Recipes, Food and Cooking

$10,000 Recipe Contest

2006-08-23T11:53:00.000-05:00

Check it out!

The Chefs.com $10,000 Recipe Contest.

"If you’ve got a recipe that tastes delicious and expresses your family, culture, tradition, or heritage, now is the time to try turning that family favorite into cash. You have until November 8th, 2006 to enter the contest. When you submit your recipe, you will submit a story about what the recipe means to you."

My Thanksging Menu

2006-11-10T15:43:00.000-06:00

Here's what I have on my Thanksgiving menu:

Holiday Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Creamy Turkey Vegetable Soup

Easy Sticky Buns

Green Beans with Radish

Roast Turkey with Cranberry-Sausage Stuffing

Maple Gravy

Classic Stuffing

Golden Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Basic Cranberry Sauce

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

And that should just about cover it:-)

Netscape Food

2006-11-10T15:31:00.000-06:00

I know, I slack so much I'm barely even a real blogger:-)

Anyway, I've been doing the food thing over at Netscape Food. Swing by and add some stuff...it's pretty cool.

Summer Recipes

2006-06-13T09:55:00.000-05:00

Seeing as summer is getting into full swing in most parts of the USA I decided to put together a listing of some of the best "summer recipes" I've found on the good old world wide web.

My Top 5 Summer Recipe Sites:

Chefs Summer Recipes
All Recipes Summer Recipes
Epicurious Summer Recipes
About Summer Recipes
RecipeZaar Summer Recipes

Along with a nice set of summertime recipes I've come across some great summertime cooking/grilling content too. Here are a few of my favorites:

Summer Grilling, a Perfect 10
Big Grilling Guide
Summer Sizzle

Now stop reading this blog and get out and enjoy the nice weather while it's here:-)

Summer Time Fruit Salad Recipes

2006-06-12T09:06:00.000-05:00

With summer getting into full swing across most of the US I thought I would put together a list of the best sites I've found for fruit salad recipes. Who doesn't like a great fruit salad on a warm summer evening?

Fruit Salad with Banana Dressing
Fruit Salads by Kraft
Fruit Salad Recipes by Chefs
"About" Fruit Salads

More info + the history of fruit salad.

What do Chefs Really Make?

2006-04-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

Interesting article at the Washington Post, How Much do Chefs really Make?

"The average salary for an executive chef here is $71,666, according to a recent salary survey by StarChefs.com. The national average is $75,596, according to estimates by the online industry magazine."

The article highlights some areas where chefs make well above the average - places like Atlantic City & Las Vegas.

At $70K+ a year cooking for a living isn't all that bad of a gig.

Martin Yan

2006-04-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

I've always like Martin Yan - check out all the cool video presentations he's done here: Martin Yan Videos.

Getting Healthy

2006-01-30T15:48:00.000-06:00

Now that the new year is underway I've decided it's time to try and eat a little healthier. Not to mention I turned 30 at the end of 2005 and have realized I'm no longer a kid and need to start eating a little healthier.

This morning I started the search for healthy recipes. Some of the first I found, and first on my list to try are:

Quick, Healthy Pizza
Baked Halibut
Grapefruit-Shrimp Stir Fry

Enjoy! I know I will!

Happy Holidays

2005-12-16T14:42:00.000-06:00

Like everyone else, I've been very busy getting everything ready for the holidays and haven't had much time for blogging lately. Things will be back to the norm soon:-)

Have a great holiday season and happy new year. See you in 2006!

Dinner Etiquette for Children

2005-12-01T08:21:00.000-06:00

You’ve heard it many times. Sitting down together as a family for a meal is important for children. Families who share their meals together tend to be more in tune with each other.

It’s also important that during those family meals children learn some dinner etiquette, or table manners. Family dinner time does not need to be a formal occasion with rigid etiquette rules. Children should, however, learn some basic manners to use at the dinner (or breakfast or lunch) table in their own home and at others’ homes.

Children should be taught to say please and thank you in all situations. Teach them to say “please” when asking for something to be passed or when asking for more. And make sure they also say “thank you.” In turn, they need to respond with “you are welcome” when someone thanks them.

Another important rule for children at the table is to wait their turn to talk. Dinner time is the ideal time to talk about what happened during the day. Teach children to listen to what other have to say and to wait their turn to talk.

Teach your child how to respond when they don’t like an item on their plate. Tell them that it is inappropriate to look at food and say “yuck” or “this is disgusting.” If there is something on their plate that they are not interested in, teach them to say something like, “I’d rather not eat my cranberry sauce. Is that okay?” Whether it’s okay or not is up to you, but you’ve taught your child how to politely ask. This will be very important when your child is eating over a friend’s house.

Children should stay at the table until excused. Create a rule in your house for how to leave the table. Perhaps they can say, “Thank you for dinner. It was very good. May I be excused, please?” You may also want to teach them to carry their own plate and cup to the kitchen after this.

