NEWS / Sticker shock: Food prices are soaring

Prices are expected to keep going up over the coming months as farmers struggle with bad weather, bad harvests and strong demand from fuel producers.

FYI / The 7 Most Debated Tipping Issues

1. Should you tip on the tax?
"I like it when you do, but you do not have to tip on the tax. Whenever there's a service charge, the auto-grat that's tacked on is always pre-tax."

>>> here are six more tipping tips

TRIVIA - When a server pours you a taste of wine, what exactly are you looking for? A) Whether you like it? B) If it is really what you ordered? C) If it is spoiled?

Answer: C. The only time to send a wine back is if it is technically flawed or spoiled by heat, air, or bacteria. If you are not sure, ask the server to taste it. If the wine is sound and you just don't like it, as they say in the technicalities of the wine world, "tough noogies." thanks to our friends at naked grape 

 

FYI / Ordering Types - Ordering food at a restaurant can cause people's voices, mannerisms and often entire personalities to change -- in fact, sometimes it makes them act like straight up wackjobs.

Check out our handy video primer on different bizarre ordering types above. Does ordering make you act funny too?

PROFILE / Five Guys' biggest struggle is to stay the same

Jerry Murrell founded Five Guys Burgers and Fries with his wife and sons in 1986. For 16 years they ran a handful of local stores in the Washington, D.C., area, perfecting their limited menu and building a devout local following. Then in 2002, after much nudging, the boys convinced Murrell to open the floodgates to franchising. By the end of this year, Five Guys expects to have almost 1,000 stores open around the country and over $1 billion in sales.
>>>  read the entire article from msnbc

DEALS / Bargain Roundup

Einstein Bros. Bagels: BOGO Triple Decker Club sandwich 8/24
Buca di Beppo: $10 off $20 purchase 9/4
Honeybaked Ham: BOGO sandwich on Sundays only 9/4
Sweet Tomatoes: BOGO breakfast and lunch and dinner coupons; 8/18
Einstein's: $4 off a Bagel Bucket on M-Th 8/24
Taco Bell: 99-cent Nacho Supremes
Boston Market: $2 off $10 purchase  8/24

ME / "Ace Of Cakes" Duff Goldman On "Sugar High"

Watch live streaming video from aplive at livestream.com

HOW2 - What to do with old corks (Whole Foods)

'Cork Crafts' - Have you been saving wine corks in hopes of doing something fun with them? Repurposing ideas for corks are everywhere: here's how you can get in on that. This cork trivet will be the envy of your friends and takes just a few minutes, a screwdriver and less than two bucks!

FYI The Ultimate Guide to Starbucks' Secret Menu

A Zebra Mocha? A Grande Green Eye? A Captain Crunch Frappuccino? Say what? They may sound like a far cry from the standard drip cup or your simple Mocha Frappe, but these drinks are not Starbucks folklore. And really, considering that the coffee giant has in years past boasted offering some 87,000 different drink combinations, that such "secret" items exist should not be too surprising.

Read more >>>

COOKBOOK / ‘The Cuban Kitchen’ In more than 500 recipes, Raquel Rabade Roque presents ‘the basics plus the bells and whistles’ of ‘Cocina Cubana’

Raquel Rabade Roque

The Cuban Kitchen (Knopf, $20) is a cookbook that, despite its formidable size (432 pages, more than 500 recipes), is accessible and homey, written in a breezy, familial style.

As (author) Roque puts it: “You’re not afraid to get a stain on it.”

Part food memoir, part manual (there’s an explanation of how to clean pig’s feet), it blends the culinary traditions of 1950s Cuba with updated versions of favorite recipes from restaurants and from exiles who have settled abroad.

>>> for more info and some free recipes via the Miami Herald