At any rate, I don’t have a lot of fond memories from working at The Painted Elephant. I was just out of high school, it was my first restaurant job and one of the bartenders made it his personal goal to turn every shift I worked into hell.

However, in addition to my first crush on a line cook (when you work in restaurants through college, these things happen), I also discovered that hiding on the otherwise not-memorable menu was a sandwich I kept craving and craving. It was a grilled vegetable sub, which seems pretty simple but has never been duplicated in a restaurant I’ve visited since.

This sub started with slices of squash grilled on the grill. They served as the base, or “meat” of the sandwich. On top were sauteed mushrooms, peppers and onions. And it was all topped with melted provolone cheese and fresh lettuce and tomato. Simple enough to make at home, probably. But I’ve never had a veggie sub or sandwich that good in a restaurant since.

Today, I tried out the Market Vegetable Panini at Orange Dog on Campbell Avenue, and while it wasn’t bad, it certainly wasn’t as good. It was basically a jazzed-up grilled cheese, with lots of American cheese, some zucchini, peppers, onions and lettuce and tomato. Because it was served on flat sandwich bread instead of a sub, I had to replace the slippery innards after every bite.

Zero’s Subs out at Valley View has a close contender, but it includes broccoli, which kind of ruins the texture for me. And I’ve had cold subs everywhere, from Brambleton Deli to Corned Beef. Raw vegetables on bread basically seem like a punishment to me instead of a treat. I’ll take a salad instead, please.

Another common offense with restaurant-style grilled veggie subs is grease. Lots of it, shimmering all over the vegetables and making them taste, well, like grease.

I realize that this is a pretty specialized area, but if anyone else enjoys hot, grilled vegetable subs and has found a delicious version in Southwest Virginia, I’d love to know where. It will take me back to the only fond memory I have of working at The Painted Elephant…. except the day I quit.

We’re supposed to have a “patch” of sorts that is automatically diverting you to the new URL even if you type in the old one or have the old one bookmarked. But, technology sometimes doesn’t work the way it should. So please do me a favor and CHANGE your bookmarks. And when you leave a comment on the blog, please make sure you’re at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/fridgemagnet/.

A few comments are stuck in limbo and we’re trying to push those through as best we can. But if you make a comment and you don’t see it approved within the day, please consider posting it again on the correct site address.

Thanks for your patience!

Yesterday, I found out that a dear friend of mine was laid off from his state job. He has a wife, two little girls and a new home in Roanoke that he recently transferred to from Staunton. My heart goes out to that family and the others who are beginning to see real, tangible effects in their own lives. It’s getting closer to home every day.

The purpose of this is not to depress everybody on a Friday. It’s just to point out that lots of us are probably noticing higher grocery bills and thinking hard about how often we order take-out, go out for cocktails or treat ourselves to a nice dinner.

Now more than ever, it would be valuable for folks like us to get some great pointers from other families about how they’re trimming the food budget without giving up all the things they enjoy, whether that’s a nice bottle of wine and some good cheese on Friday night, some cocktails with co-workers after work or the occasional break from cooking dinner at home.

Not too long ago, I had plans to come up with some kind of happy hour guide — a listing that would show readers the best food and drink specials at restaurants across Southwest Virginia. Other stories got in the way, but now seems like a better time than ever to resurrect the project. Just this week, my husband and I enjoyed $1.50 Corona Lights with our $5 quesadillas and nachos at the downtown Macado’s. They aren’t the only restaurant that offers extremely affordable options like that.

In the next few weeks, as you wander through your neighborhoods and towns, please keep your eyes open for great meal and beverage specials. I could canvass the entire corner of the state by myself, but it will be helpful to have a few extra sets of eyes and ears. When possible, if you see a great special, try to get a paper copy of that menu or special.

Have a great, worry-free weekend. Oh, and don’t forget to keep sending in your favorite cookie recipes!

Okay, folks, it’s time for you to declare — Not whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, an Obama fan or a McCain supporter. It is time for you to declare your cookie allegiance.