Other rules like elbows on the table or hats worn at meal time can be left up to your own preferences. However, these basic dinner etiquette rules should be required at all mealtimes whether in your own home or someone else’s.

Dress Your Turkey Safely

2005-11-18T19:11:00.000-06:00

Safe Handling and Preparation Tips for Turkey Dressing (Stuffing)

When you think ‘holiday menu’ does your mind automatically start pulling up turkey dressing recipes? Turkey dressing (called stuffing or forcemeat in some parts of the country) is one of the best parts of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Generally, it consists of breadcrumbs, spices and other ingredients that are stuffed or forced into the empty body cavity of a turkey before it’s cooked. The juices and drippings from the bird flavor the dressing and vice versa.

There’s a down side to the practice of cooking your dressing inside your Christmas or Thanksgiving turkey though. All the extra handling of ingredients and the turkey increase the chances of introducing bacteria into the turkey or dressing. Letting the stuffing sit in the bird while it’s at room temperature also increases the chances of introducing food poisoning to your holiday table. By following safe handling guidelines, though, you can safely cook your turkey with the stuffing inside.

The USDA offers these important turkey safety tips to help you prepare your turkey safely.

Remove giblets and neck from turkey before thawing.

Thaw turkey in the refrigerator, or in cold water. To thaw in cold water, make sure that your turkey is wrapped and watertight, and then submerge in cold water. Change water every 30 minutes.

Do NOT thaw pre-stuffed ready to cook turkeys. Cook frozen.

You can prepare stuffing ahead of time, but do not mix wet and dry ingredients until just before stuffing turkey.

Do not stuff a turkey with hot stuffing. Always allow dressing to cool at least to room temperature before stuffing turkey.

Do not stuff your turkey until you are ready to cook it. Letting the stuffing sit in the uncooked bird for any length of time is an invitation to food poisoning.

Cook the turkey at no less than 325 degrees until the temperature of the stuffing is 140 degrees. To measure temperature accurately, insert meat thermometer directly into stuffing.

Remove the stuffing from the turkey to a separate serving bowl when the turkey is cooked.

Store turkey and dressing leftovers separately.

Great Advertising Policy

2005-10-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

I cam across what has to be one of the funniest advertising policies I've ever read.

Spammers beware - you will be invoiced!

Anne Bramley

2005-10-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

I've just started to get into podcasting, more specifically culinary podcasting. No recording them myself as no one would want to hear my voice...but listening to them in my downtime.

I wrote earlier this week about chefs.com and some of the cool stuff I found there. Well when I checked the site on Monday or Tuesday I noticed some info about podcast author Anne Bramley. Looks like she's going to do a whole series of culinary presentations for the Chefs site.

If food and cooking is your thing you have to check out the first one she did for Chefs...it's just awesome. Celebrating Apple Month with Anne Bramley.

Food Bloggers Webring

2005-10-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

Just came across a food bloggers web ring today and thought I would share. I've noticed a lot of the food blogs I read are a part of it so it can't be a bad thing, right?

Enjoy:-)

Culinary Resources

2005-08-30T11:37:00.000-05:00

Short and to the point....here's a page I found this morning that includes a bunch of great culinary resources.

Enjoy!

This post brought to you in part by:

Recipe.com
Recipes for every occasion - source for recipe, food, cooking, cookbook and kitchen resources.

New Culinary Site, Chefs.com

2005-10-06T09:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I came across what appears to be a new culinary site, www.chefs.com. I bet I spent more than a half hour browsing around the site checking out the features. There's some cool stuff, especially the cooking videos section.

Some other sections I plan on visiting often are the recipe, cooking and cooking articles sections of the site. All of them are packed with some great material.

This evening I'm going to grab a recipe from the soup recipes section and give it a whirl. I just signed up this morning and added a few recipes to my recipe box...pretty cool stuff.

Wine Test

2005-09-30T14:52:00.000-05:00

Today's entry is a bit opn the short side. It's coming down to the end of warm weather here in Chicago so I'm going to try and get outside for awhile this afternoon and enjoy it while I can.

I came across a wine test earlier this morning that I thought was kind of fun. Check it out, and enjoy the weekend!

Help Fill My Cooking Directory!

2005-09-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

I have been working on a new cooking related directory over the past few months. I've got most of the bugs worked out and am ready to start taking more submissions.

There are 3 options when you submit a site:

1) Free
2) Free + reciprocal link (you get better placement as the directory grows)
3) $25/year - guaranteed top 3 placement in the category you choose.

So if you know of a great culinary related site, including your own of course, stop by the cooking directory and submit it today.

Thanks!

Discount Thanksgiving Decorations

2005-09-26T13:49:00.000-05:00

Sticking with today's Thanksgiving theme, I thought I would post some information about where to get discount Thanksgiving decorations. I've been put of charge of buying the decorations for all the major holidays this year...and don't liker spending a lot on something I'll probably just throw away after the holidays are over. I already know I'm too lazy to pack them up and save for future events...as it will be 5+ years before my house comes up again in the rotation to host Thanksgiving.

