Uncategorized Archives : Page 23 of 27 : TRAVEL/FOOD

Old Fashioned Fairs and Food

Fairs, Family, Family Excursions, Festivals, Food, Fruit, Home bakers, Home Town Fun, Michigan, Pies, Southwest Michigan, Uncategorized

I love going to food festivals and state and county fairs and seeing what great home cooks both young and adult are doing. One such favorite that I never miss is the Berrien County Youth Fair in Southwest Michigan which always hosts an annual Baked Fruit Pie Contest, an event highlighting the lush and lovely fruit of the region. The competition features threecategories—the Adult Division, the Youth Division and Most Eye Appealing which went to Brianna Anthony for her Peach Blueberry Pie. The winners in the Adult Division were 1st Place: Sandy Vorrath – Pineapple-Mango Crumb Pie, 2nd Place: Chris Dohm – Baked Fresh Cherry Pie, 3rd Place: Michelle Foxworthy – Blueberry Apple Pie, 4th Place: Ruth Vorrath – Fresh Red Raspberry Crumb Pie and 5th Place: Joyel Timmreck – Blueberry-Cherry Streusel Pie.

In the Youth Division 1st Place: Elise Barber – Strawberry Crumb Pie, 2nd Place: Brianna Anthony – Peach Blueberry Pie, 3rd Place: Clara Berry – Blueberry Pie, 4th Place: Brianna Anthony – Cherry Almond Pie and 5th Place: Adrianne Barber – Cherry Pie.

Sponsors were Kilwin’s, Lemon Creek Winery and the Eau Claire Fruit Exchange for donating the prizes for the baked fruit pie contest.

Sandy Vorrath’s Pineapple-Mango Crumb Pie

Filling Ingredients:

2 cored pineapples, chopped

1 cup chopped mango

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup pineapple juice

½ teaspoon lemon juice

3 drops coconut extract

½ cup flaked coconut

Crust Ingredients:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup butter flavored shortening

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon. powdered sugar

1 egg yolk

¼ cup iced pineapple juice

Topping Ingredients:

½ cup butter cut into pieces

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup chopped macadamia nuts

¼ cup flaked coconut

Crust:

Mix together all of the crust dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening to make little crumbs. Mix together the egg and pineapple juice. Add to crust ingredients a little at a time until the dough holds together. Roll dough out onto a floured counter top to about 1/8 inch thick and fit into a pie plate. Trim and flute the crust edges, put pie crust in the freezer until ready to use.

Filling:

Mix together the sugar and corn starch in a large cooking pot. Add the pineapple juice and lemon juice. Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil. Add the pineapple and mango chunks and bring mixture back to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the coconut extract and coconut. Mix well. Let the mixture cool.

Topping:

Mix together the flour, sugars and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until crumbs form. Add the macadamia nuts and coconut. After filling has cooled, pour it in the frozen crust and top pie with crumb topping. Bake pie at 350⁰ for 40 minutes, or until pie is brown and filling bubbles.

Brianna Anthony’s Peach Blueberry Pie

Crust Ingredients:

¾ cup cake flour

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons salted butter

5 tablespoons shortening

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoon white vinegar

3 ice cubes

½ cup cold water

Filling Ingredients:

¼ cup quick-cooking tapioca pearls

4 medium-sized peaches, pitted and thinly sliced

1½ cups fresh blueberries

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Lemon zest

1 egg white

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon white sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375⁰

To prepare crust:

Measure butter and shortening on a plate, put in freezer for 20 minutes.

While butter and shortening are in the freezer, measure both flours, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl. Mix until combined. Put ½ cold butter and ½ cold shortening in bowl with dry ingredients and mix until combined. Take remainder of the cold butter and shortening and cut into bowl very briefly, leaving visible pea-sized chunks. Do not over mix!

In measuring cup, mix egg yolk and vinegar and add ice cubes and water. Let chill 3- 4 minutes.

Sprinkle approximately 4-5 tablespoons of the egg/water mixture a little at a time and mix gently with fork. Do not over wet the dough or over mix. Place dough in plastic bag and chill in refrigerator for a few minutes. Remove and roll out for pie.

Filling:

Brush the egg white mixture on the inside of the crust. Finely grind the tapioca in a food processor for about 1 minute. Combine the blueberries, peaches, brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest, and tapioca in a large bowl. Add the mixed ingredients to the bottom crust. Place a lattice crust on top of the pie. Brush the top with egg yolk. Stir together 1 Tbsp. of white sugar and ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and sprinkle over the pie. Bake in a 375⁰preheated oven for 55 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Elise Barber’s Strawberry Crumb Pie

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon shortening

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 – 8 tablespoon ice cold water

2 pounds (about 4-4½ cups) strawberries, sliced

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup finely ground instant tapioca or tapioca flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

For Crumb Topping:

½ cup rolled oats

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon fine salt

5½ – 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Crust:

Cut shortening into flour and salt, using pastry blender, until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon. at a time, until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl. Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Brown Sugar Crumb Topping:

Put oats in food processor and pulse until oats are texture of coarse cornmeal. Pour in a bowl and add flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine. Add melted butter and blend with fork until butter is incorporated and mixture gathers into small clumps (you may not need to add all of the butter). Place bowl in the refrigerator and chill crumbs before topping pie.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 375⁰.

In a large bowl, stir strawberries with lemon juice, orange zest and vanilla extract. Stir well. Whisk sugar, ground tapioca, and cornstarch together in small bowl. Combine sugar mixture with strawberries.

Roll out pastry according to size of pie plate. Pour filling into pastry. Top pie with , spreading in even layer and covering all fruit.

Place on baking sheet and put in oven. Bake 25 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350⁰ and baked 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until juice bubbles up through crumb. Top with foil if overbrowning.

