizza with Homemade Focaccia

1. 1. Mix tomatoes and pesto as noted above. Have the grated cheese ready.
2. 2. Follow steps 1 – 12 for homemade focaccia.
3. 3. Bake focaccia 7-10 minutes, until crust starts to form on the top.
4. 4. Remove bread from the oven and top with tomato/pesto mixture and cheese.
5. 5. Return focaccia to oven and cook for an additional 7-10 minutes.
6. 6. Slice and serve hot from the oven.

Roasted Vegetables and Pesto Pasta Serves 2
Roasting the vegetables adds to their sweetness and introduces extra levels of flavor into a very simple main dish.

Ingredients:
½ pound dry pasta
1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes
1 large bell pepper, sliced into 2 inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
dash of salt and black pepper
3-4 tablespoons pesto (to taste)
6-8 fresh basil leaves

1. 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. 2. Place tomatoes and bell pepper chunks into a small bowl. Add olive oil and Italian seasoning. Stir until vegetables are evenly covered with oil and herbs. Pour the mixture into a small baking dish (use one with sides so you can stir during cooking without making a mess) and place in the oven. Roast for approximately 15 minutes – until peppers have softened, but not charred. Stir several times.
3. 3. While the vegetables roast, cook pasta according to the package directions.
4. 4. Drain pasta and stir in pesto. The hot pasta makes it easier to evenly distribute the pesto.
5. 5. Place pasta on two dinner plates and top with roasted tomatoes and peppers. Garnish with several fresh basil leaves. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Freezing Pesto For Later
Pesto doesn’t can well, but it freezes beautifully! It also keeps for quite a while in the refrigerator if you keep tightly covered. However, basil made in June and refrigerated won’t be very tasty in December. Freeze the excess and enjoy that green taste of summer during the dark winter months.

As you’ve seen from these recipes, a little bit of pesto packs a powerful wallop of flavor. Mini-muffin tins (the kind that hold about ¼ cup of batter) are ideal for freezing a single serving of pesto that can be quickly defrosted and added to sauces or used alone.

1. 1. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. This makes it easy to remove the pesto after it freezes.
2. 2. Spoon pesto into muffin tin and freeze.
3. 3. Remove frozen pesto by prying it out with a small spoon. If it doesn’t want to release from the tin, quickly run a bit of hot water over the bottom of the tin; the pesto “muffins” should pop right out.
4. 4. Immediately place frozen pesto servings into a freezer bag.

If you’re using it in a sauce or soup, you don’t even have to defrost before using. Just add the frozen pesto to the hot liquid. Be very careful about defrosting in the microwave! Pesto has a lot of oil and heats quickly. In just a few seconds, you could end up with a slimy boiled mess. It’s better to let it defrost on the counter. Sit it close to the warm stove and the small serving will defrost pretty quickly with no loss in quality.

The frozen pesto will keep at least 4-6 months. Maybe longer, but we always eat ours pretty quickly!

Scavengers by nature, dogs will eat anything. Truly. Anything. We once had one dog who ate half a roll of fiberglass insulation; another consumed half a bag of fire ant bait. Although neither item is likely to be a feature of your holiday meal, other traditional foods can sicken – even kill your pet. A few precautions can save a lot of heartache.

1. Return of the “Bumpus Hounds” or, get that dog away from the turkey!
Turkeys aren’t the only animals in danger on Thanksgiving. Anyone who’s seen the 1983 movie, A Christmas Story, certainly remembers the classic scene where the neighbor’s pack of “mangy hound dogs” sneaks into the kitchen and devours the half-cooked turkey. Although the movie is fictional, the situation isn’t.

Every year, veterinarians report numerous medical emergencies that result from dog/turkey encounters:

• Choking: Dogs don’t chew their food well under the best of circumstances (think of the phrase “wolf it down,” for example). But, when presented with turkey and all the trimmings, they eat even faster. Dogs can easily choke on bones, whole potatoes, and other foods.

