Food trends I can get behind, and some I can't

Ridiculous food trend, exhibit A. And $2.29 a carton? The prosecution rests.

 As the year winds down, it's time to rave and rant about some food trends that have crossed my path.

Heard a friend gushing recently about the contents of her winter CSA. I was used to such offerings from meat and cheese purveyors, but hadn't heard about vegetable growers hanging on through the winter in our northern climate. Turns out she gets not only cellarable root vegetables in the late fall and cold-frame sheltered greens in early spring, but she gets a couple of loaves of fresh bread, soups, hummus, pesto and other preserved produce. Genius on their part. Her favorite: a pumpkin pie that arrived in time for Thanksgiving while her kitchen was torn up for remodeling. Her growers are at Foxtail farm, but there are other options you can read about here.

Other food trends I like: Cocktail menus worth reading. The Witch Hazel at Eat Street Social proves that if you've got a chance to have a pumpkin-liqueur infused beverage right before the holiday, your shopping list seems less dire.

But other trends I can take or leave. I wasn't blown away by the Greek yogurt offerings to begin with, but now things are just getting silly in the yogurt department. Tomato, beet, parsnip and butternut squash yogurt just seems like you're trying too hard to make something work. And at four times the cost of yogurt I actually like, I can't see even trying Blue Hill Yogurt's offerings. Latest trend among my friends: lamenting that there’s not enough “normal” yogurt on the store shelves. All of us in the dairy aisle are clustered around the same limited supply, creating a cart traffic jam. And when you’re only getting 100 calories, you want them to be tasty. Not sure if I’m going to have to break down and learn to make my own reasonable version of yogurt; I’m guessing that’s one of those things that takes time to fine-tune to one’s liking.

Another bandwagon I won't get on: personalized wines. I'm not talking about wines you make yourself, which really are personalized, but these "gift" wines to commemorate an occasion. Just buy a better grade of wine and put it in a personalized bag if you must. The people at windsorvineyards.com absolutely missed their mark when they sent a catalog my way. On other hand, I got a bottle of wine for Christmas suitably called Train Wreck. That pretty much describes the end of the year at home and work. Looking forward to New Year's off.