Did your team make it all the way to the Superbowl? Mine (Broncos) didn’t, but there’s always next year, right?!
In the cooking tutorial video above, you’ll see how you can easily make a Superbowl Dessert everyone will rave about – whether their team’s playing or not.
If you’ll notice, I did indeed mark this post as a “Holiday” recipe. You see, with the football fanatics in our family, any day NFL is on tv, it’s a holiday. Same with baseball and college basketball. We pretty much have holidays every day in this house.
Here’s an example of a company doing something cool for and fun for people. Sunkist hosted a sweet and juicy sampling event with a twist at the world famous Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles. Visitors were treated to the delicious, easy-to-peel Gold Nugget Mandarins as Los Angeles magician Farrell Dillon surprised audiences with a little citrus magic.
The magician’s incredibly entertaining, the people are priceless, and as for the mandarins, my mouth is watering!
I recently received a great knife sharpener to review for Get Cooking. Like all avid cooks, I have a great knife collection, but they’re only as useful as they are sharp. Let them get dull and they’re of absolute zero use to anyone (kind of like people, eh?).
The AnySharp Knife likes to refer to itself as “The world’s best knife sharpener,” so my expectations were high. It also promises to sharpen serrated knives, which is pretty uncommon for knife sharpeners. Fortunately, the AnySharp knife sharpener lives up to the hype.
I have officially sharpened every knife in the house and they’re as sharp as the day I met them. Yes, even the serrated knives. The AnySharp “locks” into place, so you don’t have to chase it all over the kitchen counter. It’s very, very, very easy to use and makes even your oldest knives seem new again.
To learn more about the AnySharp Knife Sharpener, watch the highly entertaining video below and visit their website: AnySharp: The World’s Best Knife Sharpener. And please forgive AnySharp for its high level of confidence, it’s hard to be humble when you’re ridiculously outstanding.
At some point, you just stop trying. Humble’s so overrated.
Product Features
Innovative knife sharpener; easy-to-use; have a perfect edge on any blade
Use on kitchen cutlery, gardening shears, lawnmower blades, serrated knives and more
Diamond precision hones the blade to its proper angle; patented design produces results that are superior to those from traditional steel or stone
Removes only microscopic amounts of metal
Unique round design and PowerGrip suction bottom makes it safe and easy to use; exterior has zinc alloy finish
The holidays are breathing down our necks already – which, if you’re as obsessed with them as I am, is a wonderful thing. The only drawback, if you can even call it that, is that you suddenly realize how badly you’d love new dishes, new cabinets, or (in my case) a new, bigger table and chairs in the dining room.
A lot of people use Christmas and Thanksgiving as an opportunity to remodel their kitchen or living room, to put their best foot forward for company.
Can’t fault anyone for doing that!
Personally, I’m in the market for new dishes, silverware, AND a table and chairs – all of which probably just made my husband either sigh, faint, or cry. Maybe all three.
In the video below, Eric Stromer, host of HGTV’s ‘Over Your Head’ and author of ‘Do-It-Yourself FAMILY shows an excellent way to give your kitchen a little bit of a makeover that’s as functional as it is pretty. Eric shows how to install ceramic tiles to the area between the kitchen counter and beneath the cabinets (also known as a backsplash). We all know what a nightmare this area is to keep clean.
By installing ceramic tiles, you can make the space, and your kitchen, more beautiful. As a bonus, tile is a thousand times easier to wipe off than a painted wall.
This is a story that does nothing but make my pulse race and my mouth water. It’s not my fault, you see…
I was born and raised in the south.
I live in the south.
I’m a tea fanatic.
I have a head filled with sweet teeth.
So, there you have it. A story about sweet tea of these epic proportions knocks me off my feet. I do believe I’ll celebrate this accomplishment by having lunch at Chick-fil-A. LOVE their delicious sandwiches and – - – of course – - – their sweet tea.
On Wednesday, Aug. 4, Tulsa-area Chick-fil-A® restaurants set a Guinness World Record by creating the world’s largest sweet iced tea. A nine-foot tall cup held more than 1,140 gallons of freshly brewed sweet tea and ice. The record was set during an all-day celebration at Nienhuis Park in Broken Arrow, Okla.
