A healthy alternative

We all want to eat healthy meals, but at the end of the day, it seems like ordering pizza is the only thing we have time to do. Enter the Hancock County Coalition for Community Health (Healthy Hancock), which recently published the cookbook “Healthy Cooking At Home.” It includes more than 150 time-saving recipes with a nutrition fact list at the end of each. The books cost $7 each and are available at Healthy Acadia in Bar Harbor; Health Education Center in Blue Hill; Bucksport Community Health Advisory Committee in Bucksport; and Health-Link, Hancock County Extension Office, and Downeast Health Services in Ellsworth. It can be shipped by mail for an additional $3. Call 667-2474 for details.

A di-vine time

A bottle of red, a bottle of white, it all depends on your appetite at the 12th annual Boston Wine Expo, Feb. 1 and 2 at the World Trade Center and Seaport Hotel on Boston’s waterfront. More than 1,800 wines from 18 countries will be available for tasting at the expo, which is the country’s largest consumer wine event. Highlights of the weekend include cooking demonstrations by Rachael Ray, host of The Food Network’s “30 Minute Meals” and “$40 a day,” as well as a seminar by wine master Mary Ewing-Mulligan and an Austrian Vintner’s Dinner. Tickets are available at discounted rates through Friday, Feb. 24. For tickets or more information, call (877) 946-3976 or online at www.wine-expos.com.

Feeling hot-hot-hot

If you’re looking to heat up your love life, make your Valentine a pot of Fiery Chocolate Fondue, which mixes creamy chocolate with a dash of Tabasco sauce for a unique dessert that marries sugar and spice. To make it, melt 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Stir in 11/2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Serve in a fondue pot with fresh fruit.

Tidbits is hungry for news about local food products and events. Send your Tidbits by mail to: Bangor Daily News, attn: Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor ME 04402-1329; by fax to 941-9476; or by e-mail to kandresen@bangordailynews.net.