Wild mushrooms. Photo: Jasmine&Roses, Flickr

• Fungal foraging through the forest with "mushroom man" Benjamin Maleson.
• Get your taste buds ready -- the Wine Bottega is now hosting Wine 101 lessons on the first Thursday of every month.
• After a cold June, local raspberries are finally hitting the farmstands.
• Loving wit -- that is, wit beer: which varieties you should look out for, and how it almost disappeared.
• A Q&A with chef and food coach German Lam.
• Sunbutter -- made of roasted sunflower seeds -- is a way for kids to still bring some "PB" & J to school, plus insulated lunch bags, bakery cookie dough and fruit sauce pouches.
• The challenge of getting breakfast in your kid's belly, how to sass up the breakfast routine and teaching good food habits.
• Newbury Street's Pazzo is still working out the kinks, but has some notable fare to bite into.
• Recipes: Raspberry Shortcakes, Pasta Pie, Breakfast Bars, Crepe Roll-Ups, Breakfast Burrito, Smoked Turkey and Cheddar Biscuits, Muenster Cristos, Brown-Rice Fried Rice with Ham and Eggs, Whole-wheat Pancakes, Basil-Crusted Cod with Tomato Fonduta

• There's no boredom with mushroom ragout.
• What it means to be a young farmer in the 21st century.
• My mom used to make boiled dinner for herself all the time, but not with corned beef (ugh).
• There are currently over 300 restaurants in the U.S. certified as green.
• The Globe taste tests breakfast bars.
• Cauliflower is usually called broccoli in Rome?!
• What are your favorite budget wines?
• This week's recipes: Easy Alphabet Soup, Pasta with Cauliflower, and Raisin Soda Bread,

They might look like cookies at first glance, but these oatmeal breakfast bars from Sugar and Spices are really a healthy way to start off the morning. The bars are packed with oats, raisins, walnuts, a modest amount of sugar and minimal fat. Soft and chewy, they sound like the would be very satisfying without being too heavy - much like the Matisse and Jack's energy bars that I baked up a couple of weeks back. On top of their relatively healthy profile, homemade bars are a good alternative to store bought snack bars because they offer you the chance to adapt them to your taste. Want dried cranberries or blueberries instead of raisins? Or hazelnuts instead of walnuts? Not a problem. The bars do not take very long to make and spending an hour on them over the weekend will definitely save some time if you tend to be in a rush on weekday mornings.

I love these breakfast bars, but my two local supermarket chains (Stop & Shop and Shaw's) haven't carried them in months. They carry the blueberry ones, and I've been eating those, but are they still making the banana ones? (Not the cereal bars, I'm talking about the muffin bars.)

According to their web site, they are. Unless, of course, the web site hasn't been updated lately. I have a vague recollection that there was a third flavor of muffin bar too when they first came out, maybe cinnamon? And they don't make those anymore, so maybe banana is going the same route?

I really like these things. I'm sure they're not necessarily healthier than other muffins or other cake-like foods you can eat at breakfast, but they aren't too bad (no trans fats), and they've improved the bars. They're more moist and flavorful now.

Anyone find them in their local stores?