Operators and team members from five Chick-fil-A restaurants worked with volunteers from schools, churches and community groups throughout the Tulsa area to create the record-setting drink. The process required 72 pounds of tea leaves, 1,150 pounds of sugar, one ton of ice and 912 gallons of water.
Official Guinness World Records® adjudicator Kimberly Partrick presided over the event and officially called the record. The achievement marks the second Guinness World Record for Tulsa Chick-fil-A Operator Arthur Greeno, who set the record for world’s largest soft drink when he created an 834-gallon cup of freshly-squeezed Chick-fil-A lemonade in 2008.
“In the midst of the heat wave we’ve been experiencing in Oklahoma, there was no shortage of people looking for a nice cold glass of sweet tea and we were glad to oblige,” said Greeno. “We couldn’t have made it happen without the help of our staff and neighbors throughout Tulsa gathering supplies, brewing the tea and coming out to cheer us on.”
The Chick-fil-A Kid’s Meal program is partnering with Guinness World Records to challenge children across the country to set their own records this summer. A series of five activity-filled Guinness World Records packs are available in Kid’s Meals until Aug. 28. Each pack features “Do Try This at Home” challenges, intended to promote fun parent-child interaction and active playtime with friends.
Can you imagine if you drank that much tea???…. Ooooh, Never mind….
Great Food Network – lay claim to my afternoons completely, why don’t you? I’ve gone and gotten myself completely hooked on not one, but two fairly new Food Network programs – to the tune of back to back. Add these “can’t miss” shows to my long-standing Food Network addictions (Paula Deen, Guy, Rachael, Bobby Flay, Giada, Ace of Cakes, the Neely’s, and Alton Brown) – I need a television in my kitchen so I can actually cook, myself as well as watch all of these extremely entertaining and talented people cook.
Cooking Video: Sunny Anderson, From Cooking For Real, Makes French Toast:
My newest addictions are Cooking for Real with Sunny Anderson and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell. 5 Minutes into each show, I knew each lady would soon be spending almost as much time in our home as I do. These beautiful ladies are on top of the cooking game and, just as important, they’re full of spirit, wit, and personality. There just aren’t enough words to describe how perfectly these girls fit into the Food Network lineup.
Sometimes networks move shows around, but I’m supremely hoping that these shows stay on weekday afternoons. They’re in the perfect spot for me – right between the time I call it a day (from working online, from home) to the time I begin cooking supper. This is one of the times I love Food Network the most. Cooking shows are a wonderful, relaxing period of time to unwind and learn new recipes.
Some days, when things are kind of whacko, it helps just knowing that the Food Network is waiting to help me unwind before getting supper.
With Anne Burrelle and Sunny Anderson, the unwinding just became more entertaining. They’re breathing fresh life back into the Food Network and I’m just all kinds of excited about it.
Could you tell?
Personally, I think they’re doing for the Food Network what Lady Gaga did for music – giving it a dose of “Ain’t it good to be alive?!?!?”
Like your own private window into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef reveals the concise, easy-to-master techniques of a top-level chef. By showcasing professional secrets to preparing food that is creative and full of flavor, – yet never frou-frou or scary, Anne Burrell translates your favorite restaurant foods into amazing at-home meals. With years of restaurant experience mixed with a pumped-up passion, Anne helps to take the mystery out of the professional kitchen and gets you making meals that are special enough for guests, but easy enough for a rushed weekday evening.
Tomorrow, on Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Anne Burrell will make Wild Mushroom Risotto, Frisee Salad with Blue Cheese, Bacon and Hazelnuts, and Basic Chicken Stock. She made a Strawberry Tart today that my mouth has been watering for since.
With an understanding of everyday life and the belief that real people deserve down-to-earth, delicious meals, Sunny Anderson offers real food for real life. Cooking for Real serves up solutions for easy-to-prepare, fantastic tasting menus. Sunny elevates the everyday meal by taking affordable, easy-to-find, easy-to-use ingredients and infusing them with diverse influences and rich, rewarding flavor. Sunny’s fresh, uncomplicated approach to classic comfort foods, along with her passion for interpreting the flavors of her unique travels, bring a bright style to delectable, down-home dishes.
