Green Jell-O -- gifrancis/Flickr

• Ever wonder what makes Jell-O jell or popcorn pop? The Tribune finds the answers to such pressing foodie questions.
• An ode to rhubarb love, plus recipes.
• Forget superpowers and chafing tights -- kids apply their hero-worship to celebrity chefs and partake in their own "Iron Chef" cook-offs.
• For those who just don't understand how a tasty brew comes together, there's Randy Mosher's "Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink."
• Rias Baixas is a wine region in Spain that offers great whites like the fruity albarino.
• Culinary video games range from the hot "Cooking Mama" to show spin-offs of "Top Chef" and "Hell's Kitchen."
• A look at the Obama food craze -- food blogs, Twitter storms and newspaper articles, oh my!
• Recipes: Three-Pepper London Broil and Five-Day Beans, Orange-Flavored Shortcakes with Strawberries and Cream, Spicy Thai Crab and Corn Fritters

• Mark Bittman writes about the current woes of everything fishy, and how the consumer can deal with depleted stocks and troublesome farming practices without going nuts ... and then goes Minimalist with sustainable seafood recipes.
• And if that's not enough, experts weigh in on the seafood conundrum.
• Local fruit exchanges in California allow neighbors to share their bounty and let no lemon, plum or persimmon go to waste.

• Oprah may have made the acai berry a Superfood, but now the craze is robbing poor Brazilians of a native product critical to their health.
• Like every other city, Pittsburgh is coming alive with farmers markets. Here's a list of them.
  
• The Ball jar is celebrating its 125th anniversary, so get canning!
• Hugo Chavez has seized temporary control of one of Cargill Inc.'s pasta processing plants in Venezuela for breaking regulations.
• Rachel Carson Homestead is celebrating its dedication to local foods with a Sustainable Feast.
• Need more rhubarb in your life? Read on to learn more about rhubarb history and the plant's role in treats like this crisp with strawberry, a spring tonic and in a pie or tart with apple.

I can't believe that I'm thinking about ice cream when it is so chilly outside, but the flavor combination that Dagmar, from A Cat in the Kitchen, used in her Rhubarb and Caramelized Almond Semifreddo is very hard to resist. A semifreddo is an Italian term that literally means "partially frozen" and is often similar to a frozen custard or ice cream, although cakes and some fruit desserts can also fall under the term. Their distinguishing feature is that that are lighter than other frozen desserts. Unlike ice cream, whipped cream and/or egg whites are folded in before freezing and the dessert a mousse-like texture, but no churning is involved. They are often molded and sliced for serving.

This dessert has crunchy caramelized almonds and sweet, tender rhubarb in a vanilla base. One of my favorite things about this photo is the pink syrup. If you have ever cooked rhubarb, you will probably recall that it looses a bit of its pinkness during cooking or baking. You need to be extremely selective in the stalks you choose if you are going for color, since the greenish stalks will still have a good flavor, but will simply dull to a pale gold when heated.

• It's springtime, so that must mean it's time to drink something pink.
• Michael and Jane Stern are the king and queen of road food.
• Fiddleheads: they look like fiddles, but taste like asparagus!
• A review of Roy Finamore's new cookbook, Tasty.
• This week's recipes: Seared Scallops with Watercress and Shiitakes, Rhubarb Compote, and Real Good Meat Loaf.

Rhubarb is a stalk vegetable that is usually eaten as a fruit. In appearance, rhubarb very closely resembles celery and ranges in color from a light pinkish green to a deep, brilliant fuchsia. The plant is actually a member of the buckwheat family and only the stalks are edible, since the leaves contain a fairly high amount of oxalic acid, a compound which can be lethal (though you would have to eat quite a bit to reach that dose). In small amounts, oxalic acid inhibits calcium absorption and can detract from the nutritional value of foods.

The vegetables are native to Asia, but gained popularity, especially in England, during the 17th century and have been cultivated ever since. Nutritionally, rhubarb is very low in calories and is a reasonably good source of fiber and vitamins C and K. It has a high calcium content, but very little of it, if any, can be used by the body as the oxalic acid will counteract efforts to absorb it.

When the menu for Bill Gates' dinner party with the Chinese President Hu Jintao was published, it sparked a lot of interest. Local ingredients, regional favorites, the overall low-key menu selection... etc.,  were all widely praised, but the vast majority of the interest in the menu was focused on dessert. The Seattle Times was inundated with requests for the recipe of the Rhubarb Brown Butter Almond Cake that was served at the dinner. Of course, they complied with reader requests and obtained the recipe from the chef. Just to make sure it was as good as it sounded, food blogger Molly, of Orangette, made a batch of mini cakelettes using the recipe. I can only imagine the taste, but if it's even half as good as it looks, this recipe makes one fantastic cake. The full recipe can be found here, and the cakelette recipe can be found at Orangette.

As if oil and gas prices weren't enough, now the heavy rains and cold weather in northern California have made fruits and vegetables expensive. Lettuces are at an all-time high, and it's difficult to find many things that are normally abundant in springtime.

In restaurants, there's gourmet salad at Mixt Greens and a new Japanese vegan restaurant, Cha-Ya, in Berkeley. Hanazen is the closest thing to sushi houses in Japan, and the Inside Scoop reports that Upper Noe has more Italian restaurants, Budo will re-open as Cuvee Napa with the move of former chef James McDevitt to New York, Home restaurants is undergoing staff changes, and Le Colonial has a new menu.

Recipes this week include: Turkey Trattoria Meatballs and Turkey Pineapple Salad to help stay thin, Avocado and Tofu Salad, Rhubarb Strawberry and Hibiscus Fruit Soup, and Japanese okonomiyaki.

Olivia Wu revisits Shanghai.