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General Mills

The Chex Party Mix folks have been searching for a new flavor to add to their line of snacks, and the winner of a national contest will reportedly be announced in December.

Thousands of recipes flooded in to the company from people in all 50 states, and "a team of food experts" narrowed them down to just five recipes: Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch, Lemon Rosemary Chex Mix, Buffalo Chex Mix, Chexicago Party Mix and Deviled Chex Mix.

The staff of the Extra section (and a few hungry co-workers who wandered by) sampled all five flavors and came to the conclusion that the Chexicago Party Mix, with its three kinds of Chex (wheat, corn and chocolate), cheese crackers, cheese popcorn and brown sugar was the best. We loved the salty and sweet combination. One person wrote "Sweet! Reminds me of Poppycock" and another wrote "If you want sweet and salty, this is the one for you. I like the popcorn."

Chexicago got an overall score of 20, followed by Deviled with 18.5, Buffalo with 17.5, Pumpkin Pie Crunch with 16.5 and Lemon Rosemary with 14. The last one scored lowest because we felt it did not have enough flavor. We detected neither lemon nor rosemary, only a faint flavor of garlic salt. To me, it tasted like garlic bread without enough garlic.

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Leading a healthy lifestyle can get downright frustrating when the messages are mixed.

Case in point: soy.

For a while, studies seemed to indicate that consuming soy reduced a woman's risk of breast cancer. Then the pendulum swung, and eating too much soy could speed the development of tumors.

So which is it?

In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I decided to find out what nutritionists and dietitians believe to be the best cancer-preventing and fighting-foods in the market.

What they had to say may not surprise you.

Maintaining a healthy weight for your height and avoiding excessive alcohol consumption are particularly powerful ways to fight the chances of getting breast cancer.

"I think that is the best [scientists] know," said Nancy Robbins, who teaches nutrition at Jefferson College of Health Sciences.

But there are other tools to keep in the prevention kit, and if anyone remembers what Mom used to fuss at them to eat when they were youngsters, they've already got a pretty good idea what those not-so-secret weapons are.

Fortunately, with maturity comes a more sophisticated palate. What was yucky when we were 5 can be oh-so-delicious now.

To read the rest of this column, click here.

For a healthy, delicious recipe for Minestrone Salad, read on.
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All the bakers in the house, say "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!"

That's what I said when I opened the box this morning and pulled out "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" by Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of "The Cake Bible." The image on the front is enough to drive a sweet tooth wild, but just wait until you crack it open and see the glorious, glossy photos and recipes contained within. Chocolate Feather Bed Cake with four layers of chocolate ganache, anyone? How about Individual Pineapple Upside Down cakes? Lemon Meringue Cake? Chocolate Genoise with Peanut Butter Whipped Ganache? Are you saying, "Mmmmmmmmmmmm" yet?

This is a cookbook for the serious dessert bakers among us -- most of the recipes are pages long. But every element that goes into each recipe, from the Chocolate Snowball Hot Fudge Sauce to the Coconut Cookie Crust to the Vanilla Cognac Syrup, are done from scratch and explained in great detail. I'll share a recipe from the book if I can find one that won't take me all day to type up.

Interested in winning this $40 hardcover book for your collection? Leave a comment on this post before 5 p.m. Wednesday and I'll choose a name at random. Good luck!

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Source: The Popcorn Board

Just to prove that I haven't gone totally health-conscious on you all, I want to share a recipe for a candy that looks sooooo good to me that I'm going to have to make it very soon. It looks incredibly simple.

This came from The Popcorn Board, just in time for fall. It is packed with nuts, popcorn, marshmallow, cereal, dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. The base is white chocolate (one of my biggest weaknesses) and it is all flavored with pumpkin pie spice. YUM! How could that be bad?

If you go to The Popcorn Board Web site, you will find many other tasty recipes that call for popcorn.

Here's the candy recipe:

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Every time someone mentions in my presence that they don't like grits, I have to struggle not to look at them as if they are an alien.

Seriously, what's not to like? We aren't talking about something strongly flavored, such as brussels sprouts. Or something that once had big, soft eyes, such as venison. Or even something that once filtered the waste out of a body system, such as liver or kidneys. Grits come from corn. They're cooked in water or milk, like hot cereal. Basically, they are baby food.

I don't disparage anyone for having personal preferences, though - Lord knows I have some bizarre preferences. But this blog entry is for all of my fellow grits lovers, and it's about a new cookbook from Southern Living magazine called "Glorious Grits: Fresh, Flavorful Recipes for Grits, Cornmeal & Polenta."

Grits are just fine with a pat of butter, a spoonful of apple butter, some cheese or a topping of shrimp. But boy, just imagine the wondrous possibilities for new recipes. Especially with talented chefs across the country finally learning to appreciate what we Southerners have appreciated all along. Examples from the book: Mini grits quiche cups, a grits frittata with herbs and shallots, grits primavera or even a pecan-grits pie!

Before I share a recipe or two, a few definitions from "Food Lover's Companion":

Grits: Commonly used to refer to hominy grits, but grits can actually be coarsely ground corn, oats, rice, etc. Cooked in water or milk and served as a side dish, usually at breakfast.

Groats: Generally thought to be a coarser grind than grits, but actually the two words are synonymous, because grits can come in a variety of grinds, from fine to coarse.

Cornmeal: Dried corn kernels that have been ground into one of three textures: fine, medium or coarse.

Polenta: A staple of Italy. A mush made from cornmeal that can be eaten hot or cooled until firm, then sliced and fried.

