Summer is coming up! The kids will be home and there will be lots of outdoor entertaining and picnic opportunities! Want some help in feeding the crowds? How about simple ways to use Apple Cake Mix to make a variety of new taste treats? There are a lot of great recipes in the TSG Recipe Box to tantalize your taste buds, but here are five new, easy ways to use apple cake! Thanks to Rita Held our great recipe creator!
Send us your recipe ideas and earn a chance to win 3 boxes of apple cake. We will choose ten recipes at random in a drawing
It’s no surprise to anyone who has tasted it – beer bread is the number one item! The family will devour it before it’s cool and it only took five minutes to make. Beer bread is probably the most versatile of all of our products. We like to say that everything should be used in at least three different ways –but we have 21 ways to make beer bread!
Beer Bread Top Five Recipes
Beer bread is great! It can take on any flavor that you like. Making it with beer is traditional, but if you don’t have it on hand – any carbonated beverage will do. Personally, I prefer it with club soda (not being a beer fan). But here are 5 of the top ways to change it up.
Corn Beer Bread: Add one can of creamed corn to beer bread mix. (Add 1 TBSP Over the Edge Herbed Spinach if you like) Bake in a 9×9 pan at 350 degrees for 35-45 mins.
Garlic Cheese Bread: Mix as directed and add ½ cup each grated parmesan and grated cheddar cheese. Mix in 1 TBSP Outrageously Garlic. Sprinkle Outrageously Garlic on top. Cook as directed
Sweet Breakfast Bread: Mix with Mountain Dew, add 1 cup chocolate chips or cinnamon chips. Bake as directed.
Irish Soda Bread: Mix with 12 oz. Club soda, and ½ cur orange flavored dried cranberries. Bake as directed.
Pizza Muffins: Mix with light beer, add 1 cup parmesan or mozzarella cheese, ½ cup chopped pepperoni, 1 TBSP Outrageously Garlic. Bake for 20-25 minutes in muffin tin at 350 degrees.
My maiden name is McCarthy, I’m sprinkled with kisses from the sun (freckles) and I’ve actually kissed the Blarney Stone (now that shouldn’t surprise you) and I’ve lived in Chicago and seen the river dyed green – but when it came to writing about Irish food and St. Patrick’s Day I actually drew a blank. Even after searching Google.
St. Patricks Day Myths
What I learned is that much of the American hoopla about St. Patrick’s Day is just that – American hoopla. Until recently, St. Patrick’s Day was a religious holiday in Ireland. And we all know it was to celebrate driving the snakes out of Ireland. Right? Except there were no snakes in Ireland. Those snakes were most likely heathen symbols.
And ready for this? St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. He was actually born in Scotland or Great Britain in 373 A.D., was enslaved in Ireland as a youth and returned in adulthood as a priest when he probably took the name Patrick or Patricus. Oh Well! Why ruin a festive celebration with facts? I think we just needed a celebration in March – a month that is frequently without one. So what to make?
Of course, most traditional Irish plates include potatoes (although that didn’t begin until after the great potato famine) and are very simple – meat, potatoes, vegetables. You can do a great corned beef in your slow cooker or a lamb stew. There boxty which is an Irish potato pancake (rhyme). There’s fun potato and sausage dish called a Dublin Coddle. But my personal favorite, Colcannon (mashed potatoes with onion, kale and bacon), is traditionally served at Halloween.
Easy Recipe – No Bake St. Patrick’s Pops for Kids
For the kids, I found this great, fun, easy no bake idea to help celebrate – St. Patrick Cookie Pops. Now this is celebrating!
So on March 17, I’ll wear my green (the shamrock was a symbol of rebellion in Victorian times), have a Guiness (my one per year) and say Erin go Braugh! (Ireland Forever) with all my other American Friends!
Wow! Twice a year, I am in foodie heaven when I get to attend the Fancy Food Show. In winter, it’s a double treat as I get to go home and see my Mom and other friends.
So you know about food trends – you all prowl the grocery store in search of new things to tempt the fickle palettes of your family. Many of the trends you know – they receive a lot of press; sustainability, eating locally, simple ingredients, and in case you hadn’t noticed eating at home more! (By the way, pigs in a blanket was voted the Super Bowl favorite!)
Now several of these, I heartily endorse. Now that we are back in the New Year, you know I am on my January diet! So I am back to eating HEALTHY (yes, I’m shouting). That means lots more fruit and vegetables. And while the farmer’s markets are not in operation at the moment, when the first one opens in the spring, I’ll be there.
