It's National Coffee Day! Get your coffee now!

I knew this yesterday, but I forgot it when I hit the ground running starting before 9 a.m. 

It is National Coffee Day. 

Yes, it's a bit after 7 p.m. Just the perfect time to go grab a decaf latte, iced coffee or a blended cold, frosty drink. 

If you don't feel like going out, try this flexible recipe: 

Frosty Coffee Drink 

This can be an iced coffee or more of a frappe (frozen) drink. Depends on the number of ice cubes. 

Place the following in the blender: 

• 2-3 heaping teaspoons of instant coffee (It's usually decaf for me; I use Maxwell House. The exact amount depends on how many ice cubes and how much water you put in it.)
• 1 to 1 1/2 heaping tablespoons of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, optional (original also is fine)
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon orange extract, optional (almond extract is also good)
• 5-10 ice cubes, depending upon how frosty you like it
• Approximately 12-16 ounces of water, depending upon how much coffee flavor you want and how thick you want it
• Stevia to taste (I use three to four packets; feel free to use sugar if you prefer it: I have not tried it with honey or agave nectar) 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some coffee. 

This is a pretty healthy recipe; if you want something more fattening and more sinful than a famous coffee shop version, try this recipe from "The Pioneer Woman," Ree Drummond.

Great stuff on TV: 'Tripping Out With Alie & Georgia'

There's a new television show on Cooking Channel: Tripping out with Alie & Georgia. 

I found it hysterically funny as well as informative after watching the first-ever episode.

Stars Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark had a goal: to "do Vegas" and still keep their dignity.  And they wear really cool outfits in the process.


They did Las Vegas in a way that they wouldn't regret, both in terms of food eaten, drinks drunk or money spent at the casino.

Though they did do one thing I wouldn't.

No matter what, I'm not taking a high-wire lesson at Absinthe. But I will watch the circus there. And maybe have a small glass of absinthe while I'm there. I hear it's not usually made with wormwood anymore.

Best line: "You're not afraid of heights are you?" "I don't think I've ever been high enough to know." (Alie)

They gave some great tips:

• Stay in one of the cool boutique hotels off the strip.
•  Hang poolside and relax before heading out to the strip.
• There's a monster buffet at Caesars Palace with the equivalent of nine restaurants and has amazing food: the Bacchanal Buffet. 
• Go to downtown Vegas: It's really cool.
•  Try new things, like getting a lesson in poker before trying your luck at the casino or learning how to walk on the high wire.
•  Don't forget to try food in the fanciest-looking diner I've ever seen, The Peppermill, that has a server who looks like Giada de Laurentiis. It also serves humungous pancakes. 

Incidentally, the second best line, from Georgia, regarding the aforementioned pancakes: "I want to cuddle up underneath this."

After their trip, the ladies brought their culinary experiences back home and reinvent the food and cocktails for a party at home. 

Recipes they made for the party included:

• Vaguely Vegas
• Poker Chip Pancake Stacks with Maple and Cream Cheese Frosting
• Mango Chili Sorbet
• Ginger Glazed Sweet Potato Tots

But don't take my word that this is a fabulous new show, see it for yourself. You can stream the premiere episode of  Tripping out with Alie & Georgia free right here.






 

Gluten-Free Me, and 'Wheat Belly' Review

Everywhere I look or listen lately, there is someone, somewhere, who's going gluten-free. Celebrities and regular people alike, including the nice lady I met last year at Big Lots who works at the local YMCA.

My doctor and I discussed the idea due to my (rather vicious) allergies. They're at their peak now, when the goldenrod is in bloom (darned plants). She thinks it might help and I decided to give it a shot for three weeks.

Starting tomorrow, I am embarking upon "the great gluten-free experiment." As I have done extensive research and recipe trolling, I more or less know what I can eat.

I've also read Wheat Belly, by William Davis, M.D. which is a very scary read in some respects. But it also gives hope that people who do get the uber-processed wheat out of their systems, wheat that doesn't even resemble that of 50 years ago, will regain their health. 

The book goes into very technical (and exhaustive) detail that means you'll really have to focus, particularly if you haven't taken science in 25 or more years. If you can wade through it, though, you see the point. Dr. Davis has

used this plan with significant success to better the lives of his patients.