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The Aloha Roll took First Place at the state fair.

Forty-five finalists from across the state of Virginia came to the State Fair in Richmond this month in the hopes that their angel food cake creation would win the Virginia Egg Council-sponsored Best Angel Food Cake Dessert Contest.

Here are the three top place winners, along with a description of their dessert from the egg council:

First Place - Aloha Roll by Vince Dobyns of Hampton:  This flavorful angel cake is rolled, filled and garnished with so many wonderful Hawaiian flavors, it’s easy to see how it got it’s name AND how it won the 2009 competition. It is so colorful, it’ll easily be the focus at a dessert buffet and will totally shine, when served during the Christmas holidays.

Second Place - Berry Citrus Punch Bowl Cake by Deanna Persinger of Raphine: This fabulous trifle is so impressive – great flavor, gorgeous, and so creative – a real winner!

Third Place - Matthew's Key Lime Angel Food Cake by Matthew Kelly of Crewe: This cake is just amazing – it packs such a powerful Key lime punch it takes you instantly to the tropics. The Key lime extract is the secret and it’s not available in everyday groceries. Check for it on-line at www.faeries finest.com.or other online sources. You won’t be sorry you went to the trouble to get it.

Read on to see the recipes for these winning cakes:

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Chroniclebooks.com

I absolutely adore the title of this new book by Anita Chu, "Field Guide to Candy." I can't help but picture someone with the binoculars out, spying on a marzipan pear perched on a tree branch. Or a herd of gum drops slowly making their way across an empty field. Or a school of Swedish fish flitting in clear waters.

OK, so I spent way too much time as a kid flipping through the Audubon guides to plants, trees, birds and insects. Candy is oh-so-much tastier than insects, so flipping through this field guide to candy is even more delightful. And it's out just in time, folks. Because what better time of year for accurately identifying and making candy than the holiday season?

I know I'm probably freaking out those of you who hate any mention of Christmas before Halloween. Or before Thanksgiving, for that matter. I'm usually like that myself, but I just can't help but get excited about the cooking possibilities. Just the other night I read "About fudge" in "Joy of Cooking." Getting my mind in the right place.

I want to share a recipe from "Field Guide to Candy," but since it is a little early for winter holiday ideas, how about a recipe that'll be perfect for fall: candy apples! I know my co-worker and author of the Happy Wag blog, Nona Nelson, will appreciate this one. She was just craving candy apples the other day.

Chu offers up some great tips about candy making in this book. I'm not very adept at candy making, so I may invest in a candy thermometer. But she says if you don't have a candy thermometer, you can use the old-fashioned "cold water method," which involves dropping a drop of your hot sugar syrup into a bowl of cold water. What happens next determines the stage of your candy. Read on:

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Okay, I'm cheating a little. This stew takes about 6 hours in the slow cooker, but it really only takes about 15 minutes to throw it together, I promise! I tried out this dish yesterday for dinner last night. With some Sister Schubert's dinner rolls, it made for a perfect meal on a dreary fall day.

I used a recipe from the little cookbook that came with the big Crock Pot my father gave me for Christmas last year. Technically it is called Wild Mushroom Beef Stew, but I was feeling cheap at the grocery store and bought regular white mushrooms instead of shiitakes.

I would make a few changes next time, but they are very small ones. Here's the recipe, with my edits.

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Lindsey Nair/The Roanoke Times

I'm still looking for your tips and suggestions for roasting the perfect chicken. Response has been limited, which makes me wonder if folks already know how to roast chicken and think this topic is too basic? Or perhaps it's just the opposite and everyone is sitting back, waiting for someone else to offer up the best recipe.

Meanwhile, one of the best things about roasting a chicken at home (or buying a roasted chicken, for that matter) is the endless possibilities for the leftovers. My husband has always claimed to love turkey Tetrazzini, but the only time I've ever seen him eat it is when it's out of a Stouffer's box. How sad is that? I decided to make him real Tetrazzini, except with chicken instead of turkey.

As you can see from the photo, it turned out looking pretty good! And boy, did it taste good! We are still working our way through that giant pan, but it's a job I can live with. I'll share the recipe below.

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Lindsey Nair/The Roanoke Times

This is the cook's equivalent of a blank canvas -- albeit a canvas that once walked, pecked and clucked, but has since given its life so that we may eat. In terms of chickens, it is a premium specimen. This bird was raised by Angie and Patricia of Blue Ridge Poultry Co-op. As chicken lives go, it lived a pretty good one, with open access to and from the coop and grazing rights all over the grass. Still, I wanted to honor it by not screwing it up in my kitchen.

Which brings me to my mission: the perfectly roasted bird. Whether it be a chicken, a Cornish hen, a goose or a turkey, just what is the most fail-proof method out there for producing perfectly juicy meat and golden brown, crispy skin? As I said earlier in the corn pudding post, I am always fascinated by how a very simple dish can have so many variations. That applies to roasted chicken for sure.

Some rub things on the outside, some stuff it underneath the skin. Some stuff things up the hiney. Some roast it upside down; others turn it all around. Do you really need a roasting rack? How often should you baste? Do you slather butter on the breast during cooking? What seasonings do you use?

I'll tell you how I did mine, then I hope that everyone out there who has experimented with roasting chickens will share their ideas. I'd like to use some of those tips in next week's column, so bring it on! Maybe if we talk chickens now, we'll all be prepared to roast the perfect turkey when the holidays roll around.

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