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Food briefs: Happy Joe’s adds new pastas to menu

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| Wednesday, April 30, 2008 12:23 PM CDT | () comments

Happy Joe’s has introduced whole wheat pasta and Slim and Trim Pasta to its menu.

The Slim and Trim Pasta comes with whole wheat penne, herb butter, oven-roasted vegetables, a sprinkle of cheese and is topped with fresh diced tomatoes.

It contains 49 percent fewer calories, 41 percent fewer carbohydrates, 47 percent less sodium and 48 percent less cholesterol than Happy Joe’s original combo pasta.

“Our new whole wheat pasta is a healthier choice that still allows our guests to get the great taste of Happy Joe’s oven-baked pasta,” marketing director Kristel Whitty-Ersan said.

Also, Happy Joe’s recently added salsa to its menu to give customers another healthy option, she said.

Hy-Vee to host  2nd Rib Fest

The annual Rib Fest will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Friday through Sunday in the parking lot of the Bettendorf Hy-Vee Food Store, 2900 Devils Glen Road.

The event features a hog roast with ribs and all the fixings, such as barbecued beans and coleslaw, to be served.

For more information, call (563) 332-8496.

Never worry about   running out of gas

A new device that connects to any gas barbecue lets grillers quickly gauge the amount of propane left in the tank.

GasWatch connects between the propane tank and the regulator.

The device has a remote LED display unit that sounds an alarm when the tank level is low so grillers don’t run out of gas while cooking.

It also has built-in leak detection and a safety feature to keep the gas flow below dangerous levels.

GasWatch is sold at hardware stores and home centers. It retails at $19.95 for GasWatchI and $29.95 for GasWatchII.

For more information, visit gaswatch.com.

New book features ‘Things Cooks Love’

Most foodies have done it at one point or another. You see and simply must buy some new or unusual gadget for the kitchen. It doesn’t matter that you don’t like rice; that paella pan is coming home.

Now there’s a cookbook to help you put all of those must-have items to use. Marie Simmons’ latest, “Things Cooks Love,” was written with gear-loving foodies in mind.

Organized by cuisine, the book introduces tools and appliances from the common to the esoteric and then offers tips for using and caring for the items, as well as recipes for putting them to work.

With the chef’s torch, for example, Simmons takes the reader beyond the obvious creme brulee. She suggests using it to brown goat cheese for salads or mozzarella over roasted asparagus and tomatoes.