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1950’s Easy-Slice Prune Loaf ~ Retro Recipe

post from Sebastian Cooks on 03 November 2009 04:42:00 PM. © Sebastian Cooks

Sorting through my grandmother’s recipe box, I know now where I picked up the basics of baking.

I still make this one with cranberries.

Read The Full Article:
http://sebastiancooks.com/1950s-easy-slice-prune-loaf-retro-recipe/

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Send the Snickerdoodles Recipe!

post from A Tasty Thought by JG on 03 November 2009 04:23:00 PM. © A Tasty Thought by JG

One evening last week my older son sent me an e-mail with a request ? Could you send me the Snickerdoodles recipe? A mom who loves to cook and to bake will respond to this type of request very quickly! It dealt with baking. I also knew that if he wanted a particular recipe, it was definitely a favorite from his childhood. When he was an undergrad in college I baked, packaged and mailed (click here) these soft, yummy cinnamon flavored cookies to him. A couple of years later, packages were mailed to his younger brother. This treat has also been mailed as part of birthday presents.

Now, his request could be answered very easily with a click here and a click there. On my website I posted this scrumptious recipe, perhaps one year ago. Clicking on the link would give my son easy access to a printable recipe card (click here).

O.K., I did add these little extra instructions: Store the cookies in an airtight container - they last about 3 - 4 days, before becoming a little crispy. Usually this favorite is eaten by then, anyway. And ... they do not freeze well.

Ah, Snickerdoodles, I need to bake a batch this week, also. :) Soon, I will be getting a text message telling me how everything worked out.

Do you bake Snickerdoodles? You and your family would enjoy them. Snickerdoodles look and taste so good! After the tasty cookies are baked, our cookie canister is emptied quickly. For that reason, I never have a picture to share of this delicious family favorite.

Enjoy!
Yummy!

Read The Full Article:
http://atastythought.blogspot.com/2009/11/send-snickerdoodles-recipe.html

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The Winter Late Fall of Our Discontent

post from What Smells So Good? on 03 November 2009 04:07:00 PM. © What Smells So Good?

Now that we've had to do away with our beloved Daylight Savings Time for another year, it feels like we've managed to enter a perpetual "twilight zone". We get up in pitch-black surroundings now, instead of with sun shining into our windows, and by the time I'm en route to school we've barely made it past that first glow. Coming home is the same story, depending on the day of the week and my schedule! Until the snow starts flying, though, I'll be content with just the dark and dim drives. Talk to me in February, and chances are it'll be a different story!

Being the time of the year that it is, between the shifting times and ever-popular midterm exams (we're in week 2 of 3 right now!), everyone's time is at a higher premium than ever before. Meals that can be whipped together, dumped into a bowl and dished up so that we can all get back to everything else are a priority, and the less fiddling around with bits and pieces of intricate recipes the better. Of course, a good meal, and preferably a healthy one, is not something that either my mom nor I are particularly willing to sacrifice. I've been turning her into quite the foodie, in fact... though she'd never admit to it in "mixed" (i.e. "normal") company. Sure enough, though, give us our Saturdays at the grocery store and the occasional trip to a fun market downtown, and we are some happy home cooks!

Finding a way to balance my "gourmet" yearnings and my "get-home-at-7:30PM" schedule was one of the main causes of this recipe's birth. I love rice (especially in sushi!!) but my favourite, long-grain brown variety takes 45 minutes to slowly simmer away. Even making a bunch ahead of time and freezing it (which I do occasionally) leaves me with more or less identical bricks of grain. If you want something rich and decadent - say, a risotto - not only do you have to cook from fresh but you also have to stand and stir... not hard work, for sure, but not exactly A-1 on my list of to-dos even on the best of days. Enter the anathema of rice connoisseurs everywhere... Minute Rice.

Yes, I know! Don't take away my food blogging license! The mushy, disintegrating texture that Minute Rice takes on as it cooks is perfect for things like risottos and rice pudding, and apparently it's even good for sushi (though I haven't been brave enough to test that theory yet!). Add to that the fact that we had a decent sized box of brown Minute Rice in our pantry, a lemon, some asparagus and even the remnants of a tub of fat free Philly in our fridge, and dinner was jazzed up just a little bit more. It's not risotto like your Italian "Nonna" would make, or probably even admit to knowing you cooked, but it's not dry cereal and ice cream. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Super-Fast "Fauxotto"
Serves 1
1/2 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Minute Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
6 oz asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp Kraft Philadelphia Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese (98% fat free)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat non-stick cooking spray or 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add shallot and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
Add rice, stirring well to mix with shallot and garlic.
Stir in broth and bring to a boil.
Add asparagus in an even layer over rice mixture.
Cover and reduce the heat to low.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add cream cheese, lemon zest and juice.
Continue mixing until cheese melts and mixture is well combined.
Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
Top with black pepper and serve

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 226.5
Total Fat: 2.4 g
Cholesterol: 5.0 mg
Sodium: 584.8 mg
Total Carbs: 46.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.6 g
Protein: 9.3 g

Read The Full Article:
http://yummysmells.blogspot.com/2009/11/winter-late-fall-of-our-discontent.html

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BUTTERMILK PIE WITH WHIPPED HONEY CRÈME FRAICH

post from Tyler Florence on 03 November 2009 03:19:54 PM. © Tyler Florence

Yield: 6-8 servingsTime: 2 hour 15 minutesPie Shell:3 cups all-purpose flour2 teaspoons sugar1 teaspoon kosher salt1/2 cup vegetable shortening1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes1/2 cup cold waterPie Filling:1 stick of unsalted butter, softened1 1/2 cups sugar3 large eggs, separated1/4 cup all-purpose flour2 cups buttermilk1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice1/4 teaspoon ...

