EATS

Blog content from Tonya Assid, a participant in the SMU Creative Writing Program's food writer's workshop.

For a very brief moment in life, I was a Central Market Foodie. A dream job? Let me say, an eye-opening experience into people and their obsession with food. I saw the gamut, from highly intelligent people so serious that their approach was more science than art, to the very out-of-touch, like the lady who asked "Does this ham contain pork?"

The responsibility of any supermarket promoter is to sell product -- to demonstrate what someone could do with, let's say, cauliflower or smoked duck breast. And of course suggest other ingredients that will make the most amazing dish every created.

So, let me put this out there. Why do you taste a sample? What makes you buy? Or are you just grazing the store?

Karen Lukin sends out an e-blast on a Whole Foods Market holiday deal:

An all-American treat for you at Whole Foods Market, now through July 8. Buy a full rack of baby back ribs, and we'll treat you to:

• Bottle of Stubb's BBQ Sauce


• Whole Foods Market Bakehouse cornbread


• 1 pound classic coleslaw

Teresa Gubbins over on Pegasus reports that Toby O'Brien is reopening Eat the World in a new location at 8530 Abrams at Royal, behind the Starbucks. I gave him a call, and he's officially opening next Tuesday or Wednesday with all the same ready-to-heat entrees, tamales, smoked salmon and other items he had at the prior location.

As you may recall when he shuttered the old spot, O'Brien said he was going to have gastric weight-loss surgery, and that's exactly what he did. In February, he had sleeve surgery, one of the newest weight-loss procedures, where a portion of the stomach is removed to make it smaller. To date, O'Brien says he's lost 94 pounds, after starting at a little over 400. Way to go, Toby.

After any weight-loss surgery, a person has to eat smaller portions, paying special attention to getting enough protein, and in a couple of weeks O'Brien plans to launch a line of low-carb, low-cal frozen entrees tailored for the gastric weight-loss crowd.

It's called Creme de la Cookie, and the cookies are divine. I sampled a couple of flavors, including a fab white chocolate chunk. The Whoopie Pies (on the left in the photo) got thumbs-up from other people, but they disappeared so fast I didn't get to try one. Lukewarm on the cupcakes.

Read more here.

Even though watermelon and corn are the July Fourth fruit and vegetable of choice, this is the week to shop cherries.

I've never seen stores go this low for wonderful, peak season Bings: Sprouts and Newflower are selling them for 99 cents a pound. Tom Thumb has them for $1.88, and Albertsons has them for $1.99. And I thought the organic cherries at Whole Foods Market last night for $3.99 a pound were a bargain.

Meanwhile, at Central Market, it's worth noting that baby back ribs are $4.99 a pound. CM also has its tarragon chicken salad on sale for $5.99 a pound ($3 off the regular price).

These loss leaders (especially the cherries) are a store's way of saying, "Please, please, please shop with us."

Blog content from Wendy Watson, a participant in the SMU Creative Writing Program's food writer's workshop.

With National Ice Cream Month officially beginning tomorrow and the Texas heat melting us all, it seemed appropriate to devote a few paragraphs to that frozen miracle of physics that makes summer bearable.

My relationship with ice cream is obsessive. Like maybe ice cream should get a court order keeping me at least 100 yards away. I've devoted considerable time to dissecting and analyzing the perfect ice cream experience -- even written a mystery novel starring ice cream.

Flavor matters. From the traditional grande dames of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla, to an inspiration called Pavarotti (an earthy-sweet banana ice cream laced with ribbons of salty caramel and dark chocolate chips), to the exotic Thai Chili (a luscious peanut butter ice cream made sophisticated by decadent coconut milk and a spike of cayenne heat), it's all about fresh ingredients handled with care. While some of my favorites mentioned here are not available in Dallas, other tantalizing concoctions are. So throw me a bone -- or a cone -- and tell me where!

My dad got a tip from a farmer in Weatherford, who said not all the peaches had been wiped out. The guy advised anyone interested in Parker County peaches to ply the highway between Weatherford and Mineral Wells (U.S. 80). He said that there should be several farmers with roadside stands on that route well into August. If you've been, or if you go, please report back!

Paul Wackym, who started making cookies under the Baker Man name has transitioned to using his own name, and henceforth is selling his popular sweets under his Wackym's Kitchen label. He's at the Dallas Farmers Market every Saturday and Sunday, where he includes his newest flavor, the Mojito made with fresh mint, lime and amber rum. Check him out.

A "small" sorbetto from Central Market, in two flavors: blood orange and pineapple. Blood orange: very good. Pineapple: splendid!

I plucked this out of the Community Calendar in the Dallas Morning News Metro section today:

As part of its 2009 Christmas in July Tamalada, Trinity River Mission parents will offer chicken or pork tamales at $10 per dozen, available Wednesday (July 1). Homemade salsa is included. To place an order, call Gabriela Garcia at 214-744-6774 or e-mail her at ggarcia@trinityrivermission.org.

You can also order online at www.trinityrivermission.org.

But here's the kicker: Deadline to order is 5 p.m. today. Trinity River Mission is at 2060 Singleton, just across the Trinity from downtown, and all proceeds benefit its programs.

It's getting late for greens from the farmers markets, but I bought the prettiest large-size baggie full of frilly mustard greens from Coppell Farmers Market recently and married them with one of the 15 types of bacon you can now find on Central Market's new bacon menu in the meat department.

I got a couple pieces (can't remember the name) that were double-smoked, chopped them up and more or less followed Rachel Ray's recipe for braised mustard greens. For whole recipe, keep reading.

I saw it at Central Market when I was asking for salami at the deli counter. I asked the gentleman behind the counter what's the smallest amount of jamón ibérico de bellota (a cured ham from Spain) a person can buy? One slice, he said, which he guessed would be about $2 or so.

"Would you like to taste it?" he asked. I would, I would! I couldn't believe he offered. This was the nicest man in the world. He cut a nice slice for me, and presented it on deli paper. I suggested he cut it in half and taste half of it. He demurred, saying he had already tasted it. I placed the paper-thin slice in my mouth, and it practically melted. The texture of the ham -- which comes from pata negra pigs, which are raised on acorns, was positively buttery, amazing; the flavor was intense, incredible, nutty, gorgeous. I swooned, and purchased two slices for $5.40. A friend was coming to visit from out of town that night, and I wanted her to taste it. The slices were small; the olive is shown for scale.

I started feeling bad I only had the two slices -- how stingy! But my friend thought it amazing that I sprung $5.40 for two small paper-thin slices of ham. We ate it. We swooned.

Jamón ibérico de bellota was only approved for importation in the U.S. last year. Go to the website of La Tienda, the online retailer of Spanish food products, for more information about it. Here's a couple of cool tidbits from the La Tienda site: The pigs each eat 15-20 pounds of acorns during their fatten-up season each fall. They're sort of like the foie gras ducks of the pig world! The hams are aged 2-4 years. The producer of Central Market's jamón is Embutidos y Jamones Fermín, the same one La Tienda sells online for $49.50 for 4 ounces (presumably plus shipping charge).

$179 per pound per ham. This is insane, right? Have you tasted it?

J.T. Lemley just called to let me know that the tomatoes are rolling in. He sold out last Sunday at the Dallas Farmers Market (Shed No. 1 stall), but thinks he'll have plenty from here on out. "They can have all they want," he says. This doesn't include the canning tomatoes which he will sell by the bushel, but those are coming soon. "I've been having to deliver a load of peaches and tomatoes [to the market] every day."

He will also be at the wholesale market tonight with 200 boxes of peaches. This is the weekday night at the market when many area farmers sell wholesale quantities to local restaurateurs. They arrive between 10 p.m. and midnight and sell through the wee hours.

J.T. lives in Canton in East Texas, so you can take his news as a bellwether for the rest of the region. He's also into his freestone peaches (as opposed to the earlier-season clings), so chances are that's what you'll find at other markets, too. Find a farmers market near you here.

With the e-mail subject line of "Wine bargain," the folks at Eatzi's have revealed that the store has received 150 cases of the Sicilian red wine blend Dievole Fourplay Rosso No. 1. Bottles normally retail for $16.99, but Eatzi's is practically giving them away for $3.99. One case maximum, mind you. Grab a few bottles -- you may not see prices like this until Trader Joe's Three-buck Chucks become available here ... if ever.