I don't agree with everything in it (for example, suggesting it's best to have no bacon at all), but, for someone struggling with either metabolic syndrome, a pre-diabetic condition or diabetes, it might just be what the doctor ordered. It can be purchased through Amazon or Barnes and Noble, as either a print or e-book.

If you know of a great gluten-free recipe you'd like me to try, please post it (or its URL) below.  I'm going to try and report on at least one recipe a week while I'm checking this out.

Is Everything Really Better With Bacon?

Ack. It's been over a month since I've shared anything on this blog. Time flies.

To make up for this lapse, I'm sharing some of my recent, interesting finds.

I've also been on an odyssey trying to discover some neat recipes with bacon, which I think makes everything better. Well, nearly everything. I have yet to try it in desserts. 

I'm going to try the turkey Lil' Smokies recipes with the bacon and brown sugar ... still haven't decided if I'm using low-sodium regular bacon or turkey bacon to wrap the tiny sausages in, though. Here's the recipe I'm thinking of trying, which also uses turkey bacon. It's for a graduation party I'm attending Saturday night. Will let you know how it turns out.

Other interesting-sounding, bacon-heavy recipes include: 

• Chanterelle Mushroom and Bacon Tartlets from baconology.org, which has other fascinating finds, including several desserts involving bacon. Not sure how I feel about bacon with dessert; for example: Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies from the same website. 
• Bacon-Crust Apple Pie from http://www.eatyourplanet.com

• Personal Quiches with Bacon Crusts from quicherecipes.net (because I adore quiche)

• Tomato, Basil, and Cheese Tart with Pancetta Crust on cookstr.com

Next up is the Progresso Souper You® Contest. The blog I Like it a Latte, discusses the event details here, so I won't go into exhaustive detail. But three winners will receive a LA-based makeover, including their flights out there, their new look and some new clothes, which is pretty cool.

Enter by going to www.SouperYou.com; entries include submitting a photo and brief essay about why you love Progresso soups and deserve a makeover by Feb. 22. Check the site again for the top 10 finalists March 12 (you can vote for your favorite finalist until March 25).

And now for my final question: wouldn't most (if not all) Progresso soups all taste better with a little bacon? 

Try it and let me know.

New Healthy Cookbook Hits the Market for the Holidays

I had my first-ever media contact today related to the blog. It was relating to something near and dear to my heart: cancer research.

You see, like many of you, I've lost a number of friends and family members over the years to cancer, the closest being my first cousin Elizabeth last summer. So I was excited to learn that To Your Health, a new cookbook published by The National Foundation for Cancer Research, started sales in time for 2010's holiday party season.

I haven't had time to check the book out yet, other than a few sample recipes, because I just became aware of it. But I will. The link for information needed to purchase the book is here.

According to the press release I received, the recipes in this book "are brimming with cancer-fighting ingredients, including antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and protein. The cookbook also features lifestyle tips, early detection methods, and other helpful information on how to further decrease your risk from cancer."

Sounds good to me.

You also might want to check out the Top 15 Healthy Holiday Tips from NFCR's spokesman, Executive Chef Charles Phillips of Nashville's 1808 Grille.

Have a safe and blessed holiday season.

Food for a Happy and Healthy Hanukkah

There are two holidays that hold familiar favorites for me. Christmas is of course the obvious one; the other is Hanukkah. I have a number of friends and former coworkers who are Jewish; some of them are fabulous cooks who have brought in their extra Hanukkah treats.

My all-time favorite is Sheila's noodle kugel recipe. She doesn't make it regularly because it's somewhat fattening.

On Weight Watchers online site that there are some healthier Hanukkah recipes as well as a non-dairy kugel recipe made with coconut milk on About.com that I just might try.

Happy Hanukkah to Jeff, Sheila, Mara, Wendy, Stacey, Lance, Dale and Dorothy and their families!  

Holiday Recipes

You have my high school reunion to thank for this entry. One of my friends there mentioned he'd seen the blog online, which jogged my memory. Thanks, Tim.

Where's the blog been? you ask.