• Punctures: Bird bones are hollow and they splinter easily, so dogs don’t take the time to chew them very well – if at all. The splintered bones can become lodged in the esophagus, stomach, or tear the intestines. Often, the symptoms don’t even show for several days, and by that time the animal is seriously ill.

• Pancreatitis: Too much rich, fatty food (like turkey skin, gravy, and stuffing) can cause vomiting and gastric distress. Worse, the dog may be stricken with pancreatitis, a dangerous medical condition that can become a chronic problem. The pancreas produces enzymes that help digest foods, but if the pancreas produces too many enzymes, they begin to attack the surrounding tissues.

Symptoms include vomiting, lethargy, weakness, loss of appetite, and bloody diarrhea. It’s easy to mistake some for minor upset or overlook them entirely if you’re dealing with a houseful of guests and busy schedule. But, left untreated, pancreatitis can kill some animals.

The “trimmings” that accompany the turkey may cause problems as well. Cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes, and rich desserts pose problems. Surprisingly, so does dressing and stuffing. Many recipes include onions, which can damage red blood cells. Dogs (and cats) may become anemic after eating too many onions. Garlic has a similar effect.

2. Keep Spot Safe and Sober
Even though your dog is unlikely to steal your car keys and take a joyride, letting Fido drink alcohol is still a bad idea. Most animals won’t drink alcohol by itself, but holiday drinks like eggnog mix it with familiar flavors and smells.

As with humans, body weight plays an important role in how alcohol affects an animal. A large dog may not show any ill effects, while the same amount can send a small dog into a coma. A drunken dog may seem cute and funny – particularly to a group of humans in the same state of intoxication, but it won’t be funny when the dog throws up or becomes seriously ill from his little binge.

Surprisingly, water can be as dangerous as alcohol to some animals. Dogs and cats are used to drinking from bowls on the floor. They don’t see a difference between water used to keep the cut Christmas tree fresh and their own water bowls. The tree water may contain pesticide and fertilizer residue that can poison your pet – or even a thirsty human toddler who might crawl by!

3. Nobody Can Eat Just One! – Why dogs and chocolate don’t mix.
Ok, so a tiny bite of chocolate candy won’t make your dog sick – but the 1-pound special holiday bag probably will. It takes two to three regular-sized candy bars to poison a 10-pound dog, but only 2.6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate.

Chocolate contains a stimulant called theobromine. It affects the heart, central nervous system, and can be lethal to small animals. Symptoms of theobromine poisoning include excessive panting, hyperactivity, vomiting, and an increased heart rate. Severe cases can lead to uncontrollable muscle tremors and coma.

There’s no way to know how much chocolate is too much for your dog: that depends on the dog’s age, size, and general state of health. This is a case where “just a little bit” really is too much. Chocolate tastes good, and that one-time treat could turn your dog into a roving chocoholic.

4. Bread should rise in your oven – not in your dog.

For most of us, eating bread dough sounds about as appetizing as snacking on the raw turkey. But not to dogs: they’ll happily consume either one. Surprisingly, the dough can be as dangerous as the bird.

When yeast dough rises, it expands to many times its original size. It can do that on a sunny windowsill, in a warm oven, or in a dog’s stomach. Yes, a dog’s body heat can cause the dough to expand enough to warrant an emergency trip to the vet.

Last year, the ASPCA reported this incident:

“Take the case of the Labrador retriever who ingested several rolls that his pet parent had placed on the oven to rise….

“…the dog’s stomach was so severely distended that the only option at the time was to surgically remove the dough; he was also treated for alcohol toxicosis, caused by fermentation of the dough.”

If you notice that your bread dough is missing, it’s time to find the dog. Symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating, and vomiting. It sounds funny, but bloating is actually a very serious problem that can kill your animal.

5. Cleaning the plate – as opposed to eating it.
Happy sigh: you’ve put away all the food, loaded the dishwasher, and filled up the garbage pail. Don’t relax quite yet. As soon as you sit down in the den, Fido and Tabby get up and amble into the kitchen to see what’s what. The remains we call “garbage,” they call a “midnight snack.”