Head over to Food Network.com for Cooking videos, recipes, and more. Whatever you do, check your local television listings for these two shows – then grab a cup of coffee and sit down for fun, relaxation, inspiration, and a whooping good time.
Cooking Video: Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell: Anne Grills Pizzas topped with cheese, prosciutto and vegetables. Have mercy.
As a self help diva, cooking diva, and chocolate addict all rolled into one – I am in love with this! FoodChannel.com has put together a wonderful and fun article about the benefits of “thinking chocolate.” Read on, you’re going to love this!
FOODCHANNEL.COM ENCOURAGES YOU TO “BE THE CHOCOLATE” THIS VALENTINE’S DAY
CHICAGO (Feb. 11, 2010)¾ In honor of Valentine’s Day, The Food Channel® (foodchannel.com ) editorial staff is encouraging visitors to the site to “be chocolate” and embrace the lessons one of America’s favorite indulgences can provide. “We have been watching chocolate ever since it was named one of the top food trends of the decade,” said Kay Logsdon, managing editor of The Food Channel . “This week, in particular, it seemed appropriate to commemorate how chocolate can enrich our lives—in ten fun ways.”
It’s Important to Hold Your Temper
It’s not easy to melt chocolate perfectly, just as it’s not easy to find your own boiling point and keep it under control. The fact is, for chocolate to form properly into all those fun shapes that go into the candy box, it has to be tempered. That means it has to be fed the right amount from the chocolate block, at the right time during the melting process, all the while being constantly stirred. In life, it means we have to guard what we take in, and be willing to move and change as necessary in order to get better.
Soft Centers Usually Have a Hard Shell
The best liquors, the softest centers, all need some protection around them. So remember that when your co-worker has a tough façade or your friend appears sort of brittle. Could be they are protecting their soft insides.
Meltdowns Can Be Avoided
Real chocolate starts to get soft at 72 degrees. Great candy stores keep the temperature cool rather than add vegetable oils to the mix. You can keep your cool if you remember to turn down the heat.
A Little Nuttiness Doesn’t Hurt
Unless you have an allergy, nuts add a new dimension to chocolate. A little crunch, a different flavor, a higher antioxidant level—it all just adds to the variety. So accept a little nuttiness in your life.
You Can Find an Excuse for Almost Anything
If society can pile sugar and cream into dark chocolate and call it a good-for-you antioxidant, then surely your teacher will believe someone ate your homework. Just tell her you wrapped it in chocolate.
Variety Matters
When it comes to chocolates, there is great variety. You have your soft creams, your liquors, your ganache, and your buttery caramels. You have your chews and your nuts. You’ll have your favorite, but at some point all of the varieties have to go in the box together. Learn to get along with variety.
Sometimes You Have to Feed the Need
Chocolate reportedly stimulates the release of hormones in the brain, and feel-good endorphins in the body. And, face it. Sometimes that is a craving that needs to be met. When hormone meets hormone, everyone feels better.
Some Things Are Just Worth It
We know the bad, the calories, the fat, the pound-for-pound guilt. We also know that there are lots of entrepreneurs who have quit the daily grind in favor of dipping chocolate. It’s a satisfying career, especially when you can lick the bowl.
Addictive Behavior Can Be Controlled
We all have our addictions. We are work addicts, Facebook addicts, Jersey Shore addicts and even nicotine addicts. Chocolate tells you when you’ve had enough—when you tip the scales at a new weight, when you have a stomach ache from eating too much, when you have spent your food money on candy and have nothing left for lunch. You can learn control from chocolate. Small doses go a long way.
Some Things Make Everything Taste Better
It’s the reason why people put chocolate in cookies, breads, drinks and candy. Chocolate is a flavor that goes with everything. Be chocolate.
Logsdon counsels, “Apply these lessons to life and see how far they get you. Hold your temper, recognize when people are softies at heart, reduce the heat and pressure in your life and the lives of those around you, and be a little crazy. Accept change, avoid addictions, and know what you need, physically and emotionally. Most of all live your life so that you can go with anything. Be chocolate. There are lots of lessons that are harder to swallow.”