TINA DANZE caught up with Samantha Rush of Rush Patisserie to get the scoop on her bakery's move:

Rush Patisserie has left its Deep Ellum digs for a cool corner of north Oak Cliff, about five blocks from the Bishop Arts district. "It's a more intimate retail space," says owner and pastry chef Samantha Rush. She has also taken on a commercial kitchen space that's completely separate from the new shop. Although the retail store won't open until early July, Rush is still doing a brisk catering and wholesale business out of the new kitchen. And her pastries are still turning up in cozy coffee houses around town. (That's one of her massive blueberry muffins in the photo.)
Rush Patisserie's new retail space will be at 1201 El Dorado (at the intersection of Zang and Beckley), just three doors down from Spiral Diner and around the corner from Beckley Brewhouse. The move is inspiring Rush to add some new baked offerings to her lineup of French and Southern specialties. "We will start doing baguettes, brioche and a greater variety of French-oriented pastries," says Rush.
I'm marking my calendar for that July opening (stay tuned for details). And I hope to buy some goodies for a Bastille Day party. In the meantime, if you have a big cake, pastry, or boxed lunch order, just phone in your Rush order: 214 -749-4040.

If you can't quite get behind the prices of locally raised, pastured beef, Sprouts Farmers Market has Australian grass-fed tenderloin for just under $10 a pound. That's a great price - and no doubt a loss leader. The Sprouty place also has romaine and red leaf lettuce for 49 cents a head - not organic, but a good price.

OK, so that's what y'all mean by hot! I cried "uncle" this weekend and went for cool take-out at Izmir Deli, the very cute little brother of Cafe Izmir a block north on Greenville. I picked up four appetizers-salads, and ate them, with toasted pita bread and a glass of red wine, in a hermetically-sealed air-conditioned environment at home. What a treat.

The hummus was terrific -- ultra-smooth, with the accent on tahini. It would be fantastic to put a bowl of that out at a party, just drizzle a swirl of good olive oil on top and serve it with warmed pita triangles. Tabouli was a celebration of parsley, a very citrusy, salty one; I'd add some more chopped tomatoes and mint if I served it at said party. Creamy tzatziki (the menu spells it ziziki) provided cool cucumber relief.

Best was the eegra (shown on left) -- a salad of melty grilled eggplant and tomato, with a good kick of spice. The menu says it's served hot if you eat in, but it was wonderful cold. That and the hummus were the two dishes I could most imagine eating in Izmir, the town on the Aegean coast of Turkey that gives the cafe its name. I closed my eyes, imagined swimming in a turquoise-blue cove off the coast, came up for air...and there I was in hot Dallas. But the lunch was good.

I look forward to trying other dishes, and dining in the Cafe proper. Anyone been lately? What's good there? Anything really Turkish?

Izmir Deli; 3607 Greenville Ave.; 214-824-8484; www.cafeizmir.com/deli.htm

The Milestone Farmers Market, which takes place the third Sunday of every month, is moving the EatGreenDFW.com farmers, ranchers and artisanal producers - and their customers - inside to beat the heat. They'll be in the main events area of Milestone Culinary Arts Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, at 4531 McKinney.

Not only that, the center's executive director, Sharon Van Meter, will be conducting mini-cooking lessons in the center's kitchen, including the best ways to cook grass-fed meat. Goodies on hand include grass-fed beef, pork, lamb and poultry, eggs, onions, lettuces, garlic, herbs, greens and more. Also organic insecticides and soil-enhancement products, specialty peppers and locally roasted coffee beans.

Also coming up: EatGreenDFW offers a tour of three of its farms south of Dallas in conjunction with Food Roots. Participants will visit JuHa Ranch, Oak Grove Farms and Garden Harvests, which show the diversity of local producers. It's all day Saturday, July 11, and includes transportation, $89 a person. Get more information here.

Every year, I give into an urge to buy one of the early watermelons and am disappointed. Yeah, they're usually OK. Particularly if they're really cold and salted. But not great. So I'm turned off to the possibility of buying another melon because I don't want to either eat more crummy melon or toss a bunch out. (At their best, the little ones are never up to the best large watermelons, in my experience.)

So I wait and wait. Well, based on a walk through the Dallas Farmers Market this afternoon (a bit warm out there today, doncha think?), wait time is over. The vendors had samples at the ready for all and sundry. I tasted red and yellow, seeded and unseeded, cold and ambient temperature. Not a bad taste in the bunch. Even granting that the vendors aren't likely to offer samples of a really bad melon, these were unusually good. These aren't local, of course. And I didn't ask where they were coming from...

Like the previous post says, it will be the early birds who get J.T. Lemley's first field tomatoes. He plans to be up and selling Saturday at 7:30 a.m. in his stall in Shed No. 1.

Here are a couple other reasons to be there early tomorrow: The Lightseys are the only ones with Texas apricots. And Susan Zidlicky tells me that Birch Creek Farms sells out fast every weekend: They're the ones who have Yukon gold and red Pontiac potatoes, purple-top beets, mustard greens, radishes and yellow squash.

At Coppell Farmers Market: Gene Holmes promises his first organic field tomatoes from Oak Ridge Valley Farms tomorrow. They will sell out fast. Trust me.

When you get a chance, check out the Dallas Farmers Market's new, revamped Web site. It tells you all about the farmers and farm merchants, the sheds, what to ask a farmer and so on. It's at www.dallasfarmersmarket.org.

I just got off the phone with J.T. Lemley, who tells me he will at be market at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with his first big batch of field tomatoes. I had called him to find out how the monsoon affected him, and he said he got 2 inches. "It fell real nice. It was really good for us." You know what that means: more great tomatoes. Mr. Lemley was featured in my story recently about favorite local chef picks. Check it out here.

Also, about Noonday onions: There is only one certified grower at the Dallas Farmers Market, and that's Coopers Organic Farm. Some farm merchants buy Noondays and bring them to the market, too. Deal with farmers and farm merchants you trust. I ate the last of my Noondays in an omelet this morning. They really are the sweetest onions I've ever eaten.

Maybe Copper River salmon has reached that point where people aren't going to pay premium dollar - like $45 a pound for the king. Irrespective of the debate, I love the fish. But at those prices, even I balk.

So I was pleased to see, when the Central Market flyer fell out of my daily paper, that the lead item was Copper River sockeye (the good but not premium fish) at $15.99 a pound. That begins to get reasonable. French green beans (haricots verts) are on sale at $2.99 a pound. And there are some good prices on T-bones and porterhouse steaks. Prices are good through Tuesday.

Canton farmer J.T. Lemley is legendary among local tomato fans. That's him helping Parigi chef Janice Provost choose tomatoes at his stand at the Dallas Farmers Market. Find out what she does with the tomatoes in Kim Pierce's story. Kim also got four other chefs to share their favorite sources for local ingredients, including the Homestead Gristmill products used at Kent Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen.

If we can write about slow food, I guess we can also write about slow news. I missed the SideDish entry that Dallas City Market in Pavilion Center on Lovers closed on May 24. I was just driving by, and there are big "for lease" signs in the window plus a note from the management apologizing and thanking the neighborhood for four years. I didn't realize it'd been there that long.

I thought I was getting to the Coppell Farmers Market soooo early because I was there at 9 a.m. Already, Gene Holmes' field tomatoes - the first he's picked this season - were gone from his all-organic Oak Ridge Valley Farms table.

But not his heirloom Japanese cucumber (pictured). "They're not pretty," he said, "but they sure do taste good." Of course I got some, and they ARE good. This is critic-fooling food: It tastes a lot like cucumber and looks like it, but it's different - a little sweeter, a little waxier, with a long aftertaste.

Gene says he will definitely have more tomatoes next weekend.

Meanwhile, I also bought some other field tomatoes and dainty mustard greens, mozzarella, raw-milk cheddar cheese, pattypan squash (from Gene) and basil. The Coppell market now has gauzy, reusable produce bags so you don't have to use plastic.

Can you guess what I'm going to do with the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil? Make a garden-fresh Caprese salad.

Blueberry prices plunged from last week to this week as Texas blueberries started arriving in quantity. I saw this at Whole Foods Market, where a half-pint was $2.99 a week ago and a pint was $3.99 yesterday.

