• All around Portland, chefs are creating signature breakfast sandwiches. They're offering up some of their recipes for you to try, including Little Red Bike Cafe's Alleycat Sandwich, Caramelized Onions, Grand Central Bakery's Egg Bolo Sandwich, Tomato Relish, Pine State Biscuits' Reggie Deluxe, Savory Sausage Gravy, Southern Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Sharon's Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits.
  
• Katherine Miller is hoping to help her husband expand his dinner repertoire with the aide of a couple of cookbooks and a shopping list.
• Marcella Hazan recently published a memoir, the FoodDay offers their take on the iconic Italian cook's bio.
• Here's a dish that will let the last of your summer tomatoes have their day in the sun.
• Stumped by the delicata squash in your CSA box? Look no further for answers!
• How to handle an invasion of pantry pests.
• Check the Market Basket for a gurgling fish-shaped pitcher, a lovely leaf platter and a blown green glass apple.
• Want a bowl of chowder but without all the calories? Switch to tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder.
• Ivy Manning offers up a vegetarian-friendly meal of Salad With Sauteed Chanterelles and Farm FreshFried Eggs.
  

Last May, I was invited to a press tasting at one of my local Starbucks, to try out their new breakfast sandwiches and the warming program. Over the course of two hours, I tried four different sandwiches, a warm chocolate cookie and a bagel that had gone for a ride through the warming oven as well. The woman who was presenting was passionate about these sandwiches and her energy was infectious. By the time I left I was ready to eat my breakfast at Starbucks every day!

Of course, I didn't end up eating there every day (I think I've had just one breakfast sandwich from Starbucks since that morning) and as it has turned out, neither did most other Americans. Back in February, word broke that they will be phasing out the breakfast sandwiches come fall. And now, Denny Marie Post, the top executive in charge of food and beverages at the coffee giant has left the company. They haven't filled the slot yet and appear to be looking for someone who can come up with new food that will be tasty and compelling enough to drive flagging sales.

[via Consumerist]

Starbucks must really be feeling the pressure from fast food chains now.

First we find out they're "testing" much much lower priced coffees in Seattle (with free refills!), and now we find out that Starbucks will be removing breakfast sandwiches from their menus starting this fall. It seems odd at first, since the breakfast sandwiches typically add $35,000 to a store's annual revenue. Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz said, "we're going to build for the long-term and get back to the roots and the core of our heritage, which is the leading roaster of specialty coffee in the world."

I don't mind. Like coffee, I prefer McDonald's (Egg McMuffin!) to Starbucks.

McDonald's may be rolling out premium coffees to compete with popular coffee chains, but now coffee chains are introducing their own breakfast sandwiches. The Associated Press revealed that Starbucks is expanding its efforts to sell hot breakfast sandwiches in stores. For the past three years, the coffee company has been testing and retesting various combinations of ingredients for their english muffin sandwiches, including black forest ham, peppered bacon, sausage, cheese and, of course, eggs. Some of the more popular combinations include Eggs Florentine with Baby Spinach and Havarti and Herbed Sausage and Egg with Sharp Cheddar. The sandwiches are delivered to stores every morning, as are their pastries, and heated up in special counter-top ovens. It takes about 3 minutes to heat up a sandwich, only slightly longer than it takes to get a latte.

The hot sandwiches have been tested in Washington, DC and Portland, OR, as well as in selected other stores. Starbucks will be increasing the number of stores that sell the sandwiches from 250 to 600 over the course of the year, expanding into San Francisco stores in early April and Chicago in the fall. The egg sandwiches retail for $2.95. For comparison, McDonald's charges $1.99 for their Egg McMuffin and Dunkin Donuts charges $2.74 for their breakfast sandwich.