Thereby hangs a tale. Here are links to some work I've been doing for Patch.com, an online newspaper (in this case, the Hartland, MI edition). As some people do serve turkey and stuffing at Christmas, I am including links to two great holiday recipes from people I've interviewed for Patch.com in the past few weeks: stuffing and Roast Muscovy Duck. (The latter previously ran in the New York Times and is a good alternative to a turkey or ham, making a dinner for two to four people.)

Website Review: Self.com

One of the best listing of snacks ever was one I found on Self.com. It can be accessed here, and has a ton of sidebar links to explore.

This magazine isn't just about the new diets and exercise, though. It has an advanced recipe search feature, a beauty and style section and community forums.

Self.com promotes a healthy way of life in general by making all these things just one click away.

From recipes and menus, to blogs and articles about food and diet; this site has it all.

My favorite food on the snack list, by the way, is the Back to Nature Honey Graham Sticks.

Review: Recipe Rehab

I always like it when an unhealthy favorite is made healthier, whether it's in Every Day with Rachael Ray or Taste of Home Magazine.

I found a new blog recently on the Web that does the same thing.

Tanya Zuckerbrot fixes recipes ... one at a time on Recipe Rehab, a That's Fit website feature. In her Chocolate Chip Cookies  rehab, she goes a little into the history of chocolate chip cookies (which is very cool) and replaces some of the flour with whole wheat flour and replaces butter with a mixture of uses a Smart Balance 50 percent butter blend and fat-free sour cream. I plan to try it sometime. Other wonderful sounding rehabs she's featured recently include Homemade Hamburger Helper (with whole wheat pasta and ground turkey breast) and Raisin Rice Pudding. Fill out a form to have her make over your favorite here.

Barbecue: A Historic Viewpoint

Here's a little bonus about the history of grilling (which many of us are undertaking on this day celebrating our freedom). It's an excerpt from John M. Duncan, a Scotsman publisher/bookseller (1795?-1825) from Glasgow, called A Barbecue in Virginia. The description of it on the Library of America's story of the week follows: "Invited to join Busrod Washington
(a favorite nephew of George, and owner of Mount Vernon) for an afternoon
barbecue, Duncan discovered a cotillion-like 'rural fête.'"


It includes some historic explanation of barbecues in America as well as a link to the actual story, originally part of the 1823 work Travels through Part of the United States and Canada in 1818 and 1819, which is reprinted in O'Neill's bestseller, American Food Writing: An Anthology With Classic Recipes.


Happy grilling and a Happy 4th to all!

Cookbook Review: Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen

Today, I review an oldie but a goodie (first printed in 1996 and reprinted 10 years later). Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen was written about 10 years after I had the idea to do something similar: a dorm room cookbook (a project I never finished because I was too busy with college at the time).

I believe you could apply many of the recipes to college dormitory cooking. (We were only allowed to have either a single electric burner or a hot pot in our dorm room, so making our Sunday dinner was a challenge. Hot pots were difficult to clean, especially after making tuna noodle casserole. I understand some colleges now allow microwaves.) 

Anything that involves slightly more difficult concepts than, say, making a peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwich is pretty much explained. There's also a section on cooking basics. The down side, which I find with many cookbooks, is the lack of nutritional information. In moderation, however, none of this food should harm you. Furthermore, it's "kid" tested and mother-approved.

Written by the son/mom team of Kevin and Nancy Mills, this cookbook features simple recipes (for the most part).

If you're new to living on your own, don't know how to do anything besides boiling water and cooking soup and don't want to eat out all the time, buy this book! Its uncomplicated recipes and simple, matter-of-fact approach to cooking is the real thing.

Beyond Shirley Temples: The Mocktail

I've never been much of a drinker, which is, in my mind, one good habit that affects the size of my waist. Besides, I tend to like what I call "fruity girly drinks," in which you can't taste the alcohol anyway. So mocktails eliminate extra calories and make me sure I can safely drive home.

When I'm not drinking water, tea or coffee, I'll select the non-alcoholic punch or mocktail, generally created from various fruit juices and seltzer.

When you either can't or don't want to drink alcohol, here are some links to inspire your own mocktails, taking you beyond the classic Shirley Temple (one of my favorite drinks).

Washington Post (This article makes a great case for the mocktail: kids love them, too.)

Everything Mom

About.com

Allrecipes.com