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Veggie Wednesday: Gardenfork.tv
2008-07-23 06:01:00
A couple weeks ago I came across a quirky little video about garlic scapes, something I had seen quite a bit but knew nothing about. By the time the video (which also captivated my 18 year-old daughter) was over, I knew all I needed to know and picked up some scapes on my trip to the local farmer's market. Man, were they good. I knew they would be though, because I had that great video to teach me. Where did I find this little gem? Gardenfork.tv.So, what is Gardenfork.tv? Well, it's Eric, this guy who describes himself thusly, "I have this eclectic background and know enough to be dangerous about many things. And I have this compelling drive to share with everyone the stuff that swirls through my head, whether the world wants it or not."He made these great little down-home videos and pitched them to the big guys. They all turned him down (and I know they'll be sorry some day!) so he did his own thing and developed Gardenfork.tv. His videos are not the highly polished type with a ...
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Mail From Japan
2008-07-18 16:50:00
I love when the mailman comes. I know it's juvenile to get all excited when I hear the clunk of the mailbox lid as it opens, but I can't help myself. Most of the time I get what everybody else gets - bills, but some of the time it's good stuff like products for review, birthday cards or packages from friends.A few weeks ago I got the "good" kind of mail - a package full of goodies from my friend Jodie in Japan . She had told me about a few cookbooks she no longer wanted and let me know she'd be sending them. Well, I'm not one to say "no" to a cookbook and I've had friends send others as well, so I waited excitedly for my package.When it first showed I thought it looked odd - it was packaged in a bag from the Japanese postal service. Not a box like we'd send from here, but a large shopping type bag, really neat.The surprise came when I opened the bag and found more than cookbooks! Take a gander at all Jodie packed in there:Look at all that stuff! Four really great Japanese cook...
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Veggie Wednesday: My Garden
2008-07-16 15:51:00
It may be a healthy interest; it may be an odd fascination; it may be OCD - I don't know which, but I look forward to my daily morning walk to the backyard to check on (and often photograph) my garden. I head out in the morning to see what's grown overnight (yes, overnight!) and then head to the front of the house to check on the flowers' progress.Every night before bed I water both gardens and look forward to doing it all over again the next day.I've always been interested in the things we make or grow ourselves. I think growing up in the 70's had something to do with it. Everything we consumed came from somewhere else; a can, a bag, a box or a wrapper. Machines had taken over many jobs that had once been done by hand and crops from all over the world made their way into shiny plastic containers to be picked up, opened and dumped onto a plate.One of the largest influences in my life was the Little House on the Prairie series of books. I devoured them over and over and stored a...
More About: Garden , Wednesday

Fried Squash Blossoms
2008-07-12 18:59:00
I've been growing zucchini for several years now and I never really took the time to pay enough attention to determine which flowers were male and which were female. As a result I've missed out on many a fine dish of fried blossoms.This year I went out and took photos as the buds, and then flowers, were growing and figured it out. Now I'm going to pass on this wealth of info to you - aren't you happy to have found my blog? The male flowers are attached to longer and thin stems. It's was fairly easy to figure this out once I took into account the fact that none of those stems was sturdy enough to support a growing zucchini. Then I found the zucchini that were growing and not only are the female flowers smaller, they are attached directly to the tip of the growing zucchini, which grow from the base of the plant.So, there you have it. Leave the girls behind and pick the boys as soon as they open. Rinse them off, make sure there are no bugs inside and remove the stamens. Now they'...