Place baking sheet on wire rack and let pie cool overnight, uncovered at room temperature.

Celebrating the Season of Peaches in Southwest Michigan

Family, Festivals, Food, Home bakers, Home Town Fun, Michigan, Southwest Michigan, Uncategorized

I owe a big thank you to Nancy Perry, chairperson for the 2018 Coloma Glad Peach Festival who sent in the winning recipes from the annual Glad Peach Bake Fest Winners. The three-day festival, held the first weekend in August, celebrated its 51^st year. There were four categories with Mallory Spaulding winning both first place in the Breads/Muffins/Coffee as well as Best of Show, Sherry Bachman who too first in Cookies/Bars, Kendall Bachman for Pies/Pasties and Sherri Ulleg for Cakes/Cupcakes.

First Place: Breads/Muffins/Coffee Cakes & Best of Show

Mallory Spaulding’s Peach Streusel Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients for muffins:

½ cup softened/salted butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon all spice

2 large eggs – room temp

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup yogurt (any kind)

3 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cup chopped peaches (approximately 3 peaches)

1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

½ teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Crumb topping:

Mix sugars, cinnamon, melted butter with a spatula, mix in flour. Topping will be crumbly. Set aside.

For the muffins, beat butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar and beat until creamed. Add eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute then increase speed to high. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, all spice and salt. Pour wet ingredients into dry and slowly mix. Add milk until combined and little lumps remain. Fold in peaches with a wooden spoon.

Next, pour batter into 12 muffin tins. Press a handful of crumble topping into each muffin. Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes, then decrease to 350 degrees and bake for 15 to 19 minutes.

For glaze, whisk all ingredients together and drizzle over warm muffins.

First Place: Cookies/Bars

Sherry Bachman’s Peach Cream Cheese Cookies

Makes 4 ½ Dozen Cookies

5 cups pecans

4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1-1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Peach jam

Coarsely chop 1-1/2 cup of pecans and spread on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Whisk together flour and salt in large bowl

Beat butter and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat for another minute

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in the flour/salt until just combined. Do not over mix. Fold in toasted pecans.

Transfer dough to work surface and divide the dough in half. Shape each half into an 8 inch log about 2 inches in diameter.

Wrap each log in plastic wrap and put in freezer for about 4 hours…or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely chop remaining 1-1/2 cups of pecans. Unwrap one of the logs of dough and rolls in the pecans. Cut into ¼ inch thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Rotate the cookies halfway thru to ensure even baking.

Let cool on the sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

Dip cookies in peach jam and remaining 2 cups chopped peaches.

First Place: Cakes/Cupcakes

Sherri Ulleg’s Peach Pound Cake With Maples Cream Sauce And Candied Pecans

Cake Ingredients:

1-1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

6 large eggs

3 cups white sugar

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 medium peaches (peeled, pitted, diced)

Sauce Ingredients:

5 tablespoons maple syrup

1-1/2 cup heavy whipped cream

4 tablespoons light corn syrup

Pecan Ingredients:

16 ounces pecan chips

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons water

1 egg white

To make cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease Bundt pan well and sprinkle with 3 tbsp of flour. Shake pan to coat, then tap out excess. Cream together butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in eggs one at a time until yolk disappears. Add in vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix on low until light and fluffy (about 4 mins). In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry mix to the butter mixture in batches, alternating with the sour cream. Mix on low until just blended. Add 1/4 flour to peaches and toss until coated. Fold peach mixture into batter gently, making sure peaches are mixed evenly throughout. Add batter to Bundt pan, filling about ¾ full. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool pan for 15 minutes, then invest cake onto a dish. Cool completely before adding sauce or other coating.

To make sauce:

In a medium sauce pan, combine heavy whipping cream, maple syrup and corn syrup. Heat on medium heat, stirring regularly. Allow sauce to simmer and reduce for 10 minutes. Cool the sauce in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before drizzling over cake.

To candy pecans:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In medium bowl, mix egg white, vanilla and water. Whisk until frothy. Add pecans and coat completely with the egg mixture. In a Ziploc bag, combine sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add pecans and shake. Bake mixture on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the pecans every 15 minutes. Cool completely, then sprinkle over cream sauce on cake top.

First Place: Pies/Pastry

Kendall Bachman’s Peach Cream Cheese Pie

Serves 10

Ingredients For Pie Crust:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¾ cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened

3 tablespoon heavy cream

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Place cream cheese and butter in food processor and pulse for 10 seconds, then pour in cream and pulse for 20 to 30 seconds or until fluffy.

Scrape down sides and add in flour and salt, then pulse again until mixture comes together and starts pulling away from the food processor.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth, then divide dough in half.

Shape halves into discs and wrap both tightly in plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 1 hour and transfer to pie plate.

To bake: preheat oven to 375 degrees for 11 minutes or golden brown.

Ingredients for Peach Bavarian Cream Filling:

1 5.1 ounce package instant vanilla pudding

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2-5 tablespoons milk

1 cup chopped peaches

Beat whipping cream on high until stiff peaks form. Run the mixer on low while slowly sprinkling in the pudding powder. Mix until fully mixed. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time to reach spreading consistency. Add more milk for a thinner filling. Add peaches.

South Bend’s Magnificent Tippecanoe Place

Elegant dining, Historic Restaurants, South Bend, Uncategorized

Built in 1889, Tippecanoe Place, a fine dining restaurant in South Bend is an elaborately gabled and turreted 24,000-square-foot Richardsonian Romanesque-style house which belonged to Clem Studebaker, one of the Studebaker auto magnates. Perfectly preserved, it’s about what having it all meant back in the late 1800s. With 40 rooms, 20 fireplaces and ball room, it took three years to build at a cost of $250,000 (around $6.4 million in today’s money). Add in another $100,000 the family spent on furnishings for all four floors and you can see it was quite a home.

