Lifestyle

Dentist for your sweet tooth

Saturday, 08 September 2012 16:45

When my sweet tooth starts to act up the name John Perkins comes to mind.

Chef Perkins comes from Vermont and moved to Florida to be with his children and grands.

Polk County is lucky he came here.

He dropped in to Fresco’s on South Kentucky Ave. in Lakeland looking for a job and the bakery case has never been the same.

As Executive Pastry Chef he uses his 40 years experience in private and commercial kitchens for technique all his years for inspiration.

Owner Tim Calhoon says that on weekends Chef John will often roam around the dining room with a tray of goodies and after a customer makes a choice he will return to the kitchen and make the plate as pretty as it is tasty.

Flourless Chocolate Cake and Key Lime pie are staples of the sweet case. When we dropped in on Saturday we had a chance to try a three-layer tower of dry meringue with cream and raspberries and chocolate and . . . Just super.

Keep him in mind when your sweet tooth needs a little something.

Surprise Savings

Sunday, 02 September 2012 07:34

Sometimes asking makes a big dollar difference . . .even if it’s not planned.
Case in point — Publix has Pepsi products buy two get two. It works out to $9.98 for four 12-packs. A Pepsi guy was stocking shelves and told me, though he doesn’t usually have caffeine-free diet Mountain Dew, he stocks it for big sales and he showed me where it was. Nice guy.
Then he told me to get one more box because there is a coupon at customer service that entitles anyone to one box free if you buy two Dew or Dr. Pepper.
Thanks a lot, Pepsi Guy. I got five boxes for the price of two.
The coupon from last Sunday’s Publix ad no longer works but there are new specials.
How’s this for a deal?
Last Sunday’s coupon fliers had one for $1.50 off Wholly Guacamole, something we use often.
We get The Ledger and The Sentinel and because of how the fliers were set up and inserted we got three coupons.
Publix price is $3.59. Walmart charges less than $3. The three I bought rang up at $2.18. Take of $1.50 and the cost was 68 cents each. It freeze, too.
It pays to shop around . . .with coupons . . . and luck.

High price of (aspara)grass

Saturday, 18 August 2012 07:02

Have you looked at asparagus in Publix lately?
On Friday the price of stalks from Peru was $4.99 a pound.
A clerk said the price boinged up by $2 overnight. That’s absurd . . . even more absurd when you have to snap off about 20 to 25 percent of the stem because it’s too tough or stringy to eat.
$4 a pound might be doable if someone really special was coming to dinner — maybe the Pope or the Dalai Lama.
The only person I would pay $5 a pound to feed would be the person who picks the winning lottery numbers.
And while on the subject . . .to the produce clerks everywhere . . .please don’t put the price tag over the tasty ends of the asparagus stalks . . .we need to see what we are trading the car payment to buy.

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Announces Grants for Development or Expansion of Community and School Gardens

Friday, 03 August 2012 12:46 Written by News Desk

School Districts, Food Banks and Non-Profit Organizations Eligible to Apply

Tallahassee, FL – Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam announced today that the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is offering grants for the development or expansion of community and school gardens to grow specialty crops in Florida. Local governments, school districts, food banks, and public or private non-profit organizations are eligible to apply.

UF/IFAS study quantifies value of ecosystem services from managed forests

Thursday, 02 August 2012 15:19 Written by Tom Nordlie

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- It might appear that the only people who profit from Florida's forests are landowners, but a new University of Florida study says the trees provide valuable services to land users and people in surrounding communities.