More About: Squash , Fried

Local Flavor - Part I
2008-07-10 22:13:00
I was afforded the small luxury yesterday of stopping by a local farmers' market, Elias Market at 3131 Linden St. Bethlehem (Phone: (610) 867-8111). I've driven by many times and used to shop there often when it was Pichel's Farm Market. I'm not sure why I haven't been in since it changed hands, but I made a point of turning in instead of driving by this time.I'm very glad that I did. Elias Market (I believe it's in the same family as Elias Farm Market in Allentown) is one of those stores I'll be frequenting from now on. I was on the lookout for hazelnuts and, having had no luck finding them, I decided to check at Elias. Elias is owned by a Middle Eastern family and sells one of the largest selections of Middle Eastern foodstuffs anywhere in the Valley.I was wide-eyed at the varieties of falafel (there's one brand at my usual store), the cans packed with stuffed grape leaves and the many, many bags of seeds, nuts and grains available. I found those hazelnuts at a very good ...
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Veggie Wednesday
2008-07-09 15:05:00
A single photo should do it for today ~ this is that zucchini flower from last week, opened. How pretty is that? For anyone keeping up with my husband's health saga, there is an update HERE.
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No Reservations Season Premiere
2008-07-07 03:51:00
Tonight's the night and you don't want to miss it! For all my fellow Anthony Bourdain fans, the newest season of No Reservations kicks off tonight. This season promises to be another no-holds-barred romp across the globe starting with a visit to Laos.Check out the video HERE to see what this season has in store - and tune in tonight, Monday July 7th at 10 p.m. ET.If you've never watched No Reservations , my only question would be, "Why not?" Anthony Bourdain does travel the only way it really matters; as it pertains to cuisine. Any culture is best revealed in its food, and Mr. Bourdain dives right in with his unmatched style and unfettered wit. He may be raunchy and downright eyebrow raising at times, but that's what makes this show one that can't be missed.Make sure you're tuned in tonight - I know I will be.
More About: Season , Premiere , Travel Channel

Tostones
2008-07-05 04:00:00
I live in an area that has a heavy Hispanic influence, and as such I've had the opportunity to try many foods that I may never have had a chance to shop for much less eat.Plantains are one of those plentiful-around-here foods, but I'd never cooked with them. After the final episodes of season four on Top Chef, I finally decided to give them a whirl. On the next-to-last episode of Top Chef, the chefs were given the task of coming up with frituras (or fried snacks) using plantains. I watched with interest and a bit of excitement, storing away the many uses they conjured up for the green banana look-alike.One thing that two of the chefs did was to make tostones. They are, simply put, fried green plantain. I was intrigued, so I did a little reading about tostones and then went shopping to make my own version of an appetizer tostone.What I found when I was reading were several recipes calling for dipping the plantains in salted water between fryings (they are fried twice), but I also f...

Happy Birthday!
2008-07-04 16:24:00
To America, and to Cooking with Anne! This is the 3-year anniversary of the start of Cooking with Anne and I can't wait to roll on to the 4th year. This is what Cooking with Anne looked like in November, 2006. I love the Internet Archive.Thanks, to all of my loyal readers and to everyone stopping by. Comments today are very much appreciated! If you've been lurking, pop in and say, "hello"!
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Veggie Wednesday: Grow Your Own IV
2008-07-02 17:08:00
Part four! Yes, I'm going to continue this until I can effectively convince at least one person to attempt to grow his or her own veggies. I mean really, this is definitely one of those, 'if I can do it, you can do it' deals.I'm no farmer Brown, and yet I've managed to grow my own vegetables and herbs in a very small plot for 5 years (non-consecutive). I've done it completely organically, as well, and I am of the mind that anyone can achieve the same.I don't get bumper crops, but I do get enough to extend our food stores for several months in the summer, and that's good enough for me. Everyone should grow some type of food whether it's in a container, the ground or hydroponically. If we all did it, there would be quite an impact on our not-so-happy-at-the-moment earth.So, here's what is going on in my backyard:Lovely mint. It grows all by itself with very little need for me at all. I make the most killer Mint Pesto from this and dunk it in almost everything I drink. A zucc...
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This week ...