Marilyn Horton reports that at the Coppell Farmers Market on Saturday, you'll be able to find Texas blueberries, strawberries (still!), cantaloupe, peaches, apricots (local?), plums and blackberries.

I'm intrigued by the apricots. Until now, the only local apricots I had seen were on a single tree in Highland Park. As with peaches, there's no shipped-in apricot that's worthy of the name. But Richard at Ham Orchards east of Dallas reports that he's got some from the family orchards there. Has anyone checked this out?

I decided to see for myself today what's shakin' in Shed No. 1 at the Dallas Farmers Market, and it was definitely filled with farmers, a few ranchers, the Texas Honeybee Guild (in costume) and more. Roundrock Honey is just outside Shed No. 3, and don't forget Texas Meats (they've got cheese) over in Shed No. 2.

J.T. Lemley has just begun picking his cherry tomatoes - he gave me two to try, one is a sweeter, juicier tomato, the other has a meatier tomato flavor. He's also got his eight-ball squash. Other producers also had a few vine-ripe field tomatoes, but give them about 10 days to really get in the swing.

Onions of all stripes were everywhere, also lots of zucchini and yellow squash, a fair assortment of peaches, red potatoes, green beans, some white potatoes, a few herbs, green plums, lots of peas (shelled, thank you), eggs and some Texas cantaloupe.

New to farmers market shopping? Here's a tip: Anyone hawking their wares - "Peaches, here! Green beans! Tomatoes! - is almost certainly not a farmer or farm merchant (they carry in produce from nearby farms). You might buy lemons or bananas from them, but those peaches they're selling aren't likely to be as good as the ones from the farmers who grew their own.

Stone and Diane Savage are having their Stoney's Bottle Bargains grand re-opening on Saturday, June 6, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Stoney will open some wines for tasting from 2 to 6 p.m., with snacks.

The Savages are getting back to the basics, building upon Stoney's longstanding reputation for "finding great, not the usual wine deals." The store will have a new, pared-down look, bringing you wine with no frills.

If you'll recall, we almost lost Stoney's in February, when the Savages announced the closing of their Lower Greenville wine-and-gift store with its exceptional wines, gourmet foods, linens from Provence - wonderful stuff, but people's pocketbooks closed up.

I'm happy to see that they have reinvented themselves. There's a lot to be said for staying nimble in uncertain times. Stoney's is at 2804 Greenville.

Fort Ross Vineyard is one of my favorite California producers - not only for for Lester and Linda Schwartz's winning wines, but also for their story.

They moved to California from South Africa in 1976 with no thought of making wine. Twelve years later, they were looking to recapture Lester's agrarian roots and, depending on how you look at it, either stumbled upon or were led to the coastal Sonoma ridge where they live today.

"U.S. 1 was closed," Lester told me several years ago when the couple was introducing their wines to Texas, "and we had to go around, above the fog." They fell in love with the ridgetop, built a home there and decided to try grape-growing. What a great decision that was.

Dallas Farmers Market farm and resource coordinator Susan Zidlicky sent an e-mail to say that she has filled up Shed No. 1 with local growers and purveyors on Saturdays, with many spilling over to Friday and Sunday, too.

This Saturday, you can find organic vegetables at Good Earth Organics, Texas Honeybee Guild zip-code honey and several pastured meat producers. (Don't forget Texas Meats in Shed No. 2, the first pastured meat producers at the market.) Birch Creek Farms will have purple-top turnips and local Yukon Gold potatoes. J.T. Lemley will have eight-ball squash.

Among the local vegetables and fruit, you'll find peaches, blackberries, all kinds of onions, squash (yellow and zucchini), green beans, peas, lettuces, radishes, mustard greens, beets. Tomatoes are coming.

If you can't make it to the Dallas Farmers Market, find a farmers market near you here.

Tom Spicer, who supplies chefs and the rest of us out of his F-M 1410 on Fitzhugh, has a bunch of new items to crow about.

Out back, he's growing snow peas - he picks 'em and they are $20 a pound, you pick 'em and they're $5 a pound. Let's see: $20 vs. $5. I think I'll pick my own. Spicer also has micro-greens and sprouts, including Bulls Blood beet greens, pepper cress, micro cilantro, micro arugula, and more.

Also from local farmers, he's got baby mixed head lettuces, fresh herbs and fresh shelled purple hull and creamer peas, spring onions and spring garlic.

From afar, he has Arizona desert figs, wild desert celery (hollow stalks make great straws), jumbo French white asparagus, ramps, fiddlehead ferns and a whole bunch of 'shrooms, from porcinis to morels.

So many veggies. So little time. Check it out. Make him play his kalimbass for you.

For all of you with Scandinavian cravings, Gwen Workman, owner of the Wooden Spoon in Plano, reports that she is expecting a food order in on Tuesday with Norwegian Husmor fishballs and fishcakes (both in two sizes, no less) along with Danbo cheese, Asier, Danish beets, shrimp cheese in a tube, Gulost and candies.

If you go on Tuesday (or Thursday), you can make a Scandinavian day of it. Wooden Spoon is hosting free rosemaling both those days . BYOP (Bring your own paintbrush). Coffee and cookies provided. P.S. I've had the cookies and they are GOOD.

I was at a gathering last night where the hostess served the most delicious salmon fillet that I have ever eaten. Those are some tall words, I know. I have eaten better, richer-tasting salmon, but none deep-smoked to such perfection - and with a crust, no less. It was the appetizer, served with a mayo-based sauce on toast points.

The source for this succulent treat? Houston's. I don't know where Miss Manners comes down on the propriety of this, but I called to find out how much it was: $50. When you consider that I just paid $28 a pound for a piece of Copper River salmon at Whole Foods Market, that's a relative bargain.

And a shout-out goes to Eddie "Lucky" Campbell, from The Catalina, who was mixing drinks for us. Nice guy, great drinks. Gotta check out his regular haunt. Have you been? What's it like?

I love Copper River salmon. But I thought I'd do a little research on whether its popularity is a product hype.

As it turns out, there's no question that the fish was strategically marketed. Before 1983, most Copper River salmon went into cans.

But the marketing was done because the fish were unique, and one man in particular is credited with catapulting it to a brand. He will also tell you that there's a distinct difference between the Kings and Sockeyes.

Today, Jon Rowley is a contributing editor at Gourmet magazine, where I picked up an interview excerpt. In 1983, he was in the seafood industry in the Pacific Northwest. Read on for his take.

The short season for fab Alaskan Copper River salmon started today. You can find the first to arrive locally at Central Market. TJ's Market and Catering, Whole Foods Market and Market Street expect their first shipments tomorrow.

Why all the fuss over this particular salmon? There's an extra layer of fat in Copper River salmon because the wild fish have been fattening up to make the long swim to their spawning grounds. When you cook it, don't skin it first, or you'll lose some of this fat, which enriches the flavor and boosts the omega-3 fatty acid content.

The Associated Press reports that the catch was larger than predicted on the first opening, which took place Friday. (So as not to deplete the stocks, the catch is highly regulated with hours-long windows, or openings, when fishing is allowed.) But there were fewer Kings landed than expected.

The overall catch is projected to be larger this year than last, when it was fairly skimpy. That may help the price. It could run from $30 to $40 a pound.

Washington cherries are generally considered the best of the lot grown in the Northwest and imported to our area: big, dark, juicy and sweet. Usually, we go through California cherries first, which aren't bad, but they're not Washingtons. (And we rarely get cherries from areas like the upper Midwest.)

For cherries, West Coast is about as local as it gets, like Rio Grande Valley citrus. I know it's still a long way, and probably true locavores will eschew the seasonal orbs. But I do enjoy them in season. I eschew the off-season variety we see from Chile in the winter. The flavor doesn't compare.

Though I had shopped at Jimmy's before, today was the first time I had a sandwich there -- a muffaletta, easily big enough for two. A friend had invited me, and we sat in the wonderful, Chianti-colored back room and ate our big messy sandwiches spread out on butcher paper, washed down with glasses of Tenuta Luisa cabernet franc. A perfect match! What fun! I love the green olives in the muffaletta.

Then we stopped in next door at Tom Spicer, where I picked up my dinner: graceful, tender, sweet wild asparagus from France (pricey at $12 the bunch, but I'm guessing great for a splurge) and a pint of beautiful morels from the apple orchards of Fresno, California. (Yes, a little dear too at $10, but that's my main course, and it'll be enough for two.) I'm thinking I'll saute the morels and toss them with some good pasta, and quickly blanche the asparagus and drizzle with a little vinaigrette as a first course. Shall I take a picture of it all once it's cooked?