I’ll go first: oatmeal raisin. Hands down. If forced to pick a second and third choice, it would probably be preacher cookies and white chocolate-macadamia nut cookies.

October is National Cookie Month. But if ever there was a food that could support an entire year of tributes, it is the versatile and delightful cookie. Three hundred and sixty-five different cookies could easily be named for every day of this proposed National Cookie Year. And then some.

In fact, if I started naming cookie types now, it would probably take me about as long as it took Forrest Gump’s pal, Bubba, to name all the shrimp concoctions he knew.

Cookies are, in my opinion, the ultimate dessert. If you can restrict yourself to just one (and few of us can), it is the perfect individually-sized treat. Cookies can take on fall flavors of cinnamon and raisins and apples, warm-weather flavors like lemons or fresh berries and winter flavors like peppermint and amaretto. They exist in just about every culture, in some form, and can take on an array of shapes and sizes.

They can be had for dessert at restaurants all over town — Heavenly Ham, Zak’s Cafe, On the Rise, Subway and Macado’s are just a few. But who has the best cookies? Perhaps the best ones come out of your own oven.

For this huge, important National event, I urge all of you to dig through your cookbooks and scrap books and come up with your very favorite cookie recipe. Then post it on this blog and we’ll share them with the world.

I’ll kick things off with this recipe:

Golden Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 4 dozen

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup golden raisins

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, water and vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, orange peel, cinnamon and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the raisins. Dough will be stiff.

2. Drop by level tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book

You’re looking at a picture of my dinner last night: Thick-cut pork chops grilled with McCormick’s Cinnamon Chipotle Rub and finished off with Wertz’s apple-cinnamon barbecue sauce.

A natural accompaniment to this dinner, of course, was sauteed apples. I chose to use two Mutsu apples that I purchased from a farmer in downtown Blacksburg on Saturday. The Japanese Mutsu (also known as Crispin) is good for cooking and needs no sugar, so it’s ideal for diabetics.

On the side: Birds Eye steamed, seasoned brussels sprouts. It was the first time I’ve used those and I was impressed by the flavor. Although I did feel a little bit guilty about the plastic tray and box I had to throw out.

The cinnamon-chipotle rub can be purchased at local grocery stores. The barbecue sauce can be found at Wertz’s Market on Brambleton Avenue. Both were very delicious and I’d recommend them.

Here’s a great idea for you crock pot lovers out there. I know crock pot season has officially arrived, and this past weekend my friend took advantage of that by making Angel Chicken, a rich, creamy chicken dish with mushrooms, white wine and cream cheese.

Since it calls for light cream cheese, maybe it’s not as fattening as it sounds! We served it over rice, but pasta or mashed potatoes would work just as well. I’ll share the recipe below.

Final note: I think we’re about to switch blog servers here at the RT. The old server has been getting progressively slower and harder to navigate. We are hoping the new server will allow us to get out blog entries and approve comments much faster. So if you see anything wiggy happening on this blog in the next day or so, that might be the result of us switching everything over. Thanks!

Crock Pot Angel Chicken

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup butter
1 envelope (0.7-ounce) Italian salad dressing mix
1 can (10 3/4-ounce size) condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup dry white wine or sherry
1 tub (8-ounce size) lite cream cheese with chives and onion
Snipped fresh chives (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into large chunks and place in a 3 1/2- or 4-quart crock pot.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the dry Italian salad dressing mix, mushroom soup, white wine and cream cheese. Mix until combined and smooth.

3. Pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked pasta or rice. Sprinkle with chives, if desired.

I had a very unproductive weekend.

Saturday: Went to Blacksburg, couldn’t score VT tickets. Ended up drinking beer and eating wings, then taking a nap.

Sunday: Went to Lowe’s, bought pegboard to organize the shed. Opened shed doors, stared at complete mess inside shed, went inside and took a nap.

Okay, at least there was the cake. I feel as if I did accomplish at least one thing: I figured out the mystery behind the Cheerwine Cake recipe and produced a pretty delicious cake. One problem: Couldn’t find the Cheerwine. But I’ll get back to that later.