Clem and his brother Henry had made their fortune by growing their blacksmith shop into the world’s largest buggy business, making horse driven wagons for the Civil War effort and then segueing successfully into manufacturing Studebaker cars. At one time, after buying Pierce Arrow, the sleek automobile luxury brand, they even had a Rockne line named after the famed Notre Dame coach who talked up the cars at auto conventions. But alas, deep in debt and with the Depression in full force, Studebaker went into bankruptcy in 1933 and Clem’s son, George, who lived there with his family, abandoned the house which then stood empty for seven years until it was purchased for $20,000 and used first by the Red Cross and then as a school for the handicapped.

Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, four years later Tippecanoe Place earned the even more coveted and prestigious designation as a National Historic Landmark. In 1980, it was restored at a cost of about $2 million and turned into a restaurant and since then, it’s been the go-to-place for weddings, family events, parties and gracious dining.

The interior of this splendid manse, all highly polished woods, stunning chandeliers, elaborately carved woodwork including the grand staircase, serves classic American fare such as prime rib with creamy horseradish sauce, Indiana roast duckling, shrimp cocktail and chicken Oscar amidst all this elegance (but don’t worry neither tiara or tux are required to dine—it’s casual despite the splendor). The sumptuous—and diet busting—Sunday Brunch is a feast that makes you swear, falsely of course, that you won’t need to eat for a month. There’s also an extensive wine and spirit list.

As for the name Tippecanoe, Clem was good friends with Benjamin Harrison, an Indianapolis lawyer who would become the 23rd President of the United States. Harrison’s grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was the hero (depending on whose side you were on) of the Battle of Tippecanoe which took place near Lafayette in 1811. He too was a U.S. President. But it also could originate from the fact that Tippecanoe, the leader of the Miami Indians, liked to camp on the land where Clem built his mansion. Guided tours are available but you can also take a peak on your own. And be sure to check out the historic memorabilia about the Studebaker family and business on display.

Here’s an adaptation of one of Tippecanoe’s signature desserts.

Frangelico Cream Mouse

3 large egg yolks

1-1/2 cups superfine sugar

1-1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons Frangelico liqueuor

2 cups heavy cream (36% milk fat) Note: Avoid using ultra pasteurized as it won’t whip properly.

In a mixer with a wire whip, beat egg yolks with the sugar and the vanilla until light and pale.

Beat in softened cream cheese, then add the Frangelico, mixing until very smooth. Set aside in a cool place.

Whip the heavy cream until stiff in another bowl and then fold into the cream cheese mixture. Chill.

Garnish with fresh berries and mint leaves

Serve in individual glasses or in a large, pretty dish.

620 W. Washington

South Bend, IN

574-234-9077; tippe.com

The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects

Harper Design, Uncategorized

Life is busy for a lovely mermaid (and aren’t they all?). There’s riding seahorses through shimmering sea foam capped with frothy white waves, finding the perfect rock on which to display their fish-like tails sheathed in iridescent spangles so they sparkle in the sunlight, combing their beautiful long locks and, of course, singing enticingly so that sailors forsake their duty and travel to their doom all to get a better look.

For mermaids as well as mermaid wannabees or just those who love reading about these mythical creatures, folklore expert Carolyn Turgeon introduces us to their world in her recently released The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (Harper Design 2018; $35).

Turgeon, the editor-in-chief of Faerie Magazine, a quarterly print publication and author of several books including The Faerie Handbook, showcases all things mermaid by dividing her handbook into four sections. In “Fashion and Beauty” we learn techniques on creating mermaid hair—face it, haven’t you always wanted a reason to sprinkle glitter throughout your locks. Of course, then you need a mermaid mirror to admire yourself. Not to worry Turgeon includes directions. “Arts and Culture” tells the stories of sirens in classic mythology and contains luscious reproductions of mermaid art and recounts tales of mermaid from around the world. Fair warning—mermaids aren’t always nice.

You don’t have to go down to the sea for the section on “Real Mermaids and Where to Find Them.” Here, Turgeon takes us to the advent of mermaids as entertainers starting with the story of Annette Kellerman who learned to swim like a fish in her native Australia to overcome rickets and bowed legs, eventually becoming strong enough to swim an average of 45 miles a week. So good at what she did, Kellerman began swimming for money at young age and by 1907 was performing as the Australian Mermaid throughout the United States in glass tanks and in 1916 starred in A Daughter of the Gods, the first movie to cost over a $1 million to make as well as the first one featuring a naked woman (don’t worry, her long mermaid hair covered the most private of parts). Turgeon takes us into midcentury when there were a plethora of bars and restaurants with tanks for mermaids to perform in. Surprisingly, at least for me, not all of these have disappeared and some mermaid cocktail lounges are still in business including the Dive Bar in Sacramento, California, the Sip ‘N Dip Tiki Lounge in Great Falls, Montana and the Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We also learn the stories of women who have made their livings as mermaids.

Of course, even a mermaid has to eat and the last section of Turgeon’s delightful book “Food, Entertaining and Stories of the Sea” includes recipes for the types of edibles a mermaid might nibble such as Savory Sesame Seed and Seaweed Cookies, Salmon Poke with Wild Rice, Pineapple and Macadamia Nuts and an assortment of sea-themed shaped cookies covered with royal icing. And because what mermaid wouldn’t want to set the perfect table to indulge in such delights, there are crafts to create seashell fortune party favors and shell cocktail glasses to sip such libations as Blue Sea Cocktails and Seductive Siren Cocktails (recipes included).

Those wanting to indulge their inner mermaids can try the recipes below.

