Let’s go shopping:

1. Hoboken actor Joe Pantoliano gets $60K from A&P and Pepsi for his charity, No Kidding, Me Too! (NJ.COM)
2. Supermarket Bans Disabled Vet Over Defecating Service Dog (NBC CONNECTICUT)
3. The Rise in Supermarket Solar Panels (SLASH FOOD)
4. Oakland CA Underground Market Launches This Saturday (SF WEEKLY)
5. The Origin of the Supermarket (NEATORAMA)
6. Fresh & Easy Farm to Store in 24 (SLASH FOOD)
7. Revealed: The subtle techniques stores use to persuade us to part with our cash (DAILY RECORD)
8. UK girl hired to test supermarket’s uniforms (THE ARGUS)
9. Now a watchdog to help curb antics of bully supermarkets (DAILY MAIL)
10. Safeway Selling Truffles for $999/Pound in Washington, DC (EATER)

Each week I focus on articles and tips for Healthy Living (nutrition, fitness, weight loss, etc.)

Articles/Programs:

1. Study Shows Compulsive Eating Shares Addictive Biochemical Mechanism with Cocaine, Heroin Abuse (TSRI)
2. Cookbook roundup: Fresh, healthy, light and delicious (WICKED LOCAL)
3. Smart Shopping for Healthy Food – VIDEO (ABC)
4. Are eggs truly bad for the heart? (LA TIMES)

Tips:

1. Ranch Wagon Instant Refried Beans contain nothing but pinto beans and salt — yet you can whip up a batch in seconds (boiling or microwaving) that contains a full 24-percent of your daily fiber requirements! A quarter cup of fat-free Ranch Wagon beans is only 100 calories. Stuff ‘em in tacos, burritos, nachos — or make a bean dip.
2. Thomas’ Light Multi-Grain English Muffins have eight grams of fiber and only 100 calories (they’re also a good source of calcium). I like these in the morning — toasted — or as a sandwich bread. Try stuffing a muffin with hummus, grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato and a sprinkle of coarsely chopped walnuts.
3. In general, it is probably best to refrain from commercial snack foods — especially those containing unpronounceable chemical ingredients… Yet, we’re all gonna snack sometime — so why not nosh on a product that offers 18-grams of whole grains? With 12-percent of your daily fiber requirement, Corazonas’ Black Beans and Cheese chips soothe your craving for something Dorito-ish — yet contain only 150mgs of sodium and 140 calories.

On the pantry shelf…

1. Bringing Sophistication to the Kitchen: A profile of Williams Sonoma’s Founder – VIDEO (CBS)
2. Cultivating Failure: Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard Program (THE ATLANTIC)
3. Chicken fight is on at KFC (NEW YORK POST)
4. A more mellow Bourdain: With young daughter in his life, bad-boy chef, author, TV host ‘less angry’ these days (PRESS DEMOCRAT)
   
5. Sushi fashion (SUSHI LIFE)
6. Michael Pollan Forages for Chanterelles, Doesn’t Sweat Unsustainable Sushi (GRUB STREET)
7. Obsessives: Cookbook peddler Nach Waxman is the owner of Manhattan’s Kitchen Arts & Letters – VIDEO (CHOW)
8. Revenge of the mistresses: Ramsay’s hooks up with Tiger’s (NEW YORK POST)
9. German chef jailed for butchering colleague (9 NEWS)
10. Filmed in Dominica, this clip demonstrates how to make a Creole, rum-pumpkin cocktail – VIDEO (FOOD TUBE)
11. Coke-powered Nokia cellphone concept by Daizi Zheng (THE DESIGN BLOG)
12. The Harper’s Index: Food (HARPERS)

I HAVE A COUPLE chocoholics on my holiday gift list — the type of people who literally swoon when encountering a chocolate truffle.

This year I’ve found a number of interesting products that will probably send these chocolate lovers into a cocoa-dazed coma.

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Hotel Chocolat has a Liquid Chocolat Selection Gift Box full of drinking chocolate in flavors including Aztec Chili ($25).

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Endangered Species Chocolate offers decadent and delectable gift boxed collections (including a vegan option for $25) — but that isn’t all that’s good.

The company donates 10% of net profits to help support species, habitat and humanity — so you can have your candy and feel good about it too.

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Ghiradelli Chocolate is offering 12 Days of Christmas specials including a four pack of blue ornaments filled with premium Ghirardelli Squares™ Chocolates ($23.80).

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CocoaMill Chocolates makes hand crafted St. Nicholas sculptures to order ($75.95).

Sculpted in White, Milk or Bittersweet Chocolate, each piece is over 20-inches tall and weighs 4-and-a-half pounds!

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Neiman Marcus’ Chocolate Hanukkah Candy Set features specialty chocolates, handcrafted by Golda & I, in the shape of dreidels, the Star of David and a menorah ($55).

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La Maison du Chocolat by Robert Linxe — 176 pages of chocolate recipes and beautiful photos of the chocolates of La Maison du Chocolat ($55).

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Recchiuti’s Chocolate Obsession Club sends monthly shipments of the company’s renowned handmade candies.

Available at three levels: three-months ($155), six-months ($305) and twelve-months ($605).

Bring a smile to the face of a food-loving friend with these sweetly funny — and perfectly inexpensive –gifts.

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CELEBRATE the Tillamook County Creamery Association’s 100th Anniversary with this limited edition replica of “Tillie” ($8.95) — Tillimook’s happy cow mascot from the 1950′s.

Also available: a two-pound, wax-dipped wheel of Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese ($17.99) and 100th Anniversary T-shirts ($12.50).

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SPONGIOLI ($10.99) are super absorbent ravioli-style pop-up sponges.

Strong, long-lasting, anti-bacterial — and low in carbs!

Six compressed sponges to a package.

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COOKEYS™ ($4.99) — sweet key covers — are the perfect non-caloric stocking stuffer for the Oreo lover on your list.

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BETTY CROCKER Sugar Cookie Lip Balm ($2.50) tastes like the homemade cookies of your youth — and may send you running toward the refrigerator for a cold glass of milk…

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FRENCH TOAST™ stamps ($3.99) dress drab American bread up as sophisticated haute couture pain grillé français!

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FOOD FACE™ ($11.99) allows kids of all ages to get away with making faces at the table.

Crafted from “hotel-quality, food-safe, high-fire ceramics,” FOOD FACE™ is gift boxed with inspirational — and wacky — examples of fine food art.

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BACON BOY — a tasty super hero for the bacon lover in your life!

T-shirts ($12.95) and hooded sweat shirts ($15.95) are available in kids- to Adult-XXXX sizes.

Matching coffee mugs ($10) would make the perfect bacon grease container!

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CORN DOG CAR AIR FRESHENER ($2.00) has the sharp aroma of bright yellow mustard — and arrives with the promise to make all of your passengers drool.