Dogs have been known to consume aluminum foil, metal skewers, turkey roasting bags, paper plates, and virtually anything else that has food – or even the smell of food - clinging to it. Any of these can cause intestinal blockage, internal bleeding, and other serious illnesses. Be sure your garbage is securely fastened and out of the reach of your pets.

A Quick Word About Cats

If you also have cats, simply dog-proofing your dinner doesn’t fully protect your pets. Although dogs will eat you out of house and home, cats seem to concentrate on actually eating your home.

In fact, this is one area where cats compete with dogs for the “Who Can Eat the Stupidest Thing” prize. Cats have been known to eat tinsel off the Christmas tree, ribbons off packages, and chew through electrical cords. Some snow globes contain antifreeze, which cats love to drink even though it’s very toxic to their systems. Many plants are also poisonous to cats – including mistletoe.

Just remember: as much as we love the holidays, they can be stressful for our animal companions. They have to deal with busy families who may not have time to give them enough attention, strangers in the house, changes in routine, and lots of unfamiliar foods. This stress can make them even more vulnerable to stomach problems and exacerbate existing medical conditions.

During the time of year when we count our blessings, remember that our pets count on us to keep them safe – and feed them carefully.

World renown cruise line, Holland America is launching a new program to introduce kids and teens to the joys of cooking. The cruise line and Food and Wine magazine now offer classes that teach kids and teens how to make dishes from breakfast to dinner.

“Learning about the culinary arts and cooking isn’t just for adults,” said Richard D. Meadows, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs. “We’ve developed some fun recipes and classes so that kids, tweens and teens can discover more about cooking from our shipboard chefs.”

Cooking for Kids

The program, which launches this summer, incorporates dishes from breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in complimentary classes lasting 45 minutes each. All kids, tweens and teens are welcome to attend whether or not they are registered for the Club HAL and teens program.

The preparations range from simple to teen sophisticate. Kids under eight years old will learn to make Bear Tracks (Alaska theme cookies), Fruit Leather (fruit roll-ups), Ice Cream Sandwiches, Salad People Art, and Denali Peaks (Alaska Theme Scones). Kids eight and over will delight in making Soft Pretzels, Granola Bars, Pita Chips and Hummus, and Saltwater Taffy. Class topics and times will be communicated through daily programs and Club HAL programs during a cruise. Teens are welcome to attend adult culinary demonstrations, too.

Culinary Travel Via a Cruise Ship

As a part of the line’s $225 million Signature of Excellence initiative, Holland America Line spent more than $13 million to create and install the Culinary Arts Center presented by Food & Wine magazine, which is offered on every sailing of its 13 ship fleet. The Culinary Arts Centers features the only fleetwide dedicated state-of-the-art show kitchens at sea, each resembling the elaborate kitchens used by celebrated chefs on television cooking programs. Innovative theater-styled venues offer large overhead plasma video screens providing close-up views of food preparation, and a large cooking display counter where guests can learn new techniques and recipes. More than 60 top chefs, wine experts and cookbook authors will sail in each year, and classes and demonstrations will be offered on every sailing.

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Culinary Tourism – Growing Trend in the Food and Travel Industry

The meeting is to be held in Chicago in 2007 from April 11 through the 14, the Conference will be at the Hilton at 720 South Michigan Avenue. The Cookbook Expo portion will be open to the public on Friday, April 13, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the hotel’s Northwest Hall, Lower Level. Admission is free: Email IACPCookbookExpo@hqtrs.com to reserve a free space or visit IACP.

