Blog Title: Cooking with Anne

As the mother of 7 noseminers, and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer of this brood, cooking for and feeding so many takes alot of time. This is just a spot for me to write about my favorite pastime and therapy of choice: Cooking.

Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauces

I have a favorite jarred pasta sauce and I have a favorite homemade version, as well. I usually don't stray from those two and I'm a very hard sell on any other sauce.

I tried the new Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce pouches and I have to say that I would buy them again. That's huge for me; I'm very loyal - especially when it comes to particular foods.

I picked up all three flavors: Champignon and Portobello Mushroom, Summer Crushed Tomato & Basil, and Sun Ripened Tomato & Olive. Of the three, which I thought were all very good, my favorite is the Sun Ripened Tomato and Olive. I just whipped up a batch of Pasta with Tuna Sauce for a post at Short Order Mom, and that particular sauce was perfect for it.

I admit I balked at the idea of microwaving the pouch, which is one of the selling points for this item, but I did it and was truly surprised that it took so little time to heat completely through (90 seconds!), and the best part was that there was NO DISH TO WASH. Read that again, moms and bachelors; NO DISH.

Check these sauces out for yourself at the Bertolli website, where you can pick up a $1 coupon for these sauces, or take a pouch or two home from your local supermarket - you won't be disappointed.

Almost Gone

I don't know where everyone else lives, but here in the Lehigh Valley, summer is most definitely winding down. The nights are cooler, the days more temperate, and the green is beginning to fade.

My harvest is nearly over. I have very few small tomatoes left, no cucumbers and the last zucchini was picked yesterday. There are a very small patches of green beans, but no more flowers to indicate that more are on the way.

My neighbor (who shall remain nameless) brought me a bag filled with pilfered produce. She isn't really a criminal - in fact, she was more of a savior in this instance. There is a nearby church with a rather large garden that seems to be forgotten year after year. The cabbage that grows there is always harvested, but the tomatoes and peppers are left to over ripen and wind up as projectiles for small boy-hands in the neighborhood.

This time the tomatoes and peppers were rescued and sent to a loving (and hungry) home. I'm quite glad that they were orphaned; we're happy to have them for dinner.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge is hosted by Meeta K of What's for Lunch, Honey? and Tony Tahhan. They chose Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé from Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Hermé, another fabulous book by Dorie Greenspan.

I love eclairs, and so do my kids. I have photos of these, really; on a now-defunct computer along with many other photos that I'd like to get my hands on. These were delicious and something we'll surely be having again. In lieu of the missing photography, I'll put the recipe, in its entirety, here. I've left in the notes from Meeta and Tony.

I posted about cream puffs not-so-long-ago, and eclairs use the same choux paste that cream puffs do. If you're feeling nervous about trying these, you can refer to that post for helpful photos - at least with the pastry making aspect.


Pierre Hermé?s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

? Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

? Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
? Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 ? 104 degrees F or 35 ? 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé?s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

? ½ cup (125g) whole milk
? ½ cup (125g) water
? 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
? ¼ teaspoon sugar
? ¼ teaspoon salt
? 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
? 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it?s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

? 2 cups (500g) whole milk
? 4 large egg yolks
? 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
? 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
? 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
? 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy?bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice?water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice?water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice?water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

[bNotes:[/b]
1) The pastry cream can be made 2?3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

? 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
? 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
? 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
? 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly? in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)


? 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
? 1 cup (250 g) water
? ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
? 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy?bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10?15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Brillante - Dave Said So

I've been given this cute little award by Dave of Dave's Cupboard - the Brillante Weblog award. It is cute, isn't it? So, it is now up to me to share 6 things about ME and pass this on to six other bloggers worthy of this fabuloso award. (This is NOT, in any way, related to the real Brillante Awards).

First - Six Things About Anne:

1. I can not eat cherry pie. It's gross. I'm not sure why I feel this way, but I can tell you that I would not eat it in a box and I would not eat it with a fox. I would not eat it here or there, I would not eat it anywhere.