Jasper Russo with Sigel's e-mailed to say that the city of Addison has agreed to let the funky, 1950s era Sigel's Liquor sign fly above the Sigel's on Iiwood Road in Addison. The sign is being refurbished before installation sometime next month.

Read more about the sign and its new home.

J.T. Lemley just told me that he and his crew are picking peaches today at his farm near Canton and will bring them to the Dallas Farmers Market to his stall in Shed No. 1 tomorrow.

He also is harvesting new potatoes and onions and says that his blackberries are about a week away from being ripe. (There are already some other local growers bringing in blackberries.) He says his field tomatoes are "still 15 days away. We're talkin' to 'em and prayin' over 'em" to hurry them along.

Like so many area farmers, he had to replant his tomatoes after the April freeze.

Following up on my unexpectedly lively post on Hico's Koffee Kup, reader Michael asked this question: "Isn't Dublin, Texas also known for selling Dr Pepper made with sugar instead of corn syrup?"

Michael, you're absolutely right. And, of course, we had to stop by the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the world, where they still make the original soda formula with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar. (You can buy Dublin Dr Pepper locally now, but this is still an interesting visit. Plus, there's not much else going on here.)

Above is a snap from Doc's Soda Shop beside the downtown plant. What's the featured item? A Dublin Dr Pepper float, of course, made with Texas Blue Bell ice cream.

105 E. Elm, Dublin, TX, 888-398-1024

Photo by cwynn

For those of you who can't wait to get the first, fresh Texas peach in your mouth, Ham Orchards east of Dallas will open for the 2009 season Friday. "We've got the best crop we've had in 30 years," says Richard Strange, son-in-law to Dale and Judy Ham. This is especially good news given the bleak outlook for the Hill Country peach crop.

This year, he says, the Ham family is growing a new, early cling variety that has more flavor than most early-season peaches. The Hams have managed to dodge the freeze bullet, he says, by adopting a different commercial pruning system that allows for more air-flow through the trees.

Ham Orchards is east of Dallas on U.S. 80 between Terrell and Elmo. It's open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week through Aug. 15. The Web site is www.hamorchard.com.

Five years ago, you could barely find a Texas-grown strawberry. We were forced to settle for hard, under-ripe, tasteless orbs grown for their sturdy shipping qualities. Flavor? Meh.

Today, during a limited window, you can find red, ripe, juicy locally grown strawbs at farmers markets and at Whole Foods Market, where the Sig-O picked up a quart from Pittsburg in East Texas.

After an exquisite Mother's Day dinner of Calabrian eggplant parmesan and a Caesar salad worthy of the Caesar competition (he used to make the salad tableside at Il Sorrento), he brought out beautiful, red local berries drizzled in 80-year-old balsamic vinegar. Sheer heaven.

If you don't have 80-year-old balsamic sitting around, you can make a balsamic reduction with the cheaper stuff. Let it simmer over low heat till it reduces by about half and thickens. As for the local berries, because they are ripe when picked, you pretty much need to eat them the day you buy them. It's like the difference between local peaches and California baseballs, I mean, peaches. Hope you get chance to enjoy this rare, seasonal treat.

A $200 ($199.99) bottle of vintage Champagne is a fairly hard sell right now. But the Champagne in question is Dom Perignon Brut 2000, and if you're going to spring to commemorate a special occasion, such as a graduation or wedding, this is not a bad wine to spring for.

As winemaker Vincent Chaperon recently pointed out on a stop at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, "Dom Perignon is a palate style. Its complexity and singularity is in the palate. We are not doing a perfume." Tasting with Chaperon is like taking a guided tour of the wine.

So you don't get a lot of aroma with the brut. But if you take a moment to savor a mouthful, it's indeed a joy ride marked by texture, rhythm and intensity. You will feel the flavors and texture at different points in your mouth after an impactful entry (like diving into cold water). The texture alternates between sharp and smooth, and the mineral component expresses as a dusty, dried-flower feel. The Champagne's flavors flit from yeasty to briney to herbal, but they're hushed and opaque.

That kind of thrill ride from a Champagne? Yes, if you take the time to savor. This Dom Perignon is widely available at fine wine shops, and Costco has it online for considerably less than the suggested retail price.

But you know what was even better than the vintage 2000? The rose 1998, which adds a voluptuous layer of bright, vibrant strawberry-raspberry fruit and a back-note sweetness as fleeting as meringue. But this one, you've got to love twice as much at $400 ($399.99), available at some Goody Goody stores. 'Never thought I'd see the day $200 would sound like a relative bargain.

It's officially farmers market season, kicked off with expanded coverage (my stories) and a list of area markets, what they sell, when and the rest of the 411 in the GuideDaily section. Here are two more that finalized their details too late to be included (but we will add them to the Web list):

CELEBRATION RESTAURANT: Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon, starting May 30 and continuing at least through the summer. Vendors selling pastured meats, eggs, heirlooms, vegetables and fruit. Celebration will also buy and re-sell Dallas Farmers Market local produce to fill in gaps. In the parking lot, 4515 W. Lovers; 214-351-5681.

NORTH HAVEN GARDENS: First Sunday of every month, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at least through the summer. Spices, eggs, meats, vegetables, sorbet and more; check the Web site for updates. 7700 Northaven; 214-363-5316; www.nhg.com.

As I write this, I am enjoying my first 1015 onion of the season from the Dallas Farmers Market Shed No. 1. All I do is cut off the top and bottom, make a little hollow, add some butter and olive oil, then zap for about five minutes in the microwave. The onion just melts. I add salt and pepper, and it's, "Hello, spring." This would also make an amazing, reduced-fat sauce base because the flavor is so mild.

I also picked up some pastured, local lamb chops for Sunday dinner, Savory Sorbet's triple-lemon sorbet and a huge wad of spinach from Farmersville. J.T. Lemley has tomatoes from West Texas, but they don't yet have the seasonal flavor I lust for in his field-grown East Texas toms.

The farmers market season is just getting under way. And if you missed today's many markets, don't forget that Bolsa, the restaurant in Oak Cliff, has its monthly festival/producers' market tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tom Spicer entertains with his kalimbass. BTW, at his F-M 1410 on Fitzhugh near Bryan, he has tons of microgreens and baby lettuces and other stuff growing out back. He has also just had a load of manure dumped out there, which he's going to use to ready his row crops.

P.S. When I nuke the onion, I put it on a dish and cover it loosely w plastic wrap (enough to vent).

Marilyn Horton, who oversees the Coppell Farmers Market, wrote this insightful piece in the market's e-newsletter.

It's called "Farmers market vs. grocery store."

Can't find what you want at the farmers' market?

Ask the farmers about it. That's how you learn to shop at a farmers market - from the farmers. They'll tell you when to expect your favorite fruits and veggies. They'll let you know if they'll be bringing a whole bunch of your fave or just a little. They'll let you know things like the seedlings got frost on them and had to be replanted and therefore delayed (like tomatoes this year). But if you're looking for grapefruit in North Texas, forget it. Go to the grocery store.

Are you sure the produce you are looking for is in season?

It takes a little getting used to, about a year actually, but the succession of ripening produce will eventually make sense. First come the spring onions, lettuces, greens, beets, etc. Farmers help your tomato craving by planting some in the hot house to be available before the field-ripened ones are ready. Strawberries are about ready now, and green beans, squash, red potatoes, cabbage and broccoli are more plentiful. But if you want peaches in April, you're out of luck. Go to the grocery store.

Used snack chip bags can be turned in and converted into purses and charitable donations, under a new program from Plano-based Frito-Lay Inc.

Frito-Lay is seeking consumers to serve as captain' of "bag brigades," who would collect used snack bags from family, friends, and co-workers and send the bags to Trenton, N.J.-based TerraCycle. The "upcycler" then converts the bags into items such as tote bags and pencil cases.

For every Frito-Lay bag sent to TerraCycle, the nation's largest snack maker will donate two cents to charity.

The goal is to encourage at least 150,000 people to participate and divert more than 5 million bags from landfills, Frito-Lay said Tuesday.