That leave me with simple recipes and eating at home more – They must have known about us. We’ve had lots of food and food discussions over the holidays, and I truly believe that most of the best chefs think that recipes with less than 5 ingredients are best, because they really highlight the flavor of the food.
As for simple, well TSG certainly fits that bill. Shake on a little seasoning and you have a mid week treat! In a hurry, how about beer bread 21 different ways.
And eating at home more? The best part about having your children grow up is they come home more. And now they cook for us (granted I still get the dishes). Over the holidays we were treated to tacos, special Asian pork dumplings, marinated steak, fried rice, beef fondue, and General Tsao’s chicken. I really like the cookbook I gave them.
So the highlight of the show? Aside from the fabulous assortment of salsas and sauces, the hot trends included the continual introduction of global foods – Asian, Indian and lots of US regional. Superfoods are the other strong idea – blueberry, pomegranate, cranberry and acai. I need your help in shaping the way we grow the TSG line. Please vote for your favorite type so I know how to go.
Needless to say, I would love to introduce.And one of my personal favorites Honey Ridge Cream Honeys flavored with spice, raspberries and other fruit. The intriguing concept that you have to taste to appreciate is black garlic. IT is sort of sweet like good balsamic vinegar, but it is black . Another one that would be fun to have is chocolate cream in a container like whipped cream or cheese wiz – I’m not sure what I’d do with it other than put it in my coffee – but it is fun!
In the afterglow of Thanksgiving dinner, we began to be ready to think about Christmas (a little late if you ask most retailers). We saw a special on how they decorate Disneyworld for Christmas – and had the bug. While it had all the usual stories about trees and lights( over 1000 65 foot trees) for us, the story that resonated most was about food of a sorts – gingerbread houses!
Everyone Can Decorate a Gingerbread House
At Disney, they even make a complete store out of gingerbread, a huge display at a monorail station. We have seen the White House constructed in gingerbread too. It can be a real art – or a great party.
Since the children were little, we have made gingerbread houses every year – some elaborate, some in a hurry, some very original. It started in England where my very talented friend Jeanne, brought the three familes with six kids together for a wonderful two day exercise. Jeanne lovingly handcrafted the gingerbread pieces, taught us how to make royal icing that worked better than superglue, and laid out a spread of candy and other items to decorate with that would leave the children full of sugar for days. Camille lovingly donated her house for what is a sticky adventure on its best days, and we all settled in to learn how to turn shredded wheat into roof tops and clear mints into reflecting pools.
As the children grew older, and we moved away from our friends, the tradition remained. We went through a phase of great creativity where Scott made gingerbread submarines and air craft carriers, and our imaginative Laura decorated everything just so with a pretty story.
In college, when trips were shorter, we migrated on to pre-made kits, with extra candy for décor. Grandma learned how – even though the dog stole it off the kitchen table. Guests away from home had to take part too. The good news is, if you live in a dry climate, you can even store these masterpieces in a bag in the attic for a couple of years.
How to Make a Gingerbread House or Christmas Ornament.
Gingerbread for houses is not your run of the mill gingerbread – it has to be stiff for good walls! There are some great recipes and patterns available, or to cut down on prep time, most grocery stores will have a kit with pre made pieces. You can make ornaments too! Just use your favorite cookie cutter and make sure you pike a hole at the top so it will hang. If you are really pressed for time – you can use graham crackers for structural pieces.
When you are ready to assemble – be prepared for icing glue.
Putting on the roof with a home made pastry bag
It goes everywhere!! And it sticks like glue, so cover your tables or counters. We have always found it works best with extra sugar and cream of tartar for extra sticking powder. And powdered egg whites work too – you really aren’t going to eat too much of it! Make twice as much as you think you will need – extra always helps, and if you want a snow covered scene, you will go through a lot. When you put the roof on, leave it for a few minutes to set so it doesn’t go sliding down to the ground.
If you’ve never used a pastry bag for icing – this is not the time to panic. Think of it as an easy way to squeeze in tight places. Grab yourself a plastic sandwich bag and fill with the icing. Cut a tiny diagonal corner off the bottom and squeeze out through the hole. If you’ve ever had whipped cream, icing or cheese in a can, you know what to do! The best part is, it’s disposable – no washing up.
The next most important thing are your decorating options. Kits come with some candy for decoration and a picture for suggestion, but let your imagination run wild. We have found the most useful things are small frosted wheat cereal biscuits, red licorice whips for paths and roofs, striped candy canes and peppermint, gumballs and red hots – but go wild!
