Photo courtesy kristin_a/Flickr

I attended a wedding several years ago for which the bride had set up a candy buffet. It was the first time I’d ever seen such a thing, and I remember being struck by how lovely it was with all its bright colors and promises of decadence.

It seems candy buffets have grown even more popular since then, for everything from kids’ birthday parties to bridal showers and weddings. There are several reasons for this. First, candy is often beautiful, and a spread of different candies arranged in pretty vessels is really a feast for the eyes. The many colors of candy available makes it easy to customize the look of a candy buffet to match the wedding colors or the birthday boy or girl’s favorite hues.

Many of you are probably already aware that M&Ms can be ordered in special colors with custom lettering — at that wedding I attended, they had the bride and groom’s names printed on the M&Ms.

If you want to set up a candy buffet, you can purchase the candy at the grocery store or wherever you typically buy candy. But there are also lots of sweet websites where you can buy bulk candy and special-order candy. Check out A Candy Store, CandyWarehouse, Party City, Dylan’s Candy Bar and more. Make your buffet extra special with chocolates from local places such as Baylee’s Best Chocolates, ChocolatePaper, Nancy’s Candy Company or The Chocolate Spike.

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Deconstruct me! Photo courtesy Andrea_Nguyen/Flickr

Even though crab rangoon is more American than Chinese (it is believed to have been invented right here in the United States), it’s still my favorite appetizer on any Chinese menu. Well, that and a really good egg roll.

When I heard that my colleague, Rebecca Holland, was bringing a crab rangoon dip to a team potluck last week, my ears perked up right away. With its cream cheese, onion and crab filling, crab rangoon just begs to be deconstructed.

This easy dip may already be a favorite in some households, but if you haven’t had it before, I highly recommend it. The dip itself is delicious, but the crispy baked wonton chips are so good I could sit down with an entire bowl of those alone.

Check out the recipe below.

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This is the time of year when we hear that particular phrase, “We’ll have burgers and dogs. You bring a side” more often than any other. Of course, because it is prime cookout season.

In the past, we talked about how much we love all of the side dishes during the winter holidays. To me, the side dishes at cookouts can be just as exciting. Who doesn’t get hungry at the sight of a whole table spread with such dishes as homemade potato salad, pasta salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad, and an array of other delicious concoctions, including too many cold salads to list them all?

I’m sure we’ve all piled a plate high at a cookout, then sat down in the shade somewhere to sample the offerings. If you’re like me, you can’t help but silently judge them as you eat. For instance, perhaps that potato salad doesn’t have as much mustard as your grandma used to use. Perhaps the macaroni and cheese is some of the best you’ve ever had, or you wish the baked beans had a touch more brown sugar and some more bacon. But it’s so much fun to see how other people make these summer staples.

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Photo by Jeanna Duerscherl l The Roanoke Times

If you saw my Front Burner column earlier this week, you know I’ve already done a lot of thinking about food for the big game day. I don’t know why I always get so excited about the Super Bowl – I mean, I like pro football, but I’m a Denver Broncos fan. That’s not really conducive to a lot of exciting Super Bowls for me.

At any rate, I guess it’s just the excuse to cook a lot of great appetizers. Hors d’oeuvres have to be one of my favorite categories of recipes to study and try. You can share them with a lot of people. And as a consumer, you only have to commit to a small portion – unless, that is, you really love it and decide to sneak off with the whole tray.

But I haven’t thought a lot about adult beverages for Super Bowl, other than to position some IC Light from Pittsburgh and some Leinenkugel from Wisconsin in my photo for the paper. Most people who want to have an adult beverage during the Super Bowl probably opt for beer – that’s just what you drink when you watch sports, right?

However, if you do decide to mix up some team-themed cocktails, you might as well go for a manly spirit like Scotch (although plenty of ladies, myself included, enjoy a Scotch from time to time). I’ve got some pretty sophisticated recipes for you courtesy of the folks at Glenfiddich (see below).

What will you be eating and drinking while you watch the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers battle it out in Texas this weekend?

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You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (recipe below). Courtesy photo.

Around the holidays, even folks who don’t normally drink alcohol can be cajoled into having a festive rum-spiked eggnog or a hot toddy. My Great Aunt Billie said she never drank a drop of alcohol, but boy, when Grandma put a slice of bourbon- or rum-soaked cake in front of her, she just about licked the flowers off the plate.

Keeping responsible behavior, particularly the use of taxi cabs or designated drivers, in mind, I say let go a little bit this Christmas and warm your belly with a nice cocktail. Sometimes for me, that means something as simple as a glass of Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry over ice. My mom gets into the spirit by sipping Kahlua and cream while wrapping presents or watching “White Christmas,” our favorite holiday movie.

