Small Bites

Little Vittles

The South American Palo Santo tree — it means "holy wood" — is said to have myriad medicinal properties, with cancer preventative and remedy for asthma, anxiety and migraines but a few. It's also now a handy self-medicant. Palo Santo Marron, a 12 percent ABV brown ale from Lewes, Del.'s Dogfish Head, is aged in 10,000-gallon vessels made of the Paraguayan timber (allegedly the largest wooden brewing vessels built in America since before prohibition). The brew itself is a nearly black maltsplosion with a parade of subtle taste notes (liquorice, wood, coffee, chocolate). The brewery's releasing it monthly through 2008, so if you see some, get some. —Brian Howard

Behind the perky demeanor and time-saving/Food Network-ruining tips, I know the truth: Rachael Ray is the spawn of Satan. Author Elizabeth Hilts agrees. In Every Freaking! Day with Rachell Ray, Hilts skewers the new queen of DIY. Using an uncanny Ray-alike as a stand-in, Hilts offers fake recipes (fun size candy bars + blue gelatin = delicious?) to shots of Ray's awesomely dysfunctional family reunion (where cousins Baby Ducette DuRay and "Ferrari" Scuderia get a little too close). These shots are interspersed with faux-Ray's reminders to "Buy something overpriced from my Web site" and to "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!" —Molly Eichel

If you're like me, your heart goes all aflutter when it comes to exciting, well-designed kitchen gadgets. The new Individual Pie Slice Pan, for instance, is genius — say goodbye to cooking a messy bottom crust-less pie in a regular pan and scooping it out in crumb-laden glops. The pie slice pan, which is really a collection of six ceramic wedges, allows you to prepare perfectly proportioned slices from the start. And it's not limited to pie alone: Cake, pot pie and soufflé could all nestle into the perfect triangular dishes. Available from King Arthur Flour, $10.95, kingarthurflour.com. —Claire Bullen

A generous portion of Bohemian Saaz hops conducts the rhapsody of flavors in Dock Street's Bohemian Pilsner. A smooth finish complements the tart, bitter beginnings, with hints of malt delivering that classic pilsner taste. Even at a formidable 40 IBUs, or International Bitterness Units (the bitterest of Dock Street's current offerings), the intensity of the brew is accessible enough for the gastro-naïve. Pick up a case at a distributor, grab one in a proper pilsner glass at Dock Street's brewpub (701 S. 50th St., 215-726-2337), or go the bottle route at either Foodery (fooderybeer.com) or Sal's Omega Pizza (2145 South St.). —James Saul