Om Nom Nom via Facebook

Cookies and music -- better than milk.

If you, like the Cookie Monster, tend to break out in song every time you bite into a tasty baked treat, then you've got to enter Om Nom Nom's jingle contest.

The Miami-based vegan cookie company is looking for a 30-second long jingle that can be edited down to 5-15 seconds for use on different forms of media.

In return for your jingle, you'll get musical credit, a link to your web site, and (best of all) a free swag kit including cookies and other goodies for you and your friends.

Plus, the good people at Om Nom Nom will write a blog post about the winner, complete with plugs about their band or blog or music.

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Lyn Farmer is director of the United Way Wine & Food Festival, now in its 18th year. But doesn't the title "imperial imbiber" of the freshly rebranded Veritage Miami sound much better?

"Our new chairman, Richard Fain, wanted to shake things up a little," said Farmer, who is also the food and wine editor for Tropic Magazine. "The rebranding is expected to have an impact on marketing but also give festival attendees and staff alike a sense of renewal."

After 18 years of blazing a trail for other food festivals to scorch the South Florida food scene, UWWF will likely benefit from that renewal. Before we get into what the good folks at United Way have in store, we bet you're wondering what an imbiber is. Is it (A) a Russian spacecraft that makes onlyright turns, (B) the thing doctors use to get the wax out of your ears, or (C) a person who drinks? If you guessed C, get to drinking. Why the unique approach?

"Every festival seems to have 'food and wine' attached to its moniker," continued Farmer, probably clutching a cigar with his feet up on his desk. "Most, however, are put on by a single winery or entity. We are the only ones who open our doors to all, so it was important for us to distinguish ourselves."

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Photo by Liz Gariazzo

Mini crab cake.

Those who attended the Taste of the Grove last year in Peacock Park, know that you can sometimes expect to see masses of people chowing and guzzling to their hearts' content at this event. Unfortunately, this year, Taste of the Grove was a literal washout - there was plenty of food and drink from vendors, but rain washed all the tasters away.

Although many left, a few dedicated foodies huddled together under the few tents and continued to eat and drink. Here are some photos from Saturday's Taste of the Grove.

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Photo by Nancy Rose

Meet Aleric Constantin, current grill cook at Michael's Genuine and the cycling chef. Aleric attended Le Cordon Bleu, and upon his graduation worked in the kitchen of Eating House for a six-month period before moving on to Michael's Genuine.

His time with Giorgio Rapicavoli and presently Michael Schwartz is what's shaped his food philosophies: he wants to use only the best, healthiest, and most sustainable products. He's also very much into molecular gastronomy and growing his own produce, something he used to do when he lived in the Pinecrest area. Anything from Swiss chard to carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers and even edible flowers were all part of Aleric, or AJ's, homegrown grocery list.

He would pack his chef whites daily and ride his bike down to the Design District, sometimes arriving soaking wet to work his station, not because of sweat, but because a storm caught him halfway. "Water makes everything grow," says AJ.

Wanting to do something on his own, as any cook dreams, AJ combined his two biggest passions, bikes and bites, to create his company Sear'N Gears, which he's launching within the next couple of months.

See Also:
- Spice Galore: South Miami's Source for Punjabi Garam Masala, Annatto, Tamarind, and More
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beaconsouthbeach.com

It's January in the Magic City. The sun is shining, the weather is sweet, and it's perfect picnic time. And since it's a new year and you're probably very much committed to the universal resolution of eating healthy and losing weight, Cheetos puffs and croquetas can't be on your basket's menu. Unfortunately, the only thing most South Beach restaurants and markets offer are an array of chips, dips, soda, and empty calories. As deliciously devilish as those are, there are better alternatives for the mind and soul. And the waistline.

Grab an oversize beach towel, a few friends, and head over to these spots for mindful eats. Don't forget your umbrella and hand sanitizer. Eating sand is no fun.

Read also:
- -Biscayne Whole Foods to Open in May or June
- -Beck's Sapphire Beer: A Lincoln Road Pop-Up

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Post Cereal

Yup. It's real.

Is caveman Fred Flintstone following T-Rex and Twinkies into extinction?

If you took a trip to your local supermarket cereal aisle, you might get that idea because instead of the usual beefy neanderthal on boxes of Post Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles, you might just see WWE star John Cena.

As part of a promotion with WWE, Post Foods has agreed to replace prehistory's answer to Ralph Kramden with the colorful wrestler. What gives?

Well, apparently it all started when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said that Cena looked like he was "running around like a big bowl of Fruity Pebbles" because of his wresting costume.

Naturally, Post Cereals decided to capitalize on the fracas, printing up over three million boxes of Cena Pebbles, with a commitment to print another five million more.

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camknows Flickr

While mentions of food around New Year's are often limited to diatribes about holiday overindulgence and plans to forego various edibles in the coming year - food also plays a pivotal role in the cultural introduction of a dawning year.

Various countries and cultures around the world have specific food traditions designed to ring in the new year. So if you're looking for a tasty way to celebrate 2013 that stays true to your heritage, here are some options. May your new year be eternally delicious!

Read also:
- Year in Review: Miami Food Scene 2012
- The Year in Meat! (2012)

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Wikipedia

With Christmas coming soon, we almost overlooked one minor detail. Doomsday is this Friday. Dun, dun, dun.

The Mayans finished their calendar with a last cycle ending on
December 21, 2012, which has fueled countless theories about the world ending on this date at precisely 11:11 (UTC). Make a wish ...

But before you go, you you'll need dinner. Lucky for you we've rounded up a few places that are celebrating the occasion. Be sure to make a reservation or plan accordingly so that even if the world is ruined, your dinner plans won't be.

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Sugarcane's Chef Timon Balloo.

Dinner with Friends at Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill is an event that every foodie must experience at least once. Fortunately, this coming Monday, December 17, Sugarcane will once again delight a small group of diners to a gastronomic gala. Unfortunately, it will be the last DwF of the year.

We attended a Dinner with Friends event last month and were blown away by the experience. Guest celeb chef Hedy Goldsmith teamed up with Sugarcane's Timon Balloo and presented several courses to our group of twelve. Each course paired with a different wine and both the alcohol and food did their jobs - diners felt satiated and content.

This Monday, Clay Conley takes the role of guest chef alongside Timon. Nominated for the James Beard this year, Conley owns Buccan and Imoto in Palm Beach and is the former executive chef of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's award-winning restaurant, Azul.

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Laine Doss

This time of year brings lots of 2012 summations: what we wore, what we watched and most importantly for Short Order readers -- what we ate. And who better to speak to the food trends of the masses than the almighty Google?

The search giant's Zeitgeist wrap up of the year's search trends includes a lot of interesting info about about food-related topics. Check out what American eaters searched for in 2012, and our thoughts on said results, after the jump.

Read also:
- The Ten Most Annoying Food Trends of 2012: From Pork Belly to Lobster Mac and Cheese
- Burger King Offers Limited Delivery in Miami (Locations Listed)

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