Wire Food & Wine

On a typical June day last year, 3-year-old Jolan Jackson was sitting at the dining room table in his booster chair waiting for his meal.

After its creation was announced via nationwide broadcast, people lined up to buy the very first versions. It's lightweight, has been the subject of fierce patent battles and is so addictive you can't put it down, even when you know you should.

CHICAGO - In the face of troublingly high childhood obesity rates and what it sees as troublingly low milk consumption rates, the dairy industry says it has a solution: Offer kids flavored milk that uses low-calorie artificial sweeteners.

Years ago a California winemaker came to Miami touting his latest creation - a single, complex, expensive wine made by blending four or five well-known individual red grapes.

I use every opportunity I can to exercise, and if you are anything like me, you're in the midst of "Spring Cleaning Fever."

Rhubarb is one of the great pleasures of spring, with its rosy color and earthy tang. It is found in most supermarkets this time of year, although it is available frozen anytime. Also known as "pieplant," rhubarb is a perennial that is native to central and northern Asia, where it has been grown for thousands of years for medicinal purposes. It was brought to Europe by Marco Polo and has been eaten as a food since the 18th century.

Stanley Levy from Baltimore was in search of the recipe for the cheesy potato casserole that he enjoyed at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Pennsylvania. He said it reminded him of macaroni and cheese but instead of pasta it was made with potatoes.

Diane Friedberg of Miami Beach, Fla., asked if anyone had the recipe for brownies called Fudgies that her mother used to make from a Woman's Home Companion cookbook she received as a wedding present in 1941. She remembered they were made with evaporated milk and had powdered sugar on top.

The simple, elegant words of Michael Pollan, that first appeared within "In Defense of Food," have become a manifesto for many who are concerned about what appears on their dinner plates:

It's getting easier to "go gluten-free" when dining out because more restaurants are offering dishes designed for customers with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity. According to Mintel, a marketing research company, mentions of gluten-free options on restaurant menus increased by 275 percent between 2009 and 2012. Whether it's a menu listing for alternatives such as gluten-free bread and gluten-free beer, or a notation that certain dishes can be made without croutons or breadcrumbs, restaurants are helping to make it easier for these diners.

Every once in a while Mr. Tidbit discovers that a quiet little product he hasn't looked at in a while has grown an army of varieties. Such is the case with Hormel Compleats line of shelf-stable microwave meals.

Michael Pollan, who has transformed how many Americans think about food, has a new message, which he offers in his new volume, "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation" (Penguin Press, $27.95). The professor of science journalism heads to the kitchen - and history - to make a case for cooking. At a recent talk at Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park, Minn., he offered these thoughts on food in an advance interview.

NEW ORLEANS - She grew up crawling around the dining room of her family's French Quarter restaurant, lost under crisp white tablecloths stamped with fleurs-de-lis and smoke drifting from gentlemen's cigars, a towheaded child nicknamed "The Wildness."

This is a stunning Arneis from Giovanni Almondo in the Roero region of Piedmont. And to think this grape was once almost extinct. It may be temperamental, but whatever pains must be taken to produce this lovely white are worth it. The 2011 wafts the scents of ripe pears, melons and flowers from the glass. It's fleshy but lithe, cool-toned and with a vivid minerality. I'd pour it with mozzarella and pea shoots, with summer soups and pastas, and grilled whole fish. It's a terrific basic that doesn't cost the Earth. And if you don't get around to drinking it any time soon, it can wait. Almondo makes a more basic Arneis too, also very good, just lighter and less expensive.

Dear SOS: On a trip up the coast of Maine, we found a wonderful bakery in Portland called Standard Baking Co. Everything was delicious, but my husband declared the oatmeal cookies the best he'd ever had, and we made a special detour on the return route to buy more cookies. I'd love it if you could obtain their recipe, so I could surprise him with a batch.

Here's a quick pizza dinner that takes less time than ordering one. Sweet onions, mozzarella cheese, bell peppers and mushrooms top a ready-made thin crust for this quick meal.

Bringing home baby is one of life's most treasured moments, but it also can mean the beginning of chaotic days and sleepless nights for a while.

At first, Tristin Beck thought it was a really bad stomach cramp.

The federal government's decision to allow the import of more Italian cured meats already has food lovers salivating. Ask for particulars, and they will reply almost in unison: "Culatello."

It's been a long winter. If you're like many cooks who use the seasons as a guide, you're longing for something fresh.

It's May and that means grilling season is officially here. So fill up the propane tank or buy a new bag of charcoal and get your flame on.

Call him the ambassador of Minnesota cooking.

In back of a plain brick building on bustling Southwest Boulevard, Pete Licata is deep in training to become the best in the world.

Attention dieters: If you want to maximize your chances of success, don't go to the grocery store on an empty stomach.

Jeffrey Weinstein once swept through 19 Denver restaurants in six hours, a feat that most people would characterize as gluttony.

This tangy, uncooked relish and roast beef make a tasty, colorful sandwich. Most relishes need slow cooking and lots of sugar. This is a fresh relish and the corn is so sweet that no sugar is needed. It takes very little time to make.

Q: Is it true that uncooked dried beans are poisonous? I bought garbanzo bean flour to make my own hummus. Is there any danger to eating this flour uncooked?

Viola Brown from La Pointe, Ind., was looking for a good and easy recipe for making tomato basil soup. She said she is 82 years old and has a hard time finding things she still likes to eat. It's not surprising that she would be in search of a recipe for homemade tomato soup, as it's a classic comfort food no matter what the season.

So many home cooks are obsessed with making dishes just like the professionals do. They buy hand-forged Japanese chefs knives, seek out $50 bottles of olive oil and spend hours preparing elaborately composed dishes from "The French Laundry Cookbook" or "Eleven Madison Park."

Richard Blais wants you to know that great flavors can be coaxed out of ordinary ingredients - and that a bit of simple science can add texture and fizz to food.