About The Food Channel®
The Food Channel ( www.foodchannel.com ) immerses visitors in a vibrant online community—comprised of food enthusiasts, culinary students and professionals—joined together by a passion for all things food. The site includes original features, chef-tested recipes for all occasions, chef profiles, 4-star food photography, book reviews and food-event coverage. Visitors will also find a variety of videos on cooking techniques, recipe preparation and interviews on topics of current interest. Weekly and monthly trend and recipe newsletters are available by signing up on the site. For additional food news, trends, recipes, professional tips and reviews, visit www.foodchannel.com. Follow The Food Channel on Twitter at www.twitter.com/foodchannel or Facebook at www.facebook.com/FoodChannel.
I bought a new blender yesterday with one thing in mind – Smoothies! I’ve tried out a few and I’m completely hooked. So far, my favorites are Blueberry Smoothies, Strawberry Smoothies, and Banana Smoothies.
A banana smoothie is a healthy, quick cold treat that you can make any time of year, not just in summer. There are a variety of ways to make a banana smoothie, but in this article we’ll stick with the basics.
Here are the tools and utensils you’ll need to make your banana smoothie:
A blender
Knife to cut up your banana
Serving glasses
Measuring cups
And here are the ingredients that we’ll be using to make our banana smoothie:
1 ripe banana
1 cup of crushed ice
1 cup of cold milk
1 tbsp of brown sugar
Here’s how to make the perfect banana smoothie every time
Some people like to freeze their banana first before adding it to the blender, but I find it turns out great using a regular room temperature banana.
Peel your banana and break it or cut it up into pieces and add it to your blender. Then pour in the ice, milk and add the brown sugar.
Turn on your blender and hold the top of the lid firmly in place. This is important because with something hard like ice inside, there’s a possibility that the lid could get knocked off and then you’d end up with a mess. If you don’t have crushed ice, use ice cubes instead, but pulse the blender a few times to break the ice cubes into smaller pieces.
Blending time should take about 30-60 seconds, but make sure your banana smoothie has a smooth creamy texture before serving.
When the mixture is finished blending, pour it out into a glass and if you decide to use a straw to drink from, use bigger straws to make it easier.
Video: How to make a banana smoothie
(I have no idea who this is in the video below – I just thought it might be helpful for my readers!)
I’ve become a Smoothie addict, so you’ll be seeing plenty of smoothie recipes, tips, and what not. I’m working on iced coffee drinks as well…. I’ll bet you already assumed that. So transparent.
Oh Joy! Oh Happiness! Oh Unspeakable pleasure! I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I’m either in the middle of a cup of coffee, a chocolate experience, a delicious cookie, or am currently going one on one with candy of some sort.
I’m actually sort of out-doing myself right now. I just finished my pot of coffee and am losing myself in the best cup of hot chocolate I’ve EVER had. Did you catch that? – - – - EVER!
As always, I made my favorite Hot Chocolate recipe (It’s the one on the back of Kroger’s Baking Cocoa – funny, huh? I’ve tried every hot chocolate recipe known to exist and the best one is on a container of baking cocoa…and a store brand at that! What!?) This recipe always, always, always makes an outstanding cup of hot cocoa. However, I was feeling pretty full of myself this morning, so I kicked it up a notch. Right before I laddled the hot chocolate into our eager holiday mugs (my oldest daughter Emily is always my partner in hot chocolate adventures), I stirred in a little Hershey’s chocolate syrup.
Then, I poured the chocolate, aromatic, liquid Heaven into our cups. I topped hers off with three Chocolate Chipetta Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows – the look on her face was all I needed to tell me that she was in Chocolate Heaven and didn’t want to ever return. I took a sip and I must say – it doesn’t get any chocolate-y-er than this. YUM!
I topped my hot cocoa off with 3 Caramel Swirl Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows. Then, with my intentions clear, I sprinkled on a little Sea Salt. You got it! I was aiming for the effect of Starbuck’s Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. I honestly, humbly, and with chocolate and marshmallow goo on my face believe I outdid myself. This was a truly remarkable, ridiculously delicious cup of hot chocolate. I’ll just go ahead and say it – it’s even better than the drink Starbucks once made (then heartlessly yanked away!). The delicious caramel flavoring in these marshmallows isn’t just delicious – it’s slap your face delicious.
The same is true of the Chocolate Chipetta Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows. I know my chocolate, and these are premium, first class chocolate marshmallows. They earn the term Gourmet with every single bite.
