Meet The Team / Dakota Smith

It's a happy day for anyone concerned about overweight kids. In more McDonald's news, Disney is ending its relationship with the fast food chain amid concerns about childhood obesity, according to the Los Angeles Times.  For the last decade, the studio marketed its movies by stuffing little Nemo and 101 Dalmatian figurines into Happy Meals. The deal, with netted Disney $100 million, will end this summer following the release of Pixar's "Cars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

Americans may be most familiar with blood sausage via shows like Fear Factor, but more and more New York restaurants are adding the tasty sausage to their menus notes an article in this week's TimeOut New York. The recipe for blood sausage can vary, but the main ingredient is usually pig blood, while chopped onions and otameal can be added. Blood sausage, or black pudding, as it's known in the U.K., may very well date back to the days of Homer, according to the BBC's comprehensive guide to the sausage.

But if you eat at an English restaurant, or travel to Italy, it's helpful to know all the different names for blood sausage, which TimeOut New York provides.

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There's a pretty good debate going on today at  the blog Apartment Therapy: The Kitchen about the best brand of olive oil. One of my favorite olive oils is Primo Olio, which is produced by Montecastelli Farm, an olive oil farm in Tuscany. The oil is used in many New York restaurants, but I was lucky enough to sample a batch of the oil when I was visiting Italy two years ago. It had a grassy, peppery taste, which I now prefer to the taste of the more thick and buttery oils. For everyday cooking, I am happy with the Trader Joe's oil options that come from both Spain and Italy. Some, like at least one poster at The Kitchen, prefer olive oils from Greece.

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Sign me up, please! Cooking classes take place in exotic locales around the world, but I'm ready to head to Bali to try the cooking classes offered at the Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaran Bay. At the Bali hotel, participants learn how to make dishes like grilled red snapper wrapped in banana leaf, Balinese chicken satay, and Balinese pumpkin treat (if you can't make it to Bali, the Cincinnati Enquirer recently ran the recipe for the pumpkin dessert). Overall, the classes at the Four Seasons seem pretty casual and low-key, perfect for guests who want to pick up some cooking tips while on vacation.

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Last fall, news broke that a second Mr. Chow restaurant would open in New York at 121 Hudson.  And here's more tasty info: Slashfood hears that the forthcoming Tribeca outpost of this upscale Chinese restaurant chain will offer 30 new dishes. Sadly, none of the dishes can be revealed yet given that other restaurants will often replicate competitors' recipes. So we can only imagine...and count the days 'til the restaurant opens in early May. 

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