TerraCycle will accept packaging from all Frito-Lay snacks including Lay's potato chips, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips and Cheetos. Products made from the bags will be sold at retailers later this year.

Click here to apply to become a 'captain' of one of the 1,000 bag brigades.

For more information go to www.fritolay.com/terracycle.

In many supermarkets right now, you're seeing the red-and-green Tommy Atkins - a pretty mango, but with its fine fibers and drier flesh, not the best-tasting. At Central Market, I found smaller, yellow Ataulfos for 44 cents each, and at Whole Foods Market, the larger yellow Champagne mangoes (I forgot the price).

The latter two are by far the better-tasting, with juicy, buttery flesh that melts into tropical sweetness in your mouth. Some people can't get past the slightly slimy sensation of the flesh, along the lines of okra. But if you can, mangoes are a sweet, nutritious alternative fruit. They're also good in smoothies, where slime isn't a factor.

Next stop: Fiesta. I want to see what kind they're carrying. If you've gotten mangoes there in the past week, tell me what I can expect.

I was passing through the meat department recently and noticed that the Whole Foods Market at Preston-Forest has gotten on the sliders trend-bus with these ready-to-grill mini-patties, variously seasoned. My contraband photo (WFM doesn't allow photography inside the store) shows beef with pepper and garlic and beef with bacon and cheddar. Conveniently located next to the case: slider buns. Please do not mistake this for health food.

YES! Fresh peach season has begun with Whole Foods Market's organic Mexican peaches. Every year, these peaches surprise me: They're in way ahead of the local season (no wonder, given where they're grown), and they always have wonderful sweetness and texture. The ones I just bought did not disappoint.

Our own peaches can't be far behind, although word is the recent freeze set back the Hill Country crop. More to come on that. For now, just savor these harbingers of summer fruits and vegetables to come.

Roger Heddin, the most recent farmer to be certified local by the Dallas Farmers Market, says that he will have lots of potted tomato plants for those of you thinking of growing your own. These can even be placed on an urban patio, as long as it gets lots of sunlight.

On Saturday, the Baker Man reports that he will have margarita cookies, made with lime and sea salt, and the Berry Patch will have fresh Texas strawberries.

Whatever farmers market you visit, don't look for field tomatoes yet. The freeze and hail earlier this month wiped out a lot of early plantings. So those farmers have had to start over.

Sigel's has just increased the discount at its Lemmon-Inwood store to 40 percent on all remaining merchandise. This is the '50s era store that's closing at the end of April because the wine and spirits chain lost its lease. There's partial list of the wines on the jump.

Mockingbird Station is celebrating Earth Day this afternoon by (among other things) hosting its first farmers market from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Look for tables of organic goodies from local growers outside of the Angelika. (Even better, the hip shopping center is going to make it a regular thing this spring. Starting next week, stop by each Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to load up on fresh veggies through the end of May.)

The party continues tonight with a bash from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. that will include live music, a fashion show and sidewalk sales. Score adult refreshments in the form of pomegranate mojitos from Cuba Libre and nibbles by local caterer, Bites by Bill.

I'd say this beats staying home with your TiVo.

We'd noted a few days ago the collision of booze and 1950s pop culture that has stood at the intersection of Lemmon and Inwood for a half-century. But at the time, I didn't know much about the history of the sign. Well, now I do. Click here to read a nice note from the guy whose dad designed the sign. And stay tuned. I have an interview scheduled with his dad in the next day or so, which I will also turn into multi-platform journalism.

Fab Photo: GUY REYNOLDS/DMN

Jeffrey Weiss has an interesting story out today on the famed Sigel's sign at Lemmon Avenue and Inwood Road.

Turns out, the '50s-era sign is a prime example of "Googie" (not to be confused with Google), which is an "exaggerated Jetsons-style of architecture named after a Los Angeles coffee shop."

Take a good look now. The Sigel's store closes at the end of the month and the building is scheduled for demolition. No word yet on what will become of the sign.

As for the remaining alcohol on the shelves? You can buy most of what is left for 30% off.

Groovy photo by Guy Reynolds/DMN Staff

I know not everyone shops at Central Market, but we end up writing about it more often than the bread-and-butter stores like Kroger's and Tom Thumb because it's where so much of the foodie action is: What's new, what's different, what's interesting.

Now, CM is offering weekly specials (I found a flyer in my Sunday paper), and some of these are worth checking out, even if you're not a regular CM shopper: Through Tuesday, baby-back ribs are $3.99/pound (up to $5 off regular price), Angus T-bones and porterhouse steaks are $8.99/pound (up to $9.20 off regular price), CM's regular chef-case chicken salad is $4.99/pound ($4 off regular price) and if you buy Pederson's Natural Farms Beef Franks ($5.99/16 ounces), you get a 4-pack of Sprecher Sodas free with an in-store coupon.

I came across these gorgeous lemons at Central Market today -- I had never seen anything like them. The gentleman working in produce told me they're called pink lemons, that he thought they were from California, and that this is not the first year they've had them. He also said when their skin starts to turn pink, they're ripe. Have you seen them before? They had no sign, no price, but he told me to use the same sticker code as Lisbon lemons, $1.99 per pound.

A quick spin through the Internet turned up a link at Melissa's, a well-known Los Angeles produce company. According to that site (and a few others) they're called variegated pink lemons.

The very green ones are sharp-tasting, but the pinker ones, which have pink flesh, are not quite as puckeringly tart as lemons (though not as sweet as Meyer lemons), with a lovely, almost grapefruity flavor. What do you like to do with them? Pink lemonade, anyone?

With barely two weeks before Sigel's has to be out of the Lemmon-Inwood store (lost their lease), the closeout discount has been increased to 30 percent - and that's on everything in the store.

Pint-sized cartons of Graeter's ice cream - favored by chefs including Food Network's Bobby Flay -- are now available at select Dallas-area Kroger stores, the ice cream maker said Monday. Cincinnati -based Graeter's is one of the oldest family-owned ice cream makers in the country, launched in the late 1800s by Louis and Regina Graeter, who sold the dense, rich frozen treats from their Cincinnati home. Only 35 DFW Krogers will carry Graeter's, which will sell for about $5 a pint. To find the closest supply to you go to www.graeters.com.

Farpointe Cellar closed its Frisco location last week, I'm told. That's too bad. It was a nice wine store with good tastings. The original Southlake location is still going strong if you want to check it out.

Eats reader Bob writes...

I have friends from Antwerp, Belgium, spending some vacation time with us this summer. Do you have any bakeries you would suggest that approach the quality and types of breads in Belgium or France here in Dallas? We currently live in Keller so I do not mind driving into Dallas or Ft. Worth.

Anyone know of one?

Like the bi-annual equinoxes and solstices, the year has two days when we can indulge a sweet tooth for less: The day after Halloween. And the day after Easter. Hie thee to the store in a hurry for cheap Peeps and bargain chocolate bunnies. Yeah, it's not the greatest candy in the world, but half-price just tastes better, doesn't it?

After you asked me the status on the contest to rename Stoney's, I asked Diana Savage, and here's what she said:

"Thanks for asking! The winning name submitted by George Howald is.......Stoney's Bottle Bargains! Thought it was a bit corny at first, but seems really easy to remember and, visually, new logo-wise, I can see those 2 t's in bottle as wine bottles. We had a lot of interesting suggestions - I plan to use them (and credit the 'owners') on signage in the store.

"We plan to have a Grand Re-Opening to re-inaugurate our small but terribly sincere, back from the brink, wine-only enterprise Saturday, May 2 - multiple wines to taste, cheap (in keeping with the bargain theme) but tasty snacks, maybe live music, and Stoney's inimitable wine notes."

In case you don't know, George is part of the Dallas Morning News Taste Panel and works for Serendipity Wine Imports. Way to go, George. Way to go, Stoney's.

Growing up, my holiday chocolate bunnies and eggs were always of the hollow, drugstore variety. No more, baby. No more.

Dallas-based Noka Chocolate is offering their first collection of solid, deep milk chocolate bunnies and eggs. Not only do they taste better than anything we ever had as kids, but they come in stylish boxed dressed in a purple satin ribbon for gifting.

Pricing? You're going to be pleasantly surprised. Noka may be famed as a luxury chocolatier, but this collection is designed for immediate gratification in tough times. Prices range from $2.75 for a dark chocolate solid egg to just $39.50 for a 16-piece mixed box.

