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?

Recipes for Traditional Irish Foods

The traditional American list includes Irish Soda Bread (which is actually Irish, but not the kind we make with white flour and raisins or gluten free)

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!

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Silvia Aguilera, California

Susan Campbell, Washington

Lynne Gosser, California

Melissa Henderson, North Carolina

Kathy Johnson, Alaska

Rebecca Jones, South Carolina

Crystal Nelson, Washington

Aggie Noriega  , California

Lore Rogers, Michigan

Carol Shiver, Florida

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 Sandwiches are Number 1 for Lunch

Sandwiches are the number one food choice for lunch. Sandwiches are also consumed in one out of nine dinners eaten at home.  The most popular sandwich in America is ham, followed by the BLT. 

So how do you make a great sandwich?

Use fresh bread, fresh ingredients and a little love.

The best trick for sandwiches is to make something on the weekend for dinner and plan for leftovers – ham is good, so is turkey or chicken.  Slice it up, sprinkle on a little seasoning like Peppery Herb rub or Over-the-Edge Herbed Spinach Blend and put it on your favorite bread!  My kids love a good crunchy French baguette.  They used to love white bread, but we’ve all learned that whole wheat is a better alternative. Or  try focaccia.  But if you are like me and can’t eat most bread, turn your sandwich inside out – make it a lettuce wrap. (If it weren’t National Cold Cut Day, I’d say use left over grilled vegetables, too!) We always use Racy Wasabi Raspberry Mustard along with crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes to add color and flavor. It’s also a great wayto add vegetables and  to cut calories – mayo has 99  calories per tablespoon, mustard only 10.

The love part?  Maybe you cut off the crusts, or give them that indulgent surprise (like the banana and peanut butter you hate to make)…or add a note on top of their sandwich bag to let them know you care.

How to Keep Cold Cuts

 We’ve all had those cold cuts in the plastic bag that get slimy…you don’t want to eat them.  Cold cuts should only be kept for 3-5 days in an airtight container in the meat drawer where it’s cold! Certainly, that’s not what my mother taught me.  The deli cut meat tastes better and has better texture, but it can be a little pricey.

The Ultimate Sandwich Question: Triangles or Rectangles

The most divisive question when it comes to making your sandwich is how do you cut it? In triangles (on the diagonal corner to corner) or rectangles (from top to bottom).

Vote and tell me how you cut!

Add a comment about your favorite sandwich and we’ll have a drawing to give away 10 jars of Racy Wasabi Raspberry Mustard.

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Ok, so the day I found out I was celiac I was stunned.  Like most people, I’d never heard of it.  Unlike most people, I had absolutely no symptoms at all. So we double checked the test results and even checked to determine if I carry the gene (it’s genetic).  And it turned out to be true.

Yummy Roast Vegetables!

And I was depressed. I felt doomed – and I didn’t even feel sick.

I’m a carb girl at heart (ok so not all carbs contain gluten, but it feels like it at first).  Being celiac, in broad strokes, means I can’t eat anything made with wheat, barley or rye (corn, rice and quinoa are ok).  In one fell swoop I cut out half the aisles of the grocery store.  Most tragically –great fresh bread and  pasta – my personal favorites.

So I decided to try living gluten free.  I bought the cookbooks and the flours and read labels even more carefully than usual. And I got about 90% of the gluten out of my life.  100% is hard because it hides in strange places like malt vinegar and soy sauce ingredients.  Here’s a link to a pretty good summary of what’s in and out. And after about a month, I have to admit, I did feel better. I had more energy, less bloating and felt generally healthier.

I started buying everything gluten free I could find so I didn’t have to make it, but let’s face it, a lot of it doesn’t taste very good or have very good texture. My family refused to eat it ( gluten free moms click here), and I started cooking two of everything – with and without.

Then I got virtuous.  All the gluten free stuff was a pain to make and bake and fairly caloric – so I did what you have heard me preach so often – I went to naked food.  If it’s fresh and pure, it’s probably gluten free. And it was so much easier, and generally fewer calories.  I even lost about 10 pounds.

But…naked food is boring.  There are only so many plain chicken breasts one can eat.  I readily get in more than my five fruits and vegetables a day. My staple in the fridge is a huge dish of roasted vegetables sprinkled with Over-the-Edge Herbed Spinach Blend.  So you know what happens when you deprive yourself…you break down and binge!

So, now I have come to grips with it.  Most weeks are good, and some are terrible – and my body knows immediately.  The best thing that happened is that a younger good friend of the family also turned out to be celiac, and started finding all of the best gluten free products to recommend.

I also found that a staggering number of friends also could not tolerate gluten, and mutual support and information sharing is great. (Believe it or not about 1 in 100 people are celiac). But as we age there are just as many people who can’t eat salmon, or high cholesterol foods, or salt  or dairy….this list goes on, we’re not alone.

The good news is that over the past three years, gluten-free products have skyrocketed and can be purchased now in most regular grocery stores. Information is on all labels and is ready available from manufacturers. (By the way, our Consultants have allergy information on all of our products). You no longer have to make a big fuss about dining out (unless you want to invoke guilt or sympathy).  Most restaurants can accommodate you. There are some great gluten-free blogs, online stores and cookbooks.