When you are satisified with the results, or your children run out of concentration put them on display for the family, friends and neighbors. Some towns have a contest between Scout troops or children and display the results in the store windows. But take a picture first, while they can last for a couple of years cared for, accidents happen – including the one the dog took from the kitchen table, or the building that fell down when it was cleaned and you want a record forever!
This is a great way to inaugurate a blog on a fun food day. I love my job, I get to cook, eat, learn fun facts and talk all about food. Plus, when food is involved there’s always something to celebrate.
Who doesn’t love Halloween and pumpkins? It gives us adults an excuse to pretend and have fun!
Scary Carved Pumpkins
What my Family Did for Halloween:
When my children were little, this season was all about the family trip to the pumpkin patch and finding that perfect Halloween costume.
As the kids became “too cool” for Trick or Treating, they turned their attention to scaring the neighborhood kids with our haunted hallway. The whole family got in on the fun. When the doorbell rang, the spooky music started, the hallway was foggy from a cauldron of dry ice and strobe lights flashed to complete the eerie feel. The children still got to dress up to hand out the goodies!
Then as the children grew even older and time more scarce, we planned one night together to carve an elaborate jack-o-lantern. Soon our pumpkins became the talk of the neighborhood.
Ideas to Celebrate Halloween and National Pumpkin Day:
Printable pumpkin carving stencils:Stencils help those of us who cannot really draw a scary face. We love black cats.For scary printable pumpkin carving stencils click here .
Child Friendly Pumpkin Decorating:For little ones, who you don’t want to arm with a knife or other carving implement –there’s an equally fun alternative. One of my favorite home movie moments is of my daughter, Laura, age 4, decorating the pumpkins, armed with toothpicks and a farmer’s market full of vegetables. With spinach hair, radish eyes, cucumber ears, a carrot nose and black olive teeth she learned about vegetables, ate and laughed for about an hour. Then that pumpkin was ready to turn heads! Show off their proud creation right on your front doorstep. These were done at a local fall fair.
Kid Friendly Pumpkin Decorations
3. Pumpkin Muffin Recipe:For a pre or post Trick or Treat pick–me–up, you can make some delicious pumpkin muffins. Check out how to make our great pumpkin muffin recipe from TSG Apple cake.
4. Pumpkin Roll Recipe:For those feeling more creative, prepare a delicious pumpkin roll
5.Heat up some cider laced with cinnamon and have a warm October evening full of memories that will be sure to give you goose bumps!
One of my favorite sources for quirky facts and the history of food is the Nibble, an online magazine, where I found today’s cause for celebration–National Pumpkin Day!
Ok, well that’s not really me, but it was my Mom when she was first married. I honestly think that between us, we would have made one great housewife – I cook and she cleans. My father-in-law would have shriveled up without a microwave, and some surprisingly astute business women I know claim kitchen disability as well. But I think the truth is that they don’t want to cook – not that they can’t.
Now I confess that learning to cook can have it’s ups and downs. (We will not talk about the inedible disasters that have graced my garbage can.) I know for a fact that my son learned how to cook before he left home, but the first time he prepared dinner in his college room, he turned the burner on high, threw in the chicken breast, and set off the fire alarm – then he didn’t try again for a year.
Dinner Disaster
Worst case, anyone can boil some water in the microwave, add instant rice and slice pre-cooked chicken on top, open a jar of apple sauce for a side – and voila!. Just don’t try to get me to eat it. That might count as instant dorm food, but not dinner.
How to Bake Like a Pro
Right out of the starting gate you can impress everyone by baking – dare I say with a little TSG beer bread (just add beverage). You can even go to the website and download one sheet with over 15 variations, and you’ll be a master chef right away. Branch out –steam some fresh vegetables and spring with Tearless Onion and Chives – then you can add the precooked chicken breast – and you’ve come a long way in one day.
Learn How to Cook
To learn to cook, I recommend you find a friend who knows you well and start simple – like spaghetti
1. For entertainment as well as ideas you can go to You tube and watch “how to cook for men” videos on a step by step to make ramen spaghetti
3. You can also bone up on you skills from online sites so you look like like a pro when your mother-in-law arrives.
4. There are lots of food shows on TV that can help, like Semi Home Made with Sandra Lee. This is sort of an updated Campbell’s soup approach mixing some cooking with already prepared foods for a polished look that will help you gain confidence .
Personally, I’d go buy a book, – but sooner or later you just have to take the plunge and start !
