email this pageShape and Bake
Follow this 1-2-3 to shape the Soft Rolls (recipe on page 28). Roll each 2-ounce portion of dough into a 15-inch-long rope. Form a P. Curl the tail of the P around to form a Q. Twist the top of the original P 180 degrees.
Spoon and Scrape
How much flour is in a cup? It all depends on how you measure it. If you dip your cup measure in the canister, you will end up with a bit more flour than if you lightly spoon it into the cup until heaping, then level it off with a knife. The latter is the way the pros do it. This is particularly important when baking low-fat cakes, breads and muffins.
Kids in the Kitchen
No boxed mac-and-cheese or cold cereal for these kids. Instead their after-school snack consists of Black Bean Soup and Chicken Marsala. These kids are participating in a culinary enrichment program sponsored and taught by The Compass Group, the world’s leading international food-service company. The company’s New Jersey branch found a way to give back to the community by enriching the lives of aspiring young chefs. The program, for fifth- through eighth-graders, is taught by volunteer chefs from the Compass Group, which also supplies all the ingredients and utensils. Designed to reflect the children’s multi-ethnic backgrounds, the culinary enrichment program covers everything from searing to sautéing to baking. The eight-week after-school program culminates with the students’ cooking a four-course dinner for their parents. For more information, go to relishmag.com
An Apple a Day
Revisit the simplicity of caramel apples. They’re ridculously easy—melt caramels, dip apples and stand them on wax paper. The hardest part is unwrapping the caramel candies. To gussy them up, use twigs from your yard in place of popsicle sticks. Kids’ play.
The Gospel of Cornbread
According to author Crescent Dragonwagon, cornbread has opened doors she couldn’t have imagined—doors into homes and lives all around the world. And behind every door was a recipe. Her new book, The Cornbread Gospels (Workman, 2007), celebrates the world’s love of cornbread. From Ronni’s Appalachian Cornbread made with bacon drippings in a cast-iron skillet to Classic Boston Brown Bread, if it involves cornmeal, it’s covered here. And Crescent should know—as the former owner of the Dairy Hollow House Inn in Eureka Springs, Ark., she’s possibly the only person in all time to have served cornbread to a president (Bill Clinton) and a titled royalty (Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia). For those of you who love cornbread, which appears to be just about everyone, this book’s for you. For The Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread and other cornbread recipes, go to relishmag.com/cornbread
Cider Sense
Cloudy apple juice and apple cider have more antioxidants, which can guard against heart disease and some cancers, than clear apple juice. When apple juice is processed to make it clear, some antioxidants are removed.
Farmers’ Museum
What was it like to farm and feed a family in 19th-century America? Find out at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., featuring 30 buildings, 23,000 tools and objects, and dozens of historic-breed barnyard animals. Help drive the oxen team in the hops yard; milk a cow; and learn open-heath cooking techniques at the Lippett Farmhouse. Can’t make it to New York? Explore the farm village at the museum’s interactive website for children. For more information, go to relishmag.com/farmersmuseum—Margaret Shakespeare
Born in the USA
While our reliance on foreign oil and tainted Chinese imports has been much in the news, there’s foreign dependence on an American product that has gone under the radar—a product so important that Spanish tapas, French salads and Italian cakes might not survive without it. It’s walnuts—and about half the world’s supply comes from California. In addition to being tasty, they’re a mother lode of omega-3 fats, of which there are two kinds: the long-chain kind found primarily in fish (like salmon), and the short-chain kind found primarily in nuts and seeds (which your body converts to long-chain). The degree to which omega-3s fight cancer, heart disease, cognitive degeneration and other health problems is still being studied, but most experts agree that both kinds are beneficial.
But you don’t eat health, you eat food. Don’t think omega-3s. Think flavor and crunch. Toss them in a salad. Sprinkle them on cereal. Add them to a stir-fry. Or try them in our Gooey Apple Cake.—Tamar Haspel
Related Stories
If you enjoyed reading this story, This and That October 2007, then you might enjoy these other stories.- Walnut Wonders: Recipes for Valentine’s Day
- This and That April 2007
- Travels with Charlie ... and Susie and Sam
- Recipes from Compass Group’s Culinary Program for Kids
- Healthy Snacks for Kids
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