"Container Keeps Cupcakes Intact"

By Carolyn Jung Posted on Wed, Aug. 24, 2005 Mercury News Send the little ones back to school in style with a couple of cute and tasty products. Cupcakes have become the sweet treat of the moment. But packing one for lunch or a snack can be a tricky proposition, especially if you want the frosting to stay intact. With a Cup-A-Cake container, though, it's a breeze. The hinged, reusable plastic container holds a regular-sized cupcake without squishing it. The Detroit company was created by moms who have had all too many bad experiences with transporting cupcakes to their children's schools. The holders are $2.99 each. To order, go to www.cupacake.com. How about an energy bar that has no fat, no cholesterol, no refined sugar, no artificial flavors, no artificial coloring, and no allergens such as wheat, dairy or nuts? That's what you get with the Bear Fruit Bar, which is made from organic apples and organic fruit juice concentrates. The taste and texture are sort of like a thicker, softer, chewier fruit leather. The main ingredient is dried apple, which is a good source of soluble fiber from the pectin. The bars are made by Mountain Organic Foods in Hood River, Ore., a company founded by Oregon organic fruit farmer Ken Newman and San Francisco backpacker-attorney Craig Gass. Handy to stick in a lunchbox or backpack, they come in four flavors: apple, apple cherry, apple blueberry, and apple raspberry. They're available at Cosentino's. They also can be ordered on www.morfoods. com; minimum order is one box of 20 bars for $27. When it comes to food allergens, it can be perilous navigating the cake mix aisle at the grocery store if you're baking for someone who can't tolerate peanuts, eggs or dairy. Cherrybrook Kitchen of Waltham, Mass., takes the guesswork out of that by creating cookie, cake and frosting mixes free of those ingredients. Founder Patty Rosenberg created the products after developing food allergies herself four years ago. The dry mixes include: chocolate cake, yellow cake, chocolate chip cookie and sugar cookie, as well as gluten- and wheat-free frosting. The mixes, $4.29 to $5.45, are available at Whole Foods. They also can be ordered at www.cherrybrookkitchen.com or by calling the company at (866) 458-8225. RESTAURANT HAPPENINGS: Dine at a restaurant with a real ocean view. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, 886 Cannery Row in Monterey, is hosting a monthly series of dinners at its Portola Restaurant prepared by aquarium chef Dory Ford. The Sept. 16 event will feature a chef or winery to be announced; the Oct. 16 dinner will be hosted by Jordan Winery of Healdsburg; the Nov. 6 event will welcome PBS and Food Network cooking show star Michael Chiarello; and the Jan. 19 one will feature wines by Goldschmidt Vineyard of Oregon. Each dinner, 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m., is $50 per person for aquarium members and their guests; and $62 per person for the general public. For reservations, call (831) 648-4962. For more information, go to www.montereybayaquarium.org. Chef Wang's, which became famous for hand-pulled noodles, has moved to Cupertino after 30 years in Mountain View. Proprietors Lucy Li and Thomas Liu have brought the same wide-ranging Chinese seafood menu to the 56-seat restaurant, just across Highway 85 from Flint Center, near the Cupertino post office. Chef Wang's is at 21670 Stevens Creek Road in Cupertino. For information, call (408) 446-1469. Enjoy fine wines at a savings at XYZ restaurant, 181 Third St. at the Hotel W in San Francisco. Through the end of September, the restaurant will cut prices of all wines on its list by 50 percent -- to celebrate winning a Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine for the second year in a row. That means you can sip a 2002 Sonoma County Peter Michael Chardonnay Belle Côte, for $62.50 and a 2002 Napa Valley Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon for $59 (retail is about $65). For more information, call (415) 817-7836. LARGEST SAKE TASTING OUTSIDE JAPAN: Sake connoisseurs will be gathering in force 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. in San Francisco. The ``Joy of Sake'' event, which has been held for the past five years in various cities nationwide, will feature more than 180 sakes, as well as an array of traditional and contemporary appetizers prepared by 14 local Japanese and fusion restaurants. Among the sakes to be available for tasting will be the gold and silver award winners from the 2005 U.S. National Sake Appraisal. Tickets, which are $65 each, are available by calling (888) 359-9137 or at www.joyofsake.com. Contact Carolyn Jung at (408) 920-5451 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Fax (408) 271-3786.