Woe to the cookie, cake or waffle lover who discovers, often after years of stomach upset, fatigue and skin issues, that the culprit of their health issues is gluten, the protein found in grains like wheat, barley and rye.

Most everything you find in a bakery, grocery store cookie aisle or on the sweet side of a breakfast menu is made with flour. Which means that those with gluten sensitivities or allergies are often out of luck when it comes to sweet treats.

One of my sons has celiac disease so I’m always on the lookout for gluten-free products that don’t include hidden sources of gluten such as soy sauce or malt vinegar and actually taste good, or at least good enough to justify the high cost. (Gluten-free cereals, pasta and snacks can be up to 139% more expensive than their gluten-containing counterparts, according to the nonprofit Celiac Disease Foundation.)

Dilettoso, a gluten-free baking mix brand founded by Italian nutritionist Stefania Dilettoso in 2024, offers a tasty and super-convenient solution for the home cook.

Made with a blend of finely ground organic whole oat and brown rice flours, organic tapioca starch and natural flavorings, its Amore mixes are low-fat, preservative-free and because no sugar is added, fairly low cal (a serving counts just 120 calories).

For many people, texture is just as important as taste in baked goods. Because these mixes are made with naturally absorbent oat flour, the batter retains its hydration and bakes up light and fluffy. When it comes to breakfast foods, that translates into pancakes and waffles that rise beautifully, with an airy, light interior.

They’re available in three kid-friendly flavors — Choco-Lotta, Bella Berry and Vava Vanilla — and can used to make pancakes and waffles with the addition of water or milk (and an egg, if you want the extra protein). They also can be used as a gluten-free base for cookies, brownies, cakes and muffins with the addition of other ingredients.

One 10-ounce box of the Amore mixes — Italian for “love” — makes around 15 4-inch mini waffles or a half-dozen 7-inch regular waffles.

We tried the Vava Vanilla variety, which like the other mixes is leavened with baking soda and cream of tartar.

My toddler grandson gobbled them down just as quickly as the “regular” pancakes he gets to eat on weekends with my husband and me at Eat’n Park. But the real thumbs up came from my son, who said they were “pretty good” for a gluten-free product.

However, their price means they will probably be reserved for special occasions. They were $13.95 per box on Amazon (or $35 for a three-pack and $49.50 for a six-pack). That’s nearly $2 a waffle or 93 cents per mini waffle.

©2026 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Bass helped lead Joe’s Stone Crab, the oldest surviving restaurant in Miami Beach, for decades and into her late 80s. Joe’s predates the incorporation of the city in 1915. That happened two years after Joe’s founding. She worked there even before World War II had ended in 1945.

The restaurant has attracted almost every A-lister through the years, including Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Taylor, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and even the actor who played Hoover in a 2011 movie, Leonardo Di Caprio.

Read more at Miami Herald.

PITTSBURGH — Still suffering from a post-holiday drag? After the fun of Christmas and New Year’s, it’s completely understandable if you’re having a hard time snapping back into a routine.

The fact that it’s still getting light too late and dark too early — we won’t set our clocks forward for spring until March 8 — only adds to the funk that is a Western Pennsylvania winter, marked by gray skies, a freezing mix of snow and rain and slushy sidewalks.

After a steady diet of festive desserts, rich and hearty sides and too much alcohol, “everyday” cooking might feel daunting on a busy weeknight. A relaxed holiday schedule has left many of us out of practice in getting dinners on the table at a set time. And if you’ve over-indulged over the past few weeks, you might be trying to eat less to shed those extra holiday pounds.

We get it. It can be tough to get back on track and re-establish home cooking habits, especially when the frozen dinner aisle and takeout make it so easy to compromise. That’s why it’s often best to start the process with baby steps — simple meals that don’t call for lots of ingredients or take too much time (or effort) start to finish.

To help inspire you, we’ve assembled five flavorful recipes that each require no more than six everyday ingredients and only take about a half hour to prepare on the stovetop.

Don’t love washing pans? Me either! All of the following are made and served from a single skillet, guaranteeing easy cleanup.

There is a slight catch: All five dishes assume you have kitchen staples like vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic cloves, unsalted butter, sugar and various spices already on hand.

All prove, however, that sometimes the simplest dinners are the best ones, and they don’t have to be boring.

