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Another Treat Every Month

Rick Bonino Food Editor

Among the easiest food gifts you can give each holiday season are those ubiquitous “BLANK-of-the-Month” clubs.

There are a host of home-delivery food services for various vices, from beer to wine to cigars.

More upscale options include the Flying Noodle Pasta of the Month Club (1-800-566-0599, or www.flyingnoodle.com), perhaps topped off with a little something from the Extra-Virgin Olive Oil of the Month Club (1-800-665-2975, or www.evoomc.com).

And for the truly adventurous, there’s the International Junk Food of the Month Club - featuring such far-flung delicacies as pancake-and-syrup-flavored snack puffs, cookie sticks covered with tea-flavored chocolate, kiwi/apricot chews and spaghetti-flavored snack rings.

Assortments are available for various monthly terms or as one-time gifts, starting at $19.99 plus shipping. For more information, call 1-888-762-2584.

Day by day

Ready to get a head start on your menu planning for 1998?

Don Collins, a Seattle businessman, actor and singer, is in town this weekend to promote his new “Cookbook of the Year” (Hara Publishing, $21.95), which features a full 52 weeks’ worth of daily dinner recipes.

Collins will sign books in Spokane on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Clarke & Stone Book Co., 204 N. Division, and Saturday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main. He will also give a cooking demonstration Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Red Rooster Trading Co. in Coeur d’Alene.

Contest call

If you can find a few minutes amid all the holiday bustle, here are a pair of recipe contests with year-end deadlines:

Art of Boboli Contest: for creative-appearing pizzas made with Boboli crusts (looks are all that count, but the ingredients must be edible). There are two grand prizes - a week-long vacation in Florence, Italy, for adults, and a $5,000 scholarship for the under-18 winner. For rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Art of Boboli Contest Rules, Box 3922, Schaumburg, IL 60168-3922.

Eagle Brand Chocolate Dream Competition: for dessert recipes using new Eagle Brand Creamy Chocolate sweetened condensed milk. Grand prize is a trip to an elegant Virginia country inn, including cooking classes. For rules, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Chocolate Dream Entry Requests, c/o Borden Foods Corp., Product Publicity, 32nd Floor, 180 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215-3799.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: We’re always looking for fresh food news. Write to: The Fresh Sheet, Features Department, Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call 459-5446; fax 459-5098.

We’re always looking for fresh food news. Write to: The Fresh Sheet, Features Department, Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call 459-5446; fax 459-5098.