I’ve thrown the Chocolate Chipetta Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows on top of a dollop of homemade whipped topping in coffee and highly recommend it! Think about it: Coffee, chocolate, candy… all in one place. It makes a remarkable cup of coffee that tastes like it came from a coffeehouse.
I’ve also tried the Luscious Lemony Meringue Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows. If the amazing smell of these gourmet marshmallows doesn’t knock you out, the flavor will. Heavenly! I toss them on top of hot tea – for those of you who (silly gooses!) who don’t care for green tea, these gourmet marshmallows will make the experience one to remember. You’ll drink every last drop.
The different flavors of gourmet marshmallows are outstanding on smores, too. I just build them and put them in the microwave. Everyone loves them. They’re perfect, beautiful, and delicious snacks for eating during ballgames, holiday specials, reruns of Andy Griffith, or your favorite Food Network show.
I’ve also toasted them (on the stove) and used them as dips for chocolate and caramel sauces. Amazing… that’s the best word for the experience… amazing!
There are Peppi-Mint, Cinnamon, and Vanilla Bean varieties that I’ve yet to try. I’m especially eager to meet the Peppi-Mint and Vanilla Bean flavors. Oh the plans I have for them!!!
Do yourself (and the people you’d consent to share with) a wonderful favor and head over to Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows to read more and, best of all, to order your own gourmet marshmallows. These are NOT, NOT, NOT like traditional, store-bought marshmallows. It’s like the difference between an eagle and a housefly.
When it comes to making and serving turkey – your reputation as a cook is riding higher than ever! If it’s tasteless, dried out, and lacks any resemblance of moistness, you’re toast! However, if you serve up a nice, juicy, flavorful turkey – you’re everyone’s hero. If you wouldn’t mind achieving this sort of hero status and want to serve a turkey that’ll have them raving all year long, try soaking your turkey in a brine solution overnight.
Brining a turkey is probably the simplest and easiest way to add flavor to any holiday meal. Here are the basic tools and utensils you’ll need to brine a turkey:
large 10+ quart cooking pot
chest cooler bigger and deeper than your turkey
large wooden spoon
And here are the ingredients you’ll need to brine your turkey:
2 cups kosher salt
2 tbsp peppercorns
5 bay leaves
2 cups brown sugar
1 bag of ice
1 6-12 lb turkey
6 cloves fresh garlic peeled
How to brine a turkey
Make sure you make your brine mixture 2 days before you’ll actually be cooking your turkey!
First of all, fill up your large cooking pot with at least 2 gallons (8 litres) of cold, fresh water and put it on the stove on the highest setting. Now pour in your kosher salt and brown sugar. A general rule of thumb is to add one cup of each per gallon of water used.
Next throw in your bay leaves, peppercorns and garlic cloves. Then bring the whole thing to a boil while stirring occasionally. Boil the brine mixture for about a half hour to make sure the pepper, bay leaves and garlic have had a chance to infuse the liquid nicely.
Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for a couple of hours before putting it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next night before you go to bed, wash off your turkey under the faucett and remove anything from the inside, like the neck and giblets. Put your turkey in the cooler and pour in your brine mixture, making sure that the entire turkey is covered with liquid. Then pour in the bag of ice and place the cooler in a cool place like your garage or basement. Leave it in the brine solution for about 9 or 10 hours and no more or it could be damaged beyond repair.
Then take the turkey out of the brine mixture and dry it completely with paper towels, inside and out. Place it into your roastpan and keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to put it into the oven.
Be sure to clean and disinfect all the tools and utensils immediately after using them and don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly after touching raw meat of any kind, especially poultry.
Of course, there are many variations you can use when cooking just about anything. As a rule though, one cup of kosher salt and a cup of sugar per gallon (4 litres) of water is best. The other ingredients of the brine mixture are optional and can be experimented with depending on what your tastes are.
Video: How to brine a turkey – the video below was done by someone who isn’t associated with me or this site in any way. But what skills! Gotta love the skills.
Love tea? You'll want to check out the Crazy Tea Chick. The Crazy Tea Chick happens to be my daughter - the crazy doesn't fall far from the tree. It also doesn't wander far from caffeine.
on Amazon.
