I just found out that my local Farmer’s Market isn’t opening until June 13!!
I DON'T WANT TO WAIT THAT LONG!

But I will. I’ll have to make an extra trip, and work a little “faster” in the last couple days before my Father’s Day feast, but I can handle it.... It will definitely make for a better meal.

If you have a Farmer’s Market in your town (and most of us do, if we look for it), PLEASE check it out!!!! Prices vary, sometimes week-to-week; sometimes VERY cheap, and sometimes (I admit) can be a little higher than the grocery store – but OH, the quality is so great! It might sound hokey, but once you’ve tasted FRESH, you’ll want to go back to the "farm" again and again…

Look for it; support it, and most importantly, ENJOY IT!

I found what looked like a great recipe for chicken, but in addition to all the other ingredients that drew me to it, it called for 8 oz of bourbon in three pounds of meat! UNACCEPTABLE! Since I was looking for a recipe for a family occasion, with more than just a few kids, I looked and looked, but I liked the basics of this recipe the best. And I got lucky. I found Gourmet Sleuth, Substitutes for Alcohol in Cooking . Now, while I have successfully tried some of their listed options in the past, I won’t vouch for them all. Even the site says that the results will vary… and they will. But if you want to simplify, “kidify”, or avoid the use of alcohol in some of your recipes, they give some great tips. I’ll let you know how the chicken goes over, and what the family thinks – if it gets the “A” that I think it will (using vanilla extract instead of bourbon or whiskey) I’ll post it here.

Ok, it’s not officially here, but it’s supposed to hit 90 by the end of the week – that’s close enough for me.

I don’t have a huge sweet tooth. I will indulge in decadence once in a while, and as ANY woman can tell you, there are times I absolutely NEED chocolate. It may sound un-American, but I’m not a big fan of ice cream… Turning the oven on may be necessary from time to time, but less is better. In the past my cravings suffered!

So I am so pleased to give you an easy (kewler) option – Waffle Cookies! Instead of turning on the oven, plug in the waffle maker – no kidding. Not my idea (but I wish), and not all recipes work well, but the majority of those I’ve tried are great!

It takes a little more labor (on my Belgium Waffle iron I can only bake 4 at a time, yet they bake in just a couple minutes - as opposed to 12 - 14...),. The iron heats up and cools down faster, and doesn’t heat up the entire kitchen! There are dozens of recipes for Chocolate Waffle Drops/Cookies on the web, and I’m not going to play favorites. As long as they use cocoa powder and cinnamon, I’m happy! My preference is to use half of what they call for in vanilla extract, and use half almond extract – but that’s just my taste.

Peanut butter cookies work well (and you’ll have all those squares to spread jelly in, if you desire). Classic Chocolate Chip works, but can be a little messy using this method… make sure you wipe the surface clean between batches. This summer I’ll experiment with more, and let you know my results.

I’d love to hear your ideas on creating greatness – without the use of an oven!

As usual, we all prepared too much I came home with a few grilled Italian sausages, a bunch of roasted peppers and onions, and a couple dozen rolls!!! I guess people were still counting carbs at a party

So there’s nothing else for me to do but make Strata.

Strata (also known as savory bread pudding) is a great way to use leftover breads (and other ingredients) and turn them into a side dish, or even a main course. The crucial components are bread (actually better if slightly stale), eggs, milk, and usually some cheese – the rest of the development depends on what you have and what you like. In this case, I’m going to chop the sausages and toss with the veggies and about half a dozen eggs. Tear up the rolls, and add some cheddar or moz cheese and seasoning– then add some milk, and I think I’ll add a can of V8 to get a little tomato in the mix.

The trick to a great Strata is to have enough moisture, and to let it all soak for a while before you bake it. Unfortunately, there are no tried and true measurements, because it all depends on how dry your bread is. I’ve used stale bagels, and had to add more than a quart of milk… and with fairly fresh bread I used just over a cup. The best description I can give is that after soaking, it should be about the consistency of a cake batter – not dripping, still a little texture in the bread, but stir-able?!?

You just bake in a greased casserole dish for about an hour, until all is just set and the top starts to brown – it will continue cooking for a little while once you remove it from the oven (and is too hot to eat right away!)

