St. Petersburg Times

Chefs on feeding preschool kids:

-- Keep trying. Studies show that you may have to offer a new food 10 to 16 times before they'll accept it.

-- Mixing bites. A new food goes over better in the company of a familiar food.

-- Make only one meal. Prepare one family meal and let everyone eat the parts of it that appeal to them.

Sources of omega-3

Fish -- Wild salmon, tuna, herring, lake trout, sardines, mackerel

Oils -- Flaxseed, canola, soybean, sunflower, walnut, olive oils

Seeds -- Pumpkin seeds, ground flaxseeds, sesame seeds

Nuts -- Almost all, especially almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts

Leafy greens -- Spinach, kale, collards

Invention of the modern acoustic piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, Italy. It is believed he built the piano around 1700. The standard acoustic upright and grand pianos had arrived at their current forms by the late 19th century. The last major innovations, in the late 1800s, included:

WHERE TO STAY: We stayed at Hotel 1898 on La Rambla, Barcelona's very touristy pedestrian thoroughfare. There are many hotels along La Rambla, which is close to the cruise port, running the gamut from luxury hotels to low-budget, communal hostels. Obviously, prices vary. A double at the Hotel 1898 was about $236 a night.

"Word of mouth" is always a good way to choose a caterer, but just "mouth" will do quite nicely.

Remember meals you have eaten at other people's parties and functions: that delicious Peking duck for your co-worker's birthday, the stunning whole salmon with cucumber scales at your cousin's bar mitzvah. Contact these caterers and start asking a lot of questions.

What to ask

Fresh berries offer an opportunity to enjoy cranberries in a different way. Here's a tip: Buy more bags than you need and toss the extras into the freezer. That way, you can extend the season into next summer.

Rafting the canyon

Between the weight of schoolbooks, supplies and lunches, kids carry quite a load. And if a backpack doesn't fit correctly, the result can be headaches, back pain and other health issues.

When you take your kids shopping for backpacks, keep these tips in mind from All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla.:

If you go ...

We asked two avid bike commuters -- Alan Snel, director of South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers, and Anna Vasquez, an architect with HOK in Tampa -- for some tips on cycling to work:

-- Plan ahead. When Vasquez knows she's going to bike to work in the morning, she plans her outfit the night before. "I select clothing that won't get wrinkled," she said.