NEWS worthy Clips (1/2)

Update your vocabulary with news clips from around the world 

Pretty Treats Take the Cake

Kara’s Cupcakes is a deliciously subversive little enterprise. The bakery seduces shoppers with its jewelry like confection, $3 frosted hand grenades capable of detonating any diet.“It seems there’s been a line from the day we opened,” says a still-incredulous Kara Haspel Lind, a onetime magazine advertising , who, along with her United Airlines pilot husband Michael, started Kara’s Cupcakes last fall. “This dessert is timeless.”
Increasingly ubiquitous

Cupcakes are spreading throughout the land. Whether it’s Kara’s conquering of the Bay Area, a growing cupcake chain in glitzy Los Angeles or a one-woman operation in historic Charleston, South Carolina, the cupcake is making its buttercream-fueled stand. If you’re looking for explanations, consult your head before your stomach.

“The rise of the cupcake is very much about going back to our national identity in food, which is all about comfort,” says Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet magazine. “In these times war and a tough economy, people want to think about when they and their country were innocent.”

Reichl knows firsthand the power of the cupcake. Two years ago, Gourmet innocently showcased cupcakes on its cover. The letters poured in for a year, some chastising the publication for deeming the dessert a gourmet item, while most simply waxed lyrical about their cupcake memories.

“We actually got pictures of people’s cupcakes,” Reichl says, laughing. “It’s a very emotional dessert.”

Not to mention a one. Helping push the cupcake phenomenon are sweet-toothed celebrities such as Katie Holmes, whose passion for L.A.’s Sprinkles is as well-known as Courtney Love’s recent declaration that the chain’s baked goods caused her to put on 10 pounds. When Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell married last summer, she treated guests to a cupcake wedding cake, an increasingly popular order at many cupcake-only bakeries.

Vocabulary Focus

rekindle (v) ---to renew or revive something

detonating (v) ---to cause something to explode

ubiquitous (adj) ---seeming to be in all places

venerable (adj) --- deserving respect because of age, high position or importance

making (a) stand (v. phr) ---to make others aware of someone or something’s strengthening presence

showcase (v) ---to show the best qualities or parts of something

Specialized terms

take the cake (idiom) ---居领先地位to be considered especially good or the best

confection (n. phr) ---精心装饰的糕点或特殊的甜食a decorated cake or unusual

hand grenades (n. phr) ---手榴弹a small bomb consisting of explosive material in a container that can be thrown easily

sweet-toothed (adj) ---嗜吃甜食的enjoying sweet foods, especially sweets and chocolate