Pop culture treats: deep fried, homemade Twinkies
A. Camille Nicholson is a graduate student in Cultural Studies and English Literature. Although she worked as an E-Commerce Developer during the .com’s height, she attributes her burgeoning interest in the culinary/baking arts to her volunteer duties at a local non-profit bakery and the past two years teaching cooking classes for kids.
I have loved the Twinkie since the dawn of my birth. As a child of suburban New Jersey in the 1980s, my fuschia green lunchbox frequently entertained the usual elementary lineup: Watermelon Ssips, a bologna or peanut butter sandwich, chocolate milk (which inexplicably required school permission), and a member of the Hostess snack cake family — typically, its irascible younger sibling, the Twinkie.
I have consistently defended the Twinkie against verbal assaults from more nutritionally minded acquaintances. However, the Twinkie’s reputation is slightly better than what they assert, although, admittedly, by a small margin. Surprisingly, one Twinkie provides only 150 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Although it contains corn derivatives and two types of glycerides, the only preservative embodied within its banana yellow sheath is absorbic acid. When introduced in 1933 during the Great Depression, its offering of two cakes for five cents assisted those enduring financial deficit.
Kalua Pig – Redneck Cooking
Every Friday at work we have a treat day: a different person each week brings in food for the group. This is voluntary and we do have some people that do not participate. For those of us that do, we get something tasty each Friday morning. Sometimes this treat is doughnuts from the grocery store and sometimes it’s homemade cookies or brownies or some other dish. A few weeks ago Jeff Lim brought in a Hawaiian dish that was really good. I asked him for the recipe and thought I would try making Kalua Pig myself.
I am not one that tries new foods all that often. I know what I like and pretty much stick to that. Hell, I never even tried Chinese food until my wife and I got together. Chinese food is a favorite of hers so I agreed to take her to a Chinese restaurant. I don’t mind Chinese food, but I still prefer a cheeseburger.
I have tried different styles of BBQ pulled pork before and have never really been all that impressed, so as I looked at the pot of pulled pork I was not sure I’d really like it. When I tried it I realized that it was not at all like the pulled pork I had tried before.
My favorite tastes of autumn – Fresh Foodie
Join Debbie as she raves about whole foods, rants about chemicals and generally celebrates cooking and eating with fresh, local, nutritious foods. And sometimes she might get a little feisty….
We’re in the heart of it now… the beautiful season we call autumn. There are so many things to love about the fall in New England: the spectacular foliage, the crisp sunshiny weather and the seasonal foods. Let’s celebrate the fresh, whole food and autumn-inspired recipes that the season brings us. You just might find a new favorite.
Pasta with tuna, red wine and capers
In the event that I came off as a total food snob when I referred to baked ziti as plebian (even though I think it’s completely delicious!), here’s one of our favorite recipes that most food snobs wouldn’t even consider making (because there’s canned tuna in it). We did, however, serve it to a food snob far more snobby than the likes of me, and it was a well-loved meal.
About 7000 years ago, or something closer to fifteen years, I acquired a fun little cookbook by Barbara Russo called Quick and Easy Elegant Pasta (long since out of print, unfortunately for you!). It’s all true. The recipes are so simple to make, with few ingredients yet lots of flavor, and there really is something distinctly elegant about each recipe. Whether an ingredient or a combination of ingredients, an interesting method or presentation, there’s something special about each of these recipes.
Over the years, her recipe for linguine with tuna and red wine has morphed into something revered in our household, both for the amazing base recipe Ms. Russo created, but also because we have altered it to suit our ever-changing culinary sensibilities.
Garlic soup, mushroom quiche, apple tart – It’s a Recipe Roundup luncheon menu!
Entertaining midday is a luxury many working folk don’t get on a regular basis, unless you throw a weekend luncheon. But I’m telling you, this is one of my favorite ways to enjoy good food and a small group of cherished friends or family. From the show-off-the-new-house-to-the-aunties luncheon, to the I-don’t see-my-girlfriends-enough-anymore luncheon, there is always an occasion to have someone — anyone! — over to enjoy some savory lunch fare. I admit, I got out of the habit when Owen came along, complete with midday naps that squashed the happy luncheon party.
My love for the luncheon has ironically come back in recent months, and I have to give all of the credit to Owen. Our local moms’ group has gotten into the habit of throwing a monthly pot luck lunch, and damn, we are having fun! The kids are old enough that they play well together and we can chat and visit and enjoy the recipes that turn up every month. And dare I say you might, on occasion, find some wine at our buffet?
If you love lunch as much as I do, I hope you’ll enjoy this luncheon menu I put together from some favorite recipes that crossed my path recently.
Crock pot breakfast cobbler – Breakfast at Clique-any’s
There’s nothing like starting the day with a warm breakfast … except maybe smelling it cooking while you’re still in bed. That’s the beauty of this crock pot breakfast cobbler.
Another thing I like about this recipe is that it is so easy to prepare the night before. Let’s face it, no one really wants to be making a gourmet breakfast at ten-o-clock at night. What Keith and I do is dump all the ingredients into the crock pot when we are cleaning the kitchen from dinner, then we push the start button before we head to bed.
This is a recipe we’ve made for years, especially when we have lots of apples to use up. I’ve based it on this recipe for breakfast cobbler, but it has morphed throughout the years and we actually make it different every time … and there’s not really a whole lot of measuring going on these days.
It’s so easy to be cheesy – Redneck Cooking
Happy Halloween everyone. I hope you all are having a good Halloween. I thought about writing a piece about some cool spooky Halloween kind of dish. I came up with the idea of making a meatloaf into the shape of a hand or a foot or something. Then I came across the Not Martha website. This is a cool looking meatloaf and my wife and I thought it would be fun to make one of these the next time we get the whole family together so I am now on the hunt for a hand shaped mold. So now that the meatloaf body part has already been perfected by someone else I decided to go with my original idea and give you my lasagna recipe instead.
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