• Strawberries are ripe for more than just whipped cream: They work well with lots of dairy like mascarpone, fresh ricotta and sour cream.
• Baco Noir "Southern Oregon" is one of the state's best reds, and Nebbiolo d'Alba "Briccola" is an steal for an Italian red at $22.95.
• Lucini Gran Riserva Balsamico wins a taste test to determine a good and proper balsamic vinegar.
  
• Cutting through the confusion, the Oregonian explains the terminology behind the different varieties of cream that clutter grocery shelves.
• A recipe for Smoked Salmon Hash, which was once a breakfast favorite at Portland's Heathman Restaurant.
  
• Instead of throwing your rhubarb in a pie, stir it into a chutney.
• Fresh market fungi are perfect for crepes.
  
• Small Bites nibbles on everything from Danny Meyer's new cocktail book "Mix Shake Stir" to the phenomenon of "pine mouth."

Lori of the food blog Dessert Comes First, just returned from what sounded like a fantastic trip to Paris. Like any good blogger, she took lots of photos of her trip, but what is more relevant to us is that she also took lots of photos of her food. She stopped in at what is said to be one of the best creperies in Paris and picked up this Banana and Nutella Crepe. Made on the spot, the hot crepe is quickly smeared with rich, creamy Nutella and a sliced banana. To contrast with the rich filling. A dollop of French vanilla ice cream - made with egg yolks, which provide the slightly yellow tinge, and real vanilla bean - adds a refreshingly cool and delicate layer of flavor to the plate.

Fortunately for those of use who aren't planning Paris trips in the near future, this is an easy treat to reproduce at home. You just need to start with a basic crepe recipe and pick up some Nutella at the market. It would also be brilliant with strawberries and any other fruit that you find works well with the chocolate-hazelnut spread.

Crepes, the thin and fluffy pancakes that always manage to seem slightly exotic to those more familiar with the thicker American-style of pancake, are as easy to make as they are to eat. Once you discover this, you might find yourself more inclined to make them on a regular basis, which is where a book such as Crêpes: Sweet & Savory Recipes for the Home Cook comes in handy.

The book has recipes for 15 different varieties of basic crepes, with 11 suitable for savory dishes and 4 sweeter ones for dessert crepes, and all are used in different combinations to create dramatically different dishes. Technique is thoroughly covered, with suggestions on what size pan to use as well as how to mix the batter and how to determine the right moment to flip the pancake. There are also tips for storing crepes, so you'll have them on-hand when you are ready for them. Recipes include Cheese Blintzes, Tomato Crepes with Ratatouille, Blue Corn Crepes with Leeks and Mushrooms, Strawberry and Ricotta Crepes and Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline Crepes, as well as many more mouthwatering combinations.

It is easy to get into a breakfast rut. Cereal, fruit and toast are so ridiculously simple to prepare that even on weekends it seems like doing anything else is a bit of a pain. But foods that take slightly longer than opening a box of cereal are also much tastier than cereal, so what we need here is some motivation to get our culinary juices flowing on this morning. The above video is a well put-together music video of pancake making, complete with a pancake-making song that could very well have you singing along as you cook. The pancakes are the thin crepe-like British style of pancake and are served in multiple - tempting - variations that will definitely get you craving a plate of them yourself.

It doesn't include a recipe, so you might want to try out one of our eight favorite pancake recipes or some crepes, so you can experiment with different fillings as they do in the video.

Of course, if you're content with cereal for breakfast, you might just want to skip the video and go pour yourself a bowl right now.

Sarah may have wanted to attempt the Taco Town Pizza-Crepe-Taco-Pancake-Chili Bag that was made famous in a memorable SNL sketch, but it looks like someone beat her to it. Over at a guy named Drew’s MySpace blog, he and his friends documented their entire process of making the “taco” for Drew’s birthday. Layer upon layer was stacked up, pinned together, dipped in batter and deep fried. Since they didn’t need to take it “to-go,” they skipped the past step of trying to put it in a bag in favor of simply digging it. It actually looks like it wasn’t bad, though the guys don’t look like they felt all that well afterward.

The original SNL sketch is after the jump.

Somebody triple dog dared me. Do you know what that means? I'm going to Trader Joe's in a few to get the ingredients I don't already have for the pizza crepe taco pancake chili bag. In case you're following along at home (and I truly hope you're not cooking this along with me):

• Crisp taco shell (check)
• Soft flour tortilla (check)
• Corn tortilla, bigger than the flour tortilla
• Gordita shell
• Pizza dough
• Ingredients for crepes (flour, egg, milk, butter, brandy)
• Ingredients for pancakes (same deal, plus buttermilk, baking powder and blueberries)

My friends over at TV Squad think I should make - and eat - the pizza crepe taco pancake chili bag from the fictional "Taco Town" as memorialized in a Saturday Night Live skit. What is it, you ask?

• A crunchy all beef taco, slathered in nacho cheese, lettuce, tomato, and our special southwestern sauce.
• Wrap it in a soft flour tortilla, with a layer of refried beans
• Wrap that in a corn tortilla, with a middle layer of monterey jack cheese
• Wrap that in a deep fried gordita shell, smear on a layer of special guacamolito sauce
• Bake it in a corn husk, filled with pico de gallo
• Wrap that in an authentic Parisian crepe filled with egg, gruyere, merguez sausage, and portabello mushrooms
• Wrap that in a Chicago-style deep-dish meat lovers' pizza
• Roll it up in a blueberry pancake, dip it in batter, deep-fry it until it's golden brown
• Serve it in a commemorative tote bag filled with spicy vegetarian chili.

I don't know how this is going to work and what is guacamolito sauce? But I have to know: do you double dare me?