As always, I’ve been bombarded by press releases from liquor companies and their public relations companies with holiday-themed cocktail recipes. But I don’t mind, because I get to share them with you! See several recipes below. And tell me, what kind of cocktail really puts you in the holiday spirit?

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Howdy, dear readers.

I have been busy as a bear on a honey hive this week, getting myself ready to take a much-needed break from work next week. But I do want to assure you that the Fridge won’t be ENTIRELY empty. A few of my lovely colleagues have agreed to post some guest blog entries, so you’ll get a break from me, as well as a different perspective!

I plan to give those aforementioned colleagues a couple of books to give away, so be sure to check the blog next week for a chance to win a prizie! And before I go, I will offer you a fun entertainment idea for any kind of dinner party, family gathering or football-watching event you might be having through the next few months: A sweet potato bar!

We’ve talked before about how easy and fun serve-yourself bars can be at parties. You can make taco bars, nacho bars, chili or soup bars, baked potato bars, sundae bars and more. But I’d never really thought about a sweet potato bar until I saw it mentioned recently. Seems like a very autumnal idea, doesn’t it?

Here’s what to do: Bake enough sweet potatoes for your guests, then provide them with the following suggested toppings and let them load away:

• Toasted pecans or walnuts

• Candied nuts

• Light or dark brown sugar

• Butter (of course!)

• Maple syrup

• Cinnamon

• Toasted shredded coconut

• Mini marshmallows

• Dried cranberries

• Crumbled bacon (for a savory touch)

If anyone can think of other topping ideas, feel free to comment. And please have a safe, happy week while I’m away from the blog!

I graduated from Roanoke College, and if I had it to do all over again, I’d go to the same school. But I can’t deny that I feel a little left out when football season rolls around. For one thing, it sure would be fun to root for an alma mater. For another, I have missed out on countless opportunities to tailgate.

What could be more fun, other than watching your team cream the other guys, than partying out of the back of a vehicle? It’s a picnic on wheels. Indulgence in a parking lot. An excuse, for some, to tie one on hours before the typical toddy time.

This year, I was tasked with writing a story about tailgating food for our special Welcome Back Students section, which comes out this Sunday. Because I couldn’t speak for experience, I chatted up the biggest tailgaters I know. I find it amazing that such things as gas-powered blenders, hitch-on grills and customizable steak branding irons exist. These people are SERIOUS!

My story for the section focuses on how to turn the typical American tailgate into one with ethnic flair. It includes a Mexican tailgating menu and a Mediterranean tailgating menu, and I’ll be sure to share all of that with you on the blog. Coincidentally, my favorite magazine, Fine Cooking, has just released a special Tailgating issue that will be on newsstands through the end of November. It is packed with menus, including one for a tailgate breakfast, a vegetarian tailgate and a super-cold weather tailgate (helloooo, spiked hot cocoa!)

I would be very surprised if I didn’t have some professional tailgaters reading this blog. If you’re out there, tell us about some of the best pre-game meals you’ve ever had, and some of the craziest things you’ve transported to make those meals happen. Any tips for newbies on the best way to keep foods cold/hot and fresh are also appreciated.

I would love to share some of your ideas in an upcoming Front Burner column.

Two nights before my wedding, I stood in the kitchen and wondered what kind of idiot bride thinks she can do her own food for a 75-person affair.

As usual, my sense of frugality had won over my common sense. But I had a planned menu of heavy hors d’oeuvres and my sister was there to help, so we flew into action.

Boiled, boneless chicken breasts were zipped through the food processor, as were a bunch of other ingredients — onion, celery and apples among them. We had a basic concept in mind, but we didn’t bother to multiply quantities, instead throwing it all together with mayonnaise and seasonings and judging by taste.

At the wedding, a half-dozen people or more said it was the best chicken salad they’d ever eaten.

“May I have the recipe?” a guest asked, munching on her salad-topped croissant.

“I would be happy to share,” I said, “if I actually had one.”

And that, my friends, is the beauty of chicken salad. If it were a person, this dish would be a professional actor, because it can take on any ethnicity, any style, any mood, and still be fairly convincing.

All manners of nuts, fruits, seeds, vegetables and spices can be mixed in for big flair.

Chicken salad may be the most versatile member of its family, but it certainly isn’t the only one that can wear different flavors. Don’t be afraid to make your tuna or egg salad sing, as well.

To read the rest of today’s Front Burner column, click here.

Do you have some favorite recipes to share? Let me know!

