Frosted national champs

By Times Staff and Wires
Published August 29, 2007

Now, you can be reminded of two University of Florida national championships when you eat your breakfast. It's not Wheaties this time, but Frosted Flakes that celebrates the Gators. Coaches Urban Meyer football and Billy Donovan (basketball), each cradling their respective sparkling trophy, are on the front of a special edition box of Frosted Flakes.

The cereal will be available at Publix Super Markets in Florida for a limited time for $2.99 a box.

Who says the ribs are good? You do

The Kansas City Barbecue Society Certified Judging School will be 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 22 at Grandpa Johnson's Barbecue, 1401 W Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Plant City.

Participants who complete the course will be able to apply to judge the Fifth Annual Plant City Pig Jam on Nov. 17 or any of the more than 200 KCBS-sanctioned contests each year.

Students will taste chicken, ribs, pork and brisket while learning the qualities a KCBS judge would look for in each. Attendees should bring their appetites, too, because each student will receive 12 servings.

The class is $50 for KCBS members and $75 for non-members. For more information or to register, contact the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce at (813) 754-3707 or e-mail Amy Nizamoff at Anizamoff@plantcity.org.

Mrs. Fields wanna-bes

Rose Terenzi of Temple Terrace is one of five finalists in the Mrs. Fields and iVillage Search for the 30th Anniversary Cookie Contest. Her Tasty Nut Doubloons made it past more than 700 entries. If chosen, her cookie will be sold in stores nationwide. The winner will be announced in November.

The public has the chance to weigh in on their favorites by visiting the contest baking blog at www.mrsfields.ivillage.com.

The armchair culinary vagabond

The culinary travels of chef Laura Schmalhorst of Tampa will soon become a book. The cookbook/travel guide is due out next year from Silverback Books and will chronicle Schmalhorst's adventures as she leads guests on culinary tours in Europe through her travel company Vagabond Gourmet. The first book, in what may be a series, will feature the Dordogne region of France.

Kimberley Lovato of St. Petersburg is writing the book with Schmalhorst. For more information about culinary tours, go to www.vagabondgourmet.com.

More flavored caramels to love

The folks at Mars haven't been rolling out tons of candy bar variations, especially when compared with Nestle and Hershey. But lately Mars' Dove brand has added new sizes of its chocolate bars, and now there are several flavors of Dove's caramels. Note: These aren't chewy caramels but rather liquid-caramel-centered chocolates. They are now in three flavors besides caramel: raspberry and hazelnut (in dark chocolate) and mint (in milk chocolate). There are 20 individually wrapped 8-gram candies in a bag for around $3.

[Last modified August 27, 2007, 17:39:15]