Plain Pirogi Is Prologue

Mrs. T’s, the world’s largest manufacturer of the potato-stuffed dumpling called pirogi (available in supermarket frozen food sections), wants us to know the carbo-loaded dumplings are not just for snack time anymore. Add pirogi to stir-fry! Put them in place of pasta in pirogi primavera!

(800) EATS

There are literally thousands of toll-free numbers devoted to food, such as specialty meat and cheese producers’ numbers and hot-lines for free brochures or cooking advice. The calls are all free, so what do you have to lose? (Well, you should get a copy of “The AT&T; Toll-Free 800 Consumer Directory,” which is $9.95--but you can order it through a toll-free number: (800) 426-8686.)

This Potato Life

It had to happen: a potato-lover’s newsletter, four pages a month of recipes and spudlore. A year’s subscription to Spudnutz is $12.50 from Gerri Dawes, Box 18, Yuba City, Calif. 95992.

Hold the Oil, Please

A few weeks back fishermen in Peterhead, Scotland, protested the competition of Russian fishermen by pouring diesel oil into the fish-filled holds of a Russian factory ship that was was offloading.

Emu Out, Dude

The emu, an Australian cousin of the ostrich, has meat that tastes like beef but with only a third the cholesterol and produces a valuable oil used in beauty products. However, the Wall Street Journal points out that raising emus can be a problem. Given a chance, the chicks tend to eat so much they can’t stand up. One grower gives them a fenced exercise yard so they can stay trim.

Como Se Dice “Lite”?

Last year the Tecate company introduced a light version of its beer in Mexico and within five months it was the top-selling light beer in that country. Tecate Light Premier Beer is now available in California, 110 calories per 12-ounce serving.