I'm forwarding this to my mother.

Order online or in person at the Noka boutique at NorthPark Center, 8687 N. Central Expressway, 214-295-4560

i just did an orbit that included Central Market, and if you haven't bought wine for your holiday table, the store has Bloom Riesling on sale for $5.95. This is a fresh, friendly wine that would be happy with ham. Yes, it's bit sweet, but the sweetness is well balanced with crisp acidity - a bargain in my book.

CM also has a boatload of Pixie tangerines from Ojai, Calif., which means the real deal. They are a Slow Food Ark of Taste heritage item. I find them sweet and intensely flavorful but not so tangy as some tangerines. I also saw an in-house special: Buy a package of bacon and get a six-pack of eggs free.

Have you noticed how CM is increasing its guacamole sales? There's station in produce where someone is making it at peak times. Pretty irresistible.

Check it out, that is, on video here. EatGreenDFW.com hosted its first Sunday farmers market with several local producers at North Haven Gardens Sunday. 'Looks like they had a good turnout and plan to do the same thing on the first Sunday of every month. That's great for consumers, who can't always make it to markets on Saturday, the big day for FMs in general. EatGreenDFW.com, by the way, is an online network that links local producers and consumers. You can order online and get the good stuff delivered to your front door.

The Sigel's at the corner of Lemmon and Inwood, the liquor chain's oldest store, is coming down along with the rest of the '50s-era shopping center to make way for something new. Sigel's has to clear out by the end of April, and rather than move the stock, everything will be on sale for 20 percent off.

I happen to know that the last time I was in a few months ago, there were still bottles of Nyetimber Vineyard English sparkling wine, a killer-good bottle rivaling the Champagne producers across the channel. There are also some Bordeaux, a lot of good California wines, plus single-malt Scotches, tequilas, and more. Small store, good selection.

While I was checking out the Spiceman's garden, I went next door to Jimmy's Food Store, where Mike and Paul DiCarlo were doing big Palm Sunday weekend business. These items aren't new, but in case you've forgotten: You can get frozen, ready-to-use cannoli cream in a pastry bag, new-crop Sicilian dried oregano on the stem, Italian chocolate Easter eggs, Fran's Fryers from Milford, Texas, and lots of Henry's Homemade Ice Cream from Plano. These are in addition to the items you expect to find at Jimmy's, from house-made Italian sausage and Italian creme cake to frozen ravioli imported from New York, olive oil, wine, cheeses, pasta, bread, etc. But the canned cherry tomatoes are once again out of stock.

You'll recall that produce broker/supplier Tom Spicer, who owns the F-M 1410 storefront on Fitzhugh, was going to plant a garden in the empty lot out back. So far, he's still on the periphery, but crops like tomatoes will get planted "very soon."

Right now, his biggest crop is microgreens - they're growing in flats in front of the store as well as on tables out back. These include micro arugula (sold out on Saturday), brilliantly hued lolla rossa, basil, leeks (yes, micro-leeks), chives and more. A little wild arugula is still growing free-form out back. His best row crops so far are baby radishes, pea tendrils and what he thinks will be bluebonnets. He took lupin beans from Jimmy's next door and planted them. No flowers yet.

Inside the store, Spiceman has wonderful mushrooms of every stripe, wild foraged garlic, ramps, wild arugula (sold out on Saturday), baby lettuces, arugula rabe and flowers, yellow hot house tomatoes and bags o' basil.

Sea Breeze Fish Market and Grill is adding Sunday hours. Starting today, it will be open 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Sunday. You can go by for fresh fish or a Sea Breeze Stimulus Package - menu items priced at $10.99. They include mussels marinara, shrimp-and-crab enchiladas, sesame catfish stir-fry pasta, or a petite (4-ounce fillet) salmon or rainbow trout. Regular menu offerings are available, too. Sea Breeze is at 4017 Preston Road south of Spring Creek Parkway.

Packs of T-bone steaks, $2.99 a pound.

Who knows what they taste like, but they look lovely. Some are nearly Porterhouse, with hefty chunks on the fillet side. And at that price, they would need to be shoe-leather bad not to be a great bargain.

If you're interested in my first impressions of Market Street after a first visit, head for the jump. (Hint: a very nice store, but is it worth driving past several others to get to?)

Response to its recent sale announcement was so strong that Sigel's has added more wines today at its Addiison location. Many of these are restaurant returns.

Pogo's has added more fine wines, including grand cru Burgundies. See the jump for a complete list. The sale runs through the weekend.

I made it by the new Newflower Farmers Market on Henderson near Ross tonight, and what an interesting store. On the one hand, it is a store of "better choices" while also catering to shoppers who are on board the sustainable/organic lifestyle. But I don't know what to make of the candy.

I'll explain.

Just about half the store is fresh produce. Artichokes from Mexico were two for $3. Blackberries from Mexico were 69 cents a half pint. Those are "better choices" than processed foods.

There were also whole Rosie chickens - organic and free-range - and Applegate Farms organic uncured hot dogs made from grass-fed cattle. Both are full-bore, sustainable-ag-supporting choices.

But wait, there's more.

Just a quick note to let Dallas Farmers Market shoppers know that The Baker Man will have cookies decorated for Easter there tomorrow.

Saturday, Flavors From Afar is having a pizza party to celebrate five years in business. That means fresh, free pizza from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., presumably while supplies last. Saturday is also free cappuccino day. And it's sale time: Gary and Nancy Krabill are pricing items to move and make room for a new shipment.

On the locavore trail, they'll have Fruth Farms organic, naturally pastel eggs, and they will be taking orders for olive trees from Jim Henry's Texas Olive Oil Ranch. There's one in bloom outside the shop. Lots going on at the Snider Plaza store.

Three retail wine outlets are having significant sales over the next few days. Check 'em out:

La Cave Warehouse: Several excellent French selections are discounted by at least 20 percent. I confess I know few of these wines, but several show well in various publications. For example, the Domaine de la Charmoise, Charmes, Gamay 2007 got two out of three stars from Le Guide Hachette. It's $16.99 a bottle. A Côteaux du Tricastin Blanc, F. Reverdy 2006 is $9.99 a bottle. Click here to see the whole list. Sale ends April 21.

Pogo's: Doing a two-day sale with fair-to-steep discounts on many pricier wines, mostly Bordeaux. See the list on the jump, and there are more markdowns coming. Sale ends Saturday.

Sigel's Addison (15003 Inwood): It's inventory reduction time. A couple of these are limit one to a customer: to wit, the 3-liter Duckhorn Napa Merlot 1986 for $74.99, marked down from $599. No typo. And the 1.5-liter Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne 1996, $74.99, marked down from $299. Check out the complete list on the jump.

Rita Heep from Grand Prairie writes to tell me there WILL be local produce at the Grand Prairie Farmers Market Saturday, just not from the community garden. Farmers from Montaque, Parker and Bowie counties will be there with tomatoes, sweet potatoes, lettuce, greens, radishes, spinach, green onions and broccoli. I am speculating that the tomatoes are hot-house, like J.T. Lemley's are at the Dallas Farmers Market, because it's too early in the season for toms grown outside. BTW, the Grand Prairie market moves to its new Market Square location this summer. We'll keep you posted.

No surprise. Here is their official statement about it:

"Due to the recent FDA recommendation that consumers should avoid eating pistachio products, Central Market H-E-B is voluntarily removing any product containing pistachio nuts from our stores until further FDA verification has been received.

Central Market H-E-B is removing these products as part of our ongoing commitment to food safety and the safety of our customers."

Per my usual luck, I recently splurged on a $12 bag of pistachios that will now sit on my kitchen counter untouched.

Want to LOL? Check out Whole Foods Market's Web site today, where you can get specials on organic air, a tutorial on changing a tire the organic way, free Hunstman spiders, a recipe for deep-fried pork eclairs and more. What fun, and how nice to have a bit of levity in these uncertain times. Wow, even Antarctica has a WFM now.

I had been meaning to check out Jimmy's Food Store for weeks, and it seems I chose exactly the right time. A sign on the deli counter indicated something to the effect that you could order burrata from Puglia, and it would arrive on March 23. "Do you have burrata?" I asked innocently, and the woman behind the counter shook her head. "We do!" said a gentleman (was that Jimmy? Is there a Jimmy? I'm so green!). "It just arrived. In fact," he said, "you'll be the first one to get some!"