Every Cheerwine Cake recipe I could find on the Internet failed to specify exactly how to bake the cake part. It called for a box of Devil’s Food Cake, one cup of soda and a dash of almond extract. But no word on whether you add all the eggs, oil and water as instructed on the back of the cake box, too. It was an important question, because with too much or too little liquid the cake could turn out wrong. And eggs are a leavening agent, so I couldn’t imagine leaving them out.

Now I see that blog reader Deb was smart enough to go to the Cheerwine Web site and find the specific instructions. I, however, was without a computer this weekend so I had to lead my friend through my search over the phone. We ended up finding a recipe for Coca-Cola chocolate cake that said to substitute the cup of soda for whatever water is called for on the back of the box.

Off to the grocery store I went with my list, and couldn’t find any Cheerwine at all at my Kroger. Since I don’t live near a bunch of other grocery stores, I decided to check 7-11 on Williamson Road. NO Cheerwine!! Even worse, although I had decided to sub in Cherry Coke for the Cheerwine, the 7-11 didn’t have that, either! Or Cherry Pepsi, for that matter! What in the heck is this world coming to?

Frustrated, I went home with a 20-oz. bottle of Coke and made the darn Devil’s Food Cake with Coke instead of Cheerwine. Into the frosting went 1/3 cup of Coke instead of Cheerwine, and when the whole thing was done, I had this rich, moist chocolate cake just swimming in buttery, fudgy icing. I took it to a dinner party and everyone was wild for it.

So there you have it: If you sub in a cup of soda for the water on pretty much any basic chocolate cake mix, it will turn out well. Now, if I could just find that damn Cheerwine without driving all over tarnation…

Here’s the best version of the recipe, straight from the Cheerwine folks:

CheerDevil Cake

For the cake, you will need:

1 Box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 Cup Cheerwine
1 Teaspoon Almond Extract

Prepare cake mix as directed on package, except substitute 1 cup of Cheerwine Soft Drink for the water. Add almond extract. Pour into 9×13 greased and floured pan. Bake as directed.

Frost with Cheerwine icing:

1/3 Cup Cheerwine Soft Drink
2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 Cup Margarine
1/4 Teaspoon Almond Extract
1/4 Cup Cocoa
1 Cup Chopped Nuts

Heat Cheerwine, margarine and cocoa together until mixture comes to a boil. Pour mixture over powdered sugar and blend until smooth. Stir in almond extract. Mix in chopped nuts. Cool slightly. Spread over cake.

Source: www.cheerwine.com
Photo source: www.cheerwines.com

Since the market building closed for cleaning and renovation on Sept. 20, has it changed your lunchtime routine?

Are you eating at other restaurants you don’t normally patronize? Or has it turned you off restaurant dining completely?

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

Thanks for all the great comments. I’m intrigued by the popcorn cake recipe submitted by Michelle. How do you eat the darn thing, though? Do you cut it in slices or just pull it apart like monkey bread?

Speaking of cake, my sister Kim sent me this intriguing recipe this morning for Cheerwine cake. Who remembers Cheerwine? They still sell it in these parts, I believe. My husband loves it, but it’s so sweet that he can only handle about one soda per year. I might have to make this cake for the holidays. Sounds like a chocolate-covered cherry.

Keep sending in those popcorn memories and recipes, too! I think we’re onto something…

CHEERWINE CAKE

For cake:

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
1 cup Cheerwine
1 tsp. almond extract

For frosting:

1/3 cup Cheerwine
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 cup nuts, chopped

Heat Cheerwine, butter and cocoa together until mixture comes to a boil. Pour mixture over powdered sugar and blend until smooth. Stir in almond extract. Mix in chopped nuts.
Cool slightly. Spread over cake.

On my way into the grocery store on Sunday, I saw them: the Boy Scouts with the popcorn.
Our pharmacist’s son was the one selling and we figured it’s a good cause, so we went home with a can of toffee/peanut popcorn just in time for this week, which kicks off National Popcorn Poppin’ Month!

