Establishing goodwill and building on an already strong foundation. That was the motive behind the "Taste of Korea" event in Washington.

A number of activities were held to help foster better understanding between Korean and American cultures. Youngsters enjoyed everything from a cooking lesson and arts and crafts to live music and a martial arts demonstration.

Twenty middle school students from Alice Deal Middle School in Washington were invited to the festivities. They were joined by twenty Korean American students - all of them children of employees of the Embassy of Korea.
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• After a customer left her a cruel "tip," one Seattle bartender took to the blogosphere with a vengeance. One problem: she posted a photo of the wrong patron. - Seattle Pi

• Chefs are ditching sea urchin foams for the cookery of yore. - Wall Street Journal

• Flip the switch! Scientists may have discovered how to "turn off" food allergies. - MSNBC

• Dr. Pepper Ten buffs up its diet soda marketing campaign with the slogan "no women allowed." - USA Today

• You'll be the most stylish ghoul on the block with these spooktacular trick-or-treat bags. - Epicurious

FoodCorps is sending passionate, dedicated service members to American communities hoping to revolutionize the way we eat.

Many of us have heard the statistics - about one-third of American adults and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years are obese. One in seven low-income, preschool-aged children are also considered as such.

These numbers can be overwhelming, and when faced with a stagnating economy, high unemployment and a deeply divided Congress, it’s hard to see a solution.

But in 2009, when President Obama signed the Kennedy Serve America Act into law, expanding the AmeriCorps program, one group of people saw the opportunity for change.
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While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

We're kooky for cookies 'til Halloween - October is National Cookie Month!

Somebody warn Mrs. Fields (and the cookie aisle of your favorite neighborhood grocery store), because a colossal cookie maelstrom is about to start and rage on all month long! October is the perfect month to satisfy your crunchy, crumbly and chewy cravings, or at least get a head-start on the holiday season.

The cookies that we know and love - with butter, sugar and eggs all creamed together - didn't come about until the 18th century, but these little treats have been around for quite a long time. We started out with cookie-like hard wafers, although they were short on sugar. Once the sweet stuff hit 7th century Persia, cookies would only rise in popularity, spreading across Europe by the 1300s.
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Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.
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