If you haven’t noticed, cupcakes are all the rage… Just back from Los Angels where on a Sunday night at 5:30 a good 50 people (see photo) were waiting in line to plop down $4 for a cupcake… I don’t have a problem with it, I’m glad to see folks out spending a few dollars in pursuit of a small piece of happiness…

We all know the big players in the cupcake business, and if you don’t they would be: Sprinkles, Magnolia Bakery and Kara’s…

The LA Time this past weekend even published a map and directions for a cupcake crawl… The list includes addresses, phone numbers and links to all the shops…

I can tell you having just returned from the City of Angels, nothing beats Vanilla Bake Shop in Santa Monica…

There’s even a top ten list of best cupcakes in Los Angeles…

Another website has suggested the cupcake business might even be recession proof…

I know everyone doesn’t live in LA or San Francisco for that matter, so we here at Screaming Fresh would love to hear about the great cupcake shops out there… Send us the info and a photo and we’ll give them the plug they deserve…

I’m not a fool… I know there’s no such thing as a healthy doughnut… But there are things you can do to make it better for you…

Tuesday night I was at an EcoMom Alliance event where the host served Dee’s Mini Organic Doughnuts… Dee’s are fresh hand dipped organic doughnuts made just North of San Francisco… The ingredients are certified organic and free of preservatives, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, colorings and artificial flavors.

Maybe I drank the Flavor-Aid, but they really were a better tasting doughnut… But how bad can a doughnut be?

I would rank them among the best doughnut’s I’ve ever had… Who makes the best doughnuts you’ve ever had?

Leave the name of your favorite doughnut in the comments section… And I’ll do my best to check them all out…

While searching for the next big trend, my sources tell me butter sales are on the rise… More requests not only for traditional butter, but for more exotic types including goat milk butter and ghee, aka clarified butter…

My guess is it has something to do with the return of comfort foods which in my experience always go heavy on the butter…

I have to be honest, until today I had never heard of goat milk butter, but a little research turned up more than a few makers of the stuff…

So why goats milk?

According to several sites it not a problem for those with lactose issues, contains 13% more calcium than cow’s milk, 47% more vitamin A, 134% more potassium, 350% more niacin and never contains BGH…

Have a favorite butter, a fan of goat milk or some insight into where this is all headed, let us know in the comments section….

In this week’s effort to find something new a the market I picked up Trader Joe’s Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseed… The label mentions it contains 320mg ALA Omega-3 per serving, so it must be good for you…

Like most peanut butter it’s not light on calories or fat, but has a very different flavor…

Slightly sweeter than peanut butter, clearly tastes of flaxseed with a salty finish… It’s not the best peanut butter I’ve ever, but it’s a nice change… Keeps with the new trend of jamming as much nutrition into your food as possible…

Some ideas just seem bad on the surface… But if airlines giving away free booze is the start of a new trend, no better occasion than Valentines Day…

Southwest Airlines has announced that in conjunction with Finlandia Vodka they’ll be giving away free Finlandia and juice cocktails on February 14th… Because what really says I love you like a free cocktail at 8 AM….

But better yet, on St. Patrick’s Day it’s complimentary beer day…

The insert in my Southwest seat pocket read…

“At Southwest Airlines we enjoy spending the holidays with you. When you’re onboard during festivals, enjoy one of our spirited selects on the house.”

Title: Wine, Chocolate and BBQ
Location: Lodi, California
Link out: Click here
Description: Our wonderful Lodi Wineries will be offering tastes of their delicious Lodi wines paired with various chocolate treats. Enjoy winery activities, including barrel tasting, new releases, wine and food pairings, special events and live music throughout the weekend.
Start Date: 2009-02-14
Start Time: 11:00
End Date: 2009-02-15
End Time: 16:00

For the first time in a long time it appears I was on the cutting edge of a food trend… Many years ago I lived in the South of France in a very small apartment without a fridge… It wasn’t by choice, but now it appears the fridge free live style is what a very few of us are doing to reduce our carbon footprint…

One of the fridge free livers told the NY Times they were surprised how,” easy it’s been.”

Here’s the NY Times’ version of events…

By Steve Kurutz
For the last two years, Rachel Muston, a 32-year-old information-technology worker for the Canadian government in Ottawa, has been taking steps to reduce her carbon
footprint — composting, line-drying clothes, installing an efficient furnace in her three-story house downtown.

About a year ago, though, she decided to “go big” in her effort to be more environmentally responsible, she said. After mulling the idea over for several weeks, she and her husband, Scott Young, did something many would find unthinkable: they unplugged their refrigerator. For good.

“It’s been a while, and we’re pretty happy,” Ms. Muston said recently. “We’re surprised at how easy it’s been.”

As drastic as the move might seem, a small segment of the green movement has come to regard the refrigerator as an unacceptable drain on energy, and is choosing to live without it. In spite of its ubiquity — 99.5 percent of American homes have one — these advocates say the refrigerator is unnecessary, as long as one is careful about shopping choices and food storage.

Ms. Muston estimated that her own fridge, which was in the house when they bought it five years ago and most likely dates back much longer, used 1,300 kilowatt-hours per year, or produced roughly 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide — the same amount from burning 105 gallons of gasoline. And even a newer, more efficient model, which could have cut that figure in half, would have used too much energy in her view.

Click here for the complete story

The folks at Men’s Health magazine have put out their list of the 20 worst foods in the supermarket… They go into some detail about what makes these particular foods so awful for you, but from reading the list it’s pretty clear.

Here is the list and the reason or reasons the foods stand out…

Gardetto’s Special Request Roasted Garlic Rye Chips / trans fats

Pillsbury Big Deluxe Classics White Chunk Macadamia Nut / trans fats

Stonyfield Farm Whole Milk Chocolate Underground / to much sugar

Twix / bad mix of fats

Eggo Original Syrup / huge amounts of sugar

Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter / huge amounts of fat

AriZona Kiwi Strawberry / 82 grams of sugar per can

Pop-Tarts Whole Grain Brown Sugar Cinnamon / sugar & oil

Healthy Choice Complete Selections Sweet & Sour Chicken / to much sugar & salt

Quaker 100% Natural Granola, Oats, Honey & Raisins / sugar

Pasta Roni Fettuccine Alfredo / same amount of salt as 4 orders of McDonald’s fries

Otis Spunkmeyer Banana Nut Muffins / sugar & fat

Toll House Ice Cream Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich / sugar & fat

Hostess Chocolate Pudding Pie / Saturated fat of 2 McDonald’s 1/4 Pounders

Oscar Mayer Maxed Out Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Combo Lunchables / all bad

Bertolli Grilled Chicken Alfredo & Fettuccine Complete Skillet Meal for Two / Saturated fat equivalent: 22 strips of bacon

Jimmy Dean Pancake and Sausage Links Breakfast Bowls / calories & fat

DiGiorno for One Garlic Bread Crust Supreme Pizza / caloris & fat

Hungry-Man Classic Fried Chicken / Calorie of 5 Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts

Marie Callender’s Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie / fat equal to 23 strips of bacon