Easy Lemon Chicken

PG tested

I’ve made this dish for my family too many times to count, and still it’s a favorite. You can use less butter if you’re trying to cut down on fat and calories. For a gluten-free dish, dust the chicken in cornstarch or almond flour instead of all-purpose flour.

I think it’s best on rice, but kids love their noodles!

2 whole chicken breasts, boned, skinned and halved

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

Salt and pepper

2 lemons

Chopped fresh parsley

Cooked rice or noodles, for serving

Wash and dry chicken breasts. Pound them flat between two pieces of waxed paper or inside a resealable plastic bag with a mallet or rolling pin.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour flour in a plastic bag, season with salt and pepper, and drop the breasts in to coat. Shake off excess flour.

Turn heat up to moderately high and put chicken breasts in the skillet. Depending on how thin you’ve pounded them, they should cook approximately 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through and still tender. When they’re done, season with salt and pepper, remove to a plate and set aside while you make the sauce.

Add 2 remaining tablespoons of butter to the chicken skillet and melt, scraping up brown bits in the pan.

Juice 1 lemon and slice the other. Add juice and lemon slices to skillet and cook until bubbly, then return chicken to the pan, spooning sauce over. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Serve with rice or cooked noodles.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Rigatoni with Tomato Cream Sauce

PG tested

Nothing is more comforting in winter than a bowl of pasta with red sauce. Here, crushed tomatoes simmer with cream and grated Parmesan to create a super-fast super-savory sauce for rigatoni. Add a simple green salad and loaf of crusty Italian bread for a complete meal.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon concentrated tomato paste

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Salt, to taste

Red pepper flakes, to taste

4 cups cooked rigatoni or penne noodles

In a deep skillet, heat butter until melted.

Add tomatoes to pan, crushing them with a fork or potato masher. Simmer, stirring often, until the tomatoes have broken down, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Stir in heavy cream and tomato paste and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Taste, add salt and, if you like some spice, a few pinches of red pepper flakes.

Add cooked pasta to pan and toss to combine.

Serve in warmed bowls, with extra Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Pork and Coconut Pineapple Rice

PG tested

If there ever was a marriage made in culinary heaven, it has to be pork and pineapple. This easy recipe pairs bite-sized chunks of sweet, juicy pineapple with tender bites of teriyaki-marinated pork tenderloin. The combo is piled high on a bed of creamy, equally tropical coconut rice.

For pork

1/4 – 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into bite-sized chunks

20-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained, or 1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed

Olive oil, for sauteing

For rice

2 cups jasmine rice

1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened full-fat coconut milk

1 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

Generous pinch of sugar

Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Marinate pork in 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Rinse rice in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear. Use a large fine-mesh sieve to drain any remaining water and place rice in a pot.

Add coconut milk, water, salt and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.

Once it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for 5 minutes, then fluff and cover to keep warm.

While rice is cooking, prepare pork. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Add pork, discarding the excess sauce. If you add all the sauce with it, it will steam the meat instead of caramelizing it.

Leave pork undisturbed in the hot pan for a few minutes to get better caramelization. Throw in pineapple and cook for 2-3 minutes so it gets saucy and caramelized, too. If desired, add a few additional tablespoons of sauce after everything is brown.

Portion cooked rice into bowls and top with a scoop or two of the saucy pineapple pork. Finish with chopped cilantro and slices of pickled jalapeño, if you happen to have any in the fridge.

Serves 4.

— Adapted from pinchofyum.com

Skillet Tortellini with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

PG tested

Tortellini are great for last-minute meals because they are so easy to cook and go with many different sauces. In this recipe, they are cooked directly in the pan with sweet Italian sausage along with sweet cherry or grape tomatoes.

The original recipe calls for dried tortellini, but I substituted frozen pasta. Fresh basil adds both color and freshness. If you have some grated Parmesan in the fridge, add that, too, for a cheesy finish.

1 pound bulk sweet or hot Italian sausage

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

12 ounces frozen cheese tortellini

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering.

Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup water, tortellini and a pinch of salt and bring to boil.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, about 10-12 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with olive oil to taste and sprinkle with basil.

Serves 4.