A Strata is incredibly versatile, and if this is the first you’ve heard of it, you have a future treat on your hands. It can be as extravagant or simple as you choose – one of my favorite versions includes beans, corn, and salsa – but it is awesome with just eggs, milk, and the right cheese.

When and where I went to college, the “Quad’s” deli/snack shop offered, among many other things, the most delectable of late night study snacks – a huge chocolate chip cookie that was so moist and chewy and melt in your mouth delicious… My parents experienced the same on a visit, as did most of my friends’ parents; and it soon became the “law” that we had to bring a few BAC’s every time we ventured home. Yes, that’s what they were marketed as: “Big A… Cookies”!!!!! Since I'm posting this under "kewl4kids", let's say the A stood for 'Appetite'? It’s a happy memory, and I’ve tried many recipes since. Some actually used bananas to make them stretch and still be moist. They just weren’t the same. Then came Martha Stewart’s Everyday Foods on PBS! Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies. While not exactly the same as I remember, these are remarkably close. The flavor and texture is perfect, and the recipe is easy. Please leave plenty of space between the mounds of dough, and it is more important than most recipes to let them cool on the baking sheet as long as possible – you want to keep that glorious large disc intact! As they did at the dorm, after they have completely cooled, wrap them individually in plastic wrap. This will help keep them moist - if they last that long… Thanks Martha and company for the “blast from the past”!

I've just received this email. I'd love to credit the author, but it was unsigned. Enjoy!


Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life, is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. . What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain, Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride"

AND.....For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

It’s good for you, and when properly prepared, a delightful and necessary element to so much of cooking. But I’ll admit, there is nothing worse than biting into a chunk of raw garlic – and overcooked/burnt garlic is the worst of all worlds!

Roasting garlic makes it not only softer in texture, but smoother in taste. The classic way is to take an entire bulb of garlic, slice the top off, drizzle a little olive oil, and then wrap in foil and bake for 30-45 minutes, either in an oven or in the coals of a grill. Honestly, this gives the best results, and if you’re preparing something that calls for a LOT of garlic, this is your best technique.

But if you want to add that richer, mellower flavor to something that requires only a few cloves, I’ve learned a couple different methods. First and foremost, keep the skins on! Why waste time peeling that paper off when once the process is done, it practically falls away?

A quick and easy method is to simply place a few cloves into your microwave, and “nuke” on HIGH for anywhere from 30-60 seconds. Just the dry, papered cloves… This will NOT give you the creamy results of roasting, but will reduce the harshness of the garlic, and make it easier to peel, and chop or puree.

A better shortcut is to heat a dry saucepan, and “fry” the cloves until you start to get black spots on the paper skins – this takes about 5-8 minutes depending on your pan.

One common mistake I’ve even seen professional chefs do, is to add the garlic to a hot saute pan. More times than not, you are sautéing both onions and garlic – start the onions first. ALWAYS! Garlic burns easily, and if it is all alone in a hot pan, you only have SECONDS to avoid a disaster!

Finally, when you need your garlic really fine use some of the salt in the recipe to help ‘mash’ the garlic. It’s abrasive, and will help you create a garlic paste! Slice, mince, and then using a wide blade just ‘stroke it’ until all is smooth. It works. A word of caution: if you are using this method for a salad dressing, make sure you allow the garlic/salt mixture to ‘blend’ with the acids before you add the oil – the salt may not distribute evenly until it has had a chance to dissolve, which it doesn’t do well in oil.

Have I left anything out? Oh yeah, the jarred variety of minced/diced garlic… I admit I’ve used it , but it is somehow much stronger than fresh, so caution in your amounts should be used!

Oh – most important of all! Lemon juice is really good at cleaning the scent off of your hands, your cutting board… I’ve heard parsley helps the breath – maybe that’s why it was created?!?!