2008-07-01 11:37:00
I have some food things I want to share this week, but life, as usual, is a bit crazy here.Today is my Ian's birthday, he is 4! He shares his birthday with my grandma, she would have been 100 today. We'll celebrate for her with extra cake. His cake and a snippet of him with his favorite gift are HERE.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*I lost a step-brother on Sunday evening. He lost his fight with leukemia at 51 years old. His wife and two young-adult daughters are devastated as is my step-father. Steve was one of the truly good guys in the world and he dearly loved his family.
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Daring Bakers' Challenge: Danish Braid
2008-06-29 12:15:00
This month's Daring Bakers ' Challenge is hosted by Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What?s Cookin?? and is Danish Braid. Have you ever made croissants? This is nearly the same intensity in folding and turning and rolling. Time-intensive, but so worth it!I didn't have any problems with butter oozing out or falling out in pieces, but I had a tiny little advantage in that I've done this before, numerous times in culinary school. We made danish and croissant until our hands cramped! I love the result of that effort, though.I chose the apple filling for mine, and the recipe can be found HERE or HERE. If you do try this yourself, keep in mind that sealing the edges of the dough around the butter before the first fold helps it to stay put. Also, the chilling time in-between can be more than 30 minutes depending on the weather in your area. Humidity plays a huge factor in all baking, so keep and eye on that, as well.

LOK/CWA Challenge
2008-06-28 18:13:00
This isn't due until Monday, June 30th, and I am not allowed to submit anything, but I did take up this challenge on myself and wanted to share what I did for inspiration in case anyone needs it.This month's challenge was based on one that Chef Eric Ripert also faced. You can read about his challenge HERE, but I'll sum it up for you. Unlike the challenge that we've put up, his challenge was to make meals using food from a 99 cent store that sold more than dry goods. The store happened to be Jack's 99-Cent Store where one can evidently purchase things like cheese tortelloni, gumball-size mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, frozen crab cakes, canned coconut milk, jasmine rice and salmon filets.My local Dollar Tree doesn't have a refrigerated or frozen section, so my choices were severely limited. Meat, for instance, was a toss up of potted meat, Vienna sausages, chicken salad or Treet, Armour's version of Spam.There was quite a bit of pasta to choose from, but I swore that I wouldn...
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Product Review: Mott's
2008-06-27 10:16:00
We had a chance to try out Mott's for Tots juices and Mott's Plus applesauce recently and this is what we thought. When my younger children drink juice I usually cut it with water at a rate of about 50/50. Mott's for Tots has already done that for me. We had apple and fruit punch and the kids sucked them down like every other juice box we've ever tried. As far as they were concerned, it was just the same, in fact I think they asked for it a little more often than mom's doctored juice. For us, thumbs up! If you check out their website, there are Printable Coupons for $1 off two Mott's products for kids. Available in multi-serve bottles, as well as nine-packs of individual juice boxes Four delicious flavors to choose from Convenient pre-diluted juices, made of 100% juice and purified water 40% less sugar than regular juices No artificial sweeteners 100% vitamin C *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Mott's Plus applesauce isn't necessarily for kids, but they all tried it and loved it ...
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Product Review: Frito Lay's new Pinch of Salt Snacks
2008-06-27 09:29:00
Frito-Lay recently unveiled a new line of snacks called Pinch of Salt. The new Pinch of Salt line checks in at 30 to 50 percent less sodium than the original snacks at 75 mg per one-ounce serving. They come in four types: Lay?s Classic Potato Chips, Ruffles Potato Chips, Tostitos Tortilla Chips and Fritos Corn Chips. We tried the Ruffles Potato Chips and we really liked them. I have one kid who couldn't keep her hands off of them and I thought they tasted far more potato-ey (I know that's not a word) with less salt - that's a good thing! We didn't miss the salt at all and I'm looking forward to trying the other flavors, as well.