— Adapted from “Five Ingredient Dinners” by America’s Test Kitchen

Single-Seared Garlic Shrimp Tacos

PG tested

Tacos are a welcome weeknight meal because they don’t take a lot of time or effort. These feature quick marinated shrimp and an easy green cabbage slaw. They’re simple but super satisfying.

Both flour and corn tortillas work; just be sure to warm them on a hot skillet or in the microwave before stuffing them with shrimp and cabbage to keep them pliable.

2 limes

Salt and pepper

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

1/2 small red onion

4 teaspoons, plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

24 large shrimp (about 1-1 1/2 pounds), peeled, deveined and patted dry

1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)

8 corn or flour tortillas, warmed in a microwave or on a hot skillet

In large bowl, whisk juice from 1 lime, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Mix in cabbage and onion. Set aside, tossing occasionally, while you prepare the shrimp.

In medium bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons oil, half the minced garlic, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add shrimp and stir to combine. Allow to marinate for 5 minutes.

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat 1 teaspoon of oil until shimmering.

Add half the shrimp in an even layer and cook, undisturbed, until deep golden brown on the bottoms, about 2 minutes. Stir, then transfer to plate.

Repeat with another 1 teaspoon oil and the remaining shrimp, but leave shrimp in pan. Return first batch to pan.

Add remaining minced garlic; cook over medium, stirring, until the shrimp are opaque throughout, about 1 minute.

Transfer to a clean plate or bowl.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and cilantro to the cabbage mixture and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide the shrimp among the tortillas (3 to each), top with cabbage mixture and serve with lime wedges.

Serves 4.

— Adapted from “Milk Street Shorts: Recipes That Pack a Punch” by Christopher Kimball

©2026 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Like a lot of shoppers, I look for bargains when it comes to choosing which fruits and vegetables to cook each week.

Even in winter, when selections can be slim if you’re not a fan of root veggies and brassicas like cabbage, broccoli and kale, I tend to buy not what looks the yummiest or most interesting, but what’s on sale — or at least has a price I can live with.

When it comes to cauliflower, I won’t spend more than $3 for a head of the nutritious crunchy vegetable my kids called “brains” when they were little. As adults, they love cauliflower after learning how good it tastes when slow-roasted or processed into “rice” for a gluten-free pizza crust.

This flavor-packed plant-forward recipe is another winner for brassica lovers. Instead of breaking the white head into florets or boiling and mashing it like you would potatoes, I sliced the cauliflower into thick “steaks.” Then, after seasoning the slabs with salt, pepper and smoked paprika, I fried it in butter with minced garlic until it was crispy on both sides.

The steaks then went into a hot oven and were slow-roasted until they were tender enough to be pierced with a fork.

The coup de maître? After plating the cauliflower on a swoosh of lemony white bean puree, I topped it with a bright and herbaceous (and garlicky) chimichurri made with fresh parsley and cilantro.

If eating more veggies is a new year’s goal, I succeeded brilliantly with this dish — and you can, too!

When choosing cauliflower, look for creamy white heads that feel heavy, with tightly packed florets. There shouldn’t be any black spots on the curds — that’s a sign the veggie is getting old and on a road to being tossed (though you can still eat it if you cut the spots off).

You can use any mix of fresh herbs for the chimichurri. Just be sure to add some vinegar along with the garlic and crushed red pepper to brighten the flavor.

Cauliflower ‘Steaks’ With White Bean Puree And Chinichurri

For steaks

• 1 large cauliflower
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

For chimichurri

• 1 cup packed fresh parsley leaves, including thin stems
• 1 cup packed cilantro leaves, including thin stems
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 or 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 1/2 -1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

For bean puree

• 2 (14-ounce) cans great northern or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• Juice 1 1/2 lemons
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Prepare the chimichurri. In blender or food processor, combine parsley, cilantro, shallots, garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, vinegar, oregano, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt. Process until the ingredients are minced and combined, adding more olive oil until you reach the desired consistency. Season to taste with more salt or pepper, as desired, then transfer to a small bowl. (Sauce should be more like salad dressing than pesto.)

Prepare beans. Place beans into a blender with the juice of 1 1/2 lemons, 1 minced garlic clove, nutritional yeast and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Blend, adding a little bit of water at a time, until you get a creamy consistency. If you like, add a little garlic powder or white miso for extra oomph.