2. I don't own fancy schmancy kitchen gadgets. In fact, I prefer less to more. I wrote about my favorite kitchen tools once, and while I would love several large-ish fun things for my kitchen, I don't find them very necessary.

3. I'm movie-addicted. I can recite lines from many, many movies and movie lines often wind up in my daily dialogue. My oldest daughter is the same, so we can have nearly full conversations from movie lines alone!

4. I like scrapple. I don't care if it's made out of scraped hog's head and cornmeal. It's good.

5. I am the Queen of Hollandaise. I was so afraid to make it in school that I missed the day we were making it on purpose. I still had to do it the next day and was so good at it that other students would sneak off to find me and ask if I would make theirs.

6. Having to be a perfectionist, I always made Hollandaise by hand as well as meringue and whipped cream. This most likely contributed to the carpal tunnel syndrome I developed. I suffered with that for 10 years before having surgeries. I let it go so long that I now have some permanent nerve damage. I think Hollandaise made the right way was worth it, though.

I shall now tag the following Brillante webloggers with this award:

1. Kfarmer
2. Jenni
3. Kate
4. AJ
5. Melanie
6. Ian

By the way, if you've already been tagged, or just don't have the time (I usually don't!), please ignore me.

Tag rules:

1- Link to the person who tagged you.
2- Post the rules on the blog.
3- Write 6 random things about yourself.
4- Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5- Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6- Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

P.S. - Some people can be SO PICKY! I was doing a little play on words calling this a Brilliant(e) award, and several people didn't "get it" and felt the need to email me. *Sigh*. I'll keep my humor to myself, I suppose. I've corrected it to read Brillante - which is silly, but correct.

Donate to NieNie Today

I just found that a young and lovely couple - parents to 4 beautiful children - have been involved in a plane crash and are in desperate need of prayers and donations. Christian Nielson, his flight instructor Doug Kinneard and Christian's wife Stephanie, crashed near St. John's, Arizona.

Doug Kinneard died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Christian is burned over 30% of his body, and Stpehanie is burned over 80% of hers. I cannot imagine how horrific this must be for them, and how sad for their children.

Last year, when Marty fell, I received donations to help with my travels to and from the hospital and I am so very grateful for that. Won't you please help this family with their tragedy by donating to them or auctioning items or services? Click on the Donate button in my sidebar or check out the website for more information.

Veggie Wednesday: The Complete Book of Garlic

40

Today's the day I join the big kids - I'm officially 40 years old. 4-0. Forty. Four decades. Four times ten. You get the idea. When you're a kid, you think 40 is old. I mean, OLD ... gray, wrinkled, incontinent. Now I realize that 40 is NOT old. I don't feel old and I don't look all too old, either. I mean, on a good day I look like this (a really good day):

But this is what I look like usually, so I might be getting older than I think:

Ah well, someone has to scare the kids into getting off to school in the morning, right? At least this year I'm celebrating at home and not off at a hospital visiting my husband. Happy Birthday, ME!

The Foodie Bucket List

I already went through the Omnivore's Hundred, spurred on by Cajun Chef Ryan. He left a comment on my Foodbuzz profile that got me to thinking (he seems to have that effect on me).

He wrote, in reference to his own list, "Now I have 33 new things to try before I die!". I just recently saw The Bucket List (loved it, cried too much) and I thought a list of the foods I would most like to try before I "kick the bucket" would make for a fun read.

I have to limit this to 10 (although it's more likely closer to 100) so I don't run out of space. Now, some of these foods are things I've had, but not in the proper arena, so that's been added as well.

So, read my list, grab this for yourself, and spread the word!

My Top Ten Foodie Bucket List

1. Bouillabase - within sight of the Mediterranean.
2. Tunnbrodsrulle -(HERE as well).
3. Gumbo, étouffée, jambalaya and muffuletta - all in NOLA.
4. Cafe au lait and croissant in Paris.
5. A chili-cheeseburger and hot dog at Texas Wiener II. (Again)
6. Sushi. Nope - never had it - I live a horribly sheltered life.
7. Paella in Valencia.
8. Maryland crab cakes.
9. Poi - in Hawaii, preferably!
10. Shawarma - missed my chance this year at Musikfest.