Honey Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing

8 ounces of unsalted butter

One and ½ granulated sugar

2 cups good quality honey

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 teaspoons ginger

4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoons salt

¼ cup cocoa powder, optional

3 large eggs

9 cups all-purpose flour

1 large egg, lightly beaten and mixed with 1 teaspoon water

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium low heat. Add the sugar is still mostly dissolved, then pour in the honey and stir to combine. Cook until very hard and mixture is smooth, but did not boil. Remove from heat.

Sift together baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Add up to 1/3 cup cocoa powder, depending on color desired. Add to the warm butter mixture and stir until well combined. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Transfer the mixture to the ball of an electric mixer and add three eggs, beating until combined. Gradually adding flour, beating all the while.

When all the flour is absorbed, divided the dough in half and wrapped in several layers of plastic wrap.

Store in a cool place for at least 24 hours, or up to a week in the refrigerator. If the Joe is refrigerated bring it to room temperature before proceeding.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Unwrap the dough and place on a well-floured work surface. Knead flour into the dough until it is very smooth, pliable and not sticky. Roll up to ¼- inch thickness for small cookies, a little thicker for larger cookies.

Use cookie cutters to cut cookies into mermaid friendly shapes such as seahorses, shells and starfish.

Big six minutes, checking to see if any bubbles form. If they do, gently smooth with a spatula and continue to bake until done, about nine minutes total for medium cookies and up to 14 minutes for larger ones. Remove to a wire rack and use a pastry brush to apply coat of the lightly beaten egg. Cool completely.

Decorate with Royal Icing (see recipe below).

Royal Icing

2 pounds of powdered sugar

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

10 tablespoons liquid pasteurized egg whites

Combine powdered sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla and pasteurized egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat high speed with a paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Blue Sea Cocktail

1 ½ ounces white rum

1 ounce Blue Curaçao

½ ounce Suze or any aperitif

½ ounce Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

½ ounce simple syrup

Dash fresh lemon juice

Ice cubes

Combine all the ingredients in the shaker.

Shake until will chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass, on the rocks and serve immediately.

From The Mermaid Handbook by Carolyn Turgeon.

A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry and Literary Far

Culinary Poetry, Literary Recipes, Muses, Poetry, Seasonal Recipes, Uncategorized

Book combines poetry, prose and food

Chef Myra Kornfeld and poet Stephen Massimilla have put together a luscious cookbook illustrating how poetry, prose and food have been inspirational throughout history.

The 500-page book, “Cooking With the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry and Literary Fare,” is divided by seasons. It pairs 150 recipes with culinary poems, essays and historic anecdotes.

Massimilla provides a few stanzas from Book IX of Homer’s “The Odyssey” to accompany a recipe for Mediterranean Cauliflower-Kale Roast with Feta. He recounts how the cheese, which dates back to 8th century B.C., was originally aged and brined to keep it from spoiling in Greek’s hot, arid climate. The way it was made, he says, has changed very little since Odysseus entered Polyphemus’ cave.

In the recipe for Corn Pudding “Soufflé,” the authors include John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “Barbara Frietchie” as a preface to the simple recipe.

They end the recipe with a recommendation for cooking fresh corn by Mark Twain, who very much enjoyed his meals.

“Corn doesn’t hang on to its sugar long after it has been picked,” Massimilla writes. “The saying goes that you should put up a pot of hot water before you stroll out to the cornfield prepared to run back on the double. Mark Twain upped the challenge when he recommended carrying the boiling water to the garden to catch the corn with all its sweetness the moment it leaves the vine.” W8medcaulibake

The following recipes are from “Cooking with the Muse.”

Mediterranean Cauliflower-Kale Roast with Feta

Serves 4 to 6.

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt

3/4 pound curly kale, stemmed and torn into bite-size pieces

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup Kalamata olives, chopped and pitted

1 tablespoon capers, drained, rinsed and chopped

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Black pepper

2 ounces feta cheese (preferably from sheep’s milk), crumbled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Have ready a parchment paper-covered baking sheet.

In one bowl, toss the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of the oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Spread the cauliflower on the baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through.

In another bowl, toss the kale with 1 tablespoon oil. Massage the oil into the leaves so each leaf is lightly coated. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Roast the cauliflower for 30 minutes, then add the kale to the baking sheet. Return it to the oven and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the cauliflower is browned and the kale is crispy. Remove from the oven.

Warm the remaining tablespoon of oil with the butter in a large skillet until the butter melts. Add the garlic, olives and capers and cook for a minute or two, until fragrant. Stir in the cauliflower and kale, the water and the oregano. Combine thoroughly. Stir in the lemon juice and a sprinkling of pepper.

Serve hot, with feta scattered on top.

Chocolate Tart with Salt and Caramelized Pecans

Makes one 9-inch tart.

For the pecans:

1 cup pecans

1/3 cup maple sugar, Sucanat sugar, Rapadura sugar or coconut sugar

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

1 large egg white

For the crust:

Oil and coconut flour, for preparing the pan

2 cups unsweetened coconut, dried and shredded

3 tablespoons granulated natural sugar (such as maple or Sucanat)

1 teaspoon orange zest

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 large egg whites

For the filling:

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 tablespoons maple sugar

Pinch of salt

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 large egg, lightly beaten

For the garnish:

Fleur de sel (French sea salt) or other large-flake sea salt

Position one rack in the middle of the oven and another in the lower third. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Have ready two parchment paper-covered baking sheets.

To make the pecans, toss the pecans, sugar, salt and cayenne, if using, in a medium bowl. Stir in the egg white to combine. Spread on one of the baking sheets. Bake on the middle rack until the sugar has clumped on the nuts and the mixture looks sandy and dry, 25 to 30 minutes. Stir every 8 minutes or so during the baking so that pecans caramelize evenly.

