Beware the Ides of April

Baskin-Robbins celebrates the tax-paying season with a flavor of the month dedicated to President Clinton: Cinnamon Almond Tax Crunch, featuring cinnamon-coated almonds (his favorite snack food) and a sweet cinnamon ribbon. Putting its ice cream where its mouth is, Baskin-Robbins will distribute free samples from noon to 1 p.m., 6-7 p.m. and 11 p.m.-midnight April 15 at Terminal Annex Post Office, 900 N. Alameda, Los Angeles. (an address you last-minute filers all know).

The Milky Whey

Every once in a while a milk substitute comes along, usually based on soy or rice, for people who can’t drink milk. For that purpose they’re OK, but unlike them, the latest, Nature’s Select, truly tastes like milk (well, skim milk). The secret: It is milk--or rather the whey portion of milk, meaning that it lacks casein, the usual source of lactose intolerance. Sunflower oil replaces butterfat, but it still has only two grams of fat per serving, as well as being higher in protein than other milk substitutes (even 20% higher in protein than milk itself). It comes in powdered form, and there’s a chocolate-flavored version too. Order direct from (800) 748-8288.

Our Foodie President

Thomas Jefferson introduced the pasta-maker to this country, and possibly Parmesan cheese as well. He attributed his long life (83 years) to a diet rich in vegetables--such as the eggplant, which he may also have introduced.

Say, Let’s Go to the Museum and Wait to Eat!

About 7,000 people a day come to Yokohama, Japan, to wait up to two hours so they can eat ramen (noodle soup)--something you can get on just about any corner in Japan. Why? The historical thrill of slurping it up at Yokohama’s noodle museum, which features ramen paraphernalia from the ‘50s and even a photo of the first ramen restaurant, ca. 1901.