Last weekend I got to play a Chef at the farmers market. Every Saturday, Healthy Shasta has a local chef demonstrate a healthy recipe using fresh produce from the farmer’s market. And I got to do my very first food demo ever! AND, I’m on a roll. I’m doing another food demo at the Wine and [...]

Who Says Creamy Salad Dressings Are Fattening!

I have a friend who eats her salads sans dressing. I watch her take bite after bite of fresh, crunchy lettuce and wish I could follow her example. After all, I’d save a few calories.

As much as it pains me to say, I have to have my salads and veggies [...]

I’m finally reaching a point in the craziness that has been the past few weeks that I can begin to contemplate all the things that I should have been doing. I finally have a chance to contemplate cooking something again; which is a good thing considering I have a deadline for a recipe development project looming very near now. Seriously, it’s been sheer insanity around the CbsoP household. I’ve been…

Sorry for the lapse in posts lately.  I actually have a ton of things I want to get up for all of you, but have been consumed by personal issues that have to be handled in a very expedient manner for our move to Alaska.  I hope to have a lull in this personal activity in the next few days and a little time to post some of the recipes…

Waste Food?

I just can’t do it. Nope. Can’t waste food. The tiniest scrap doesn’t escape my attention. After all, I can use it in a salad the next day, or in this case, a crunchy, creamy sandwich.

Salmon Salad

I over-estimated how much salmon we could chow down, and had plenty left for this heart [...]

Topped with White Sparkling Sugar

The girl’s have been asking (read begging) for me to bake something, anything.  I have been in involved in a weight loss challenge with a bunch of people at the BMX track and I really didn’t want to have to pay any money just because I am very weak and will eat just about anything sweet in the house, hence there has been very little baking going on around here!  Now that the challenge is over and I won, I can get on with baking up some goodies! 

Today I thought I would start by baking some cupcakes…trouble was I couldn’t decide how to top them!

 
Topped with Chocolate Frosting (looks like I was frugal with the frosting but the angel food cake is so light it won’t hold up to a lot!)

Angel Food Cupcakes (adapted to cupcakes from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 12 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Be sure that your muffin pan is prepared and lined with cupcake liners. Sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the sugar, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites along with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, to medium stiff peaks. Gradually add the remaining sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. When the egg white mixture has reached its maximum volume, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not over mix. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 or less full. Refrigerate the remaining batter for the next batch.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cupcakes are a nice golden color.
4. I rolled some still hot cupcakes in White Sparkling Sugar and allowed the rest to cool for frosting.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (Hershey Cocoa container)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

When was the last time you ate the candy you loved as a kid? I picked some up this past week and couldn't believe how fun it was. Yes. Candy is fun. Just try putting some poprocks on your tongue and then make some noise. And then there was the fun dip. Did you know that double-dipping with a foodie is always allowed and sometimes a requirement? Relish life with fun dip gobstoppers and poprocks Lick and double-dip in pink purple orange sugar Pop fizz crackle laugh Taste test Froot Loops and eat the rainbow Be loopy. History of Lasagna Lasagna is one of those “go-to” recipes for my family and something I pull out when we all need some comfort food. What’s comforting to me is that I know this is a dish that everyone loves. People generally assume that Lasagna originated in Italy, although...

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My husband and I share a similar ethnic background - Sicilian and French, although I'm also part Basque, Irish, and German.  I'm always amazed, however, over vastly different childhood food experiences.  Of course, he is a selective eater, and perhaps he's blocked out many food-related memories, but whenever I ask him, "did your mom ever make....?"  The answer is often no, even though the item in question could be as common as chicken gumbo.  Now, these different food experiences are both a blessing and a curse, as I never hear "my mom's insert food item here is better" but, on the other hand, because he never ate insert food item here as a child, he's reluctant refuses to try it...initially, at least.  There are foods that I've introduced that he has slowly come to enjoy, and even request.  One such item is chicken gumbo.  Now, I grew up eating chicken and sausage gumbo, and it's definitely one of my favorite gumbos.  The husband, however, is anti-sausage.  I tried subbing tasso, which works really well, but he wasn't overly enthused, shall we say.  So, after many batches of gumbo, I finally arrived at this gumbo recipe, which I'm happy to say, meets his approval.  And, while there is no sausage or tasso in it, it meets my approval, too. 
Some tips and comments - I make a really dark roux, so my gumbo is not very thick.  If you prefer a thicker-style, cook your roux to a lighter color.  Also, if you want to add sausage, brown the sausage when you brown the chicken and return the sausage to the gumbo when you return the chicken.  I cook the chicken with the bone, but before serving, I remove the chicken from the gumbo, debone it, and return the chicken to the gumbo before serving. This is not necessary, but I find it somewhat messy to eat the chicken while it's still on the bone.  Finally, file' is not required, but it definitely adds that special something to your gumbo.

Chicken Gumbo Printable recipe
3 lbs chicken pieces (I use chicken breasts on the bone)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup flour
2 cups celery, diced
4 cups onion, diced
½ cup bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon savory
1 bay leaf
7-8 cups chicken stock
Salt & cayenne pepper
Hot cooked rice
File’ powder, optional

Season chicken pieces with salt and cayenne pepper
Heat 2 tablespoons of the canola oil in a large Dutch oven.
Add chicken pieces and cook until golden brown; remove and set aside.
Lower heat, and add remaining canola oil and flour to Dutch oven to make a dark roux. Be very careful, as the oil is extremely hot. Cook the roux over medium heat – I aim for the color of milk chocolate, and this can take upwards of 20+ minutes.
Add onions, celery, peppers, and garlic to Dutch oven, cooking until fragrant and onions are turning translucent.
Add thyme, savory, and bay leaf.
Return chicken pieces and add chicken stock to Dutch oven.
Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until chicken is tender and liquid has reduced.
Taste for seasoning, adding salt & pepper as desired.
Serve over hot cooked rice with a dash of file’ powder (sprinkled on top, not stirred in).
Enjoy!

Today's post is also linked to Two for Tuesdays.

I've made a vegetarian version of this recipe a couple of years ago and it turned out very good.  This week, I felt like having a meatier version, something to stick to our ribs for all the hard days of work ahead of us.  This is a mild chili, suitable for folks that are sensitive [...]