Let cool for a few minutes, transfer to a bowl and break up the clumps into small pieces. (The pecans can be stored at room temperature for up to a month.)

While the pecans are baking, make the crust. Oil and flour a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. In a medium bowl, combine the coconut, sugar and orange zest. Work in the coconut oil with your fingers until everything is moistened evenly.

In a small bowl, whip the egg whites until frothy. Stir into the coconut mixture. Press the dough into the prepared tart pan. (Use a piece of plastic wrap between your hand and the dough to make pressing in the crust easier.) Give an extra press at the juncture where the sides meet the bottom, so you don’t have a triangular-shaped thick wedge of crust in the corners.

Place the tart pan on the other baking sheet. Bake the crust on the lower rack until it is a deep golden brown, about 15 minutes, checking after 10.

While the crust is baking, make the filling. In a small saucepan, bring the coconut milk, sugar and salt to a simmer. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and stir with a whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Cover to keep warm.

Just before the crust is ready, whisk the egg thoroughly into the chocolate. Pour the filling into the hot crust. Return the tart (still on the baking sheet) to the oven. Bake until the filling is set around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes. The filling should still jiggle a little in the center when you nudge the pan. Set on a rack to cool.

Unmold the tart and serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Before serving, sprinkle a light dusting of flaky salt and the pecan clusters over the tart. Alternatively, serve each piece with a light dusting of coarse salt, then sprinkle the top with the caramelized pecans.

Cook’s note: The tart may be refrigerated for up to three days.

Bridgeton Mill: Grinding Away for Almost Two Centuries

Home Town Fun, Uncategorized

The wheels of Bridgeton Mill, a three story building next to a 268-foot covered bridge, both painted a matching red and rising above a large waterfall, are always working overtime.

“We sell about 40,000 pounds of flour, pancake mix and cornmeal every year,” says owner Mike Roe who was grinding away for the Indiana State Fair. After that he planned on starting up production for Parke County’s Annual Covered Bridge Festival, this year starting on October 12.

Roe, who says he was always fascinated by the old mill though he knew nothing about milling, bought what was then a ramshackle building in 1995 after seeing a for sale sign on its door. “I came home and my wife asked me how my day was and I told her I just spent a quarter-of-a-million dollars for an old mill.

Bridgeton Mill’s history dates back to the 1820s (it was rebuilt in 1870), making it the oldest continuously operating mill in Indiana and possibly the Midwest. The backdrop here is picture perfect and is one of the most photographed spots in the Midwest. It can be found along the backroads and byways of Parke County, a place so rural that the 31 covered bridges built between 1860 and 1920 still remain.

But no matter what time of the year you go, stock up on the freshly ground products produced by Roe and his family.

Karen Jean Stone Ground Cornbread

1¼ cup cornmeal

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoon coconut oil

Preheat oven 425° F.

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together. Add the milk, egg, honey and coconut oil.

Pour into a hot greased cast iron skillet. (Or pour into a greased 8 x 8 baking pan.)

Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Karen Jean’s Bridgeton Mill Bread Buns

1-1/2 cups warm water, about 112 degrees F

4 teaspoons original dry yeast

1/3 cup honey

4 teaspoons olive oil

1-1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups Bridgeton Mill Bread Flour

Place warm water in medium sized bowl; sprinkle yeast over water; stir until

dissolved; mix in honey and oil; set aside for 20 minutes and mixture

becomes frothy.

Place yeast mixture in mixing bowl; add salt and 1 cup flour; gradually beat

in remaining flour until dough forms. Mix or knead for about 6 to 10

minutes and forms into soft dough.

Place dough into a large greased bowl; turn over once to coat dough with

oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or soft towel. Set aside in warm place

to rise for about 45 to 60 minutes.

Remove dough to lightly floured surface. Roll to fit 13×9-inch pan. Foil line

and grease 13×9-inch baking pan; press dough evenly into pan. Cover

loosely; set aside in warm place to rise for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated 350° degree oven for about 30 minutes or golden brown.

Remove bread to cooling rack. When cool; cut into squares for sandwich

breads.

Yield: 12 square sandwich breads

Karen Jean Stone Ground Cornbread

1¼ cup cornmeal

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoon coconut oil

Preheat oven 425° F.

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together. Add the milk, egg, honey and coconut oil.

Pour into a hot greased cast iron skillet. (Or pour into a greased 8 x 8 baking pan.)

Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Karen Jean’s Bridgeton Mill Bread Buns

1-1/2 cups warm water, about 112 degrees F

4 teaspoons original dry yeast

1/3 cup honey

4 teaspoons olive oil

1-1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups Bridgeton Mill Bread Flour

Place warm water in medium sized bowl; sprinkle yeast over water; stir until

dissolved; mix in honey and oil; set aside for 20 minutes and mixture

becomes frothy.

Place yeast mixture in mixing bowl; add salt and 1 cup flour; gradually beat

in remaining flour until dough forms. Mix or knead for about 6 to 10

minutes and forms into soft dough.

Place dough into a large greased bowl; turn over once to coat dough with

oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or soft towel. Set aside in warm place

to rise for about 45 to 60 minutes.

Remove dough to lightly floured surface. Roll to fit 13×9-inch pan. Foil line

and grease 13×9-inch baking pan; press dough evenly into pan. Cover

loosely; set aside in warm place to rise for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated 350° degree oven for about 30 minutes or golden brown.

Remove bread to cooling rack. When cool; cut into squares for sandwich

breads.