More About: Product Review , Snacks , Review , Product , Lays

Veggie Wednesday: Hummus and Tomato Melt
2008-06-25 08:14:00
We all have things we eat that we love but are for some reason afraid to share. Maybe people will think it's 'weird' or maybe it's just too simple to be thought of as something that anyone else would eat. This is one of those things, and I'm not sure why I haven't shared it. I'll give in and share this time. I have these often for lunch or a late breakfast. More often than not I use plum tomatoes and the hummus and cheese varies. This was today's breakfast (shared with two small noseminers).Hummus and Tomato Melt1 whole wheat pita or flatbread2 Tablespoons roasted red pepper hummus3 slices ripe tomato2 Tablespoons shredded Monterey jack/Colby blend cheeseMrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoningSpread the pita or flatbread with hummus, top with tomatoes, sprinkle with cheese and add Mrs. Dash to taste. Heat in the microwave until cheese is melted - my microwave takes 1 minute to do this.
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Royal Foodie Joust Entry: Gingered Pork Wontons
2008-06-23 17:46:00
This month's Royal Foodie Joust ingredients had me excited at first; and then I had too much time to think. I got to the store today and told my oldest daughter what the three ingredients were and asked her opinion on them. She drew a blank as well as I because of the butter.You see, the three ingredients are ginger, apricots and butter. I've been baking quite a bit lately and didn't feel like a pastry was in the cards for me, so I was going a savory route. The butter ... the butter kept throwing me. Salad; no - what would I do with the butter? A steak with gingered butter; nah, not inventive enough.So, my frustrated eldest sighed and said, "OK, pretend it's a 'Quick-Fire'." If you don't watch Top Chef, you won't know what that is. It's the short segment at the beginning of each episode where the chefs are given a quick assignment and a short time-span in which to finish. I laughed and told her that after an hour and a half of milling around Whole Foods I would be disqualif...
More About: Pork , Entry

There's Still Time!
2008-06-23 07:03:00
There's still time to join in on this month's Lots of Kids/Cooking with Anne Cooking Challenge! You don't want to miss this one, it's a challenge that Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin himself faced (OK, he had a little more leeway).You can check out all the details HERE or HERE. Have fun!
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Cream Puffs
2008-06-22 07:58:00
Cream puffs (profiteroles) are one of the many wonderful inventions given to the world by the French. They are at once elegant and simple. The best part of a cream puff is the fact that they are so easy to make. So easy that I really should make them more often.Pâte à choux is the basis of any cream puff and is like no other dough. It is a soft and light pastry dough also used to make eclairs, beignets and gougères to name just a few.A mere 4 (5 if you count salt) ingredients make one of the most delicious and widely recognized desserts ever. How easy is this process? Let me show you... The four ingredients: 4 eggs, 1 cup flour, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup butter. Melt butter (in that same heavy, pitted aluminum pan). Add water and bring to a boil. Pour in all the flour all at once with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir until a ball of dough forms. Remove from heat for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix with a wooden spoon (or a blue rubber spatula) until completely mixed in. Do this q...
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Brain Food, Anyone?
2008-06-20 08:01:00
While I normally do reviews for food products and the like, I was given the chance to try out several software titles geared toward building and maintaining intelligence. I'll be 40 in August, and while that itself isn't normally a concern as far as memory loss is concerned, I take care of 8 other people daily, and that coupled with age can wreak havoc on your mind.So, I decided I'd accept these games and give them a whirl. I really like these. I've sat here for several hours since I received them and played games, taken tests and learned.I took IQ and Career Aptitude tests and what I really like about them is you don't just get a 'right' or 'wrong' answer; you're actually told what the correct answer is and why. For an inquisitive type like me, that's a huge bonus. It also is fundamental to learning.Beyond Core Mind Builder and Core Mind Builder Pro, I also was able to test a copy of corefx Three Level; FUN! The kids are having a blast with this one. It takes basic compu...