Chop 2 or 3 thick flat steaks out of the middle of the cauliflower by slicing from the stalk up to the top. Save the florets that fall off for another recipe or add to a pan with a little salt, pepper, paprika and olive oil and stir-fry until brown and crispy to serve on top of the finished dish.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Season steaks with salt, pepper and paprika on both sides. Add butter to a large cast-iron or other oven-proof pan (mine measured 12 inches) and heat over medium-high heat.

When butter is sizzling, add cauliflower slices and garlic and allow to cook for about 5 minutes until you get a good sear on one side of the steaks. (You will want to press it down with a spatula.) Then flip and cook the other side until seared and golden brown.

Place pan in preheated oven and roast until the cauliflower is tender and deeply golden brown, about 20 minutes. (You will be able to easily pierce it with a fork.)

To serve, spoon 1/2 cup bean purée into the middle of a plate and spread it in a circle with a spatula. Place cauliflower steak on top, drizzle with chimichurri and scatter over the fried reserved cauliflower bits, if using.

Serves 3-4.

Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

©2026 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The dried cherries need to soak in a mixture of wine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, herbs de Provence and salt for 2 to 7 days in the fridge, so allow time for this little do-aheadchore.

White Cheddar with Wine-Soaked Dried Cherries and Herbs

Yield: Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup Merlot, or other dry red wine

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2/3 cup dried cherries, half of amount coarsely chopped

8 ounces medium-sharp white cheddar cheese

For serving: sturdy crackers

DIRECTIONS

1. In medium glass or stain-resistant plastic container, combine the wine, oil, vinegar, herbes de Provence, and salt, whisking to dissolve salt. Add the cherries, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 days or up to 7 days, stirring occasionally. Bring the mixture to room temperature before serving.

2. Place cheese on a plate or small platter. Stir room temperature cherry mixture and spoon over and around the cheese. Serve with crackers on the side. Provide a knife.

Source: Adapted from “100 Perfect Pairings” by Jill Silverman Hough

Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at CathyThomasCooks.com.

The new Exploremores represent “the bold, adventurous spirit of every Girl Scout,” said Lisa Johnson, CEO of Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida, and the flavors of chocolate, marshmallow and toasted almond cream “reflect the spirit of exploration at the heart of every Girl Scout.”

Girl Scout Cookie season is in full swing, with troop members spreading out through South Florida to sell boxes through Sunday, Feb. 15. In addition to Exploremores, this year’s selection includes Thin Mints, Samoas, Do-si-dos, Lemon-Ups, Tagalongs, Toffee-tastic, Trefoils and Adventurefuls.

“Cookie sales help our girls unbox a world of possibilities as they learn, grow and thrive,” Johnson said. “Through their experiences, they build courage, confidence and character that last a lifetime.”

All flavors are $6 per box, except for the gluten-free Toffee-tastic, which is $7 — no price increase this year,

“We work hard to keep costs steady to make it easier for our amazing customers to support local Girl Scouts,” Johnson said. “And, of course, all proceeds from the Girl Scout Cookie Sale stay right here in our community to support Girl Scout programs and activities.”

What is Johnson’s favorite cookie?

“My freezer is always stocked with Thin Mints, which have long been my favorite Girl Scout Cookie,” she said. “But I have to admit that the new Exploremores are a strong contender for my new favorite. I love that our cookie lineup has something for everyone — chocolate lovers, peanut butter aficionados, salted caramel fans and more!”

Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida and its council encompass more than 6,900 girls ages 5 to 17 and adult volunteers in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties. Members are expected to sell more than a million boxes this year, including over 50,000 boxes that will be donated to the Cookies for the Military program, Johnson said.

For the 18th year, the program lets supporters donate boxes or cases of Girl Scout Cookies for service members stationed in the United States or overseas.

One way to participate is through their partnership with Duffy’s Sports Grill for Give a Box, Get a Box. Girl Scouts will be at Duffy’s locations throughout Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6. Purchase a box of cookies to donate to service members and get a free box of your favorite flavor.

“Locally, almost 900,000 boxes have been donated since 2009, and our soldiers so appreciate receiving a tasty treat that reminds them of home,” Johnson said.

For the first time, Girl Scouts will get free membership by selling 100 boxes of cookies.