How lucky am I? I bought some cherry tomatoes and basil, ran home with my treasure, and put it all together. Of course I wish I had some garden-ripe tomatoes, but we're not there yet, so I cut the cherries in half, sprinkled them with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, scattered with torn basil, and drizzled with olive oil, let it marinate a few minutes and poured it over the burrata.

And what burrata. I've never had one imported from Puglia, only from California's very good producers. But this blew them away -- so creamy, milky, rich, with an incredible texture. I'm eating it now with some crusty Empire bread and a glass of red wine.

So why I am blogging instead of eating? In case you want to run over there before dinner. Jimmy's is open till 7:30! You can be the second, or the third to get some. If you do, let us know how you like it.

Burrata from Puglia, 250 grams, $8.99 at Jimmy's Food Store.

Mine is starting with a zing, thanks to this Italian blood orange juice I picked up at Whole Foods over the weekend. With no sugar added, it's an opaque, deep pinky-salmon color, a bit tarter than regular orange juice in a carton, with nice berry and grapefruit notes on the finish. I prefer it to the bottled imported blood orange juices I've sampled; it tastes fresher and brighter.

At $4.99 per liter (at Whole Foods on Lomo Alto), Aliseo "Fresh Squeezed" blood orange juice is a little pricey. Aliseo's web site says the juice comes from organic farms in Sicily. Let's just call it springtime indulgence.

Campbell Soup Co. is offering you and me the same seeds it uses to grow tomatoes for its tomato soup. Through June 21, or until supplies run out, each household that purchases any variety of Campbell's condensed soup and enters the code on the can at www.HelpGrowYourSoup.com can request a free packet of seeds. The site also tells you how to grow your tomato plants from them.

It's part of Campbell's effort to grow more than 1 billion tomatoes across the country and support local agriculture. Campbell is teaming up with the National FFA Organization and Urban Farming Inc., each of which will use seeds from Campbell to help create community gardens in New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Camden, N.J.

Seriously. Today's entry in the DMN's ongoing Good Enough series is breakfast cereals, where we found off-brand alternatives to Cheerios and Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. Some of them were a lot cheaper and absolutely Good Enough. Find the ratings here.
(And here's my bad joke about the piece: It's as close as I'll ever get to writing like Charles Dickens. He wrote popular serials for newspapers. I wrote about popular cereals for newspapers. Thankyew verry much...)

It's been a year since Bruce Bagelman opened Green Spot Market & Fuels at Buckner and Northcliff, and it has taken off. The gas/biofuel station has what is probably the only convenience store in the city where you can find Austinuts, Green & Black's organic chocolate bars, Honest Tea and Lucky Layla Farms yogurt and cheese.

Now Bagelman (don't you love his name?) is taking it up a notch with the Green Spot Produce Club. This, with an eye to eventually developing a farmers market for the White Rock area. That's a good idea, because between the Dallas Farmers Market downtown and Eden's Organic Garden Center in Balch Springs, there is nothing. Nada. Unless you count the new Lakewood Whole Foods Market.

The New York Times has a big article celebrating Whoopie Pies and the origin of their name (evidently Amish farmers in Pennsylvania, after a long day of work, would say "Whoopie!" if they found one of these cookie sandwich treats with cream filling in their lunch pails).

Nowhere does the article, which lingers on the geography of the treat in Pennsylvania and Maine (and, of course, New York), mention Whoopie Pies in Dallas. But it just so happens that a Spicy Pumpkin Whoopie Pies recipe by Stephanie Hollowell won First Place, Family in the Dallas Morning News Cookie Contest in 2005. And we have the recipe right here.

So, when's the last time you had a good Whoopie pie? And does anyone sell them here or do you have to make them yourself?

The deadline for submissions for a new name for Stoney's Fine Wine is March 21. Get the full scoop on the name change here.

In the course of doing some research about fish, I consulted Monterey Bay Aquarium's excellent web site and turned up this cool free app for iPhone: mobile Seafood Watch. Now if you're at Central Market and can't decide whether to cook Arctic char or grouper tonight, the Seafood Watch app tells you what's sustainable (farmed Arctic char is a "best choice"; grouper is on the "avoid" list). There are tabs for different U.S. regions, and even a sushi guide with Japanese names and translations, for those sticky situations where you're hesitating between aji (Spanish mackerel) and ankimo (monkfish liver).

Go to the iPhone app store and search for seatood watch (in two words). It pops right up, and it's free. There are also Seafood Watch apps available for other handheld devices at mobile.seafoodwatch.org. Or you can go to the Seafood Watch website and download printable mini-guides.

Goodies From Goodman sent an e-blast saying that it's having a "lease-ending" sale, with 30 percent off everything in its store. "Our lease is up at the end of March." This is in-store stuff only - wine, gift baskets. etc. - not goodies from the online store. The Oak Lawn store is at 4222 Oak Lawn.

As for the future of the store, we get only a cryptic, "Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about an alliance between two great companies: In Bloom Flowers and Goodies From Goodman." Those of us with long memories know this isn't the first time Goodies has moved. We'll hold our breath till the announcement.

This is hardly news, since this store opened late last year. But I just passed by it for the first time a few days ago: Austinuts, the Austin nut house (had to say that), has a Dallas outpost at 6915 Hillcrest, between Daniel and Lovers. Talking to associate Justin Tcheng, I learned a new word: pralinate.

"We pralinate on premise," he says, which means to add the sugar coating to the nuts; they're dry-roasted in Austin. "We roast different flavors," he says, "like chipotle, cayenne, Mesquite barbecue, onion and peppadew." The latter is a South African pepper, he says, that's "sweet, sour and spicy all in one."

Although this store has bulk Austinuts (Central Market does, too), it's more of a place to buy gifts, including Texas gourmet foods, chocolates and seasonal candies, Tcheng says. He calls it "a grown-up candy shop."

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

OK, guys, time to turn your attention away from Whole Foods for a bit. Margie wanted to know about the new store in the old Carnival location on Henderson, so here you go.

It's called Newflower Farmers Market (Sunflower in other markets), and the opening date is March 18. You will forget by then; I will try to remind you.

Here's the deal: These people are early risers. There will be free breakfast goodies at 6:30 a.m. (you can have my portion), followed by the official opening at 7 a.m. Now I will quote from the release:

The first 200 customers on opening day will receive a FREE reusable shopping bag filled with Newflower's healthy groceries, valued at over $50, with any in-store purchase. Customers are encouraged to arrive early, as the line typically forms hours before the store opening at 7a.m.

That's two weeks from today so you probably don't need to rush over quite yet. Margie, if you make it, report back to us.

Read more about Newflower here.

From MARIANA GREENE:
After work Monday I headed straight to the new Whole Foods Market at Abrams and Gaston. After spying the barbecue counter (a new offering for us who shopped the Greenville Avenue store) at the press preview on Friday, I've had my mouth set for ribs. I had to idle for 15 minutes in a parking lot row before I snagged a place. Cars were parked in fire lanes, on sidewalks and waiting in line up and down the rows at 6 p.m. Everybody was polite and patient.

Inside, aisles were jammed, too. Not so much in fresh produce, but in the wine and beer sections, the bakery (cupcakes!), the food-to-go and in front of the pizza oven. The private-label wine special for $3.65 a bottle was popular, too.

Here's what I learned:
The smoked ribs with the house smoky, tomato-y sauce and the smoked chicken are delish. Follow your nose.
You can't turn even the mini-grocery cart around in the wine aisles.
The new Whole Foods is still a neighborhood gathering place. I chatted with a former Woodrow mom for 20 minutes, catching up on two years' worth of kid news.
My checker on Saturday night at the old store was checking away at 7 p.m. Monday at the new store.

Anybody else checked out the new store? What did you think?

Francois and Anne Chandou sent out an e-blast from La Cave Warehouse, reporting that a supplier had fallen upon hard times and offered them an assortment of French wines at fire-sale prices, many that they are in turn offering at 50 to 60 percent off retail. La Cave is at 1931 Market Center Blvd., Suite 129. The e-mail says the retail store will be open starting Wednesday, although the Web site says they also have Tuesday hours. Best advice: Call to see which is correct. The phone number is 214-747-9463.

The offer is first come-first served, and the prices are good through Saturday. Check out the list on the jump.

