Remember when food brands targeted women 25 to 54? Remember when we said nobody’s cooking so we can forget promoting food with recipes? How times have changed.

Recently, I found a darling Father’s Day card crafted by my son David when he was six. It was entitled, “Why I Love Dad,” and through pages of drawings, he counted the ways. In addition to the typical, “he takes me to the park,” David also added that “he buys us food” and “he does the laundry.” I’m sure his teacher wondered what mom was doing while dad did these chores. Sharing household responsibilities was an anomaly in that time. Not today.

Stephanie Azzarone in MediaPost asks, “Are dads the new moms?” We have been seeing this trend in newspapers, magazines and on TV. Sometimes it’s because mom prefers being in the workforce and is good at it, and dad takes the supporting homemaker role by choice. With more men out of work than women, dad may have lost his job and mom has become the breadwinner. [more…]

What’s hot in San Francisco? I asked popular chefs who were serving up extraordinarily delectable small plates at the Hawai’i Chamber of Commerce of Northern California’s Five Star Aloha gala Thursday evening. The event honored chef Roy Yamaguchi, one of the founders of the Hawai’i Regional Cuisine movement.

Ty Mahler, executive chef of Roy’s San Francisco said that right now, he’s crazy about abalone from New Zealand, tasty morsels that are ready to cook, no tenderizing needed. As a seasoning, he’s enamored of purple Iranian peppercorns that have a chocolately, leathery taste. Ty’s abalone was incredibly tender and delicious. And he spooned me a sample of the pepper so I could taste in isolation — it was very fragrant, intriguing and complex. [more…]