Anything else about garlic you want to know? Let me know

Okay, it’s celebrated on the fifth – aka Cinco de Mayo – but last weekend was really hectic, I worked Monday, and I’m having my party THIS weekend, on the tenth (technically, Diaz de Mayo)! It’s America’s favorite Mexican holiday (actually, I think we Americans celebrate more actively than the Mexicans do). But it’s a great excuse to be a little inventive in your menu planning. Since we tend to use beef and chicken in our daily cuisine, I opted to go with a slow roasted pork loin for the main course (see our Easy Roast Pork with Mexican Flavors for an option). This way I can slice a traditional roast for the ‘stodgier ones’, and shred some for the more adventurous to try with a buffet of condiments – salsa, sharp cheese, lettuce, red onions, black olives… whatever your heart desires! Served with sour cream on tortillas, of course. I started with the main course because that obviously takes a long time, but mostly because the rest of the meal provided way too many options. Guacamole obviously came to mind, but I wanted something a little lighter and fresher… so I’m going for a ‘Gazpacho salad’. There are literally thousands of recipes online, and I’ll find you a good one if you ask, but I’m making my own. A bunch of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, some red onion and celery and a touch of cilantro, all finely chopped; served over a bed of lettuce (your choice) with a vinaigrette made with some lime or lemon juice as well as some red wine vinegar and a little oregano and garlic – and some cumin – don’t forget the olive oil (or s & p)! Some suggest marinating the veggies in the vinaigrette – again, your choice. I’m mashing some black beans and sautéing them with some garlic, then baking them in a beautiful pot with some Monterey Jack cheese - hopefully a lighter version of ‘refried’ beans. I would really like to roast fresh corn – but it’s not in season here yet. So as I’ve tried in the past, I’ll thaw some frozen corn kernels, while I’m frying a few strips of bacon. Crisp the bacon, then add a little chopped green pepper and onion, then remove all to drain. THEN I toast the corn kernels in a semi-dry pan until they start to brown, and add the other veggies (and bacon). Add a little chopped tomato… You can season as hot and spicy as you like, or keep them mild and sweet. For dessert, the only answer is fresh fruit. Keep it clean and simple – after all, this is a ‘party day’. Nothing messy or sloppy - there are thousands of recipes for granites or frozen juices and/or uses for sherbet with fresh fruit… ¡Buen provecho!

A neighbor had a part-time job at a local farmer’s market, and brought home a huge basket of cucumbers, and asked if I wanted any… Of course I took some; about a dozen, to be exact. They weren’t pretty, which is why she was able to bring them home, but they were still fresh. I decided that I should make some pickles. My Grandmother had made watermelon rind pickles years before, but this was my first endeavor. After a lot of recipe searching, I went back to a standard – ‘The Fannie Farmer Cookbook’. My ‘working’ copy is from the 80’s, though I have a copy of ‘The Boston Cooking School Cook Book’ by Fannie Merritt Farmer from 1930… I fell in love with the recipe for ‘Janice Pike’s Perfect Pickles’. I tried it, and it was great and easy! Just a little too sweet to my taste. So when I tried it again, by chance (?) I didn’t have quite enough vinegar, and I substituted the difference with vinegar from a jar of pickled jalapenos. Much better! Next time I just didn’t feel like taking the time to boil the veggies, so I didn’t – I just poured the hot brine over them. It worked!!!! And the next time… Admit it – it’s the same kind of thing you do every day in your own kitchen! We all make substitutions, and/or additions that make something established just a little bit better – sometimes by choice, sometimes by accident, and let’s 'fess up, sometimes by laziness. I’ll share my recipes if you’ll share yours?

America’s Test Kitchen just aired an episode called “Cookie Jar Favorites” – the recipes looked absolutely decadent (the kind you really should save as rewards for deserving adults), and reasonably simple to prepare. As always, the technique was well demonstrated and explained, but there were a couple tips that could be used beyond the great recipes they presented that day. One I’ve used for years, is when baking something chocolate add a little bit of instant coffee or espresso powder. They recommended an amount equal to the amount of vanilla, and blending them together before adding to your batter. Very smart! There’s something amazing about coffee and chocolate together, and even if you don’t like coffee, it SO enhances the flavor of the chocolate. This one I NEVER would have thought of, but it makes so much sense: if your recipe calls for both brown sugar and melted butter, BROWN the butter. Actually, as they carefully explained, brown about 2/3 of the butter (watching carefully!), and add the other third to cool it. This adds an additional layer of caramel or butterscotch flavor. The best of all – if (like me) you like your cookies chewy as opposed to crispy, pull them from the oven just before they “look done”, and let them finish cooking on the baking sheet. Depending on your recipe, delay moving to a rack until the last possible moment – too much air too fast will make them crispier. They’ll still get crispy in time, but you have more time to enjoy them soft. Kudos to ATK, once again! .