Food as Art

Tutte Due, a design team in La Jolla, Calif., makes dozens of kinds of jewelry shaped like pasta--from mostaccioli-spaghettini earrings ($18) to the ominously named ravioli choker ($105). Available in 24K gold or sterling silver dull finish at local jewelry stores.

Buff Burgers

Star B Ranch ground buffalo meat is coming into local supermarkets this month. Buffalo (or more correctly, bison) boasts 25% to 30% less fat than beef, but tastes much the same. The American buffalo is an adaptable beast that doesn’t need Great Plains to live in--Star B Ranch is in San Diego County.

Thick-Cooking Oats

Christine & Rob’s Oatmeal claims to be the thickest-cut oatmeal available today and the only slow-toasted oatmeal. It’s served at restaurants such as Pacific Dining Car and Schatzi (whose owner, Arnold Schwartzenegger, is said to take it with him everywhere) and is available at gourmet stores: $4.50 for 20 ounces.

The Lord Loveth a Really Cheerful Giver

About 500 restaurants around the country are raising money for the food charity Share Our Strength by selling Champagne. If you buy Champagne Mumm wines (usually priced around $45 to $65 in restaurants), $3 will be donated; if you buy the Mumm Cordon Brut ’85 ($150), $10 goes to the charity.

Never Mix, Never Worry

The political divorce of Czechoslovakia would seem to doom a proposed Czechoslovak coat of arms based on beer mugs (for the beer-drinking Czechs) and juniper sprigs and gin glasses (for the bourice -drinking Slovaks).

Lobster Lite

The Maine Lobster Promotion Council wants us to know that lobster is now listed by the American Heart Assn. as an appropriate food; it’s low in fat and contains cholesterol-lowering omega-3 oils. The bad rap on lobster, says the council, may be due to lobster’s guilt-by-association with drawn butter.

Low on the Hog

Bacon sales rose 2% last year to account for nearly 75% of breakfast-meat sales. Supermarket News magazine says bacon beat the low-fat trend the old-fashioned way: by being low-priced.