There's a whole lot of mix-ins going on in Ben & Jerry's new ice cream flavors (not that we would expect anything less). Strawberry Cheesecake contains fruit chunks and graham cracker pieces in a creamy berry ice cream; Fossil Fuel is chocolate indulgence with chocolate cookie pieces, fudge dinosaurs and a fudge swirl flavoring vanilla ice cream; Chocolate Therapy will cure any sugar deficiencies with chocolate cookies and chocolate pudding ice cream. Each pint costs $3.10-$4.50. One-time-use grill liners

If cleaning the grill grate is not your favorite part of outdoor cooking, a new product has come to the rescue. New from CleanBBQ are aluminum disposable grill liners that fit on grill grates, eliminating the need for cleaning the grates before or after grilling.

The liner allows the grill flavor to reach the meat and lets the fat drip off. The liners are intended for one-time use only and, according to the company, are made of heavy-duty foil, like disposable foil pans.

They're sold at The Home Depot and at www.cleanbbq.com . A pack of 20 is $17.95. Gourmet green

Mache, a green that looks like spinach but has a milder, slightly nutty flavor, has been gaining attention with the gourmet lettuce crowd. If you want part of the action, Earthbound Farm is selling organic mache and mache blend (with frisee and arugula adding spark) in 3.5- and 4-ounce containers, respectively. Find both varieties at Whole Foods Markets and Sunset Foods for $4-$5 each. A smarter cantaloupe

No more thumping and sniffing. Dulcinea extra sweet Tuscan-style cantaloupes tell you when they are ripe. Exterior grooves change from dark green to golden-cream as the fruit matures, letting buyers know the ripeness of the fruit they are getting.

The melons are available in grocery stores nationwide and have a suggested retail price of $2.99 to $4.99. For a list of local stores where they are sold, visit www.dulcinea.com . Tiny treats

We couldn't stop eating Pan Ducale's Bastoncini, small biscotti-like cookies from Italy. These crisp, flavor-packed treats are just 20-30 calories each and taste great alone or with coffee or tea. Flavors include almond, raisin and chocolate chip. Each 8.8-ounce box costs about $3.50. Stashing salsa

Q: How long can I store an opened jar of salsa in the refrigerator?

- C.D., Akron, Ohio.

A: That depends on whether you're talking about a regular tomato-based salsa or a gourmet salsa such as mango-peach. It also depends on whether you let the open jar sit on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours while you snacked in front of the TV.

But let's assume you've promptly refrigerated an open jar of ordinary tomato-based salsa. It should remain fresh for seven to 10 days, said a representative of Frito Lay, which makes Tostitos brand salsas. Cream puffs make a comeback

Sure, cream puffs are chock-full of fat and calories and thin is in. But the treats that fell flat among diet-conscious Americans decades ago are making a comeback via Japan.

Dueling cream puff shops - one a Japanese standby, another a U.S. upstart - have popped up on the East Coast, and one plans to expand soon to other parts of the country.

The majority of the population doesn't watch their calorie intake, as can be seen with the country's high obesity rate, said Ron Paul, president of Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based food consulting and research company.

"I think they are a treat," Paul said. "There are enough consumers who are willing to treat themselves frequently or once in a while."

Health concerns seem to be the furthest things from the minds of the people standing in lines on the East Coast at Japan-based Beard Papa's and Choux Factory, which is New York-based but has Japanese owners.

The owners of both chains figured the decades-long popularity of the treats in Japan would easily translate to the United States. Both chains opened their first U.S. stores in New York last year, relying mostly on word of mouth, and have received nonstop inquiries from people wanting to buy a franchise.

The shops sell cream puffs filled with whipped cream custard in flavors including chocolate, green tea and mocha, at prices that range from $1.25 to $1.65 each. Secret's out on silicone

Baker's Secret takes on the cooking material du jour with its line of bright orange Flexible Silicone Bakeware. We got great results with the pans we tried, especially the 8-1/4-by-3-3/4-inch loaf pan. A 9-inch round and 8-inch-square pan also are offered. The silicone is heat-resistant to 500 degrees and needs to be placed on a baking sheet while cooking (for stability). The pans are dishwasher-safe and cost $9-$10 each at many Wal-Mart stores and online at amazon.com. Time to preserve that abundant fruit

Basic information and recipes for marmalades and jams, jellies and other preserves are handily packaged for aspiring cooks in Madelaine Bullwinkel's "Gourmet Preserves Chez Madelaine" (Surrey Books, $14.95).

The book's 150 recipes guide readers not only to making the preserves, but also easy muffins, scones and other desserts that use preserves as ingredients or can be served with your fruit confections.

Bullwinkel teaches French cooking techniques at her Chez Madelaine Cooking School, in Hinsdale, Ill. America's top five restaurant cities

Bon Appetit magazine's September issue, its 12th annual restaurant issue, names what its editors consider America's top five restaurant cities. Four of them - New York, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans - are longtime favorites for highly rated dining out, but perhaps it's a bit of a surprise to find Las Vegas now among the top five. (The cities are not named in ranking order.)

Not such a surprise to the magazine. Editor in chief Barbara Fairchild says Las Vegas isn't really up there all of a sudden. In her September "letter from the editor," she says Bon Appetit has been reporting on the scene there for a long time.

Readers not resident in the top five cities should note that the articles describing favorite eating places in each of the five include chefs' recipes you can cook at home anywhere - and that Boston, Philadelphia and more than 20 other cities are also covered in the issue.

- Wire services