www.roanoke.com

Wednesday's snow showers and this morning's freezing rain have got me dreaming about a nice, big snow day.

Of course, since I'm in the newspaper business and the newspaper never sleeps, that would have to happen on a Saturday or a Sunday. But there's always hope.

My good pal Stacy has a snow day tradition filled with play and good food. She likes to invite over a friend or two, rent movies and keep a crockpot full of meatballs and tomato sauce bubbling away in the kitchen.

Periodically, the movie gets paused and everyone pulls on the boots, jacket and gloves to run outside and play in the snow, throwing snowballs and fluttering out snow angels like little children.

The best part, however, is going back inside to load those meatballs on top of big, crusty sub rolls. A little mozzerella or provolone cheese melted on top and you've got a snow day treat that'll fill your belly and fuel you for some snowman construction or sledding, as well.

In honor of Stacy's tradition and in the hopes that we might get a play day in the snow within the next few weeks, I'm attaching my favorite recipe for homemade meatballs. They're super easy to make and they always turn out well for me.

A few sauteed peppers and onions on top would make that sub even more irresistable. And for the vegans and healthy eaters in the crowd, stay tuned for Monday's blog entry and news of our next cookbook winner!

What's your favorite snow day food?

Read more »

Corey, Katie, Sean, Wendy and others have all offered some pretty convincing arguments for winning this week's free cookbook, "Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook." It's going to be quite hard for me to decide.
From personal and family health to animal welfare, the arguments for switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet are compelling. If I may wander slightly from the topic of food, I'd suggest that anyone interested in animal welfare watch the new HBO documentary, "I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA." Newkirk is the founder of PETA, and whether you come away from the doc thinking she's a saint or a loon, it is a fascinating and thought-provoking experience.
Watching the part about undercover slaughterhouse investigations made me even more glad that I bought my Thanksgiving turkey from a local farm this year. Besides that, the darn thing just tasted scrumptious.
Moving right along, since it seems that a few of you are dreaming and drooling over this cookbook, I'll share an awesome recipe from the chapter on salads to tide you over until you either win it or purchase it yourself.

Read more »

It's time to give away another free cookbook, boys and girls!

We've given away collections of recipes for bar food, delicious chocolate creations and more. Now, it's time to give those vegetarian and vegan readers a little love.

A few weeks ago, I received THREE copies of "Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. THREE copies! They really wanted me to see this book.

Moskowitz and Romero are described as "America's best-selling vegan chefs." They are the authors of two other vegan cookbooks called "Vegan with a Vengeance" and "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World."

I love the title of that last one, don't you? I am just thinking of some cheesy B-Movie where giant, pink-iced cupcakes come crashing through the skyscrapers of New York City. Okay, so I digress.

"Veganomicon" is packed with almost 300 pages of recipes for appetizers, brunch items, salads, salad dressings, side dishes, bean dishes, tofu dishes, soups and stews and more. Although I'm not a vegan myself (I spent a few teenage years as a vegetarian), I believe I could totally survive off the recipes in this book.

Read more »

I want you to check out one of the coolest corporate restaurant Web sites I've seen in quite some time. The chefs who create the dishes you order at Red Lobster have been writing their own chef's blog for several months now, and it is jam-packed with useful information about cooking seafood in your own kitchen.
On the site, you can find a plethora of seafood recipes, kitchen tips and demonstrations. You can also take a peek inside the interactive Red Lobster kitchen, where they suggest which seasonings to keep on hand for seafood preparation.
I love the fact that this blog allows readers to interact directly with trained chefs. Seafood can be expensive and daunting, so advice from professionals would go a long way toward turning out a successful dish.
I also like the fact that while some Red Lobster recipes are obviously secret (like those killer cheddar-bay biscuits I always want to smuggle out in my purse), the chefs are willing to share others, such as a Sweet Maple and Dried Cherry Glaze.
Here's that recipe:

Read more »

Even if I wanted to ignore this dark chocolate peanut butter and banana peanut butter, I couldn't.
It's been turning up in some unexpected places.

Of course, I wouldn't voluntarily choose to ignore any kind of peanut butter because it's probably one of my favorite flavors, particularly when incorporated into a delicious peanut butter cookie or peanut butter pie. Mmmmmm.

I just don't understand people who don't like peanut butter -- like my husband. What's the deal?

The P.B. Loco Dark Chocolate Duo and a jar of Sunland Banana Peanut Butter Spread turned up in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago. But after sampling the two and sharing them with some co-workers, I shoved the jars in my desk drawer and temporarily forgot about them.
That's what a busy holiday schedule makes me do.

But then, this weekend, I was wandering through the grocery store looking for queso dip ingredients when I passed a table and a woman offering samples of...you guessed it, chocolate and banana peanut butter.

Read more »