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http://www.tylerflorence.com/blog/?p=821

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Camp Blogaway Bootcamp for Food & Recipe Bloggers

post from All Posts on 03 November 2009 02:41:06 PM. © All Posts

Camp Blogaway is the original bootcamp for food and recipe bloggers. Coming up May 14-16, 2010, it takes place in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear, Southern California. A full weekend, including lodging and meals, seminars, exercises, panels and more for $325. http://www.campblogaway.com

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ismyblogburning.com/camp-blogaway-bootcamp-food-recipe-bloggers

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Adopt an Herb at Nacional 27

post from Learning Resource Center on 03 November 2009 02:15:23 PM. © Learning Resource Center

Nacional 27 is hosting a cocktail party on Wednesday, November 4 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. In addition to cocktails, guests will receive free tapas and have the opportunity to adopt an herb plant. Mixologist Adam Seger will authorize the adoption certificates and make sure new parents have all the information they need to care [...]

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http://chiclibrary.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/adopt-an-herb-at-nacional-27/

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From the Halloween menu: Risotto alla zucca

post from Tilt Project on 03 November 2009 12:52:43 PM. © Tilt Project

Recipe 126: This is a risotto my mum uses to cook often in autumn and not just for Halloween. I really like the taste, because delicate and unique thanks to the rosemary and sage together. And for this Halloween i decided to cook it again but the big deal wasn’t the recipe, but the pumpkin [...]

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http://tiltproject.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/from-the-halloween-menu-risotto-alla-
zucca/

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Buttermilk Pancakes

post from Zaiqa on 03 November 2009 11:47:24 AM. © Zaiqa

Light and fluffy, tender and slightly tart buttermilk pancakes, what better way to start a lazy weekend morning. This classic American breakfast/brunch will surely delight you and your family.Buttermilk PancakesRecipe Source: ChatelaineMakes –[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://zaiqa.net/?p=3261

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Where To Buy Ethical Meat

My friend Rob wrote me the following e-mail yesterday and because it's such a good question, I thought I'd answer it right here on the blog.

Hey Adam, I was reading reviews of [Jonathan Safran] Foer's new book "Eating Animals" on being a vegetarian and renewing my pledge to only eat "humane" meat -- free range, cruelty free, local, organic, etc. But I cannot for the life of me figure out which places are "approved." Is there any way to figure this out? Would this make for a good blog? It seems to be a topic a lot of people are talking about... - Rob

Dear Rob,

This is a tricky, sticky issue and one that I struggle with all the time. For example, on a very small scale: eggs. When I go to the supermarket and stare at all the different egg options I am baffled. Do I buy free-range eggs? Organic eggs that aren't free-range? If I buy local eggs at the farmer's market are they free-range and organic? What is an organic egg? Is that better than a local egg? Is that better than a free-range egg? And so on.

But you are asking, specifically, about ethical meat. That gets even MORE confusing, for starters because you can't trust the words you see on the meat at your supermarket. Did you know, for example, that there's no one regulating the word "free-range" as it applies to chicken? So even if your "organic, free-range" chicken is labeled as such, there's a good chance that that chicken isn't very free at all. In Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (which is basically the Bible on this subject), Pollan goes to visit some "organic, free-range" birds and writes: "Compared to conventional chickens, I was told, these organic birds have it pretty good: They get a few more square inches of living space per bird (though it was hard to see how they could be packed together much more tightly), and because there are no hormones or antibiotics in their feed to accelerate growth, they get to live a few days longer. Though under the circumstances it's not clear that a longer life is necessarily a boon."

The answer to your question, then, is clearly not the supermarket (though I am guilty, I must admit, of buying free-range, organic chickens at the supermarket anyway, because of convenience) but rather, the farmer's market.

If you want ethical meat in New York, get thee to Union Square. On Saturdays, especially, you will find many ethical meat options. You can talk to the farmers directly and ask them about their practices; some farmers even flout their ethical practices as a way to entice engaged shoppers like you!

The only problem is, it can be prohibitively expensive. One of the best meat purveyors in Union Square, Flying Pigs Farm, raises heritage breed pigs as humanely as possible (see this Oprah article for details). Because their pigs are treated so well and the pigs themselves are such superior breeds, any pork you buy from Flying Pigs will taste wildly better than the shrink-wrapped unethical pork you'll buy at your supermarket. But a package of pork chops from D'Agostino's (according to their website) will cost you $5.49, at Flying Pigs a package of 2 chops will cost you $18.75. So buying ethical meat on a regular basis, unless you're extraordinarily rich, may prove to be financially impossible.

The solution, many would argue, is to eat less meat and, when you do buy meat, to buy the expensive ethical meat from the farmer's market. As our friend Diana likes to point out, "Meat SHOULD be expensive. It's only factory farming that made meat cheap in the first place." At the very least, go to the farmer's market and buy one thing, go home and cook it and see if you taste the difference. From my own experience (check out these meals I cooked with Flying Pigs meat: pork ribs, pork shoulder) just knowing that the meat was well-treated makes a HUGE difference. You feel good about yourself while you eat it.

After that, I leave it to my readers to offer their advice. Help us out, ethical eaters--where do you buy your meat? Tell us in the comments.