Ten shouldn't get anyone too far - maybe a year or two - but since most of mine involves globe-trotting, I figure it makes for a more interesting list and something to shoot for.

Last of the Tomatoes

Summer is just about over (even if the calendar reads differently) and the fresh, really good tomatoes are nearly gone. This is a super-simple way to use up a few of those red beauties.

Chicken Stuffed Roma Tomatoes

4 large Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded
1 cup cooked and diced chicken
1/4 cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumber
1/4 cup diced yellow pepper
1/4 cup salad dressing (I used, and really loved, Wish-Bone® Bountifuls? Berry Delight? Dressing)
salt and fresh pepper as desired

Combine chicken, yellow pepper, cucumber and dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Blend well. Stuff tomato halves and serve!

Smashies are Luvli!

We just sampled Smashies Organic Fruit Sauce from Luvli Foods in the Snappy Apple flavor and my kids slurped them right up. Yep, slurped. This apple sauce is like no other. When I was first pitched these as a mess-free snack alternative, I didn't believe it. I mean, my kids can make a mess out of anything. These are the exception. They are pure organic applesauce with no added sugar, salt or fat in a pouch with an 'sippable' opening.

The kids tore into them and had them gone in no time. I mean, they really, really liked them! They aren't the easiest crowd to please, either.

Smashies aren't in stores until October, but you can get samples for yourself at the website, a 10 pack Trade Sampler is $14.95 to anywhere in the continental U.S., which covers shipping and handling.

The Omnivore's Hundred

I caught this from two of my Foodbuzz friends, DogHill Kitchen and Cajun Chef Ryan. This is a list of "100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all" from Andrew Wheeler, co-author of Very Good Taste, a British food blog.

Rules are:

1) Bold all the items you?ve eaten.
2) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

I think for a mom of 7 who has never been out of the country (except once to drive across Ontario) and with very limited means, I've gotten a few good ones out of the way (culinary school helped). I don't drink much at all, so many of those type are crossed off. I like this list - it gives me some new ideas for dishes I'd like to try and posts I'll be making!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (Once you've seen the shore of Lake Huron littered with dead ones - yuck.)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (Wild raspberries on South Mountain and mulberries everywhere!)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - not a whole one, at least.
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (I've had Courvasier and cigars - but separate!)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat?s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald?s Big Mac Meal (Just the burger alone is enough!)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S?mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (Edible, yes - but in what?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs? legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis (I don't care if my ancestors are Scots - I'm not doing it, and you can't make me.)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (Just caviar - no blini)
73. Louche absinthe (Pastis is close ... right?)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Sometimes it Really is in the Water

You've heard the saying, "It must be in the water" in reference to local anomalies. Well, for gumbo, jambalaya and anything else made with water in New Orleans, that may well be true.

If you've been to NOLA, chances are you've gone home and tried to recreate a recipe for something fabulous you dined on while visiting. You may have headed to a local restaurant serving up NOLA favorites in search of that elusive flavor. It probably wasn't "just quite right", though and you were left feeling unfulfilled and trying to figure out what was missing.

It might be the water. If you don't live in or near NOLA, there's one way to find out if the water is the missing ingredient; visit Kitchen Witch Cookbooks and buy a gallon of authentic New Orleans water and have it delivered to your home. Then, try that recipe for gumbo again and see if the flavor isn't reminiscent of your trip.

Kitchen Witch Cookbooks is a bookshop in the French Quarter of New Orleans that specializes in "rare, hard to find, out of print and pre-owned books on food and cooking" - exactly my kind of shop! Please visit their website and read about them - their tag line is "Rebuilding New Orleans, One Book at a Time" - worth a look, for sure.