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Taffy Apple Cheesecake Pie
2008-06-19 19:01:00
This was a winning recipe in the Pillsbury 36th Annual Bake-Off of 1994 made by Mary Ann Sasso of Franklin Park, Illinois. I made it way back then and several times since. I don't do it too often because it is rather time-consuming for a pie and there are a lot of ingredients. I wanted to post it anyway with photos so that maybe someone else will see it as not-too-difficult and give it a try. Lots of ingredients in line. Why, yes - that IS frozen whipped topping from Aldi - thankouverymuch. Love it, won't apologize for it. Melting butter. Melting butter AND brown sugar - my kind of multi-tasking. Melted and ready for ... ... sliced apples.Apple s cooked until tender and slightly caramelized. Half and half. Yes, you need to use an old pitted heavy aluminum pan for this. Twenty-one unwrapped caramels, melting nicely with the half and half. Cream cheese and more brown sugar. Cream cheese and more brown sugar mixed! Look at that. Half of the caramel mixture added to the cream cheese m...
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Veggie Wednesday: Grow Your Own - III
2008-06-18 11:55:00
My garden is coming along nicely, if a little slowly. We don't get a whole lot of sun in the backyard, but I won't let that deter me from growing what I can. Here are some photos of what's going on out there: This is baby leaf lettuce. I start them out close together, and when it's time to thin them, the baby lettuces are the perfect size to harvest and eat. I let the rest stay in the ground until they're big enough to pick. Zucchini plants doing well. I'm hoping the earwigs leave it alone this year. Parsley on the upward climb. I can't wait for this to really get going. A brand new green bean. These have come a long way since that first week! While I'm out checking on the garden and minding my own business, this furry little guy starts chattering away at me and seeming very annoyed that I'm anywhere near his home. He just needs to stay away from my greens.
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Website Updates
2008-06-18 11:51:00
I've been working over the past few days to get some new pages and links up on Cooking with Anne and I've finally finished.If you visit my Recipes page, you'll see two new links there; one is a page with links to each and every recipe posted at my Disney Family.com blog, Short Order Mom. The other is a link to a page for my now-defunct Ready, Set, Cook! game. There is a link to each game and a list of the recipes submitted for each game.My Events page now has icons for each Food Event I've either hosted or participated in.I'm hoping to add more to my site as time allows, and when I do I'll post about it here.
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Veggie Wednesday: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
2008-06-11 08:30:00
Have you seen Mark Bittman's newest tome? This thing, like all his previous works, is huge. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is 996 pages of every little thing you would ever possibly need to know about vegetarian cooking - and then some.In his usual casual and non-preachy style, Mark Bittman shares the basic, the not-so-basic and everything else in this fabulous all-you'll-ever-need-to-cook-vegetarian resource. It's not wordy, fluffy or filled up with extras; just straightforward and honest.There aren't any full-color photos, but rather simple and effective line drawings placed throughout the book to help demonstrate techniques. I know it's hard to believe such a large book could in any way be simple, but it is. It's not more than you need to know, and certainly not less. Oh, and the recipes? Delicious; as expected.In summation, just two words: Get it.
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Restaurant Review: Outback Steakhouse
2008-06-09 19:43:00
Before last night, I had never been to Outback Steakhouse . I know; How is that possible? Our server actually laughed and didn't believe me at first, but it's true. So, when I was offered a gift card to try it out and give a review, I jumped at the chance. It's OBSH's 20th Anniversary! Twenty years, and I hadn't been there. It was high time I stopped in to check it out.We went to the Outback Steakhouse here in Bethlehem, Pa and this is how our dining experience rated.Scaling is 1 for Poor and 5 for Excellent so the total Perfect Score for any restaurant would be 25.Parking - 5 - Keep in mind it was a Sunday evening, so we basically had our choice of parking spots.Ambiance - 4 1/2 - The only thing keeping this from a 5 was the lighting - it was a little dark, but that's a good thing when it's just two of you. Everything was clean and shiny and I wasn't bothered by other conversations going on in the restaurant, so the sound aspect was good.Service - 4 - This would have been an...
