Easy Delicious Recipes

CakeWalk: How to put on your city’s very own CupcakeCamp, Part 4

CakeWalk is a weekly column by Mary Ann Porch dedicated to every baker who has ever struggled to achieve the right consistency with their icing, unsuccessfully searched for the perfect cupcake topper or just wants to learn something new. Because with a few helpful tips, cupcakes are a cakewalk. For the past few weeks, we have discussed the initial three steps of planning your city’s very first CupcakeCamp – laying the groundwork , finding a venue , and lining up a graphic designer . This week, we get to the first round of recruitment. This means getting the bakers on board. Perhaps it’s because cupcakes have the reputation of being pretty awesome, but I found that baker recruitment was quite easy. As long as you followed the steps regarding advertising your event, you’ll probably find that a number of people have already e-mailed you asking how they can sign up to bring cupcakes. I also found that about 65% of all RSVPs for the event were from people wanting to bring cupcakes. I made a point to respond to every single e-mail asking if the sender planned on bringing cupcakes or planned on being an …

This article was extracted from Cupcakes Take The Cake
Go here to see the original and read more: CakeWalk: How to put on your city’s very own CupcakeCamp, Part 4

Tags: baker, bakers, column, copies, cupcake, from-the-desire, ingredients, learn-something, office, registration, response, signed-document, topper, weekly

Smartypants Quiz – EIGHTIES Movie Edition: Enter Now!

This Post was extracted from Roasted Chicken Recipes
Go here to see the original and read more: Smartypants Quiz – EIGHTIES Movie Edition: Enter Now!

Tags: character, cooking, dancing, dvd, Games, gentleman, girl, Good Old Fashion Food, grandpa, office, terminator, water

Top 5 Worst Last-Minute Gifts: Do Not Buy!

The final week of holiday shopping can get pretty hectic and intense. Buy this, wrap that, save on these and don’t forget to drop those cards in the mailbox (the ones that have been perched on your counter top all week.) Last minute shopping should only be attempted by the calm and skilled. Last minute shoppers are embarking upon an obstacle course that puts Family Double Dare to shame: pushy sales people, long lines, free gift-wrapping (if you’re lucky) and ‘longer holiday hours’ are enough to send even the coolest of heads diving straight into a barrel of soy nog. An ill-prepared shopper is likely to fall into an unforgiving and sometimes embarrassing last-minute gift-giving trap. Here is my top five list of the worst last-minute gifts. Do not buy… Top 5 Worst Last-Minute Gifts: Do not Buy! 1. Anything from Starbucks I know, I know. We all love a hefty Starbucks gift card now and then, but nothing says “I’m thinking of you, but only when I’m in line ordering my daily Venti Latte” more than a holiday gift from Starbucks. …

This Post was extracted from Healthy. Happy. Life.
Read more from the original source: Top 5 Worst Last-Minute Gifts: Do Not Buy!

Tags: airport, Bird, cards, christmas, daily, Gift, gifts, holiday, office, starbucks, time, winter, winter-apparel, words

Mixed Review: Ad Hoc’s Fried Chicken Mix

[Photographs: Lucy Baker] The country’s gone mad for fried chicken and so far I’ve kept my mouth shut. Truth be told, I’m a bit of a hater. It all began back in third grade when my class had a family recipe day. I cast my vote for chocolate donut cake (so named because it was baked in a tube pan), but my mother insisted on making the fried chicken she grew up with in Virginia. I remember shaking the raw chicken pieces in a brown paper bag filled with breadcrumbs, and watching safely from across the kitchen as my mom dropped each breast and drumstick into a hissing pot of hot oil. The next day I carried a platter of cold fried chicken into school, where it languished until lunch and then was completely overshadowed by someone else’s “heirloom” Rice Krispie treats. Since then I’ve done my best to avoid fried chicken, opting for the rotisserie alternative or simply filling my plate with sides. I have never been to KFC, except once to use the bathroom on a long car trip. That may not be much of a loss, but I’ve also never had chicken and waffles, and once left a James Beard event ravenous because of the buttermilk-battered main dish. Hell, if Thomas Keller came …