Some of the country’s best chefs and cookbook authors will be on hand to sell — and autograph — their new cookbooks. More than 60 authors are expected to attend, including:

- Jamie Purviance — Weber’s Charcoal Grilling: The art of cooking with live fire
- Ken Albala — Cooking in Europe: 1250-1650, The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe, Cooking through History
- Devin Alexander — Fast Food Fix, The Biggest Loser Cookbook
- Toni Apgar — King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Bakin
- Linda Arpino — Eat Fit, Be Fit: Health and Weight Management Solutions
- Judy Baker — Carb Wars: Sugar is the New Fat
- Amy Besa — Memories of Philippine Kitchens
- Carole Bloom — The Essential Baker
- Dina Cheney — Tasting Club
- Ann Cooper — Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children
- Fran Costigan: More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts Naturally
- Beverly Cox — Eating Cuban
- Meredith Deeds and Carla Snyder — The Big Book of Appetizers
- Kelly Degala — Va de Vi Cookbook
- Margaret Dickenson — Margaret’s Table - Easy Cooking & Inspiring Entertaining, Margaret’s Sense of Occasion
- Brooke Dojny — Dishing Up Maine
- Romy Dorotan — Memories of Philippine Kitchens
- Roberta Duyff — American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide
- Penny Wantuck Eisenberg — Amazing Dairy Free Desserts
- Mary Evans — The One-Dish Chicken Cookbook
- Carol Fenster — Gluten-Free 101
- Keri Fisher — One Cake, One Hundred Desserts
- Linda Furiya — Bento Box In the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood Growing Up in Whitebread America
- Linda Gassenheimer — The Portion Plan, Preventions Fit and Fast Meals in Minutes
- George Geary — 125 Best Food Processor Recipes
- Laura Giannatempo — A Ligurian Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from the Italian Riveria
- Bibby Gignilliat — The Sumptuous Small Plates Deck: 30 Recipes for Deliciously Fun Entertaining
- Aliza Green — Starting with Ingredients, Field Guide to Seafood
- Dorie Greenspan — Baking from My Home to Yours
- Kathy Gunst — Stonewall Kitchen Favorites
- Mary Lou Heiss — Green Tea
- Lauraine Jacobs — The Confident Cook
- Madhur Jaffrey — Climbing the Mango Trees
- David Joachim — Mastering the Grill, The Spaghetti Sauce Gourmet, Perfect Light Desserts
- Ruta Kahate — 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using 5 Common Spices
- Sheilah Kaufmann — Upper Crusts: Fabulous Ways to Use Bread
- Paula Lambert — Cheese, Glorious Cheese
- Ray Lampe — Barbecue All Year Long
- Randi Levin — Sharing Mountain Recipes
- Nick Malgieri — Perfect Light Desserts
- Domenica Marchette — The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy
- Nancie McDermott — Southern Cakes, 300 Best Stir Fry Recipes, Quick & Easy Vietnamese
- Debbie Meyer — Gore-Good Friends Great Taste
- Kathryn Moore — Simmer or Sizzle: Cooking with your Slow Cooker or Contact Grill
- Andrea Nguyen — Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors
- Brendan O’Farrell — Brothers in the Kitchen
- Naam Pruitt — Lemongrass & Limes, Thai Flavors with Naam Pruitt
- Ammini Ramachandran — Grains, Greens and Grated Coconuts
- Ann Rolke — Hands-Off Cooking
- Kris Rudolph — Mexican Light: Healthy Cuisine for Today’s Cook
- Lucy Saunders — Grilling With Beer
- Andrew Schloss, CCP — Mastering the Grill, Homemade in a Hurry
- Deborah Schneider — Baja! Cooking on the Edge
- Bev Shaffer — Brownies to Die For!
- Pat Sinclair — Baking Basics and Beyond
- Andrew Smith — The Oxford Companion to American Food, The Turkey: An American Story, Real American Food: Restaurants Markets and Shops Plus Favorite Hometown Recipes, Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food
- Adina Steiman — The Good, The Bad, and the Yummy
- Kimberly Lord Stewart — Eating Between the Lines: The Supermarket Shoppers Guide to the Truth Behind Food Labels
- Arlene Stolley — Cooking Bouquet - Feeling at Home in the Kitchen
- Heidi Swanson — Super Natural Cooking
- Cathy Thomas — Melissa’s Great Book of Produce
- Fred Thompson — Hot Chocolate
- Vikram Vij — Vig’s Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine
- Denise Vivaldo — How to Start a Home Based Personal Chef Business
- Candy Wallace — The Professional Personal Chef
- Frankie Whitman — The Essence of Chocolate
- Katherine Wilton — You’re the Cook: A Guide to Mixing it up in the Kitchen
- Terrie Pischoff Wuerther — In a Cajun Kitchen
- Roxanne Wyss — Simmer or Sizzle: Cooking with your Slow Cooker or Contact Grill

