Are you gobbling up those cheaper gobblers?
Karen Robinson-Jacobs had a neat story in the Business section of the Dallas Morning News about how grocers are lowering their prices even more on turkeys this year. Turkeys, it seems, are always loss leaders. But retailers have lowered prices and curtailed the restrictions on "deals" more than ever in hopes you'll buy more of the trimmings. Her story details how stores are playing "how low can you go?" to lure shoppers in. Check it out here. Have lower turkey prices or deals prompted you to shop differently?

The Calabrian fig balls are back - before Christmas
Last year, if memory serves, the container with the fig balls from Calabria (right) was on a s-l-o-w boat from Italy and didn't make it into port, and overland to Flavors From Afar, till after the holidays. This year, the fig balls and 50 other new Italian products arrive at the Snider Plaza store Dec. 5. Sample and shop from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Here's

High-low road trip: Part 2
The next day, not bright (it was still raining) and not early, we headed east fro

High-low road trip: Part 1
Well, it didn't seem like great weather for a road trip when we hit the road heading south over the weekend, but the grey skies actually made the lovely rolling hills of Brazos Valley look vividly green and lush. With the LaSalle Hotel in historic downtown Bryan as our base, we lit out for two dining adventures. First was dinner at The Inn at Dos Brisas just outside Washington. We arrived after dark, so didn't get a sense of the Relais & Chateaux property (the only one in Texas; it's also the only restaurant in the state with a Mobil 5-star rating). After the GPS took us o

Researchers looking for a few good wine drinkers
A national research firm is looking for wine drinkers in the Dallas area to participate in a focus group in Addison. The dates are Dec. 3-4 and the times are 11 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:45 p.m. or 7 p.m. (slightly different on the 4th). Participants will be paid $125 at the end of the sessions, which run 75 minutes. These aren't tastings; the researchers want your input and opinions. They could be researching anything from brand-name recognition to your impressions of a particular varietal or region. They're looking for people 21 to 65. If you'd like to participate, fill out the online survey