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Much to my roommate Kelsey's chagrin, I  tend to seek out subtly flavored foods. I'll prefer a mild Brie instead of her aged Gouda; chard sauteed with a bit of garlic, not her Asian fusion garlic-peanut-soy-ginger version; or the occasional teaspoon of honey in my tea to her preferred 1/4-cup. It's not that I don't enjoy assertive flavors, I would rather concentrate on a few subtle ones.

This spring, Haagen-Dazs launched an awareness campaign to inform consumers about colony collapse disorder, and to benefit the sustainable pollination research programs at UC Davis and Penn State. Researchers and beekeepers estimate that 1/3 of all honeybee colonies have been abandoned since 2006. The reasons aren't entirely clear yet, but the NRDC believes the sudden disappearance could be the combined result of pesticide exposure, inadequate food supply, and an emerging immune system virus.

The cause is noble and the ice cream is delicious. The super silky Haagen-Dazs Honey Vanilla worked wonders in my newly minted minimalist version of Strawberries Romanoff. The recipe follows:

I'm really glad CHOW didn't let being bought by CBS mess up their mojo. They turned out some noteworthy posts on funny supermarket commercials, British people eating squirrels, and the guy who saw the emerging food crisis coming (to name a few).

Overseas, Deb from Smitten Kitchen shared some gorgeous pictures of Prague and Vienna, and Kim is now officially famous in Korea.

And back home, Chicago has lifted its foie gras ban. Fois gras is cruel, but a ban on serving it doesn't really change much. Consumers shouldn't have to be prevented from buying it, they should know what they're eating and be allowed to make informed choices.

Photo shared by Dave-F.

It was an interesting week on the food web. I, for one, didn’t know we're in durian season. For our benefit, I found this pile of durians, right, on flickr. Kim, my editor, has followed her trail of crumbs to Seoul, where she’ll launch her book's Korean translation and appear on national television (she’s eaten common and royal food already, has an allegedly incredible view from her hotel, and has been cordially asked to leave Seoul’s city hall. Needless to say, it’s been an exciting week for her already).

The folks at Cookthink were kind enough to point out a pithy, poignant article on vegetarianism from Taylor Clarke on Slate.com. Here’s a little clip: “Now, when I say that vegetarians are normal people with normal food cravings, many omnivores will hoist a lamb shank in triumph and point out that you can hardly call yourself normal if the aroma of, say, sizzling bacon doesn't fill you with deepest yearning. To which I reply: We're not insane. We know meat tastes good; it's why there's a freezer case at your supermarket full of woefully inadequate meat substitutes.” They also posted a fantastic recipe for Pan Roasted Snapper Wrapped in Pancetta.

There were a few interesting posts on food politics: Peruvian asparagus imports choking out American-grown crops and Chef Gordon Ramsay’s proposed seasonal foods law.

And, just for fun, a free giant cup of coffee from Gezellig, and the most ridiculous skewer I’ve ever seen.

There were a bunch of other posts that caught my eye this week, but what can I do. Ok, here are two more: one on a new book by Joanne Chen investigating our “complicated love affair” with sweets (I certainly have one), and how soy infant formulas aren’t that bad (or good).

Photo by bingregory.

of P*NG in NYC.

Here's one recipe we tested in our test kitchens and you can view it in our April 2008 issue. I love the salty sweetness of the whipped condensed milk topping. Mango Pudding Recipe by Pichet Ong

It’s hard to get me excited about cereal. Starting my day with a bowl of cold cereal sounds a bit like this: buzzing alarm, footsteps, cabinet door clicks closed, hard bits hit a white bowl, refrigerator door sucks closed, glug of the milk, shovel, crunch, shovel, crunch. The rest is just mush. Sometimes tasty, more often not. Like I said, it’s hard to get me excited about cereal.

When three family-size boxes of Mom’s Best Naturals cereals and oatmeals arrived on my desk last week, I was not thrilled. Since I’ve made my feelings about mush fairly clear, I gave the oatmeal to Robin Sutton, our production assistant. The cereal, however, became more interesting as I read the boxes: “no hydrogenated or palm oil,” “no high fructose corn syrup,” “whole grain,” “made with renewable energy.”

They pretty much had me at the high fructose corn syrup. HFCS may or may not be a serious health issue, but I imagine we’d be better off with less of it. Anyway, the ingredient lists were also delightfully short. The Toasted Wheat-fuls have two ingredients: whole grain wheat and vitamin E to preserve freshness. The Honey Nut Toasty O’s and Oats & Honey Blend both use evaporated cane sugar (and or) sugar beet juice. That’s pretty great.