This Post was extracted from Serious Eats
Read more from the original source: Mixed Review: Ad Hoc’s Fried Chicken Mix

Tags: buttermilk, chicken, coating, food, fried-chicken, kitchen, mother, office, recipes, thomas, thomas-keller, williams-sonoma

Meet Your Farmers: Greg Massa of Massa Organics in California

Note: This week in Meet Your Farmers, we get to know Greg Massa, a fourth-generation California rice farmer. Each week he brings delicious brown rice to nine Bay Area farmers’ markets and is working toward building a sustainable farm model. [ Photographs: Massa Organics ] Name: Greg Massa Farm: Massa Organics What do you grow? Organic brown rice, wheat, almonds and now ducks. Ducks? We are selling our first 100 ducks at farmers’ markets this weekend. The ducks live in the rice field and can help us with weed management. Ideally, the ducks should be able to feed themselves on the weeds and the bugs in the field. Weed management is no small feat when it comes to rice—it’s our biggest production problem and can literally wipe out a crop. Last year, we had 20 acres that we couldn’t harvest because the weeds took over and destroyed the rice. So this year, I’m using some new techniques that I’m excited about, and the ducks are part of a greater goal to have an integrated production system. People are excited; there is a lot of interest in the product. Rice fields. Why do you farm? My family has been farming rice for 90 years. It’s mostly conventional commodity rice…

This Post was extracted from Serious Eats
Read more from the original source: Meet Your Farmers: Greg Massa of Massa Organics in California

Tags: california, country, ducks, green, obama, office, school-district, time

Roasted Butternut Squash with Moroccan Spices: Back in Orange

EDITOR’S NOTE #1: Hi, sweet readers! We’re back! Thank you for being so patient during our absence. We’ll have a post on site improvements tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s get rolling with a brand spankin’ new recipe, brought to you by the fine folks at Kalyn’s Kitchen. (Meaning: Kalyn.) EDITOR’S NOTE #2: Today on Serious Eats , I wrote of Giada DeLaurentiis’ Spinach and Cannellini Bean Dip . Without exaggeration, I’d give up a kidney for a pita of this stuff. (Nope, no exaggeration there.) It’s only one Weight Watchers point per 1/3rd cup, making it way lighter than hummus. Giada wins. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to re-emerge from a month of sloth and pondering with a recipe so fine, you won’t eat anything for the rest of the season. But first, a few things I discovered during four weeks of blog-free existence: 1) She deserved some kind of award before, but after seeing Jane Lynch on Glee , I’m pretty sure she deserves her own country. 2) This is the single best chocolate chip cookie recipe in existence. And if uninterrupted by sanity or others, I will eat an entire batch in a single sitting. 3) Employers don’t knock on your door and …

This Post was extracted from Vegetarian Recipes Online
Read more from the original source: Roasted Butternut Squash with Moroccan Spices: Back in Orange

Tags: cooking, kitchen, office, recreation, related, roasted, salt, sides, squash, tsp-ground, vegan, winter

Ed Levine’s Serious Diet, Week 88: Are Bananas Helping or Hurting My Weight?

I Lurve Bananas. [Flickr: ian_ransley] After avoiding bananas for much of the past forty years because my mother once told me they are too fattening, I have come to embrace my inner banana. Bruised or unbruised, perfectly ripe or ripe enough, bananas have actually played a key role in my serious diet. Why have I become a banana-come-lately? Because a perfectly ripe banana is almost as creamy and sweet as a bowl of ice cream. I usually have at least two bananas a day. Sometimes I buy a whole bunch of unripe bananas at Fairway, let them ripen, then have one for breakfast with exactly one tablespoon of peanut butter. With my newfound peanut butter discipline I can actually do this. I simply slice the banana in half lengthwise, measure out the peanut butter into a measured tablespoon (not too heaping, i know) and spread it on the banana. Seriously deliciouso! Then on my way to Serious Eats headquarters, I stop at the deli on the corner of 27th Street and 7th Avenue and buy two loose bananas, as ripe as I can find them. When I get to the office, I …

This Post was extracted from Serious Eats
Read more from the original source: Ed Levine’s Serious Diet, Week 88: Are Bananas Helping or Hurting My Weight?

