Crumbs 

Avid Food Network viewers may soon catch a glimpse of Vermont. A couple of weeks ago, a woman from the cable channel called Gary and Patty Sundberg of Island Ice Cream and asked them to make a "casting tape." Relates Gary, "Patty and I were so overwhelmed, we asked that they call us back in September."

What's keeping them so busy? Aside from traveling around to summer events, the Sundbergs are supplying a new business, Rookie's Root Beer of Burlington, even though they swore they wouldn't take on any more accounts. They broke their rule because, "He's a small business, and that's the way we started . . . hopefully he'll benefit from having our ice cream."

Can't make it to the Garlic and Herb Festival in Bennington? You can get your pungent fun closer to home at the Garlic Harvest Festival, hosted by the Food Works at the Two Rivers Center in Montpelier on September 15.

The event will feature live music and cooking demos with a side of social consciousness. Says a press release, "One hope is that the garlic festival will help make central Vermonters more aware of local food systems and join Food Works in confronting the growing problem and root causes of hunger and poor nutrition here in the region."

Blogs . . . are they the cheapest form of advertising? This month, some local food businesses have been getting good word of modem.

The blogger who writes the popular Urban Girl's Almanac may be surrounded by specialty chocolate shops in the metropolis of Boise, Idaho, but that doesn't keep her from buying the Vermont stuff. On August 21, she touted the superiority of Lake Champlain Chocolates, LLC, then related the company's history in her own colorful terms.

The tale she weaves, paraphrased from information on the company's website, is of a restaurant owner, Jim Lampman of the Ice House, who gave truffles to his staff as holiday gifts. The pastry chef shunned them, because "apparently, they tasted like waxy poo-poo. Or, something to that effect." The chef whipped up some chocolates of his own, Lampman loved 'em, and he eventually sold the Ice House and went into the cocoa biz.

Last week, lo-tech Burlington resto Stone Soup made an appearance on a blog called Weddingbee.com. Says blogger Mrs. Bluebell, "The food [at a catered cocktail party] was so fantastic, and Avery [Rifkin] (the head guy we dealt with) was the best, and we loved all the servers." The blurb is accompanied by a description of the menu and some sexy pics of asparagus and mixed olives with herbs.