Al Dente

Power Up With Flavored Cream Cheese

Are you a food processor fan? I certainly am. I've learned over the years that my Cuisinart food processors are positively indispensable for cranking out affordable family friendly food.

For example,  I used my Cuisinart Elite food processor on Tuesday when I made my Jumbleberry Jam Bars. Then, I used it last night for guacamole. Immediately after making the guacamole, I cranked up the motor again in order to make my homemade salsa. 

Sometimes, when I'm in a pinch and the cupboards appear empty, I rely on my food processor in order to gussy up some plain old boring cream cheese. By processing the cream cheese with garlic and herbs, chutney, or even jam, I can create a flavorful fairly fluffy spread for pinwheel sandwiches, wholegrain crackers, or bagels.

Here's one of my simplest cream cheese concoctions. It's just great on turkey and tomato pinwheel sandwiches.

Pesto Cream Cheese

6 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons store bought or homemade pesto, or to taste

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, distribute the cream cheese and pesto evenly around the work bowl. Then process the cream cheese and the pesto until smooth and creamy. If necessary, wipe the sides of the work bowl with a rubber spatula.  

2. The mixture can be transferred to a container and stored in the fridge, although it’s softest and most easily spreadable immediately after processing.  To reduce the calories, simply use a low fat cream cheese.

--Melissa A. Trainer

Missy's Jumbleberry Jam Bars

What do you make with a couple of nearly empty jars of jam?   Jumbleberry Jam Bars, of course!

Earlier this week, I was organizing the pantry and the fridge. Many items were being evicted simply because they were past their prime.  When I surveyed the “jam department” on the top shelf of my fridge, I realized I had quite a collection of very good jam at hand-- Bonne Maman blueberry preserves, Bonne Maman strawberry preserves, Huckleberry Haven Wild Huckleberry Jam, and Maury Island Boysenberry Jam! 

 I decided that I needed to deal with this motley collection.  Jumbleberry Jam Bars were the simple sensible solution for my no nonsense housekeeping task. 

When I make jam bars, I like to use my 8-inch-square pan from the Pyrex Original 8-piece Bakeware Set. The pan bakes the bars beautifully. The lid makes it easy to store the bars right in the pan. Here's the recipe:

 

 

 

 

 

Missy’s Jumbleberry Jam Bars

2 ½  cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg
about ½ cup miscellaneous jam, such as blueberry, boysenberry, huckleberry, and strawberry
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter an 8-inch-square baking pan.

2. In the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse together the flour, sugar, and butter until it resembles coarse meal. Add the egg and pulse a couple more times.

3. Pour half the mixture into the baking pan and press the mixture into the pan.   With a spoon, spread the jam over the crumb crust, being careful not to reach all the way to the sides or the jam will burn during baking.

4. Add the cinnamon and the pecans to the other half of the mixture, which is still in the food processor work bowl. Pulse four or five times to chop the pecans. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the jam.

5. Bake the jumbleberry jam bars in the middle of the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crumb topping is brown.  Let the jam bars cool completely before cutting into 24 bar.

Note: I think ½ cup jam is about right, but some other members of my family think I could increase the jam quantity even further. It’s your choice.

Photo by Carolyn B. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

One Cute Cupcake From Nordic Ware

I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes, but I am a huge fan of Nordic Ware baking pans. Hence, when I was offered the Nordic Ware Cute Cupcake Cake Pan as a sample from my editor at Al Dente, I was happy to take it home and put it to the test.  The pan consists of two cake halves, which form one giant cupcake when stacked together.

My husband recently had a birthday, so I decided to make a cupcake cake for the celebration. I enlisted my teenage daughter who thought the pan was ultra cool. Even before we started working with the pan, she said she wanted to use it to make birthday cupcakes for her friends.

