"mix" news and stories

I wouldn't have guessed that Ina Garten was a cake-mix kind of gal, but I suppose that once you have your own line of boxed mixes, your perspective probably changes somewhat. Ina's Barefoot Contessa mix line includes brownie and cake mixes, frostings, fillings and even a pie crust mix. The mixes aren't entirely new, but this is the first time that I've seen so many of them, so perhaps their original distribution was limited to a few specialty stores.

The appeal of Ina's recipes is that she manages to make them look better, as well as more indulgent, than anything you could get at a bakery. The fact that her famous coconut cupcakes are now in a box... makes them lose a little something, especially since they claim to come with a cream cheese frosting mix, to which you have to add cream cheese.

Products like sauces and preserves make sense, since even if Ina isn't in the kitchen making them by hand, you can feel confident that it is her recipe. But to convert one of her cakes into a mix really looses the homemade appeal, which is what made Ina a success in the first place.

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Bagged greens usually state that they are pre-washed and ready to eat on their labels, but that doesn't mean that they are edible. In their most recent issue, Consumer Reports tested several types of bagged salad mixes for the "yuck factor," the phrase that they used to describe the percentage of the "ready to eat" greens that were wilted or otherwise inedible. It turned out that there was a lot of yucky stuff. Out of the 62 bags that they meticulously tested, inedible greens ranged from .5% to 83% of the salads and "the vast majority had 'off' odors, smelling like rotten vegetables, sauerkraut or chlorine... [or] imitation crab meat." Needless to say, they recommended buying greens and making your own salad mixes, or at least washing the bagged greens before eating them. Besides, as they rightly point out, it is less expensive to chop up your own lettuce - especially if you're going to have to throw away a portion of the bagged stuff that isn't as fresh as it should be.

If you thought that a mixologist was just a fancy term for a bartender, you'd only be partially correct. Most mixologists start off as bartenders, but the terms are not entirely interchangeable according to mixologist Leo DeGroff. The latter is more like a chef, creating new drinks, not just pouring them.

People have been coming up with new drink recipes for hundreds of years, but it is only in recent times that cocktail creation has really grown into an art, using fruits, vegetables and other flavors with the same precision that they are used in cooking. Mixologists often rely on seasonal ingredients, too. The drinks they create are frequently commissioned to be appropriate for particular events, menus and themes. As an example of the way mixologists work, take a look at the three "old west" theme drinks that were recently created for the launch of a new AOL game, Gold Rush. All the drinks use whisky, a classic American spirit, as their foundation, but come out with entirely different flavors.

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Bartenders don't usually use a whole range of vegetables in their mixing unless they are particularly fond of bloody marys and celery garnishes. More and more often, however, fresh herbs are cropping up in cocktails. The Seattle Times had an interesting look inside a bartender's herb garden this weekend. Herbs can generally be grown indoors and require only a small amount of care relative to maintaining a whole garden. The taste of a fresh herb is unmatched and, if you're going to be using them frequently, they are nice to have at hand without a trip to the store. Their suggested list of herbs and cocktails, which is practical for pros and weekend mixologists alike, includes: 

• Spearmint, for classic mojitos and anything that needs a refreshing touch.
• Basil, can also be included with mint in a mojito
• Thyme, adds a layer of flavor to a peach Bellini.
• Rosemary, add to a gin cosmopolitans.
• Sage, works well with tequila and "will raise your margarita to the next level."

They also recommend cilantro and tarragon, but for me, mint or basil is a better choice for an addition to summer lemonade than cilantro, which the Times suggests. Basil, thyme, rosemary and sage can all be used in cooking, too, though I don't necessarily endorse adding spearmint to, say, a grilled chicken dish. And a word to the novice gardeners: basil grows quickly and aggressively. Fortunately, you can make a killer pesto with the leftovers.

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Does design matter when you dine? Or perhaps more importantly, does it impact where you dine?

Travel + Leisure gave their 2006 Restaurant Design Award to Mix, in Las Vegas. Pictured here, it isn't a design that would work just anywhere, but for Vegas, its over-the-top glamour is simply perfect. And that is how design comes into the dining experience.

Design contributes to ambiance, and having an appropriate atmosphere can be a more important factor than we realize when choosing a restaurant. In an unfamiliar city, you might glance through unfamiliar doors to see if it's "your kind of place." But design isn't limited to expensive, fancy restaurants, either, though the term is certainly thrown about more when taking about higher-priced venues. Family-friendly places, for example, still want to look family-friendly to help draw customers in a make them feel welcome. They might use bright colors and will try to have comfy seating.

It is true that design alone isn't likely to bring you back if the food and service aren't up to scratch, but, like a photo in a cookbook, it can definitely draw you in.

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