“This is an $80 value and will help ensure that girls continue to have access to our incredible leadership experiences,” Johnson said. “Troops often set aside proceeds from the sale to renew membership each year, and this reward will ensure that troops have even more funds to support the Girl Scout experience for their girls.”

Beyond scooping up boxes to crush your cookie cravings, she encourages everyone to take a moment to speak with the girls.

“Ask her about her goals and what her troop is working toward. Ask her about her favorite part of Girl Scouts,” Johnson said. “And be sure to support her sale — every box counts!”

Use their Find Cookies! tool at gssef.org to enter your ZIP code and locate a booth or troop near you.

The first Pepsi Challenge tour in 50 years didn’t feature regular or even Diet Pepsi. Instead, the blind taste-test showdown last year pitted Pepsi Zero Sugar against Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.

At the Super Bowl next month, it’s Zero Sugar that will star in the beverage company’s Pepsi commercial, not the original formula. PepsiCo Inc. is running a 30-second spot, which can run more than $8 million, to hype the no-calorie drink.

“We’ve gone all in” on Pepsi Zero Sugar in the last two years, said Ram Krishnan, the chief executive officer of PepsiCo North America, so much so that the vast majority of its Pepsi marketing budget is spent promoting Zero Sugar.

It’s not just Pepsi. Across the soda aisle, Diet is out and Zero Sugar is in. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc, for one, didn’t have a single Zero Sugar offering in 2020. Now it has more than 40.

Both Diet and Zero Sugar are calorie free, artificially sweetened imitations of their sugary brethren. Yet, the latter’s branding resonates more with younger, wellness-minded consumers, who shun sugar but don’t vibe with calorie counting or diet culture.

“The word ‘diet’ is from a different era. For a lot of younger consumers, it’s radioactive,” said Kevin Ryan, chief executive officer of Malachite Strategy and Research.

Last year a viral TikTok likened Diet Coke to a “fridge cigarette”: a guilty, unhealthy pleasure that takes the edge off. Zero Sugar, on the other hand, has more of a “health halo,” Krishnan, the Pepsi executive, said.

Zero Sugar sodas are a small but growing part of US soft drink sales. Last year, they accounted for 52% of the category’s sales growth, according to Circana data provided to Bloomberg. Both Pepsi and Coke sold more of their Zero Sugar offerings in the first nine months of 2025 than the same period a year prior. Sales of full sugar Pepsi and Coke declined during that time, as did Diet Pepsi. Diet Coke was up slightly.

It’s a sharp turn for soda’s fortunes in the US, where sales by volume have fallen 27% over the last two decades as more consumers opt for water and energy drinks instead.

PepsiCo’s success with its Zero Sugar soda represents a bright spot for the company, which has struggled elsewhere to adapt to changing tastes. The soda and snack-maker’s shares have posted annual declines for the past three years, which made it the target of an activist investor.

Elliott Investment Management took a roughly $4 billion stake in the company last year and has since pushed for products that appeal to a more health-conscious consumer and for PepsiCo to focus on its core brands.

For Madilyn Hovey, diet soda “just has that weird artificial taste to it.” While sipping a Dr Pepper Cherry Zero Sugar, the 25-year-old said “it’s easier to feel like you’re drinking the real thing.”

When Zero Sugar lines first launched, they were meant to taste closer to the real thing than Diet sodas. Since then, many have reformulated their sweetener mix to get even closer to the stuff made with sugar.

Reaching Gen-Z drinkers like Hovey — many of whom didn’t grow up drinking soda — is key to Keurig Dr Pepper’s strategy, said Derek Dabrowski, senior vice president of marketing at the maker of more than a dozen soda brands, including Sunkist, A&W and Canada Dry.

Six years ago, while competitors’ Zero Sugar drinks were multiplying, the company only had full sugar and Diet versions of its sodas.

“We were a little late to the party,” Dabrowski said.

The upside of that was the company could see what was working for rivals. Keurig Dr Pepper found that flavored Zero Sugar sodas were selling better than Zero Sugar colas, which aligned well with its portfolio.

From there, it decided to get into Zero in a big way. It axed Diet Sunkist, A&W and Canada Dry, replacing them with Zero Sugar options. (It kept Diet Dr Pepper, which has a loyal following.) It also added dozens of new flavors, like Dr Pepper Blackberry Zero Sugar and Dr Pepper Strawberries and Cream Zero Sugar.

