Blanche E. (MacAloney) Lajoie, 89.
GARDNER Blanche E. (MacAloney) Lajoie, 89, formerly of Gardner and Westminster, died after a long illness Tuesday, January 16, at Hillcrest Nursing Center, Fitchburg, Mass. She was predeceased by her husband, Leo "Popeye" Lajoie, in 2001. A son, Allen K. Smith, a Vietnam veteran, died in 1971. She leaves...

P/$ rate stands at P41.28/$ 1.
The peso exchange rate stands at P41.28 against the US dollar, the closing rate on Friday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx). The weighted average rate is P41.411 to $ 1. The domestic financial markets resume trading today. BoP ends with $ 8.6-B surplus ...

The secret of biscuits.
A biscuit is just flour, milk, and shortening, humble ingredients for a simple product. Yet that unpretentious circle of bread evokes delight in the hearts of sons, daughters, and grandchildren. There are still generations that believe their mother's or grandmother's biscuits can't be duplicated. Entrepreneurs have created a pretty...

One smart cookie: the Madison-made Pirouline's sweet success is the result of innovative production techniques.
Peter De Beukelaer likes to tinker with things. His mind races, always thinking of a better way to create, package, or ship his products. Not only does his company produce a very sophisticated cookie, but Peter himself designs the equipment that makes the cookies. And he does it all...

MONSTER COOKIES.
Byline: Sherri Buri McDonal The Register-Guard In an industrial kitchen filled with the sweet scent of freshly baked cookies, one employee cranked the "cookie depositer," dropping lumps of dough onto a cookie sheet. Another employee paired the lumps, gently patting them into the large rounds that will...

Feasting on fat: the fight over fat pits public health advocates against food companies. Whoever wins, the odds are that obesity claims will increase the cost of health insurance, life insurance, disability and workers' comp coverage.
America is getting fat, and attorneys are ready to make a meal out of the U.S. food industry. In the past couple of years, obesity lawsuits have been filed against companies like McDonald's and Kraft Foods, the maker of Oreo cookies. Attorneys and public health advocates argue...

Snack attack: guiltless indulgence with dairy-free treats and all-natural goodies. (Eating Right).
Chocolate chip cookies. Buttery popcorn. Chips and dip. Snacking is an American pastime. Indeed, Time.com has called us "a nation of committed Twinkie eaters," while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have announced that the obesity rate is at an all-time high. Sixty-one percent of American adults are...

Product names.
Today we are faced with countless products competing for shelf space in our supermarkets. Not only that, for every product, there are dozens of different brands, each with its own range of goods to tempt the confused customer. Manufacturers try to entice us by using various sneaky tactics: the...

A better cookie.
A recent lawsuit against the makers of Oreos (Kraft Foods) for selling a product with high-cholesterol "trans" fats found in hydrogenated oils and linked to heart disease and diabetes--makes us think twice before indulging in this classic treat. But we don't have to give up the delicious combination of...

Crackers: how they stack up.
It's getting down to crunch time in the cracker aisle. All foods have to include numbers for artery-clogging trans fat on their Nutrition Facts panels by January 1, 2006 (thanks to a 1994 petition to the FDA from our publisher, the Center for Science in the Public...