I made some of my own gumbo yesterday (chicken and sausage), and although it was better than usual, I bet it would have been fantastic with a gallon of that water.

Veggie Wednesday: Garden Goods

This past Sunday my youngest son, 4, decided to help me in the kitchen. He doesn't ask all the time, but fairly often. The kitchen is very small so I usually decline his request, but this time I let him don an apron (and a folded towel that his 7 year-old sister insisted made him "look like a chef") and help out.

We weren't having anything all too wonderful; baked burgers in gravy, roasted potatoes, green beans with zucchini and salad. He got the burgers and potatoes settled into their respective roasting pans and headed out to the garden with me. We picked green beans, a cucumber, two small zucchini, basil, parsley and chives. The green beans and zucchini were tossed together with butter, garlic and Italian herbs and the basil, parsley and chives were chopped and put into our salad.

You know, everything was decidedly tastier with things we grew ourselves and with such a fine little sous chef to work with.

Spoiled

We've been spoiled with Harry & David again by Marty's Uncle Joe and Aunt Joan. At least it's not ruining our disposition any, not that I know of. In other words - spoiled, but not rotten. You know you're liked when this is delivered to your door:

Marty and I may share with the kids; if they're good.

Back in the Day

A long, long time ago at a restaurant not-so-far-away, my friends and I spent many a night hanging out and talking. The restaurant was the Perkins at routes 22 and 191 and the friends were usually my best friend Tommy and various other cronies ranging from my husband (who was just my friend then), to Scott, Mark, Tony and occasionally, my other best friend, Marie. This was after high-school but just before I was married - two of the most fun years of my life.

We'd head there after a long night of doing nothing and sit at the large horseshoe-shaped booth in the back. We'd talk about everything, smoke too many cigarettes, drink too much coffee, and wait for our favorite waiter to show. Jack was the waiter who bent over backward for us and dealt with our messes, odd orders and general silliness. I was told that Jack has since passed, but I'm not sure that's true - so we'll just pretend that Jack is still somewhere out there making someone's life pleasant while they dine.

Jack was the only person on the waitstaff at Perkins that would make us one of our very favorite concoctions, the Mutant Milkshake. Other waiters and waitresses would flat-out refuse us and we never really knew why. I still don't know to this day what the big secret was - I know we were charged the full price for what we were getting; a banana split. The difference was, it was a banana split in a blender, and Jack was the only guy who would appease our strange appetites.

I made them at home recently and had to share the "recipe" with the rest of the world. It isn't as odd as it sounds - in fact, they're really good - even my kids think so. The ambiance here isn't the same as it was there - and it's not the same there anymore, either. Perkins was remodeled and the old horseshoe shaped booth is long gone. There isn't anywhere else in that restaurant where I'd want to sit and sip on a Mutant Milkshake, so I make them here at home now.

Mutant Milkshake
Makes 1 shake

1 small banana - cut into chunks
3 scoops ice cream, one each vanilla, chocolate and strawberry OR 3 Neapolitan
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
whipped cream
4 maraschino cherries

Place banana, ice cream, chocolate syrup and 3 cherries into a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and top with whipped cream and remaining cherry.
This is best enjoyed with friends, but drinkable if you're alone.

Eagle Snacks are Back!

Do you remember Eagle brand Snacks? I do. I'm old enough to remember the original 'A' shaped pretzels put out by Anheuser Busch as a snack to go with their beers.

I would accompany my step-father to a local grill to pick up cheese steaks and we would sit at the bar waiting for our order. It was then that I picked up my first Eagle Snack and fell in love with them. I was very happy to find that Eagle snacks were back.

We sampled all 7 flavors of the new Poppers and Bursts and and the kids couldn't keep their hands off them. So far the favorite is Honey Barbecue Poppers. Running a very close second is Salt & Vinegar Poppers. I wasn't too crazy about the Caramel Dulce de Leche Bursts, but that's OK, my husband finished the bag single-handedly. I can see us purchasing these new snacks often since there's a flavor that everyone seems to favor. I'm not surprised at all, they're just as good as I remember.