While there was some internal anxiety that the changes would alienate customers, they didn’t, Dabrowski said. “It was a risk worth taking that has paid off.”

Keurig Dr Pepper’s US sales of beverages like soft drinks rose 14.4% in the third quarter to $2.7 billion, helping offset weakness in its coffee division. The company last year announced plans to split its refreshment beverage and coffee businesses in two, a move that some analysts say will allow the soda-maker to better compete with PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.

Leaning into variety has particularly helped win over Gen Z consumers. The company’s research has found that 72% of them try a new beverage every month, compared to just 16% of Boomers.

The limited-edition Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut — inspired from seeing people on social media add coconut syrup to Dr Pepper — was the company’s top-performing limited-time soda ever. Of course, it came in Zero Sugar, too.

Big soda brands are “really smart to create those multiple offerings,” said Ben Goodwin, CEO of Olipop Inc., a prebiotic soda that’s also winning over Gen Z with its health halo.

“I’m not an all-or-none kind of person,” said Megan Stitz, a 26-year-old physical therapist in Des Moines, Iowa, who recently started drinking Zero Sugar sodas to cut down on processed sugar. “I will still enjoy a full-sugar Coke if I want to.”

To that end, Pepsi has decided to bring back its taste test again this year with a new challenge. This time, people wearing blindfolds will decide in some markets if they prefer Pepsi Wild Cherry Zero Sugar or Coke Cherry Zero Sugar. Last year, Pepsi claims it won the battle in all 34 cities, including in Coke’s home turf, Atlanta.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Sure, but this is South Florida, and we’re a little bit (OK, very!) extra. So add in waterfront or rooftop views, immersive experiences or other completely outside-the-box ideas.

With Valentine’s Day just a few weeks away on Feb. 14 (yes, it’s a Saturday this year, so even more pressure to get those coveted reservations), we’re inspired to seek out the best romantic restaurant for the first topic in our 2026 Best of South Florida Dining series.

We’re looking for the best swoon-worthy spots in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties to take your sweetheart for a memorable meal.

As always, we leave the floor open to you, our readers, to nominate your favorite restaurants and then we’ll put the Top 5 places up for a vote later.

To submit your nomination, fill out the form below (or click here if you can’t see it). You have until Wednesday, Feb. 11, to make your voice heard.

Don’t forget to tell us what makes the restaurant a romantic spot. Is it the food, ambiance or something else? We want to hear all about it. Plus, your comments may be featured in future stories.

Don’t miss previous Best of South Florida Dining series winners!

Top Chinese takeout

Top subs

Top matzo ball soup

Top waterfront restaurant

Top food truck

Top brunch

Top sushi

Top craft beer

Top steak

Top Cuban sandwich

Top ice cream

Top pizza

Top burger 

Top donut

Top BBQ

Top bagel

Top fried chicken

Black Jack’s Rum Bar & Grille dropped anchor in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village on Monday, Jan. 26, with a gastropub menu of burgers, salads, prime-rib sandwiches and a rum wall stocked with 380 rare bottles. It’s Crosby and Twining’s second port-of-call in a year, after their flagship Black Jack’s debuted last January in Davie’s Zona Village apartment complex.

Aside from a Jolly Roger-inspired logo above the entrance, the pirate decor stops at Black Jack’s front door. Those expecting a dining room strung with ship riggings, rusty anchors and more buccaneer-chic theming will instead find a clean industrial space with wood-stained tables, flat-screen TVs, brass lantern lights and aquamarine epoxy floors that evoke the ocean. And that’s intentional, Crosby says.

“We decided we didn’t want it to feel tacky like a Disney attraction,” Crosby tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I wanted people to feel like they’re on Exuma Island in the Bahamas. I wanted to elevate it and fill it with a menu with Caribbean influences, because most rums are made in the Caribbean.”

Black Jack’s expects to be docked downtown for a while, Crosby says. Her father, Fort Lauderdale restaurateur Ted Sabarese, originally signed a 10-year lease in 2023 for the freestanding building on Northeast Third Avenue, across the street from Peter Feldman Park, while it was under construction. (Sabarese, now 85, is semi-retired and leaves the day-to-day operation of Black Jack’s to Crosby and Twining.)

Twining and Crosby took a circuitous route to running a rummy pirate tavern. The son of a Baltimore minister, Twining was raised in a conservative Christian family and majored in classical voice and Bible ministry at Pennsylvania’s Lancaster Bible College. After graduating, he bartended for the next 16 years, which took him from California to Delaware to Florida.

Crosby, a New Jersey native, went from a career track in marine biology to breeding horses on her Davie farm while managing and bartending restaurants owned by Sabarese and his late business partner John Amodeo (The Drunken Taco, Giovanni’s Coal Fire Pizza, Margarita Cafe, Oasis Cafe). After Amodeo’s death in 2022, she took over her father’s restaurants, she says, but now she and Twining operate the two Black Jack’s locations exclusively.

The menu is identical to the Davie original, which brightens American gastropub fare with Caribbean flavors. Dishes include sous vide-cooked Baby Back Ribs, finished on the chargrill and coated in passionfruit rum barbecue sauce, and a 10-ounce Pacific Islander Grilled Pork Chop glazed with sweet-and-sour huli-huli, a piquant fusion of pineapple, sour orange, garlic and ginger. There’s also Ropa Vieja with fried sweet plantains and a 10-ounce churrasco-style steak accented with chimichurri.

Sides include Bahamian-style peas and rice, garlic mashed potatoes and jumbo asparagus.

Black Jack’s also carries Bahamian conch fritters, pork-belly chicharrones, chorizo paella, Argentine choripanes (grilled chorizo sandwiches), a chargrilled frita Cubana (a beef-chorizo blend burger topped with potato straws, lettuce and spicy ketchup) and Black Jack’s Fish + Chips (a 10-ounce snapper filet with coleslaw, steak fries and lemon-cilantro aioli.

Twining and Crosby say they will soon add weekly specials that mirror their Davie counterpart, including all-you-can-eat fish and chips on Mondays and a $25 prime rib-and-shrimp combo on Wednesdays.

“Fort Lauderdale is a carbon copy of Davie,” Twining says. “We’ve got about nine rum distributors and we carry pretty much everything. Aged and premium, white and unaged, rums distilled in pot stills and wooden column stills from Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana.”

Their most expensive rums? That would be the 30-year Flor de Caña, a Nicaraguan single-barrel that costs $160 per two-ounce shot (or $1,000 for the bottle); and Black Tot Last Consignment, a Caribbean blend created by the British Royal Navy, with notes of vanilla and black fruit with a woody tobacco finish. That’s $150 per two-ounce shot, Twining says.

There are 13 cocktails and six mocktails, from Davie Jones’ Locker (a blend of Martinique’s Saint James, Indonesia’s Nusa Caña and Barbados’ Planteray rums plus orgeat, flaming lime and pineapple) to the Monkey Bite (scotch, spiced pear liqueur, ginger beer and dehydrated pear) to a virgin cucumber gimlet (muddled cucumber, lime, club soda).

“At our core, we’re an American grill,” Twining says. “But everything is designed to be paired with a pirate’s favorite drink: rum.”

Black Jack’s Rum Bar & Grille, at 505 NE Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale, opened on Monday, Jan. 26. Go to BlackJacksRumBar.com.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. We cull through inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for violations such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.

Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up. If you spot a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, visit myfloridalicense.com. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)

BROWARD COUNTY

Patrizia’s
1544 SE Third Court, Deerfield Beach

Ordered shut: Jan. 20

Why: 25 violations (four high-priority), including:

• Four live roaches “on floor at cook line in kitchen.”
• At least 30 dead roaches “inside oven” and “on floor” at cook line in kitchen and “inside clear light shield on ceiling in prep area.”
• About 20 live insects “inside bag of dry macaroni in dry storage” and “crawling on shelf in dry storage area.” A stop sale was ordered for the dry macaroni.
• A stop sale also was ordered because there was “no tag on oysters stored in four-door, reach-in cooler in prep area.”
• “Observed at least four employees working at cook line in kitchen with no hair restraints.”
• “Observed employee drinking from mug at cook line in kitchen.”
• “Observed tray of raw beef stored on shelf above container of cooked meatballs in walk-in cooler.”
• “Ceiling tiles and vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance in kitchen.”

Status: Reopened Jan. 21 after a follow-up inspection found eight basic violations.