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Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

The infamous sandwich itself

The crack marketing team at Kellogg's recognized that with summer quickly approaching, a warm Pop-Tart fresh out of the toaster isn't necessarily appealing to people in warmer climates. As a means of keeping the toaster pastry relevant during those sweltering summer months, the company has introduced a new commercial into the American consciousness.

While none of the culinary options presented by the commercial look particularly appetizing (and most of them simply look like an even cheaper rip-off of a Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee episode - a Pop-Tart on a stick? Really?), the most appalling is the dessert we're offered halfway through: a Pop-Tart ice cream sandwich.

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Gracie Cavnar and Monica Pope

It was a gorgeous summer night in the gardens of a stately West University mansion, and Monica Pope was serving a most unlikely dish to the well-to-do types at the table: scrapple. A dozen enraptured guests had their first taste of the dish - a luscious but decidedly down-home mishmash of a hush puppy, grease and pork trimmings - which is nearly impossible to find unless you make it yourself at home. With the scrapple happily consumed, they settled in to the rest of the five-course feast ahead of them.

The dinner was put on by last week by Recipe for Success, the local non-profit dedicated to combating childhood obesity through education. The organization, founded by Gracie Cavnar in 2006, aims not only to reduce childhood obesity but also to teach kids about food's path from the garden to their plates. To that end, Recipe for Success offers courses to students in elementary schools across the Houston Independent School District, teaching them how to grow food, plan meals, eat right and cook.

Recipe for Success has partnered with Mayor Bill White and Houston "celebrity" chefs such as Philippe Schmit, Bryan Caswell, Ryan Pera and Randy Evans. The chefs serve as instructors in the elementary school classrooms and cook meals at each Gala in Small Bites, a weekly series of intimate fundraising events held in board members' homes or at venues across the city.

Gulf shrimp season is over as of this Friday, May 15. It is scheduled to resume in mid-July.

"The closure is designed to allow these small shrimp to grow to a larger, more valuable size before they are vulnerable to harvest," said Robin Riechers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Coastal Fisheries Division science and policy director. "The goal is to achieve optimum benefits for the shrimping industry while providing proper management to protect the shrimp."

So what does this mean?

Katharine Shilcutt's excellent post from last week, Depart From Me! I Never Knew You, Eaters of Bacon, in both its content and the commentary it generated, raised a very interesting question:

Why would mega-pastor Joel Osteen decide to preach (dictate?) to his flock about what they should and should not eat?

There were several suggested explanations. The Bible, of course, is laced with dietary guidelines. But Biblical scholarship is in general agreement that such strictures are outdated and not necessarily followed by most God-fearing Christians.

Another explanation is that Osteen was just trying to offer "lifestyle" tips on how to lead a clean and healthy life. But are lifestyle tips really a good topic for a Sunday morning church sermon?

...by eliminating bacon from your diet. Wait...what?

Did you know that Joel Osteen is kicking it old school now?  And by old school, I mean Old Testament.  Straight outta Hebron!

The new-agey motivational speaker preacher at Lakewood Church took a bizarrely old-fashioned approach recently when he advised his congregation against eating both pork and seafood, saying that "...for our health's sake, we have to be willing to make some changes."

He further explained his newfound nutritional path to salvation with deeply theological phrases like "back in the Bible days" and "this is kinda gross" before launching into a detailed diatribe about the inherent filth and evil associated with porcine digestive tracts.

He appealed to his followers, "I know some of you love pork chops.  You love ham and cheese sandwiches.  I grew up on all that.  I love...bacon."  (The marked pause makes me think Joel doesn't really love bacon.)  But that they should follow the example set by his family -- who now eats turkey bacon -- and give up pork "to honor God."

As of January 1, California became the second state in the union to enact laws enforcing standardization of the olive oil industry. (Connecticut became the first late last year.) Texas olive grower Jim Henry hopes that Texas will become the third.

Why the need for laws? Because, in short, as Henry puts it: "Olive oil is the most altered food commodity imported into the United States. It's a problem and it will always be a problem until there's legislation. A lot of olive oil has a lot of different stuff in it."

Stuff like peanut, soy, and hazelnut oils, each of which were detected in olive oils purchased from store shelves in Connecticut a couple of years ago.

The World Affairs Council of Houston is best known for holding public events featuring foreign policy heavyweights such as former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and James Baker III.

However two upcoming programs will extend the Council's reach into food-related subjects.