Some Food Safety “Did you Knows”

 

  • The internal temperature of your fridge should be 39 degrees or lower in order to keep food stored at the maximum recommended temp of 41.
  • When holding hot food for a period of time (like in a serving situation), try to keep temps at 135 degrees or higher.  Food that stays in the temperature danger zone (42-134) for four hours or more can become unsafe. This is true for hot or cold food, so beware the picnic leftovers!
  • When storing food in your fridge, it’s safest to store ready-to-eat food on top, then seafood, then whole cuts of beef, then ground meat, then poultry and eggs.   This reduces food safety risk due to dripping.

Minimum acceptable internal cooking temps:

  • Poultry 165 degrees
  • Ground meat or seafood  155 degrees
  • Steaks or chops of pork, beef, veal and lamb  145 degrees
  • Seafood  145 degrees
  • Roasts of pork, beef, veal, lamb   145 for 4 minutes
  • Fruit, veggies, rice, pasta, beans that will be hot-held   135 degrees

Fig and Goat Cheese Toppers are an easy and delicious upgrade to cheese and crackers.

We culinary people often think that for something to be worthy of posting, it must be complicated or off-the-chain unique.  Sometimes, a simple but inspired idea is just what you’re looking for.  This little snack is delicious and takes all of five minutes to make.  The sweet and savory elements blend to palate perfection! It’s a nice change from plain cheese and crackers.   I ate a whole plate of these for lunch one day.

Spread herb goat cheese on top of Dill or Rosemary Triscuits and top with a dollop of fig preserves.  Sprinkle a tiny bit of fresh dill, chives or rosemary on top if you like.

Basic Cake Decorating tips to share.

If you’ve ever tried to decorate a cake, you know it’s challenging! It’s not my forte either, but I’m working on it.  Here are some tips I’ve learned that might help you too.

-My mom used to decorate cakes and one day I was worried about a mistake she made in the writing on the cake.  She said not to worry.  If you mess up your decoration or writing, just wait until it dries and gently remove it with a toothpick.  Do it again!  She then talked about her belief that, in life, there was very little that you messed up that couldn’t be fixed.  The Wilton class reinforced this mantra to me and also reminded me of a nice childhood memory.

-When icing a cake, keep crumbs out by always keeping the icing between your spatula and the cake.  Push the icing along towards the edge.

-To smooth a cake for writing and decorating, wait until the icing sets and then place a piece of parchment paper on top and sides, using your hand or spatula to smooth out the rough spots.  Remove parchment and voila!

-You can use the cupcake tips for other things like making swirly mashed potatoes or whipped cream.

-When decorating the edges of a cake, keep your elbow anchored to your side as much as possible for stability and turn the cake, squeeze, turn, squeeze, and so on.  Make the cake come to you.  It makes a huge difference and so much better than moving your arm around the cake.  Duh!

-When writing on a cake, use writing gel.  It’s much easier.  You can also write your message in clear gel first to be sure you get it right and then go over with color.

-Roll the decorator bag down on the sides before filling and then twist to close.  Much less messy this way.

-There is a special tool called a cake leveler that shaves off the top dome of the cake to make it level.  Of course, you should flip it upside down and use the flat bottom as the top. The leveler can also be used to torte a cake.

-Always use a cardboard cake round instead of a plate.  Makes doing the bottom so much easier!

 

Bring on Autumn with Roasted Butternut Squash

A cool, drizzly autumnish day like today makes me crave certain foods.  One of those is roasted butternut squash.  Maybe it’s the simultaneously sweet and savory flavor of this decadent vegetable recipe that makes it one of my favorites.  I think you’ll get hooked like I have!  The shape of the squash can be a little intimidating to peel, but it’s easier if you microwave it for a couple minutes first to soften and use a very sharp knife or peeler.  I have also chopped the thing in half and used the flat end as a sturdy base to stand it on while peeling down the sides with a knife, like peeling a pineapple.  You can also put a towel underneath the squash to prevent slipping while peeling.  I promise it’s worth it!  And you can’t get this flavor from anything other than fresh squash. A time-saver is to chop the squash ahead of time and put in the fridge until you’re ready to roast.   Let me know what you think.

Roasted Butternut Squash

 

A couple of Easy Weeknight dinner ideas.. Chicken Parmigiana and Steak & Cheese Subs

Here are two of my go-to’s during a busy week.  Good, basic food that everyone in your family will most likely devour.