The truth is, my husband doesn’t really like popcorn. Something about things getting stuck in his teeth and in his throat. The bottom line is that when we go to the movies, I get the bag of popcorn aaaaall to myself and he keeps his hands away. Which suits me just fine.

When I was a kid, my mother had some hideous orange plastic popcorn popper with a little built-in dish on top where you melted butter and let it drip down into the snack. I recall it being such a pain in the butt to pull the thing out and make the popcorn that we hardly ever had homemade popcorn at my house.

Maybe that’s why it was all the more exciting that one neighbor always handed out popcorn balls on Halloween. We’d always rush on past all the other houses in the neighborhood in an effort to get to the popcorn ball house before all the popcorn balls had been handed out. Then we’d double back.

Come to think of it, October really is an appropriate month to celebrate popcorn, not just because of popcorn balls. It’s the time to cuddle up on the couch — not recoil from your sweaty sweetie and the wooly upholstery — to watch a movie. Preferrably a scary movie!

Thanks to The Popcorn Board, I’ve got a few recipes for jazzing up an ordinary bowl of popcorn. If you have any popcorn memories or recipes yourself, let’s hear them!

Sweet and Smoky Almond Popcorn

2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup hickory smoke-flavored almonds
5 cups popped popcorn

In a large pot, heat sugar and water over medium heat. Cook about 3 minutes or until the sugar is melted and the mixture is bubbling, stirring occasionally.
Stir in butter until melted and well-blended. Stir in popcorn and almonds until well-coated. Remove from heat and allow to cool before serving.

Cinnamon-Spice Berry Popcorn

6 cups air-popped popcorn
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves
1 1/2 Tbsp. light margarine
1/2 cup Craisins

Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, spices and margarine in a microwave safe bowl; cook on high heat for 2 1/2 minutes until bubbly hot.
Add craisins to popcorn. Toss with hot sugar mixture until well-coated. Cool mixture before serving.

I’m guilty of the same thing. I have bunches and bunches of friends on Facebook who used to be old schoolmates. It’s really quite fascinating and nostalgic, and occasionally you come across a real gem, like some “Most Likely to Succeed” cheerleader who is working a Denny’s or the quietest, most dorky kid in class who is now a billionaire.

I got a real gem the other day, in a different way. One year in high school, we had four Brazilian exchange students come to Alleghany High School. There were three boys and a girl, a quite dazzling and beautiful girl, in fact, whose name was Raquel. All the boys were dizzy for this exotic girl with the sexy accent and flowing dark hair.

Raquel was more than pretty, she was sweet, too. So I was very excited when she asked to be my friend on Facebook, all the way from Brazil! When she told me that she, too, loved food and cooking and would send me a Brazilian recipe sometime, I nearly fell out of my chair. So much for what Raquel’s been doing since high school, I just wanted the darn recipe — STAT!!

Nah, I really do care about Raquel, but I sure was excited when she sent me one of her very favorite Brazilian recipes. It’s for a shrimp or fish stew seasoned with tomato, coconut milk, cilantro and garlic. It’s called Moqueca, which I swear I’ve seen on the menu at Carlos’ before and absolutely loved.

Enjoy! And thanks, Raquel!

Brazilian Moqueca de Camarao
(shrimp stew, Bahian style)
Serves 4

Plan ahead, the shrimp needs to marinate for 30 minutes. You may substitute firm white fish or small, soft shell crabs in place of the shrimp if desired.

Juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Black pepper to taste
1 cup thin coconut milk*
1/2 cup thick coconut milk*
2 to 3 tablespoons dende oil**

Make a marinade with lemon, onion, garlic, vinegar and salt. Marinate the shrimp for 30 minutes. Put mixture into a sauce pan and add cilantro, tomato paste and black pepper to taste. Add thin coconut milk and cook over low heat until the shrimp are cooked. Add the thick coconut milk and dende oil. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

*Bottled or canned coconut milk can be substituted.

**Dende oil is a palm oil high in saturated fat. It is available in specialty food stores.

Recipe courtesy of Raquel Gama.