Okay. In my not-very-nice review of The Good Food Festival a couple of weeks ago, I slammed the entries in the butter tart contest. As it happens, many of them were made by kids (either all or in part), so I officially take back my snarky comments because for little hands, that’s a really great effort, and it’s cool to see kids taking an interest in baking. Susan Sampson interviews some of the participants in this week’s Toronto Star.

Sampson also cooks up some goulash, reviews Marc Thuet’s cook-at-home Sheperd’s Pie, examines the definitions of all the new “biotic” foods and what they do for digestion, and finds the new book by the Eat, Shrink and be Merry! ladies to wear out its welcome pretty fast.

Also in the Star, Jennifer Bain looks at some street food possibilities, and Patricia Hluchy reviews the New Orleans Seafood and Steakhouse.

Josh Rubin gives the royal treatment to Duchy Originals Organic Ale, and Gordon Stimmell samples some exotic wines and offers advice on nosing wines for spice notes.

There’s also an article on Hershey’s new Antioxidant Milk Chocolate for all the wimps who want the health benefits associated with the dark stuff but prefer their chocolate to taste like sour milk. Of course, what Hershey’s isn’t telling anyone is that you only need a couple of pieces of good (dark) chocolate to get the health benefits, not a whole bar. There’s also the concern that, much as the anti-oxidant properties of tea are destroyed by the inclusion of milk in the beverage, the benefits of chocolate might not exist at all when added to a milk chocolate bar.

At The Sun, Rita DeMontis is asking - what do Moms want for Mother’s Day? Turns out, it’s a break. Note to self - do NOT try to go out for brunch this Sunday. For those inclined to celebrate Mom at home, DeMontis has some yummy recipes for breakfast in bed - just don’t leave Mom with the dishes, eh? There’s also an article about the Festival of Chefs takig place at The Cheese Boutique all month. Elizabeth Baird has a collection of upcoming foodie events, including Sante, and the Made in China Exhibit at the Gardiner.

Sue Reidl channels her inner Michael Ruhlman (or you know, directly copies his idea) over at The Globe and Mail, where she offers up an article on what it’s like to be a student at London’s Cordon Bleu school. Chef David Lee cooks up some white asparagus, while Beppi Crosariol looks at shochu, a cross between vodka and sake.

And in the most disturbing article of all (I’m still not sure whether I’m disturbed because of the really lame moniker or because of how much I resemble the people profiled) Christopher Hutsel writes about the Bohedonists - folks who have eschewed big houses, fancy cars and the traditional trappings of adulthood in favour of spending their extra cash on fancy food. I will sit here in my small rental apartment on the edge of Parkdale and mull over this issue while munching on Thuet pastries and $40 a kilo imported raw milk cheese, thank you very much.