Tags: banana, find-out-right, half-lengthwise, makers-or-fancy, mother, office, serious-eats-, smeared-on-some, street

2009 VEGAN MOFO SURVEY

No, I’m afraid I’m not joining the Vegan MOFO this year! I wish I could (I did it last year), but, with several trips, company and a fundraising show I’m organizing this month, it’s just not possible! But, I thought I’d help publicize it by doing the 2009 Vegan MOFO Survey, which originated here . And, as the author, said, it might tell you a little more about me, if you’re interested. 1. Favorite non-dairy milk? I like my own homemade soymilk (with a bit of oatmeal in it when I make it) the best—I put that on my cereal and in my tea, coffee, etc., make smoothies with it and cook with it. I like the taste of it better than Silk. Of commercial soymilks, I like the taste of Soy Dream the best, and it’s very creamy. But I also like homemade hemp milk sometimes. Soy and hemp milk are also top of the list in terms of protein and other nutrients. I like the taste of Almond Breeze and Rice Dream, and I use them for some recipes, but they contain only 1 g of protein per cup, so it’s sort of like drinking juice! 2. …

This Post was extracted from Vegetarian Recipes Online
Read more from the original source: 2009 VEGAN MOFO SURVEY

Tags: chinese, coffee, Cooking Healthy, delicious, french, italian, kitchen, office, recipes, vancouver, vegan, Vegan Delicious Recipes

Christmas Fare 2006

Here is a sample of my 2006 Christmas food gifts. I am making iced lemon cookies and rocky road. I will also make gingerbread later this week. Elliot is taking the lemon cookies (which I have wrapped in cellophane) to school for his classmates I thought they could double as decorations if they make them to the tree. Gabriella helped make the star cards – I went to Office Works and bought large and small red circle stickers and some stiff paper. Gabriella stuck the stickers on and Elliot traced the star shape on the back, I cut it out. We are becoming a real family Christmas affair these days. Recipe for Lemon Cookies: 100 grams of unsalted butter 100 grams of castor sugar 225gram plain flour zest of one lemon 1 egg Preheat oven to 180c. Beat the butter and sugar till nice and creamy and then add the egg and beat for another few minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and incorporate flour till it forms a dough. Use extra flour to knead the dough together so it not so soft. Take 1/4 of the dough and roll out on some silicone baker paper, then begin cutting shapes – trees and stars for Elliot’s class, and hearts for our friends. Bake for approximately 10 to 15 mins, it is supposed …

This Post was extracted from Easy Cooking Time
See the original post here and read more: Christmas Fare 2006

Tags: beat-the-butter, dough, friends, Grab A Bite, knead-the-dough, lemon, lemon-cookies, office, permanent-link, smarty-pants, star, traced-the-star

Happy in the Kitchen

Deep Fried Bison Burger I think it’s pretty obvious that I have a love of food. Until recently though, my love of cooking and baking was restricted to my own kitchen. Since I started at the restaurant I’ve been asked by a lot of people whether or not I enjoy working in a professional kitchen. That’s a tricky question. I usually reply with something to the effect of, “I like work when we’re not doing work.” What’s that supposed to mean? Well, it means I like Chef Challenges and learning new things and playing around with different ideas. I like the silly days in the kitchen when we get our work done but have fun doing it. For example, one of my least favourite jobs is chopping herbs. I know it has to be done though. On silly kitchen days, the herbs get chopped, but they might morph into other shapes on their way to being finely chopped into, as one of the guys likes to say, dust! Thyme Heart… Making Herb Chopping Bearable On slower days when we find ourselves with a little extra time on our hands, a question that frequently comes up is “What can we deep fry?” I don’t think I ever get tired of that one. There have been some interesting things to go…

This Post was extracted from Easy Cooking Time
See the original post here and read more: Happy in the Kitchen

Tags: chicken, deep, Fat Fast Cooking Recipes, fried-bison, kitchen, office, pictures, work