Yield: 12 square sandwich breads

2018 Symphony League Garden Tour

Garden Tours, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Uncategorized

Brilliant displays of flowers, vignettes of garden arts, a cast iron bed frame painted white and cozy sitting nooks, a pond, a memorial to a dear friend and such unique structures as a Japanese Garden are all components of the lovely garden created by Grace Gianforte, a two-acre extravaganza celebrating nature’s beauty. In keeping with the woodlands in the back of her more formal gardens, Gianforte and her husband, Peter Katz, maintain the Pier Nature Preserve, a meandering board walk lined by tree trunks leading across bridges, crossing a small stream and offering glimpses of semi-hidden delights—a circle of stained glass placed in the grass, birdhouses, a copper lantern and planters of flowers—is open to all the neighbors on Pier Road, a short road paralleling Lake Michigan north of St. Joseph in Hagar Shores, Michigan. Take a turn when wandering Gianforte’s garden and unexpectedly come across a peace garden, an intricately wrought iron bench and table, rolling waves of shrubs in different shades of luscious greens, a sign with a garden poem and ceramic birdbaths—it’s all a visual treasure hunt.The gardens have been a passion for Gianforte who lives and works in Chicago a few days each week and then comes back to indulge in a flurry of creativity. Her home, built in the 1920 and located at 5023 Pier Road, is the perfect backdrop of drop-dead garden rooms but unique as it is, it’s just one of a quartet of fabulous gardens on display during the 2018 Symphony League Garden Tour on Sunday, August 5th from Noon to 5pm. The League, the non-profit support organization of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, was organized in 1975 to raise funds for the orchestra and holds several very successful fundraisers each year.

“We waited until August for the tour this year so that herbs, vegetables, and flowers will all be in season,” says Anne Odden who is co-chairing the event with Karen Johnson.

At the turn of the last century, Pier Road was a popular resort area and in 1915, according to the “Southwest Michigan RoadMap: The West Michigan Pike Volume II: Historic Resource Survey,” W. B. Pratt, owner of an area fruit farm since the 1860s, subdivided his land, opening a resort called Pratt’s Lakeview Park and later Pratt’s Resort. The history of the gardens on the tour are tied into this early history. Irish Catholics from Chicago vacationed here and the home belonging to Mike and Nancy Braun was once a retreat for nuns from Chicago and the garage/stable a place for priests to stay. Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley Sr. supposedly vacationed on Pier Road before buying a place closer to Chicago in Grand Beach. The property where Donna Schinto has her house and gorgeous gardens was on property that was part of the Pratt Resort and the home of the Ferrantellas was a farmhouse set upon a large expanse of farmland which east past M-63 and south to what is now Midwest Timer.The following gardens are on the tour:

TJ, Karen, and Kyle Ferrantella, 4835 Pier Road

““If you’re looking for pristine gardens, you’ll need to look elsewhere,” TJ Ferrantella writes to me in an email after I visited the gardens surrounding their second home on Pier Road.

Describing his flower gardens as being more likely to be maintained by a lawn mower and Round Up than by any other means, Ferrantella says that many of the concepts used in establishing the family’s extensive gardens were heavily influenced by Patricia Thorpe’s book The American Weekend Gardener, which advocates a realistic, low-maintenance approach to gardening.

Ferrantella has divided into his gardens and gives them names.

His favorite is the Bulb Garden defined by the birch tree and first established with the planting off over 1,000 bulbs. True to his emphasis on easy weekends requiring little to no maintenance, this garden requires about one hour of weeding once a year.

“In Spring, it’s filled with yellow daffodils, progress to blue irises in late-spring, and to lilies in summer,” he says. “We are often asked what is the greenery growing in the garden. It’s fallopian japonica – both variegated and non-variegated and it was originally planted here to hide the leggy stems of the summer plants.”

The Frog Pond Garden located at the fork in the brick sidewalk was created so the couple’s now grown three son could play with frogs, the plant material around it immune to the damage caused by stomping kid feet.Overall, the Ferrantellas’s garden areas offers a comforting and casual ambience. For lazing around there’s a hammock, for entertaining people have gathered in a pretty screened in porch, it’s door painted a bright red that contrasts nicely with the yellow house and its white shutters. The hum of laughing voices mingles along with Here people have the musical sounds of chimes moving in a gentle wind and the clucking of hens whose coop is tucked under a tree house. Tucked among the flowering bushes and masses of plants are pretty settings revolving around garden art and a wrought iron seating area.

Mike and Nancy Braun, 5006 Pier Road

Tucked along a high bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, when Nancy and Mike Braun first bought this late rambling 19^th century home the land was barren and the buildings which not only include the house but a structure which because of its barn like doors looks like that it was, at one time, a stable before being used as a garage and guest quarters for those visiting the whoever was staying in the house. Mike Braun, a retired attorney, likes to build and he has turned part of the stable into a studio for his wife, naming it Nanistan. Also an attorney, Nancy creates her mosaics there and preserves flowers from her gardens. Inspired by a trip to England, she also built a garden wall out of stackings stones.Nanistan isn’t the only structure Braun has restored or built, he also has added a gazebo, pergola and trellis in a garden area so large that some are tucked out of sight.

“There was another home there years ago,” says Braun pointing to an area now full of separate gardens, some filled with vivid blooms, an abundance of herbs like chives, oreganos, thyme, French tarragon, cilantro, basil, winter savory and marjoram intersperse with globe thistle which Nancy says looks pretty when dried, strawberries and Sweet William.

And because she has a cat, Nancy also grows catnip, a plant she says the feline delights in.A large pond (dug out by Mike), bordered by hibiscus, iris, bear’s britches, candy tuft and buffalo beans with its spikes of yellow blooms, is accented with a flowing fountain and a statue of a heron.

The Brauns lived and worked in Chicago, for years coming up for weekends. But now, liking the peace and quiet of living on the lake, they now live here fulltime.

“We enjoy great sunsets and having friends visit,” says Nancy. “And, of course, working in our garden.”