So what’s the upside?  I pay more attention to what I eat.  I eat better overall, not just avoiding gluten. I’m also a better cook. As with all issues we deal with in life, you can rule it, or it can rule you.  Some days I can even feel a little smug.

But, I did put back on at least five pounds finding a balance.

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Hmm!  Cold gray day!  No one home!  Too much travel!  A good book is calling!

Sounds like a day for comfort food.  Mac and Cheese or Chili! Grilled Cheese or Butternut Squash soup!  These are some of the things that come to mind immediately.

Comfort food by definition is a simple food, usually home made, that has an emotion significant to a person, frequently tied to childhood memories.  They are also usually creamy, hot, and frequently fattening! So who cares- you can’t deprive yourself all the time!

So I sent an email out to family and friend to see how we mirror the rest of the nation.  In the US, peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese and meatloaf are right at the top of the list. ( Top 25 comfort foods)  In our family, we did have a lot of votes for mac and cheese, but then we had some other for hot dogs and beans, pepperoni pizza and      We also had our share of outliers like raclette (melted cheese and potatoes from Switzerland, Nasi Goreng (see Scoop and Nuke night post) – but those will have to wait for other posts.

OK – my personal favorite is mac and cheese.  It’s hard to make a change when the family gold standard is a 99 cent blue box.  But with age, improvements can be made!  For starters, you can just add Outrageously Garlic to the finished product.  If you want to get fancy, though, my family has now voted Mac and Two Cheese with caramelized shallots as top of the heap.

What are some TSG versions of the American Classics

1.  Grilled cheese sandwich with  TSG Sweet & Spicy Pepper Jelly

2.  Sisters Southern BBQ Meatloaf

3.  Chili Pot Pie with Cheddar Beer Biscuit Topping

4.  Garlic Parmesan Pasta

5.  Santa Fe Meatloaf

Want comfort food, but don’t want to pay the consequences for all that good stuff – figure out how to take some of the calories out of your regular favorite.  Substitute some of the key ingredients, like milk for cream, or low fat versions of  sour cream, lean meats. Roast that skinless chicken instead of fry. If that doesn’t work, look here for some low fat comfort foods.

Remember though – comfort is the operative word.  You can indulge, just occasionally.

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Whew!  We just finished our New Years and it’s time for Chinese New Years – 2010 the Year of the Tiger!  For us New Year is just a day or a weekend,but in China it means that everything shuts down for two weeks!  Wouldn’t we just love a holiday like that?

 Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, so this year it occurs on Valentines Day, February 14.  It was a real dilemma when it came to blog writing! This year is the Year of the Tiger – part of the Chinese Zodiac (think our astrological signs)

As it turns out, most of the country really only quiets for a week, but there is truly a different celebration for almost every day from the first, Family Reunion Dinner , to the Seventh (Everybody’s Birthday) to the final Lantern Festival.

Much of the celebrations and customs have to do with tradition and superstition.  Many foods are considered lucky because the name sounds likes other words in Chinese for good fortune, prosperity and long life.  Gifts of oranges and tangerines abound as representations of gold and good fortune. Decorating colors are also red and gold. This link will take you to a great overview of the holiday season.

On the eve of the first day, Family Reunion dinner, the main dish served is typically a whole carp, not fully eaten so there  will be prosperity for the New Year, with enough left over to carry you through. Traditionally, the first day itself is vegetarian, and everything needs to be prepared in advanced – no cutting allowed in case you cut short the good luck for the New Year.

To make a symbolic dish that everyone will love, I go back to our family favorite – longevity noodles (long noodle-long life).

Longevity Noodles

  This is so simple you don’t really need a recipe.  Take your favorite vegetables and blanch or stir fry them (be sure to include those golden carrots).  Then take and soak a package of rice noodles in boiling water(takes 5 minutes or less) and toss with a dressing that includes rice vinegar, a tiny bit of sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic and fresh ginger.  This is one night when noodle slurping is definitely allowed, no noodle cutting allowed!

If you want to add an American flair, then try the TSG version of a dipping sauce for pot stickers and spring rolls;

Two Sisters Gourmet Dipping Sauce Recipe

2 Tbsp Sweet and Spicy Pepper Jelly

1/2 cup Island Ponzu Sauce

1 green onion thinly sliced

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Mix ingredients in small bowl and serve with pot stickers or spring rolls

The Chinese know about family relations too!  The third day of the New Year, everyone stays home.  It’s known as the Day of Squabbles! Even in the West we know that family relations get strained on the third day. This is a great time to learn about some of the great and varied dishes that people use to celebrate.  If you live in a city with a Chintown, go down to a local bakery and try some of their sweets – sticky rice balls for dessert or rice candy for the perpetual Tray of Abundance (sweets kept out for everyone to snack on during the holiday – not unlike the Italian tray with 12 tastes for the Twelve Days of Christmas).

Tray of Abundance

Bring them home for the Seventh Day Feast – Everyone’s Birthday! Traditionally in China, individual birthdays were not celebrated, and everyone turned a year older on the same day.  This is a day for much feasting and festivals. What a great tradition!

