• Sometimes pricey-tasting wine doesn't have to have a big price tag, like Priorat, "the Sidney Crosby of wines."
• Old cookbooks, history, and orange/almond Icebox Cookies.
• If you have lots of money to spare, and would like olllld wine and rare, futuristic wine storage perks with your charity donations, how about spending tens of thousands to help the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine and getting a Porsche Design Studio wine fridge full of vintage selections date back to the '50s?
• The ins and outs of "aromatic whites."
• Recipe: Grilled Tuscan-Style Rabbit with Olive, Thyme, and Tomato.
• KFC Canada not only works towards fixing chicken issues, but gets into some "vegan chicken."
• West Restaurant and Warren Geraghty's move to Vancouver.
• Halloumi -- a cheese that doesn't melt.

• Tarapaca 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Chile leads the wine pack, and it's under $10.
• Vancouver chef David Wong will be Canada's representative at the Bocuse d'Or, to take place this January in Lyon, France. So far, he plans to work with Angus beef tenderloin with oxtail and beef cheeks, as well as Norwegian cod with lobster.
• Is wine out of a tetra pack, rather than a bottle, really better for the environment?
• Go ethnic with your crepes and try a South Indian dosa -- they're made "from fermented rice and lentil batter, spread onto huge griddles to make thin, savoury crepes that have a mild, slightly sour flavour."

• If you got to attend a celebrity dinner, would you? What if you were served a big pig's head, with eyes ready to eat, or maybe some of those wobbly red things on roosters? It was all for $295 a plate.
• Did you know that dry scallops are better? The water and preservatives affect the quality, so get some dry ones and try scallops with chorizo.
• Toronto restaurant reviews: Grace on College St., Swatow on Spadina, and Chinese Traditional Bun on Dundas St. West.

Could you imagine waking up at dawn each morning to knead and shape dough, letting it rise for a few hours, then take it to a centrally located oven where it is baked alongside everyone else's? This is the norm for many families in places like Morocco, though with modernization the tradition is beginning to fade.

In Pixar's latest film Ratatouille, Remy the Rat learned his culinary skills from the best of the best - Thomas Keller, owner of French Laundry in Yountville, California.

Is your organic food really all organic? The Department of Agriculture is preparing to approve a list of non-organic ingredients that could make the cut in food stamped with their organic seal

Eric Asimov takes a look at the delights of Beaujolais in 'The Pour'

Frank Bruni asks some of the more prominent names in the food industry which meals or moments in their pasts were "pinnacles of carnivorous gluttony." Yes, pig snout made the list.

This week's recipes:

Lamb Schnitzels With Mint-Horseradish Pesto, Confit Byaldi, Lamb and Bulgur Kibbe With Garlic Yogurt Sauce, Chicken With Couscous, Moroccan Anise-Flavored Bread (Khubz), Tagine of Fish, Pea and Crab Salad

• David Kamp criticizes the few choices restaurants are offering our children nowadays, in what he calls a chicken-finger pandemic.

• Is tap water the new black? Many restaurants are ditching over-priced designer waters and returning to the stuff that comes straight from the sink

• Summer is the right time to serve up Soft-Shell Crabs, according to The Minimalist, Mark Bittman

• Are you intimidated by the power of saffron?

This week's recipes include:

The Soft-Shell Crab Poor Boy (video), Fettuccine with Mushroom Ragù, Saffron Almond Meringues, Papas Bravas (shown, above), and Vegetable Paella With Wild Mushrooms

Veritable artistry in something we're not quite with familiar with: verrine. What is it? A verrine is a French import, something like a terrine, with layers of ingredients in a small glass that is either an appetizer or a dessert, and is becoming increasingly popular with chefs on this side of the Atlantic.

Speaking of imports, what's not to love about the life of a wine importer?

In the kitchen, get your rolling pins out for the perfect pie crust you can trust. Also, a recipe for slow-roasted roasted pork shoulder and a few breads.

SIV visits Vertical, a new wine bistro in Pasadena and gives it one star (*).

Apparently, New York's nickname should have been "Chicken Soup City" and not the "Big Apple." Ed Levine tasted his way through a fair number of the city's tremendous chicken soup offerings while searching for the perfect bowl. The secret? Use your grandmother's recipe as a starting point - it's what the pros do. And slurp up some of the best in the city when you have the chance.

Utilizing other parts of the chicken, a recipe from Chef David Kinch turns chicken livers into a confit which rivals the taste and texture of foie gras.

Columnist Alex Witchel managed to overcome a bad experience with a silver finger bowl and dish out some advice on dealing with the unfamiliar at a dinner party.

Mark Kurlansky sees the city in the oyster's half shell and the Minimalist, Mark Bittman, makes puttanesca.

[photo NYT]