Gourmet delicacies and wines from more than 50 of the city's top restaurants, caterers, chocolate makers and wine dealers will once again be the focus of a delicious evening at the 16th annual Taste of the Nation Pittsburgh from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Omni William Penn, Downtown.
The list includes Palomino, Steelhead Grill, Hyeholde, Atria's, Monterey Bay, Sushi Too, Kaya, Cafe Allegro, the Carlton, Luma, Girasole, Stone Mansion, My Thai, Nemacolin Woodlands, Mitchells' Fish Market and China Palace, just to name a very few.
Libations will be provided by Majestic Wine & Spirits, Bartolomeo Pio, Capital, D'Andrea and Winebow, along with Coors and Yuengling beers and others.
Cost is $75 per person and a portion is tax deductible. Call 412-681-1110.
All proceeds benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, Just Harvest and Hunger Services Network.
Pysanky festival
Another year of ethnic food festivals kicks off this weekend with the SS. Peter & Paul 37th annual Ukrainian Easter Egg Sale and Food Fest from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
More than 1,000 hand-painted Ukrainian pysanky eggs will be on sale, as well as pierogies, haluska, kielbasa and bread.
The church is at 220 Mansfield Blvd., Carnegie. Call 412-279-2111.
PETA plug
The Zenith Tea Room on the South Side has been named "Restaurant of the Month" by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and will be featured on its Web site, www.petaeats.com, during April.
Chosen for its "wide selection of hearty vegetarian and vegan entrees" at reasonable prices, the restaurant features sandwiches, salads, lasagna, desserts and a Sunday brunch.
Povitica time
Strawberry Hill, the Croatian bread-making community in Kansas City, is selling its famed Povitica for Easter. The large, 2 1/2-pound loaves cost $19.96 each (regular price $24.94), which includes shipping.
Flavors are rich, dense English Walnut, Chocolate Chip, Strawberry Cream Cheese and Apple Cinnamon. Call 1-800-634-1002 or go online at www.povitica.com
Mondo cookie
Immaculate Baking Company, known for making cookies with imaginative flavors and funky packaging, plans to make the world's biggest cookie May 17 in Hendersonville, N.C.
The all-natural chocolate-chip record breaker will be larger than a basketball court, weigh 40,000 pounds (or four elephants) and be baked in a 7,850-square-foot convection oven for five to six hours.
IBC is going to all this trouble to help the Folk Artist's Foundation build a Folk Art Museum next door.
The cookie will be cut and sold, and all proceeds donated to the Museum Fund.
Ingredients have been supplied by donors in this country and abroad and include:
6,000 pounds of semisweet chocolate chunks;
12,200 pounds of unbleached flour;
36,525 pounds of unsalted butter;
5,000 pounds of granulated sugar;
3,370 pounds of dark brown sugar;
184 pounds of salt;
79 pounds of baking soda;
30,000 whole eggs;
310 gallons of pure vanilla.
75 years of bubbles
Happy birthday to Dubble Bubble, the "World's First Bubble Gum," which turns 75 this year.
The man behind this phenomenon was accountant Walter Diemer, who worked for Fleer Corp., a gum company founded in 1849.
Diemer's goal was to invent a bubble gum that wouldn't stick to his face when popped.
After much gluey trial and error, he succeeded in 1928 and added the pink food coloring that became bubble gum's traditional hue (it was the only color he had on hand).
The gum became so popular that it was included in ration kits for American soldiers in World War II.
New drinks
With summer just around the far corner, drink manufacturers are coming out with new flavors to tempt the thirsty.
Snapple has Kiwi Teawi iced tea. We say "oui, oui" -- oops, I mean "si, si" -- to this fruity new taste.
Gatorade's new flavors are Berry, Strawberry and Watermelon -- fruity, refreshing blends of soluble carbs and electrolytes.
IN ZONE for kids has Tummy Ticklers, 100 percent fruit juice drinks with no preservatives. Promoted as "collectibles," the plastic tops are characters from Clifford the Big Red Dog, Barney and the Land Before Time.
Local last word
Sign at Wiener World on Smithfield Street: "Jared does not eat here."
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