Happy New Year!

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We’ve been married for over 30 years now, and Valentine’s Day is still important.  Actually, what’s important is  taking time to nourish your relationship with your spouse or significant other. We had a standing dinner date for years when Laura had her Wednesday night ball et class – there was just enough time in between delivery and pick up.

But for Valentine’s day – let’s be a little more romantic.  Start with the setting – candles, soft music, and a dinner ending in chocolate.  It doesn’t have to be complicated to be special! Keep it simple and spend time with your sweetheart – but not in the kitchen.

Five Ways to Make Valentines Day Dinner Special and Romantic

1.  Light some Candles! Ambiance is everything.  A little soft flickering glow goes a long way – put there everywhere!

2.  Play “your song”!  Remember the song you playing when you fell in love?  Find it and play it softly.  What ever genre you prefer, make a playlist to last the whole evening.  We have a favorite that includes everything from the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet to the Beach Boys.

3.  Make a dinner to remember!  Men love steak, so how about Peppery Beef  Tenderloin Steaks followed up by Blackberry Cabernet Brownies (maybe with a little ice cream on the side)!

4.  Have a role for the children.  If they are young enough, you can put them to bed, but if they are old enough, make them part of the special evening.  Find a dish that they can make, like a simple dish.  Have them act as waiter(s) on your table.  Then let them watch a special video while you dine in peace!

5.  Give them your love!  You don’t really need to go beyond a special evening to please your honey, but if you want to, give a special gift.  How about a certificate to have you complete one of their least favorite chores, or to go for a special afternoon out for the two of you!  I promise to take the dogs for a walk on the beach with Rick.

Happy Valentines Day!  Tell me how you are going to celebrate!

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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!

Bon Appetit!

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For those of you who will participate in this national past time, make a resolution to make this year one you can enjoy with your guests!  While there is lots of mindless eating going on, you can still stand out as a great hostess.

The number one food to make the guys happy is Pigs in a Blanket – whether you buy them ready made or make them yourself (just wrap refrigerated crescent roll dough around your favorite little sausage – we like smokey links) and dip in Racy Wasabi Raspberry Mustard. 

What’s your favorite recipe?

If you want to go beyond just mixing up your favorite TSG seasoning with some sour cream and mayo for a quick dip, here are 5 great ideas to kick off your successful Sunday afternoon!

1.  Pigs in a Blanket with Racy Wasabi Rasperry Mustard

2.  Layered Black Bean and Corn Dip 

3.  Sisters Southern Barbeque Meatballs or Meatballs with Maple Dijon Sauce 

4.  Sweet and Spicy Pepper Torta 

5.  Baked Brie in Flaky Pastry   

Then sit back and enjoy the game! 

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If you ask me, it’s time for a little attitude adjustment.

Remember our attitude is largely our choice! Maybe you like the cold and want to hunker down and have warm comfort food. Maybe you want to pretend that you’re on vacation in a tropical place (staycations get old after a while). Maybe you need to see the face of someone other than your loving family.

Attitude Adjustment Meal – 5 Easy Steps

1. Decide on your Objective. – What will really make you feel better? For me, it’s actually the cooking and eating. For others it’s the friends. Maybe it’s family game night around the fire. Picture the perfect setting and get it going.
2. Set the Mood/Make the Invites: – So this means you have to plan ahead and commit (boy do I sound like a broken record). Once it’s in the works, it’s harder to back out – even for a date with your husband or children. Is the mood suitable for paper plates or candlelight?
3. Pick one element that takes effort – make the rest easy. If it’s game night, take the time to find a new game that everyone will like or find a family favorite activity. Or make a new dish– a fun dessert to eat while you play.
4. Shop only once.  Or better yet, don’t shop at all. I bet there’s enough in your kitchen to make a good meal. If you didn’t get that little last thing, forget it! It’s not part of the objective and you’ll be the only one to miss it.
5. Be There! – I don’t mean just physically. You set this up for a reason and it wasn’t to do dishes. Have fun, be part of the celebration and relax.Easy cheese Fondue with great dipping tastes!

Fondue - Recipe for our ideal Evening

I actually love winter, firesides, being cozy. There’s nothing better at the end of a long winter day than that warm, comfort food. For us it’s fondue and fire, followed by a game of some kind. And it’s easy –all you need is a little melted cheese and bread? We like to jazz it up with some fresh fruit and sausages to dip too. The great thing about fondue is you don’t cook in the kitchen and it’ communal eating, where the act is part of the entertainment.

If cheese isn’t your thing you can heat up some broth and do meats as well. Check out these easy fondue recipes. Sure fondue was big in the 70’s – and we have a fondue pot from then, but it’s back and better. It can be a pot over flame or electric – or even in a microwave for cheese or dessert!

If you are having a group, have them bring potluck for dinner and you provide a dazzling chocolate fondue with fruit, marshmallows, angel food cake and just about anything else you can think of for dipping! (I‘ve even had potato chips which are pretty good!)

Then let the games begin: Trivia, card games and board games are big in our house. The sillier they make you feel the better.

Dig in and Feel better!

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