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My Favorite Food Magazine
2008-06-08 17:16:00
I read a lot of food and cooking magazines and while I like many of them, I truly love Saveur . Here are just a few of the reasons why:1. They vindicate me and strip away my guilt;I can now proudly say that I have been washing mushrooms for years.I no longer feel like a lazy git for being happy about my Christmas gift of an Electric Carving Knife ('First' article by Dana Bowen).2. Their photos make me want to dive into the page and eat through to the other side.3. They scour the planet to come up with the most unusual out-of-the-way wonders ever.4. The cookbook reviews have caused me to buy several new books; this can be seen as good or bad, depending on my fiscal situation at the time.5. The recipes. I don't even know where to start. You must go and have a look for yourself. From the familiar to the obscure, and everything in-between.6. There is no fear in sharing recipes that use lard, publishing an entire issue about pasta, steak or butter, or revealing regional snacks that may...
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LOK/CWA Cooking Challenge for June, 2008
2008-06-04 23:16:00
The newest Lots of Kids/Cooking with Anne challenge is up! Check out the rules for this month's event HERE. Good luck!
More About: June , Challenge , June 2008 , 2008

Sunday Dinner - Al fresco!
2008-06-02 20:49:00
Under a honey locust tree, no less. If you have one of these horrid trees in or near your yard, you'll be wondering what on earth I was thinking yesterday. Well, it was a day-after-the-storm day, which means sunny skies and light winds, perfect weather. I couldn't let it pass by without a picnic, but I didn't want to drag the entire family somewhere only to spend the whole day chasing the two youngest kids away from every imaginable danger.So, we took the dining room table outdoors (not doing THAT again for a decade) and set it up on the lawn. As soon as we set it down it began raining tiny little green things - the little green things that are covering the top of the shed and car and obscuring my garden. Yes, those little things. They make you itch. They come with little green bugs attached sometimes. They are not good.We traipsed back indoors to find something to cover the eating area with. We finally found a large sheet and thin ropes and went about setting it all up. That don...
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Product Review: Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce
2008-05-30 15:03:00
The year I was born, 1968, there was good stuff going on in Bob Edson's kitchen. He had finally perfected his All Purpose Sauce and began selling it to neighbors and friends in 1977. Country Bob, Inc. was formed in 1982 and now sells more than just All Purpose Sauce, although that would be enough, trust me on that one!I was given the chance to try out Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce and I was sold the minute I popped the top on the bottle. I have some hugely picky eaters here at home and the fact that they all love it tells a lot about this sauce.We tried it on burgers, steak, chicken and even hot dogs. We loved it on each, but I wanted a broader idea of what this stuff could do, so I sought out the non-meat recipes to test it on.Country Bob's Baked Beans is what I settled on, and we now have a new favorite recipe for baked beans. I can't even begin to describe the flavor of this sauce and what makes it different; that's a real shame for someone who writes about food! I guess y...
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Sweetie Pie's Macaroni and Cheese
2008-05-30 02:58:00
There was an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on recently that I couldn't stop thinking about. Like Mama Made featured a restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri run by Robbie Montgomery, former back-up singer for Ike and Tina Turner and Soul Food Chef Extraordinaire. She was cookin' up the biggest batches of the most delicious looking fried chicken, sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese you'd ever like to see.I watched as she made her famous macaroni and cheese and wasn't fast enough to get pen and paper to write it down. I searched in earnest yesterday and came across a review of her place at Is it EDible? and Ed had linked to a news story that features the very recipe I'd been trying to get my hands on. God love fellow bloggers!I made this for dinner tonight, but I have to issue a stern warning; This is not for the faint of heart - and I mean that quite literally! I got a 10 x 15 pan out of this and we didn't finish off but a third of it. This is so filling and so delicious...
More About: Cheese