From Prada to Zara, Is Japan's Love Affair with Luxury Goods Over

From high end single malts to fine cuisine and fashion Japan has been gaga over luxury icons for as long as I can remember so are Japanese falling out of love with luxury as Michiyo Nakamoto suggests (Financial Times, June 3, 2009). The first paragraphs of the piece outline...

Irmin Schmidt (Can) spills the beans on Cooking and Okra

I guess I should not be surprised that some musicians are also good cooks. If you think about it, there are common traits between both fields.They require creativity, inspiration, improvisation, making the most of your ingredients and your limitations.Let's not forget the...

Buy Less Stuff: Shortest Road to Going Green and Saving Some

People often talk about the third rail of politics or business, in Taboo Talk in Green Business: Buy Less Stuff (GreenBiz.com, December 22nd), Joel Makower offers one of his Strategies for the Green Economy (also the title of his book). He notes that "reducing or limiting...

Are New Yorkers Dining Down? Digs that Fit the Bill

Nicholas Lander noticed the blackboard at Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop stating "In this economy New Yorkers are dining down". In Feeling Frugal (FT, December 20, 2008) he then suggests a few affordable restaurants in New York City. His first stop was at Porchetta (All things...

Nanny or Botox Treatment...botox Wins? Cutting Back

What do you cut first? What do you cut last?Miriam Jordan suggests that When the Going Gets Tough, Some People Lay Off the Nanny (Wall Street Journal, December 11), and personal chefs and the like. Besides women giving up on household help, the article mentions people taking...

Brother Can You Spare a Wine: Prosperity versus Recession Red

As I was browsing the shelves of one of my local wine stores, the counter cyclical Prosperity Red caught my eye.It comes to us courtesy of Prosperity Wines in Santa Barbara County. The story goes that the marquee was the brainchild of Brooks Firestone who "established...

A Dog as a Kids Meal and Snails in Coconut via Manilla Foodistas

Not a real dog as you can see!I don't know about their nutrition value yet if you have trouble getting your kids to eat anything but pizza and pasta, the cute kid meal creations by OMG Kawaii Bento got my vote...They landed on my radar thanks to the Manilla Foodistas who...

Raw like Cocoa Beans: 'Feves Cacaotees' by Pralus, a Chocolate Show Favorite

When I saw them presented in a small gift purse, I was intrigued, what are these I asked Valerie of Chocolats Pralus?We call them 'Feves Cacaotees' was the answer...

Cultivate your Niche, Survival Tips for our Consumed to Thrifty Times

If you are in business right now and think you can survive only by trying to make a buck any way you can and trying to be all things to all people, you might have lost your soul and worse could be going the way of the dinosaurs, towards extinction.One of the things I got from...

Eat your Leftovers, the First Step on Going from Consumed to Thrifty?

Ronald Wilcox, the author of What happened to Thrift? was a guest of the Takeaway on November 17 as part of their Debtor Nation series.Basic changes in going from Consumed to Thrifty are plain and simple as he reminds us in Eat your Leftovers. My paternal grandfather was...

Credit Crunch Lunch...Brown Bag or Not?

The grim headline 'Three million jobless' by 2010 (BBC, November 17) illustrated by a Credit Crunch Lunch 3.98 (British Pounds that is) picture shot got me on the hunt for more on the topic.As far back as April 2008, Restaurants gain appetite for credit crunch lunch (This is...

FotoWeek DC, More than 100 Free Photography Events, November 15 to 22

In the coming days, the US capital will be abuzz with more than the G20 Economic Summit.On Saturday, November 15, Foto Week DC kicks off a week of photographic creativity with more than 100 Free Events.This is I believe the first edition of FotoWeek DC...

Financial Crunch: Chocolate for the Consumed to Thrifty

Before my visit to the New York Chocolate Show on Sunday (November 9), I continue my exploration of exhibitors, especially new ones.While doing that, I was glad to see that the old fashioned named Lillie Belle Farms from Oregon are smart enough to offer handmade chocolates...

Nothing to Lose but Your Overdraft: Credit Crunch Chic & The Thrift Book

One advantage of being a writer, especially if you are already a marquee name is that you can turn your misadventures and shortcomings into a new tome.A good example of that is India Knight (a Brit) whose failed efforts to manage her finances gave birth to The Thrift Book...