"ipod" news and stories

If my boyfriend hadn't been the one to send this to me, I swear I would have to buy this for him for his birthday. Yes, that would be the iPod Nano case designed to look like raw meat. And what marbled, fatty meat it is.

Unfortunately, from this link, it appears as though the company selling this case is not based in America (according to this blog post, it's Japanese), but you can read more about it here on Apple Gazette. I think the best part about it is the case, which totally completes the meat look. Who wants this?

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Tired of reading about food? Try listening to food, since food is hitting the airwaves from professionals on the radio to amateurs doing their own Podcasts.

We'd love to think that by watching Emeril, Bobby, Giada and Rachael on tv we'll turn ourselves into master cooks, but the truth of the matter is, you have to get in the kitchen and cook yourself to really learn. Professionals give 10 tips on how to turn your kitchen into a culinary bootcamp. Then you can make Kaboom! Kebabs to serve with Mango Salsa and tortillas, Grilled Salmon with Pasta and Late Summer Vegetables, Roasted Fennel and Red Pepper Salad, Cocoa Sauce for drizzling over anything, Cherry Strudel, and homemade salad dressings: Tarragon Grapefruit Vinaigrette, Mango Lime and Fresh Ginger Dressing, and Lemon Rosemary Dressing.

Put a flattening colander, a silicone rolling pin, and a juicer to good use.

For fresh French fare in Chicago, try Floriole Bakery.

First came hotel restaurants and gourmet recipes. Now comes a wine guide for your iPod.

But rather than a text index the Mark Phillips Wine Guide comes in an interactive audio format that contains over one and a half hours of advice aimed at both new and advanced wine lovers. While it includes such practical advice as how to buy and taste wine it also has some offbeat topics like microwaving and freezing wines, how to get wine stains out and why buying wines by the ratings is stupid.

All this is no doubt in keeping with what the guide's producer CyraKnow calls Phillips' progressive approach to talking about wine, which it sums up as "No snobs allowed. The guide is available for a relatively unsnobbish $34.95.

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The folks at Zagat recently compiled a list of the top 100 hotel restaurants in America for an article in USA TODAY. Ratings were based on food quality, décor and service. The French Room in The Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas, made the top of the list, which is available here. The list, complete with reviews, addresses and phone numbers, is also available for download as a notes file for your iPod. I went ahead and loaded it onto my iPod and, indeed, I was able to browse the list with my little scroll wheel. I'm not sure why this list needs to be on anyone's iPod, but nevertheless, it's available. Of the 100 restaurants listed, 20 are in California and 13 are in Massachusetts. At number three on the list is The Dining Room at Little Palm Island Resort (right), a luxury resort in the Florida Keys that can only be reached by boat. More complete Zagat guides are also available for other mobile devices like PDAs and cell phones.

Since you can't take the television set with you when you're shopping at the market for ingredients to make Ina Garten's faaaaabulous croissant bread pudding, now you can take a video with you on you iPod.

Podcasting isn't new, and video podcasts certainly aren't earth-shattering either. However, the food world is just introducing themselves by offering videos that you can download to your iPod of chefs demonstrating things like pan-searing a salmon steak or whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Currently, it seems like it is manufacturers who are using the technology to do demos that feature their products (Sub-zero and Wolf Ranges, for example), but it won't be long, I'm sure, before you can take Ms. Ray right along with you as you try to spend less than $40 a day in her favorite city.