"april" news and stories

Spring has arrived! With it, come scads of crawfish festivals along the Gulf Coast, beer and wine festivals nationwide and the heralding of spring harvests. April is so chock-full of culinary merrymaking we can only wish you luck getting through the month without lapsing into a life-threatening -- though joyous -- food coma.

Breckenridge Beer Festival, April 3, Breckenridge, Colo.: American craft beer continues to attract followers and chip away at commercial leviathans. In few places is this more evident than in Colorado, one of the country's beer meccas. Unlimited tasting tickets will set you back $25, but serious beer geeks will want to shell out $55 for VIP passes, which include early entry to the festival, a commemorative glass mug, unlimited tastings, a private VIP room, lunch and a buffet. Raise a pint glass to local and national breweries, among them Oskar Blues, Great Divide and the town's own, Breckenridge Brewing Company.

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation Boston, April 8, Boston, Mass.: What's a month without a fine-dining fete? The Share Our Strength series' event in Boston will feature more than 70 area restaurants and 40 wineries, including the Little Pearl, Rialto and Eastern Standard. All ticket sales will benefit Share Our Strength's effort to end child hunger.

These food days and months are usually more specific. We've had National Chocolate Mousse Day and Great American Pie Month, and even National Eat Something on a Stick Day. But this April holiday covers just about everything.

April is National Food Month.

So...I would suggest that this month you celebrate by eating some food. Take a look at the categories to the right and pick some recipes to make. Or check out Food Network or AllRecipes or Epicurious or one of the many other food sites around the web.

I don't think April is National Drink Month, but I would suggest drinking something with that food.

We mentioned this last week, but don't forget that today is annual Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day! At all (which is most of them), customers who visit the store will get a free scoop of their favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor - whether it's the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or the new , a blend of coffee ice cream, cookie crumbs and little fudge cows. The promotion lasts from noon until 8 pm, which is plenty of time to stop in twice. But don't tell them we told you that.

Is your repertoire of desserts not colorful enough? Longing for something to dazzle your eyes as much as - or perhaps more than - your taste buds? Take a peek at this blue cake found on Flickr. Those multi-colored bits that resemble pebbles are, in fact, pebbles. They are Fruity Pebbles, to be exact, and are a sorely under-utilized component in making brightly colored cakes. Note that there appear to be pebbles inside the cake as well as on top, which means that there may very well be a bit of crunch to each slice. The secret ingredient to turn the cake such a lovely teal shade is none other than 100% natural Smurf. Just kidding. It's only food coloring. We don't advocate the senseless slaughter of defenseless Smurfs here at Slashfood - not even to color cakes.

Oh, and by the way, Happy April Fool's Day!