Donna Schinto, 4887 Pier road

Donna Shinto also lived fulltime in the Chicago area, but when she decided to sell her home in Glenview, Illinois and move permanently to Pier Road, she took much of her garden with her. Digging up her favorite plants, she transported 50% of what was growing in her yard to the 1.4-acres surrounding her home—a task that took many car trips to and from her residences.But it was worth the effort. Shinto’s has fashioned a formal garden with garden rooms as well as fenced vegetable and herb gardens that invite visitors to explore. She uses art and statuary such as blue glass globes, a rustic metal rooster, huge pots of flowering plants, an old red pump mounted on a wooden box, a large geode with its interior crystals revealed, a pond circled by smooth stones and almost hidden by rich green foliage and a vintage toy Volkswagen, made of metal and painted in fading, slightly rusting colors of yellow, red, blue and green with a peace symbol on its hood.

Seeking to integrate her Glenview plants with the landscaping already in place—the property was once part of the Pratt Resort and boasts 12 majestic black walnut trees and large sugar maple with an 11-foot circumference and making sure the home fit in with her abundance of greenery, Shinto had the house designed and positioned so all fit in with the landscape. The mark of a true gardening afficianado.

Ifyougo

What: 2018 Symphony League Garden Tour

When: Sunday, August 5th from Noon to 5pm (EST)

Cost: $10 tickets on sale at the SMSO office or SMSO website in advance or at one of the four gardens during the day of the event.

FIBEGA, THE PREMIER WORLDWIDE GASTRONOMY TOURISM FAIR, COMES TO MIAMI MAY 2019

Uncategorized

FIBEGA, the premier worldwide gastronomy tourism fair, will take place in the states for the first time in May 2019 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. This is the third edition (inaugural fair took place in Merida, Spain followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina) and due to Miami’s status as an international hub, all future editions of the fair will remain in the destination.

The fair will feature global exhibitors from destinations and regions from all around the world including the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Attendees (including consumers and the gastronomy and tourism industry) will enjoy: exploring destination booths, food, wine and spirit tastings throughout the fair, meeting tourism experts, and much more.

Miami, FL. (July 23, 2018) – FIBEGA, the premier worldwide gastronomy tourism fair, will take place in the U.S. for the first time next year from May 10-12, 2019. FIBEGA will bring together culture, gastronomy and destinations from different countries and regions to the Miami Beach Convention Center. Due to the city’s prestige as an international epicenter for tourism and gastronomy, all future editions of the fair will remain in Miami.

“After a successful edition last year in Buenos Aires, we are excited to bring FIBEGA to the United States for the first time,” said Roi Correa, FIBEGA president. “As the most important gastronomy tourism fair in the world, bringing this event to Miami is a testament to the city as a powerful leader in global tourism and hospitality. With influential attendees from various markets participating, Miami is certain to serve as the ideal backdrop and meeting point between the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Africa and Europe.”

FIBEGA 2019 is expected to surpass last year’s Buenos Aires edition, which received more than 22,000 attendees from all over the world and featured more than 800 global exhibitors, with heavy presence from Latin America and Europe. FIBEGA intends to become the most important networking fair in the tourism and gastronomy sector where destinations, enterprises and global institutions will meet for business, development and tourism.

According to the World Food Travel Association’s State of the Food Tourism Industry 2018 Annual Report, 93 percent of travelers have engaged in a unique or memorable food and beverage experience other than dining out. In other words, nearly everyone can now be considered a food traveler. According to the United Nation’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), more than 25 million American travelers visit international destinations each year, and culinary tourism is identified as a primary motivation for travel.

Each edition of this international fair brings the best diversity of gastronomy, tourism and culture from international regions with a daily agenda offering varied activities. Friday, May 10, the first day of the fair, will be exclusively curated for gastronomy and tourism industry professionals. Guests will also be able to build and strengthen their current network, with the opportunity to meet tourism experts and engage with representatives from global destinations. From May 11-12, both industry professionals and consumers interested in gastronomy and travel will be welcome. With exhibitions featuring destinations from all over the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, FIBEGA will offer visitors a chance to get a taste of the unique flavors and personalities that define various countries and regions.

FIBEGA inaugurated in November 2016 in Merida, Spain, where attendees enjoyed workshops and food, wine and spirit tastings by several represented countries including Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Uruguay and more. The following year, the fair moved to Buenos Aires covering similar topics of tourism, gastronomy, health and sustainability and featured international chefs and Sommelier Josep Roca of El Celler de Can Roca, among others. Attendees also enjoyed tequila, mezcal, pisco, cachaça and rum tastings, as well as regional foods that varied from traditional Argentinean cuisine to Mayan specialties from Guatemala.

Supporting partners of FIBEGA Miami 2019 include the UNWTO. For more information and to register or purchase tickets, please visit: https://www.fibega.org/

Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian

Chicago restaurants, St. Martin's, Uncategorized

“Good cooking and a lot of flavor don’t have to take a lot of time,” says Fabio Viviani, chef, restauranteur and TV personality, explaining why he wrote Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian (St. Martin’s 2017; $27.99), his beautifully photographed cookbook filled with wonderfully accessible recipes. “The whole premise is easy.”

Viviani, who lives in the Chicago area now but grew up in Florence, Italy, started working in a bakery when he was 11 not so much from a love of food but because his family needed the money. But labor developed into a passion. Now 28 years later, he’s amassed a food empire with two California vineyards, several cookbooks, stints on several Top Chef show (he won Fan Favorite on Season Five), restaurants including two in Chicago—Siena Tavern and Prime & Provisions and his Mercado concept, described as a “rustic-yet refined eatery destination by celebrity chef Fabio Viviani” with locations that include Chicago, Tempe, Arizona and Benton Harbor, Michigan.

He also currently has a weekly web series, “Fabio’s Kitchen” and is doing “Dinner is Served,” an online video series showcasing quick, easy recipes viewers can easily make at home.

