"air" news and stories

Yesterday, NPR's All Things Considered featured a story about how current restrictions on flying with liquids is affecting Napa Valley tourists and wineries. Obviously, it's common to bring some wine back from the wineries you visit, but not being able to carry those bottles on-board a plane is posing a problem that has many wineries worried. The situation is especially troubling to small wineries that rely on sales directly to visitors, as opposed to distributors. Checking glass of any kind in one's luggage is a scary prospect, of course. So, some wineries are offering styrofoam wine carriers that they hope will protect checked wine. Others are offering free shipping on large enough purchases. The styrofoam box pictured here comes from Uline Shipping Supplies.

Todd Coleman, the food editor of Saveur magazine, caused a 3-hour shutdown and evacuation of the Tallahassee, Florida airport yesterday. His bag, which contained honey, an oyster shell, seasoning rub and various recording equipment, apparently sparked security concerns, with the police department and bomb squad believing that the combination of organic and inorganic matter looked as though it could be a homemade bomb. Coleman was detained by security, but released once a robot had inspected the bag's contents.

Coleman was in town writing a piece on food in Apalachicola. The honey was a jar of local Tupelo honey and the spice rub was Bad Byron's Butt Rub, so think twice before packing them on your next trip.

Source

Finding something edible in the airport can be a challenge, especially if you don't want to break the bank. Sure, there are some highly rated restaurants, but most of the eating options involve fast food chains that seem to charge twice as much as their non-terminal bound counterparts. Sick of bland muffins and bags of chips, the best way to find something tasty is to look for the less common options. For example, the delicious, chewy soft pretzels pictured here are from Jay's Pretzels in the Philadelphia International airport. At $1 a piece (or 3 for $2.50), they were a great snack and had a regional flair. At California airports, look for smoothie stands the will serve up your "5 a day" in a cup that even at $4 or $5 dollars will keep you full for a whole flight. Aiming for regional favorites is the most likely way to find a good deal. Look for hot dogs in Chicago or pizza in New York, but if you want your snack to be reasonably nutritious, some airports are known for having healthier food than others, so just taking a stroll around - or keeping your eyes peeled as you dash to your gate - will help you find a filling snack.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Kate, the Accidental Hedonist, has posted a neat trick that will enable you to choose the better ice cream when confronted with brands that you have never tasted before at the market. The trick is to weigh the (frozen) containers, since ice cream is sold by volume, not weight. In other words, if a manufacturer churns more air into his or her product, it will fill up a bigger container without using up extra products. By weighing the cartons of ice cream, you can choose a higher quality brand that will taste richer, creamier and better than a cheaper one.

There are different grades of ice creams that are based on overrun, which is the term for the amount of air mixed into the product. The cheapest ice creams have 90 to 100 percent overrun - meaning that they are half air - while premium ice creams have 60-80 percent and super-premium ice creams can have anywhere from 10-40 percent. Some air in the ice cream is good, as it lightens up the texture and keeps it from being a dense, chewy mass, but it's just silly to pay $5 for a gallon of ice cream when you're really only getting a quart. Next time, weigh the containers or just go for the ice creams labeled as "super premium" when you are looking for high quality indulgence. Your taste buds will thank you.

Source