Don't forget to check out the website - if you're anywhere near my age, you'll love the vintage Eagle Snacks ads!

Un-Foodie Joust Entry: Sesame Shrimp Tempura with Cilantro Creme Fraiche

Last month's Royal Foodie Joust ingredients were coriander (or cilantro), sesame and seafood. I wasn't sure right off what I wanted to make, but then I settled on this recipe. I didn't submit it to the Joust, though - I didn't really feel like it was worthy of a contest and besides, I had gone and fried yet another food and couldn't shake the guilt.

Here it is anyway, they were very yummy.

Sesame Shrimp Tempura with Cilantro Crème Fraîche

16 large shrimp - peeled and deveined - tails left on
1 tablespoon sesame seeds - toasted
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 egg(beaten)
3/4 cup very cold water
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro - minced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup crème fraîche

Combine sesame seeds, coriander, salt and flour. Working quickly, add beaten egg and water until a loose batter forms. Keep batter away from heat while you are working. Dip shrimp into batter and then in very hot oil. Cook, turning once if necessary, until shrimp are pink and batter is just crisp - do not brown, they must be golden only. Drain on paper toweling.

For crème fraîche, combine all and stand in refrigerator for at least an hour before serving with hot shrimp.

The Cutest Cakes Ever!

I was recently browsing around FamilyFun.com and found page after page of adorable cakes in The Best Cake Face-Off. Choose a category and vote between two at a time until you narrow it down to just two cakes for that category. See if the cake you pick is among the favorites.

Veggie Wednesday: Tickle Me Plants

I know I usually write about veggies on Wednesday, but this time I'm going for all-out green. I just planted and grew the cutest little plants you'll ever see, and I'm starting to wonder about plants in general after this.

You know how we've all heard that talking to plants helps them to grow? You know how we were told that it was because plants use the carbon dioxide that we breathe out to grow? I really am not so sure that's the only reason that talking helps!

Why is that? Well, when you stroke a plant and it folds up and "shies away" from you - you have to start wondering about why. My Katie (7) shrieked with delight the moment she touched our first grown Tickle Me Plant and it "pulled away" from her! I have to admit that I was fascinated as well and we called the whole family over to witness the same. They all love these little plants and check on them daily to see how they are growing. I can't wait for the flowers to grow and see the plants fully developed.

Our plants actually grew in just two weeks! We had 'tickle leaves' on ours within 3 weeks. I can't think of any other plant that has grown that fast. You have to see these for yourself, and you can do that HERE. Watch the video, read all about the plant itself, and order one to have for your own! You really won't be disappointed, these are just FUN to have around.

Pennsylvania Taste of Elegance Chef Competition

I was invited to compete in this year's Pennsylvania Taste of Elegance Competition, but as life would so have it, I have too many things happening on the day of competition to make it feasible for me to attend and I also am not working full-time in a food service establishment - cooking for 9 a day doesn't count. I don't want anyone else in the Lehigh Valley area to miss it though, so I thought I'd share a few details.

The deadline for entries has passed, but anyone can attend the event held on August 25, 2008 at Northampton Community College. The winner of this year's competition, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council and Cargill Meat Solutions, featuring Sysco?s White Marble Farms® pork products, will move on to the National Pork Board?s Taste of Elegance in Spring, 2009.

Details on last year's winning chefs and their dishes can be found HERE, and everything you need to know about attending this delicious event is as follows:

DATE: Monday, August 25, 2008
LOCATION: Northampton Community College - Hampton Winds Restaurant
The Gates Center
Green Pond Road
Bethlehem , PA, 18017
(It is across the street from the main college complex.)

TIME: Judging from 4-6 PM and open to the public from 6-8 PM

August 25th Taste of Elegance is open to the public!

From 6-8 PM, stop by Northampton Community College to meet the chefs and taste their creations as well as these additional appetizers prepared by NCC's culinary students: