I know it's been a miserable week or so for my blogging. As with my exercise regime, I'm spotty at best at laying down electronic brick.

But always with the best of intentions. Or at least marginally good, if you squint and the light is good.

Alright, in the name of brisk weather, I announce that there have been two new inductees to the order of the Frozen Food Hall of Fame. The American Frozen Food Institute and National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association today announced that Frozen Food Digest publisher Saul Beck and The Schwan Food Company chairman of the board Alfred Schwan have made it into the promised (but chilly) land. The inductees will be honored at a reception on February 26, 2008, at the AFFI Frozen Food Convention in San Diego, California (is that a good place to hold a frozen food conference, exactly?).

I know the between-the-lines message here is snarky. But stop for a minute and think: Where would American cuisine be without frozen food? As time goes by it seems less essential to our happiness, but for decades a cornucopia of frozen foods brought diversity and nutritional necessities to many of our lives.

Saul Beck has served the frozen food industry for 45 years. He began his career in 1963 as a sales manager and quickly rose to become publisher of Frozen Food Digest, a leading frozen food industry publication.

Alfred Schwan is chairman of the board of The Schwan Food Company and an instrumental figure in the company’s rise to becoming the fifth largest frozen food company in the world. He joined Schwan’s Sales Enterprises, Inc. in 1964, where he helped develop the Schwan ice cream manufacturing and home delivery businesses. Over time, Mr. Schwan played a pivotal role in the growth of the company’s pizza business and became manufacturing director for the entire corporation.

Let's toast them with a cold one.