Remember the FEMA gingerbread house that the So Salem crew painstakingly made, only to find that Santa and his bowl full 'o' jelly had caused the roof to collapse?
Well, apparently someone still loved that little house enough to buy it. Check out the story here.
Frequent blog reader Debbie sent along this easy, delicious-looking recipe for curried pumpkin soup. She made hers with fresh pumpkin, saying it was a big success. I read an article recently, though, that said canned pumpkin (I think they pointed out Libby's in particular) is one of the few canned products that rivals the fresh version in quality. That's because they can the pumpkin the same day they harvest it.
In that case, this recipe is even easier! And, as Debbie noted, you could dress it up with a drizzle of Half-n-Half or heavy cream. Or, if you're dieting, fat-free Half-n-Half. Or, if you're feeling exotic, coconut milk. I could go on and on!
Curried Pumpkin Soup
1 ½ to 2 cups pureed pumpkin
2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth (can add more if you need it)
1 medium onion chopped
1 large granny smith apple, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder (use Jamaican jerk curry powder if you can find it)
Dash of cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste
In large saucepan, sauté onion until softened, add apple and spices, mix well and cook for a minute or two. Add pumpkin and broth, bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes.
It looks like the poor economy and the difficulty of running a successful restaurant have claimed another victim. Several alert people have recently noted that Marie's Caribbean Creole Cuisine, formerly located at the corner of Campbell Avenue and 5th Street in downtown Roanoke, has closed its doors.
I'm sad to see Marie's go, but not surprised. An acquaintance of mine who is close friends with the owner said a while back that they were having financial difficulty. It's a shame for everyone who appreciates variety in our dining options, but especially for the members of the Haitian community in Roanoke, who had found a little piece of home and some delicious, authentic food at Marie's.
This should serve as a reminder to all of us that our favorite restaurants are probably struggling along with other businesses now that Americans are trimming entertainment expenses. Stop in and pay them a visit, even if it's just for a piece of dessert and a cup of coffee.
Maybe you thought I was talking about myself when you saw that subject line. No, I'm talking about my chicken saltimbocca.
I made the dish for the first time last night using an assortment of recipes that I cobbled together to suit what I had in my refrigerator and was willing to buy. I started with three large chicken breasts, which I cut in half and pounded out to get six small cutlets. I floured and sauteed each of those cutlets, then made little "sandwiches" out of them with prosciutto and mozzerella cheese in between. If you're following me, you know that I ended up with three servings.
I followed the sauce recipe straight from Cooks.com, however, and was told it would make six servings. So why did I not end up with enough sauce for my three servings even though I fudged it and tried to double it as soon as I realized the output would be scrawny? This isn't the first time it's happened to me, and it leads me to believe that either Howard and I are complete sauce hogs or lots of recipes don't turn out enough sauce for the average diner.
In case you haven't seen today's front page of The Roanoke Times, Ukrop's in Roanoke is urging customers to shop more at their store, citing low sales. Nobody at the company has used the "c" word, but president Bobby Ukrop told our retail reporter, Jenny Boone: "For us to continue, we need to substantially increase our business."
You guys, the food shoppers of the world, know better than any analyst why folks aren't flooding to Roanoke's Ukrop's store. Is it their prices? Their location? The fact that your old grocery store routine is just too ingrained in you?
For me, it's probably a combination of everything I just mentioned. I live in Northwest, so I'd have to be on that side of town to shop at Ukrop's. I also have been going to my neighborhood Kroger store for years, so I know where everything is located and how much it's supposed to cost. To top it off, I usually do all of my grocery shopping on Sunday morning, and since Ukrop's is closed on Sundays, that rules them out.
What are your thoughts? Why, after all the hoopla over the store's opening, do you think sales have dwindled?
Well, everyone says eggnog is one of those things people either love or hate. I happen to love it, and the holiday season just isn't perfect until I've had at least one glass of the thick, creamy stuff with a shake of nutmeg on top. I have not ever made eggnog myself, however. The hubby is a 'nog-hater, so I just buy a small carton for myself and usually throw some of it down the drain after the New Year.
Because the most prominent ingredient in eggnog is - gasp! - eggs, it was no surprise that the Virginia Egg Council chose to send out some eggnog recipes for the holiday season. There's "Classic Cooked Eggnog," of course, but what really caught my eye was the Eggnog Pie. They want you to make your own homemade eggnog for this recipe, but I don't see why you couldn't just sub in the store bought stuff. It also includes cheesecake- and vanilla-flavored pudding, vanilla wafers and rum extract. Yum.
Below the jump, I'll share the recipes for Eggnog Pie and Classic Cooked Eggnog. While we're at it, let's take a tally -- do you LOVE eggnog or do you HATE it?
My lovely Thanksgiving vacation was unexpectedly extended by one day after I came down with the horrible crud that's been creeping around my office. As a result, I've been craving all things hot and spicy and sinus-clearing.
As it turns out, I probably should have just sent someone up to the Peaks of Otter Winery to buy me a bottle of their Chili Dawg wine. It just won third place in the beverage category of a national spicy food contest called the "Scovie Awards." This bizarre contest is named after Wilbur Scoville, who developed a rating scale to rank the level of spiciness in food, and established by Dave DeWitt, founder and co-publisher of Fiery-Foods & BBQ magazine and founder of the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show.
According to the Fiery-Foods Web site, about 800 different gourmet food products from 32 states are sampled and compared for the contest. Peaks of Otter's Chili Dawg wine, a combination of 97 percent apple juice and 3 percent hot pepper (tastes like pepper jelly, they say) wowed the judges in the beverage category, which was split into Bloody Marys and wine.
First place in wine went to Anderson Valley Vineyards' (Albequerque, NM) Red Chile Cabernet Sauvignon, while second place was taken by Pazdar Winery's (Scotchtown, NY) Forbidden Fruit. To read more about the Scovie Awards and see more winners, head to this Web site.
In other news, you could win a big, fat gift certificate for dinner and movies if you play along with Grandin Village businesses' holiday contest this Saturday.
