The flavor bandwagon Research firm Mintel has come up with its predictions for 2010's trendiest flavors. Topping the list: cardamom and sweet potatoes. Cardamom, an aromatic Indian spice, will move beyond ethnic fare to other products such as Cosmic Chocolate's candy bar. Sweet potatoes will become "the new functional food" because of their high fiber, beta carotene and vitamins C and B6 content, and because the versatile veg can be candied, fried, baked or boiled. Other trends: hibiscus, in more beverages thanks to USDA research that it can help lower blood pressure; cupuacu, a fruit from the Amazon rain forest with more than 10 vitamins and antioxidants; rose water, and Latin herbs and spices such as cilantro.

A year of carbo loading Before we bid adieu to '09, let's reminisce over Recipezaar.com's list of the year's most popular recipes, based on user traffic. It's been a year of seeking comfort food, judging from four of the top five: Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce, P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Fannie Farmer's Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Best Ever Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, and Bourbon Chicken. There are about 400,000 other recipes you can sift through by a variety of keywords at www.recipezaar.com.

Tooting your fruities If things get a little slow at your New Year's Eve party -- or if you want to send just the right hostess thank-you -- you can comparison-shop the nation's top 11 fruit basket companies, thanks to Fruit Basket Review. Wary of relying on a company's fabulous photography, FBR ordered $100 fruit baskets, then dismantled them, comparing net weight, fruit weight, basket styles, additional gourmet items, variety of fruits, gift box exterior, even the gift cards, showing all in decidedly less glossy photos in chart form. In addition, there are (less ambitious) reviews of more than 80 other domestic providers of fruit baskets, plus coupon offers and other gifting advice. To learn more, visit www.fruitbasketreview.com.

Ding! It's dinner time Remember the hoopla about Americans economizing by cooking more at home? Not exactly, says the NPD Group, a market research company in its 24th Annual Report on Eating Patterns in America. True, Americans are eating at home more, but they're heating in their microwaves far more than simmering on their stove tops. According to the report: "Microwaving has been flat for two decades, but it increased last year as Americans found a way to eat at home and not cook." Microwave use rose 10 percent last year, accounting for 30 percent of all meals prepared at home. Food prepared on a stove top dropped from half of all meals in 1985 to just one in three this past year. As industry analyst Harry Balzer opined: "I've observed America's eating patterns in good and bad economies, and the constant is that there is no recession in eating -- and Americans don't want to cook what they eat."

KIM ODE