Chicken Parmigiana – what makes this so easy and tasty?  Shake ‘N Bake is the breading!  I serve over spaghetti with garlic toast.  Remember to drain spaghetti well before serving. A plate full of watery sauce run-off is not very appealing.  Conversely, don’t let drained spaghetti sit too long before adding to sauce.  You’ll get spaghetti glue!

Steak and Cheese Subs The secret to this delicious sandwich is the thinly-sliced London broil.  I use an electric knife to slice it diagonally. You can also freeze it a little to make slicing easier.

Eat your green beans!

We created Food Baseball at our house to teach my son about healthy eating.  Some foods are singles, some doubles, some outs and so on. He knows that many vegetables are home runs.   I’m amazed at how many people of all ages say they don’t like a lot of vegetables.  We know we should eat our veggies, but it’s just hard to get excited about bland, greasy, over-cooked, under-cooked, watery, freezer-burned or metallic-can-tasting veggies!  Yes you can hide them, disguise them or smother them casserole-style, but it’s also nice to have a few simple go-to vegetable recipes that just plain taste good. Here is one that is a hit with most anyone I serve, including the little ones.  Now go eat your veggies!

Home Run Green Beans

Ham and Navy Bean Soup… A Man’s soup!

It’s a culinary fact… some dishes are just more popular with men.  Ham & Navy Bean Soup is one of those.   Lots of women like it, but A LOT of men LOVE it.  It’s that stick to your ribs thing, I guess.  When I get a pot going at home and the smell fills the house, hubby’s eyes light up and he gets his bowl ready.  My dad and multiple friends also love this soup.  You know the best part??  It’s so easy!!  All you need is an afternoon for it to cook on its own.  Serve it up with some crusty buttered bread plus a salad and you’ve got a nice dinner for a crowd.  I have made this soup for many years, adapting it over time.   I honestly don’t know where the original recipe came from.  Fix it soon for the man in your life!

Ham and Navy Bean Soup

Cake Decorating Tips

I’ve always had awful handwriting and have struggled with drawing, picking out furniture and school crafts… So it’s no real surprise that most of my delicious-tasting cakes can look pretty rough unless I keep presentation really, really simple.  I finally mastered squeezing icing out of a snipped Ziploc bag and that’s about as far as the icing decorating talents extend.   So, I’m trying to up my game.  Here are some tips that I want to share with you.

  • It’s all about the tools!!!  Just like most any endeavor, if you have the right tools to do the job it turns out better.  For cake decorating beginners, you gotta have a turntable (who knew!), a good angled spatula, a medium-stiff buttercream icing recipe, and some real decorating bags and tips (ziploc won’t cut it).
  • Ever see those tortes with really thin layers of cake?   You do it with a cake leveler!  I actually did it on this cake.  It’s only one 8-inch cake split into two layers with a cherry pie filling in between.
  • Keep the juicy fillings from gushing out between layers by building a dam of stiff icing all the way around the cake layer and then filling it.
  • To make the top of a cake smooth before decorating, you can pat it/smooth it down with a sheet of parchment paper and a spatula or press.  Just be sure and wait until the icing is no longer sticky to the touch.. but not all the way set either.

Cool, huh?

Most requested recipes… Lasagna and Key Lime Pie

 

My husband says I’ve ruined quite a few restaurant menu items for him over the years. Two of those are Lasagna and Key Lime Pie.  He never orders either because he says he likes mine better.  He may just be trying to score points on the homefront, but he really does love these two recipes.  When I entertain our extended family, these items are often on the request list.  I usually make extra lasagna because folks like to take some home to heat up later. It also freezes wonderfully!    So here you go!  Two of our all-time faves.

Lasagna

Key Lime Pie

 

One of my favorite salads

Salads are one of the most versatile menu options.  You could eat salad every day and never get bored just by changing the ingredients.  Salad is also a way to help feed a crowd.  I have been coordinating food for a local consignment sale’s volunteers this week and they devoured this salad at lunch.  It’s one of my favorites!  Adjust the proportions to your liking!  I think you could add grilled chicken to the salad to make an entree salad.

Pear and Friends Green Salad
Green Leaf Lettuce
Baby Spinach
Sliced pears (any kind of ripe pear will do)
Bacon pieces
Dried Cranberries  (I use Craisins)
Red onion, thinly sliced
Feta or Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Candied walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

I like to serve with Mango Vinaigrette or Olde Cape Cod brand Sesame Wasabi dressing

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