With such a busy schedule, I wondered if he ever gets tired of cooking.

“I like it,” he says, “sometimes I don’t. It’s like a marriage, you yell at each other and then you go back to it.”

Asking what recipes he might recommend for those who haven’t cooked Italian before, Viviani replied that the chapters on pasta and salads because they have, for the most part particularly if you don’t make your pasta from scratch, “have less ingredients and take less time.”

Noting that his Italian heritage taught him less is more, Viviani says “you don’t have to overdo it to put really good food on the table.”

The following recipes are courtesy of Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian by Fabio Viviani.

Lemon-Roasted Chicken with Avocado and Warm Artichoke Hearts

3 chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 small can artichoke hearts, cut into quarters

2 heads frisee lettuce, root removed

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

2 avocados, diced and pitted 2 cloves garlic, grated

2 green onions cut sharply on the bias

15 basil leaves, torn Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Heat a large nonstick pan on medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil in side. Season chicken with salt and pepper then place into pan. Cook for 2 minutes. Flip chicken and add lemon juice and artichokes to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes.

Pull frisee lettuce apart into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, combine frisee with honey, vinegar, olive oil, avocados, garlic, green onions and basil along with warm artichokes and toss to dress. Serve chicken along with warm salad.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

FOR THE CAKE

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla (extracted from pod)

2 teaspoons rum

1 cup hot water

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

FOR THE CARAMEL

Splash vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fleur de sel

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup heavy cream (plus 2 tablespoons)

1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round baking pans. Set aside.

In a large stand mixer, combine the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar and flour. Once combined, add buttermilk, heavy cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and rum; mix until smooth. Stir together the hot water and espresso powder. Pour slowly into the cake batter and stir until completely incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until baked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely.

While cakes are cooking, combine the vanilla extract, fleur de sel, butter, 1/2 cup of heavy cream and sugar in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Cook until caramel in color, then add the final 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Stir for 20 seconds and let cool before glazing cake.

Tip: Make the cakes in advance. When ready to serve make caramel sauce and drizzle over the top.

Blissful Basil: Over 100 Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health & Happiness

BenBella, Chicagoland Area, cookbooks, Healthy, Organic, Plant Powered, Uncategorized, Vegan, Vegetarian

Stressed out during her last term of graduate school when she was counseling clients 30 hours a week, Ashley Melillo returned to her love of cooking, combining it with creating healthy plant-based recipes and creating Blissful Basil, a blog to share her experiences of cooking plant-based meals.

“I was taking my work home with me,” says Melillo who works as a school psychologist in the Chicago area. “So cooking and blogging became self-caring.”

Now Melillo’s blog has morphed into her new cookbook, Blissful Basil: Over 100 Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health & Happiness (BenBella 2016; $21.95).

“I developed a love of cooking when I was young,” says Melillo who also earned a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. “In the kitchen there’s so much sensory going on—touch, smells, textures, tastes. It’s relaxing after a long week of work. Once I am doing it, it becomes very therapeutic.”

Cooking plant-based or vegan foods are healthy not only physically but emotionally says Melillo. But it isn’t easy to incorporate both exercise and a wide variety of plant-based foods into our life-style.

Indeed, one wholesome smoothie such as her Energizing Carrot Cake Smoothie, Get Glowing Strawberry Mango Chia Pudding or her Cheesy Herb or the Sun-Dried Tomato Good Morning Biscuits, won’t turn our lives upside down health-wise. But it’s all a step in the right direction to achieving physical, mental and emotional well-being. It’s all part of shaping good habits by making good choices every day.

Of course, as a psychologist, Melillo recognizes that it’s most difficult to make these at the very time when we most need to do so.

“It’s when some of these emotions are most at their peak and when you feel almost too overwhelmed to try taking the steps to move forward, that’s when it’s the hardest,” she says. “But it’s the hardest things that push up forward and end up being the best things for us. But it’s important to make ourselves do so–to start chipping away at our anxiety or stress or depression. By taking that one step, often we can go on and take another and another and ultimately alleviate some of those overwhelming feelings.”

Such a cooking style doesn’t have to be severe. Have a sugar craving? Instead indulge in a vegan dessert such as her Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars, Enlivening Lemon Bars, Peanut Butter Cookies and Cosmically Fudgy Cacao Tahini Brownies. Don’t go out for pizza. Try one of Melillo’s pizzas like her White Pizza with Garlic Herb Oil, Mozzarella and Puffy Potato Crust.

For those who aren’t ready to go full-force plant-based or Vegan or know much it at all, Blissful Basil covers a glossary of terms, recipes for pantry items to keep on hand and contains helpful symbols– colored circle noting which recipes are free of gluten, grain, soy, nut, oil, refined sugar and/or they’re raw.

Melillo asked meat lovers to taste test the recipes in her book because she wanted them to be appealing not only for those already committed to a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle but to all those who pick up her cookbook or read her blog.

“I really want everyone to love the recipes in this book,” she says.

Swift Sweet Potato Curry

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

pinch of cayenne (optional)

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)

1 cup filtered water, divided

14-ounces full fat coconut milk

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)

2 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, stemmed and finely chopped

4 cups cooked brown basmati rice, for serving

1 lime for spritzing

In a large pot over medium heat, toast the spices for 30 seconds while stirring constantly. Add the onion and 1/3 cup of the water then cook for 5 minutes, until translucent.

Whisk in the coconut milk and the remaining 2/3 cup water, and bring to a boil.

Add the sweet potatoes, decrease the heat to medium-low, cover and rapidly simmer for 15 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender. Stir occasionally while cooking.

Spoon the curry into bowls with warm basmati rice. Top with a squeeze of lime juice, scallions and cilantro. Serve warm with whole grain naan and enjoy!