Courtesy of TheBeezKneezDelivery.com

Kristy Allen, worker bee

​If you happen to see a giant bee riding a bicycle through Minneapolis, it may not necessarily be a hypothermia-induced hallucination. It could just be the owner of the Beez Kneez making her weekly deliveries of honey to her customers.

Kristy Lynn Allen's uncle is a beekeeper in northern Minnesota, and Allen has been an avid cyclist for five or six years in Minneapolis. So when her uncle asked her if she wanted to sell some of his honey in the Cities, it seemed natural to combine the two. The bee costume was a way to create a little buzz for the company.

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The Gifted Photographer/Flickr

​Minneapolis-based Target announced last week it has launched of a line of cookware and food products bearing the name of Food Network star and cleavage queen Giada De Laurentiis. "Giada De Laurentiis for Target" includes more than 30 different items, among them some brightly-colored Le Creuset-looking cast iron products, stainless steel cookware, cutlery, two types of panini makers, and a butter warmer, among other things.

The line will also include a handful of food items including pasta, sauce, salad dressing, and coffee.The products are being gradually rolled out through March. You can take a take a closer look at them all here.

Madmoiselle Lavender ♥/Flickr

Salt comes in colors like pink and black as well as the more familiar white.

​If you made salted caramels any time this holiday season, your recipe may have called for "fleur de sel." a French specialty salt (literally, "flower of salt").

If you're at all curious about experimenting with new ingredients, you sought out some of the stuff, but if you're at all frugal, once you saw the price (upwards of $15 for a teeny weeny bottle) you promptly decided to use the regular old sea salt you had in the cupboard the whole time.

But you wondered: Would the the fleur de sel have made your caramels that much better had they been gently coated with some of the glittery white crystals from that adorable little jar? The comments on the recipe site you used cooed with adoration over the stuff after all. And what were all those other salts on display nearby, an entire shelf in fact?

Are specialty salts the new black?

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I had exactly three dollars left at the farmers market this weekend and was about to leave but got curious about a mini-clutch of people near the back. It was the Swede Lake Farms table, and off to one side, they had a giant basket of garlic scapes -- the crazy-looking giant chive-like tops of garlic bulbs -- selling for $3/bundle. Sold!

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woodleywonderworks/Flickr

Not surprisingly, most recommendations for foodie dads for this Father's Day revolve around meat, grilling and/or barbecuing meat, and the tools and reading materials needed to prepare said meat. We think your dad might be made of more than that (at least a little). Are we right or are we right? Suggestions (just one or possibly two of them meat-related) after the jump.

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I recently came across this web series, which follows the trials of Chad Vader, the younger, less charismatic brother of Darth Vader, who is a grocery store manager. It's filmed at the Willy Street Co-Op in Madison--perhaps some of our My Co-Op Rocks video contest entrants will consider taking their filmmaking skills to the next level?

dano272/Flickr

Ramps, an early sign of spring, are a rare, prized, commodity. Unless you have them randomly growing in your backyard that is, or find them in a ditch on the side of the road. If you're looking for them around town, it's touch and go. Most of the local co-ops are getting them in right now, but best to call before going to make sure. They're worth it.

When I called around yesterday, Mississippi Market (which talks up ramps on its site) on Selby was the only one that had any, and only two bunches at that. They said they'd be getting more today though. Linden Hills Co-op said they'd be getting some early next week and The Wedge said they hoped to have some by this weekend. Seward Co-op said they'd get 'em when they got 'em. Well, ok then! Be vigilant, because the unpredictable oniony-leeky-garlicky creatures won't be around long.

If you just can't wait, local restaurants like Heidi's (aka our fave Minneapolis restaurant, didja hear?), Heartland (our St. Paul fave), and Tosca have all been serving ramps up lately in some fashion or another. Again though, might wanna call and see if they're still on the menu before you go running on over.

And meanwhile, here's a great paean to ramps Gourmet published last year which includes a handful of recipes. Yay spring!

I don't know that I've ever seen my dad drink an Old Style beer, but he used to have one of their "I've Got Style" t-shirts, which I think he wore until it was covered with roofing tar and my mom made him throw it out. I probably can't replace the shirt, but I can hook dad up with a case of the beer, as Pabst has recently brought the brand out of retirement (right now it's available only in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana). Apparently, Pabst has revived the beer's original double-fermentation process--in case Kräusening isn't a household term, it means that they add active wort or other sugars to the bottled beer so the yeast continues to ferment after the beer leaves the brewery, which is supposed to improve flavor and increase carbonation.

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Not for this guy apparently...

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Minneola tangelos are one of the best things to buy this week at the Wedge. If you're looking for more seasonal inspiration as you plan your shopping list, you've come to the right place.

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