Anyway, here are a few good places to pick up Thanksgiving decorations at discount prices:

Great Occasions

Terry's Village

Online Discount Mart

Second Grade Thanksgiving Art Projects

2005-09-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

I have a brother who's in second grade this year. They are getting ready to start working on their Thanksgiving art projects in the nect couple of weeks. While I'm not much for breaking out the scissors and glue, I can make up for it by posting some info & links about ideas for a second grade Thanksgiving art projects.

Here are a couple links to pages I came across that have information about Thanksgiving art projects:

http://www.teachingheart.net/turkey.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/

Here's an idea I found laying around the house from back in the day when I was still a kid and in school. I stil remeber actually making this when I was a kid. Although I found the instructions, my coffee filter turkey is long gone...

Coffee Filter Turkeys

Materials: coffee filter per child, markers, paper plate per child, spray bottle of water, body of a turkey.

Instructions: Give each student a coffee filter and a paper plate. Students use their markers to color the coffee filter. They can make patterns with their markers or scribble on the filter. I suggest that they color their filter on their paper plate.

When colored spray the coffee filter (which has been placed on the paper plate) with water. The colors should begin to run creating a mixture of colors. Let dry. I usually let them dry overnight. Create a body of a turkey and place it in front of the coffee filter (which serves as the feathers). Hang for others to enjoy.

Here are some pictures of what coffee filter turkeys can look like.

Tips for Storing and Preparing Meat

2005-09-21T21:30:00.000-05:00

I just came across an article on food safety month over at the cattle network. Don't ask how I found it...it's been a long day and I honestly couldn't tell you. Random Internet surfing has a habit of taking you to some interesting places.

Anyway, the article talks about basic safe practices for storing and preparing meat. It covers basic topics such as;

"Using a meat thermometer is the one sure way to be certain burgers are fully cooked," Roeder said. "Not cooking your burgers to an adequate temperature can result in foodborne illness.

And;

"Food packed on ice or kept in the refrigerator until just before serving will help prevent illness," Roeder said. "The two hour rule is the key -- you have two hours at room temperature for perishable foods. On very hot days, however, food warms more quickly and a more realistically safe time is about one hour."

That should give you basic idea of what the article is all about. While you're at it,take a few minutes to browse around the cattle network. I honestly never really thought about how much was really out there online about cows, and despite the somewhat amusing name, there's a ton of interesting info on the site.

While we're on the subject of meat, check out this meat recipes page for some good meat based recipes.

Food News

2005-09-22T11:37:00.000-05:00

I would have never guessed...CNN has a whole section dedicated to food news.

What's even more interesting is it appears they could care less about that section of their website. Most of the articles are years old, or the links just don't work at all. I'm surprised a major site like CNN would take such an apathetic approach to what could be a great section of their site.

Get to work CNN...the food bloggers are killing you!

Zesty Pinto Bean Soup

2005-09-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

I'm living solo this week so I've asked some of friends to e-mail me some easy recipes so I can have something other than pizza every night:-)

Here's one for pinto bean soup that I'm going to try tonight.

1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles
1/4 C. plus 2 Tb. water
1 1/2 ts ground cumin
1/4 ts ground red pepper
1/4 C. plus 2 Tb thinly sliced green onions
1/2 C. Finely chopped green bell peppers
2 (15 1/2 oz) cans pinto beans, undrained
1 (14 1/2 oz) can no-salt added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
Vegetable Cooking Spray

- Coat a saucepan with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot.
- Add bell pepper; saute 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add 1 can pinto beans and mash.
- Add remaining beans, tomatoes, and next 4 ingredients...stir well.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Scoop soup into bowls and top with onions.

Seems quick and simple...just what I'll be in the mood for after a 12+ hour work day.

Chefs Starting Lives Over in Corpus Christi

2005-09-14T15:52:00.000-05:00

I came across this story today and thought it was worth sharing.

Here's a little preview:

"Some chefs and food service workers from the Big Easy are starting their lives over in Corpus Christi, thanks to some local restaurants.

Lindsey Wheat fled the hurricane and flooding in Southeast Louisiana. Now, just a couple of weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, she has already gotten a new apartment and a job at a local restaurant here in Corpus Christi."

I think it's great to read some positive stories after countless hours of watching/listening to nothing but horrible news surrounding the devastation caused by the hurricane that almost completely wiped out some areas in New Orleans.

Hats off to Matt Terhune (the reporter) for this story.

Gas Stove Simmering Tip

2005-09-13T14:14:00.000-05:00

When simmering something on a gas range it is sometimes difficult to get the heat low enough. If this happens to you, take a second grate and put it on top of the first grate you are using. This will raise the pan a touch further from the flame. Most of the time doing this will drop the heat just enough to get you where you want to be.