"pepperidge Farms" news and stories

A Slashfood reader, knowing that I love cookbooks that read like novels, especially ones that evoke a time that has since passed, told me that I really needed to check out The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook. I kept her email in my inbox for awhile before finally succumbing and ordering a copy of the book.

My oh my, was she ever correct. This volume has rapidly climbed my personal cookbook charts (a document that lives only in my head). For those of you who don't know, Margaret Rudkin and her husband moved to Connecticut in 1926. Rudkin had grown up in New York City and didn't do much cooking until she got married. When they moved to the farm, she started cooking and then developed a bread recipe that integrated whole grains because she wanted something that was healthy to feed to her children. When friends and neighbors got a taste of her bread, they started asking if she'd make it for them and slowly the business grew. A business that became the Pepperidge Farm that we know today.

But putting aside the famous cookies and breads that we know so well, this cookbook is worth it's weight in flour, sugar and butter in terms of the recipes it contains. There are so many classics in this book and it is such a wonderful trip to another era of cooking, baking and canning.

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We already got some advice on which white breads were the best tasting (although you can always opt for homemade if you want to avoid store-bought entirely) but what about whole grain breads? There are so many different varieties to choose from, it's actually quite a feat to narrow down your criteria to the point where you can compare similar breads. One glance at the shelf in the grocery store shows whole wheat, honey wheat, oat bran, oat nut, multi-grain, 8-grain and dozens of other "whole grain" breads. Rather than trying to work out which might be the best, Food & Wine magazine picked out a few of their favorite whole grain products as a jumping off point, a benchmark that you can work from to find your own favorites. They selected De Cecco Whole wheat pasta, Pepperidge Farm Natural Pepperidge Farm whole wheat bread and Keebler Wheatables.

It's worth noting that the Pepperidge Farm bread did well in the white bread tasting, too, but I would choose Kashi's Tasty Little Crackers over F&W's choice of Wheatables for a whole-grain snack any day.

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Artisan breads, whole grain breads, no grain breads -- in short, anything but sliced white bread seems to be in demand these days. But what if you actually like white bread for a lunchtime sandwich or toast in the morning? Wonder Bread is not your only option. Cook's Country held their own taste test to pick out the top white sandwich bread, just in case you want a change from multi-grain.

Their top picks were Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White and Arnold Country Classics White. Each had fewer additives than other brands tasted and both had a sweeter flavor and heartier texture than the competition. The other breads -- including Wonder Country White, Sunbeam Giant White, Freihofer's Country White, J. J. Nissen ButterTop White, Home Pride Butter Top White and Country Kitchen Giant White - were judged to have sour notes and alternately dry or squishy textures. The sour notes were often accompanied by a faint aftertaste, both of which were signs of a preservative-laden loaf.

It should be noted that when the breads were tested as part of grilled cheese sandwiches, any taste differences were overshadowed by cheese and butter, but pretending it isn't there doesn't make it go away. Whenever possible, with white bread or otherwise, choose a brand that has a short, clear list of ingredients and you won't go too far wrong.

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Out of all the food trends we heard about back in December and January, there was one that is clearly becoming a big deal on th packaged food scene: miniature packaging, aka 100-calorie packs. "100 calories!" seems to be the hot new slogan on food products these days. The past three years have seen the market for portion-controlled packets go from 0 to more than 25 different foods. USA Today reports that 18 of the new products were introduced in 2005 alone. With more coming along this year, there is no indication that this trend is slowing.

Some of the newer products include 100-calorie sodas from brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Shasta. These sodas have a mere 8-ounces per can, fewer than the more standard 12-ounces, and are marketed as being more portable than their full-sized counterparts. Coco-Cola says that they're marketed at consumers who wish to "improve their snacking and drinking opportunities."

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