When the Red Gold public relations lady called me and started talking about summer salad recipes that call for canned tomatoes, I will admit that I initially thought it sounded weird. But then I considered how scarce fresh tomatoes still are in these parts around Memorial Day, if they aren’t hydroponic, which can be pricey. Canned tomatoes are still a tasty, nutritious alternative in many dishes, so as long as the recipes didn’t say “Top shredded lettuce with canned tomatoes and ranch dressing,” I decided to give them a chance.

The cookbook Red Gold sent includes several cold pasta salads with canned tomatoes, as well as the old, familiar standby: tomato, corn and black bean salad. A friend of mine used to bring a similar concoction to just about every summer potluck, and it was scarfed down with much enthusiasm.

Their tomato, corn and black bean salad, known as Southwestern Salad, calls for 2 cans of Red Gold Mexican Fiesta diced tomatoes, drained, a 10-ounce package of frozen corn, cooked and drained, 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans, a cup of Thousand Island dressing, 1/2 cup red bell pepper strips, some red onion and ground pepper. They suggest serving over salad greens.

I think I could get on board with that dish, as well as with their Mexican Pasta Salad recipe, which has a creamy homemade cilantro dressing that I could see using in other applications. I’ll post that below, along with an EXTREMELY simple recipe for Pasta Club Salad that calls for packaged chicken strips and boxed pasta salad mix. I’d probably steal the idea and use roasted chicken or grilled breasts instead, with some crumbled bacon, pasta and mayonnaise, but it sure does look easy in a pinch if you’ve got to bring a side to a cookout this weekend and are pressed for time.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

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One of my pals loves Mexican food and culture so much that she decorated her kitchen with chili peppers and often suggested we catch up over margaritas and Mexican cuisine.

Before she and her husband moved away from Roanoke, I always looked forward to their annual Cinco de Mayo potluck, which fell on or about the date that is the holiday’s namesake, May 5.

We visited, we drank homemade margaritas and we gorged on the huge spread, which ranged from authentic (fresh pico de gallo, enchiladas, tostadas) to decidedly inauthentic but still-so-good (jalapeno poppers, queso dip made with Velveeta, chocolate-banana “dessert burritos”).

I never thought to ask the hosts if they knew the history behind this Mexican holiday, or whether anyone else at the party knew. I was certainly ignorant myself.

Because Cinco de Mayo falls exactly one week from today, I set out to educate myself. I started with an oldie but goodie, the Encyclopedia Britannica (a 1987 edition, but 19th-century Mexican history hasn’t really changed since then), then talked to Enrique Lamadrid, chairman of the department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico.

What I learned left me thoroughly surprised.

Continue reading this story by clicking here.

See recipes for Chiles en Nogada and Pozole by clicking here.

Moses Nucamendi of Alejandro’s Mexican Grill also recommended a recipe for Tinga Poblana, or shredded pork Puebla Style. To see that recipe, click here. In fact, this entire site, “Mexico in my Kitchen,” features wonderful recipes accompanied by beautiful photos. If you love Mexican food, check out several of their entries.

Finally, check out this recipe for a savory Mexican sandwich called Pambazos, which was also recommended by Moses.

Family Features Syndicate

The best bruschetta I’ve ever had was at a family-style Italian restaurant in Charlotte, N.C. Since my brother-in-law was out of town, I was my sister’s stand-in guest for a friend’s wedding. The reception was a nice sit-down dinner at this restaurant, where they brought out plates mounded with bread slices that were covered in an avalanche of delicious tomato topping. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant now, but my sister might (she is now telling me it was Frankie’s, which has since closed. Boo!).

At any rate, I’ve always loved bruschetta because it is so very easy to make and it appeals to so many people. It’s a perfect appetizer for a cocktail party menu because you can put out the toasted bread and the topping separately and let guests mound on as much as they want. Otherwise, the bread can get soggy pretty fast.

I always assumed bruschetta was defined as a toasted piece of bread with a topping of tomatoes with garlic, herbs and such. But when I read the definition in “Food Lover’s Companion,” it sounds like the bruschetta part is just the bread, which is traditionally rubbed with fresh garlic and drizzled with olive oil before being toasted or warmed.

I could eat the bread just like that with no problems, but there are so many, many options for bruschetta toppings. I’ve made the fresh tomato topping with basil and garlic, but I’ve also made a tapenade of sorts with ground olives and garlic. Obviously, this is not a good time of year for fresh tomatoes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have bruschetta! I found a few delicious-looking (and EASY) recipes in a Family Features Syndicate story that don’t call for tomatoes. They are Kalamata tapenade topping, herbed mushroom topping and balsamic red onion topping.

Next time you’re having guests over, whip up all three and have a little bruschetta buffet! See the recipes below.

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