Almost immediately after we started our tour of the new Whole Foods Market in Lakewood this morning, the question came up: What is local to WFM, anyway?

For something like grapefruit, it's the Rio Grande Valley's Rio Star - because you can't get grapefruit grown any closer. And there will be red signs identifying local products.

But the meat department is where WFM is ramping up local. The stores now have pastured, grass-fed beef supplied by 15 Texas ranchers, according to spokesman Scott Simons. (I'm in the process of getting more details.)

The store will also be selling Texas-bred quail from a farmer close to Austin and in the fall - hopefully - Texas-bred lamb. Around the holidays, Simons expects to be stocking more local game birds.

The key word at the new Whole Foods Market (opening Monday) is "more." The store is about one and a half times the size of the Greenville Avenue location it replaces, so there is more of everything, from wine to bulk bins. I spent a few minutes just looking around, trying to remember the Minyard that used to occupy that building, but this is a total redo, right up to the solar panels that dim the interior lights on sunny days. (Cool!)

The store has all the bells and whistles that other recent-vintage WFMs have. Read on for some highlights.

Staff Writer Mariana Greene, a longtime Old East Dallas denizen, weighs in:

There is so much curiosity about the new Whole Foods Market opening Monday across the street from Lakewood Country Club that store management had to double the preview tours today and Saturday. But even that didn't satisfy the requests.

"We finally just had to cut it off," says Scott Simons, executive coordinator and director of marketing, himself a former East Dallas boy now based in Austin.

Nine homeowner associations, nonprofit workhorses like the Lakewood library and the Wilkinson Center, local civic groups and just-plain hard-headed longtime customers were invited for the sneak peek. I fall into the latter category, though I was invited as a member of the media. In fact, my Morning News colleagues were warning Simons and other WF tour guides about my stubborn, suspicious mindset as I walked through the doors of the new Lakewood store, which opens to the public Monday morning. The new location, where Gaston Avenue and Abrams intersect, was a Safeway when I settled in old East Dallas. I shopped at the Whole Foods on lower Greenville Avenue when it was still Bluebonnet. I don't like my world to change.

Super H Mart, the glitzy Korean-owned Asian supermarket in Carrollton at Old Denton Road and the George Bush is celebrating its one-year anniversary Friday through Thursday. For those lucky souls born on Feb. 16 - the day Super H Mart opened - the store has a free bottle of wine ($20 value). No kidding. Just show up and present your valid state photo ID to collect.

But wait: There's more.

Attention fans of the "old" Whole Foods Market on Greenville: The store closes for good at 5 p.m. Sunday. Then, at 10 a.m. Monday, check out the new digs at Abrams and Gaston, where the old Minyard store was. Get there early for grand-opening festivities, and watch Eats on Friday for a preview of the new store.

While special contributor Tina Danze is hitting Tom Thumb - I am always prowling TT's bargain meat bin - I made a quick orbit of Central Market, working from a list (the smart way not to over-shop) and resisting the avocado-oil-fried potato chips, my new obsession. (Bet you can't eat just one. Bag.)

Sticking with fresh, unprocessed items gets you the best prices at CM, and today was rainbow cauliflower-broccoflower day: I found the cruciferous heads in four colors: orange, light green, lavender and white. All are nutritious, and the pigments that produce the colors can bump up their nutritive value.

One of the simplest ways to prepare these is to break them up into florets, toss with a little olive oil and salt, and roast them 15 minutes in a 500-F oven. Some folks like to add chopped garlic, and finish them with lemon juice and chile flakes.

Otherwise, it's head down and stick to the list. There's still nothing cheap about CM, but there are ways to shop relatively cheaper.

From Tina Danze

Lately I've been having a great time shopping at Tom Thumb. The chain is drastically discounting discontinued merchandise -- including lots of specialty products.

In recent weeks, a trip around the clearance cube (a four-sided display) netted me these amazing buys: Mrs. Renfro's Peach salsa for $1; Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly, a real steal at 75 cents; a can of goat milk for 50 cents; and a jar of sun-dried tomato and garlic pesto sauce, also 50 cents. I loaded up on these and other bargains. But I need to stop. Every time I go, I see something new added to the clearance heap, and my pantry shelves really can't hold any more specialty products (which is apparently what TT management thinks too).

Today, I restrained myself from buying a large tin of amaretti cookies that were half price ($7.50), an exotic jelly (75 cents) and Hershey's Cacao Reserve Dark Chocolate ($1.50 for 5 ounces; by the ounce, that's cheaper than inferior candy bars).

I can't guarantee you'll find the same items at every store - but it's fun to see what deals you'll stumble across.

While there's nothing cheap about U.S. Department of Agriculture prime grade beef, $9.99 a pound for prime rib-eye is a whopping bargain. You can pay up to four times that price for some premium label steaks. And menu prices? Higher. Much higher.

Jimmy's Food Store co-owner Paul DiCarlo says in an e-blast that the store's wholesale supplier made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and he's passing the savings on to customers through March 1.

In other meat department news, Jimmy's is now making chicken-pesto sausage in house with Fran's Fryers. Fran's Web site says they're raised on vegetarian feed without hormones or antibiotics. Jimmy's is at 4901 Bryan at Fitzhugh.

Confession: I don't like cupcakes. But last night I stopped by the new La Duni Latin Kitchen and Coffee Studio in NorthPark Center and was taken by a vision of this beaut, arranged with its pals on a tiered pastry stand. Isn't she cute? It's a cupcake version of La Duni's famous Quatros Leches cake. Y'all have probably had a million of them, but I had never seen one, and the meringue frosting looked so pretty.

The friendly fellow behind the counter boxed it up for me, and showed me a little container of the fourth leche -- the one that you need to add in -- and a straw. "Poke holes in it," he told me, "and add in some of this."

So I took it home, put it on a plate -- and couldn't resist splitting it open to see what it looked like inside first. Then, using the straw like a pipette, I transferred some of the fourth leche into the cupcake, poking holes as I went along. Then I tasted. Very creamy indeed. Sweet, but not overly sweet. The cake had a tender, lovely crumb. I loved the meringue frosting. If a sweet could ever make a cupcake lover out of me, this would be the one.

Quatro leches cupcake, $3.95, La Duni Latin Kitchen & Coffee Studio, NorthPark Center, 8687 N. Central Expressway #1516, 214-987-2260

I knew I'd fit right in the Lifestyles Department at The Dallas Morning News when my new boss, Cathy Barber, threw me a cheese welcome yesterday, with four snazzy selections she had picked up at Paula Lambert's Mozzarella Company. We spread out the previous day's Guide Daily on my desk and laid out a Blanca Bianca (a cow's milk cheese with a rind washed in red wine), an herbed goat cheese log, a pecan praline mascarpone torta and my hands-down favorite, a queso blanco with epazote and jalapeño. Fresh and milky, nicely salty, with a lovely tang, the Mexican herb and chile gave it a terrific zip of flavor. I tried to imagine what I'd do with such a cheese, and in the meantime, couldn't stop eating it.

Then today Cathy and I visited Paula at her shop and factory in Deep Ellum, where Paula was deep into a cottage cheese project (more on that later). I asked her about the inspiration for the queso blanco. Rick Bayless was a longtime customer for many years, she told me, and he loved the queso blanco she was making at the time, but it bothered him that it melted, so he asked her to create a new one -- one that didn't melt. Then one day, in a small village near Oaxaca, Paula was served some amazing empanadas. "They were so good," she said, "filled with squash blossoms and epazote and cheese, and cooked on a comal made of clay. So I said I'm just going to put all these things into the cheese."

No, there are no squash blossoms in Mozarella Company's queso blanco, but Paula says it's wonderful to use it to stuff into squash blossoms. Hmm. Sounds irresistible. In the meantime, it'll be great smeared on a crusty baguette, paired with a glass of grassy Sauvignon Blanc. Or a bottle of Bohemia.

This will make you laugh or cry, or both. It's E.J. Levy's recounting of the federal government's allowable levels of all things in foods. Here's my favorite sentence:

"In case you're curious: you're probably ingesting one to two pounds of flies, maggots and mites each year without knowing it, a quantity of insects that clearly does not cut the mustard, even as insects may well be in the mustard."

Levy is a professor of creative writing at the University of Missouri, and the New York Times story currently tops the paper's "most e-mailed" list. Take a look here.