This is a great opportunity for the public at large.The IACP as a not-for-profit professional association which provides continuing education and development for its members who are engaged in the areas of culinary education, communication, or in the preparation of food and drink.

Worldwide membership of the IACP is nearly 4,000 members in over 35 countries and is literally a “Who’s Who” of the world of food.

BlueStar, a manufacturer of high end gas ranges and cooktops for the residential culinary markets, announced that the they have joined up with celebrity chef and star of Discovery’s “Inner Chef” TV show, Marcus Samuelsson, to promote BlueStar’s line of cooking products.

Chef Samuelsson will be attending the industry’s KBIS show in Las Vegas, May 8-10 and will be cooking live on a BlueStar range at the company’s booth.

“We are thrilled that Chef Samuelsson will be working with BlueStar. A chef of Mr. Samuelsson’s stature has his choice of cooking products with which to work — for him to choose BlueStar is an honor and a reflection of the quality of products that BlueStar continues to produce,” said Keith Wolf, BlueStar’s Vice President of Marketing.

In addition to his participation at the KBIS show, Mr. Samuelsson will be holding several BlueStar cooking demonstrations around the country. Mr. Samuelsson will also be featured in an “Ask Marcus” section of the company’s www.bluestarcooking.com website, where he will answer consumer questions about cooking with a BlueStar range.

“I’m very excited to be working with BlueStar. Several years ago, I evaluated a number of leading ranges in an interview with the New York Times and selected BlueStar as my favorite. To be able to work directly with the company now is very exciting. In my view, no other residential range can match the cooking performance of BlueStar — with 22,000 BTUs of power, commercial-size oven capacity, and a gentle simmer, the range is unique,” said Marcus Samuelsson.

All KBIS show attendees are invited to visit the BlueStar booth to meet Mr. Samuelsson and view his live cooking demonstration. BlueStar will display in booth # S11401 located in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

About BlueStar

BlueStar(TM) — The Only Genuine Restaurant Range for the Home(TM) — manufactures high-performance gas ranges and cooktops for the residential market. The company’s unique open burner system produces 22,000 BTU of cooking power, resulting in shorter cooking times and an even simmer. Each BlueStar range is hand-crafted in Reading, Pennsylvania and features burners that can be custom configured at the time of order. Most BlueStar models are available in 190 colors, at no extra charge.

About Marcus Samuelsson

Star of Discovery’s “Inner Chef” and chef/co-owner of Restaurant Aquavit, Mr. Samuelsson was the youngest chef ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from The New York Times in 1995. In 1999, Mr. Samuelsson was honored with the James Beard award for “Rising Star Chef”, and in 2003 for “Best Chef: New York City.” Samuelsson was celebrated as one of “The Great Chefs of America” by The Culinary Institute of America. Most recently, Samuelsson has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of the “Global Leaders for Tomorrow” (GLT). Samuelsson has published two cookbooks, Aquavit in 2003 and The Soul of a New Cuisine in 2006, and launched his food blog “The Continental Chef” at food.yahoo.com. He has been featured in numerous publications: Gourmet, USA Today, Food & Wine, The New York Times, and Bon Appitit, to name a few, and has made many television appearances, including, “Good Morning America,” Martha Stewart Living Television, CNN, The Food Network, and The Discovery Channel.