My daughter wanted to use a boxed cake, which is not something we usually use. Hence, I bought a basic cake mix and my daughter mixed it up. We sprayed the pan with Baking Pam and preheated the oven. Unfortunately, the cake overflowed in the oven, because I didn't have the sense to read the front of the label where it clearly states that two large cupcakes can be made from one standard  12-cup cake mix! Duh! I know better. Haste definitely made a little waste.

Nonetheless, the cupcake released beautifully from the pan and when we were ready to frost it, I simply trimmed the cupcake accordingly. To "glue" the two cupcake halves together, I smeared a little homemade frosting on the base, but my cupcake was a little too top heavy in the end. To remedy the situation, I grabbed a kebab skewer and used that to secure the two halves by poking it straight through the top. In the end, we loved our Cute Cupcake even though it was a bit unstable and wonky to say the least!

For those who buy the pan and want to make the cake from scratch,  rest assured that there is a Vanilla Cupcake recipe included on the back of the label! I'm quite certain you won't need a kebab skewer with that recipe!

Photo by Carolyn B. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

Ina Garten's Newest Book Will Be Released in October

Ina Garten's newest book, Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? will be released on October 26, 2010. Barefoot fans can preorder it right here on Amazon. I'm very fond of Ina and her books, because  I worked at her shop in Westhampton Beach more than twenty years ago!!

I was a college student at the time, and Ina enthusiastically taught me how to assemble crudite platters, cut brownies, and slice cold smoked salmon for her work weary food savvy customers. Ina always made even the longest busiest days look easy, and I have fond memories of my summer job there.  I have all of her other books.  Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? is bound to fit the bill when it comes to simple foods served with flair.

The book features 225 color photographs and is selling for a pre-order price guarantee of $18.90 here on Amazon.  I haven't seen a copy of the book, but I'm already interested in trying the Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs and Steakhouse Steaks.  I know with Ina that it won't just be easy, it will also be good!

Are you a Barefoot Contessa fan? If so, what are your favorite recipes?

--Melissa A. Trainer

What's Your Guacamole Preference?

I've been making a lot of guacamole ever since I sampled Anita's Guacamole while on vacation in Florida. I've been experimenting with various methods and ingredients. Without a doubt,  I prefer the California Hass avocado over the Florida avocado, because the California is creamier, richer, and nuttier.

As for methods, I'm partial to the guacamole I recently made in a traditional molcajete. I don't own a molcajete, but my father does. So, when I was at his house in Maryland, we decided to drag out the massive Mexican mortar and pestle and put it to the test.  I purchased some California avocados and fresh coriander at the grocery store and picked some beautiful tomatoes from my father's backyard garden.  My brother hunted down the cumin, the garlic, and a lime.  I didn't follow a recipe that hot August afternoon, I just mixed and mashed. That guacamole came out mysteriously good. I wonder. Was it the molcajete? Was it dad's tomatoes? Was it the way I mashed the ingredients  or was it just my vacation mindset?

Last week, I decided to contact the California Avocado Commission. I'm researching another avocado topic and decided to ask them for tips on making guacamole as well. They obliged and, for starters, they pointed me to Guacamole Central on their website. It's a great guacamole resource. I haven't tested any of the recipes yet, but I'm leaning towards trying Guacamole Autentico. The website says the guacamole is so authentic you can practically hear the Mariachis singing.

If you have a preferred guacamole, chime in and tell me about it!  If you can hear the Mariachis singing when you bite into your homemade guac, then I really want to hear from you!

Photo by Carolyn B. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

Relax And Have Fun With The New KitchenAid Pasta Press!

I hadn’t made homemade pasta in years, but when I was offered a KitchenAid Pasta Press as a sample, I was anxious to test drive the accessory. Made in Italy, the heavy duty pasta press fits on all KitchenAid stand mixers and allows home cooks to crank out tubular pastas such as rigatoni, bucatini, macaroni, fusilli, and spaghetti.

After multiple rounds of experimentation in my home kitchen, I’ve concluded that the KitchenAid accessory is awesome. I’ve also concluded that it is important for cooks to experiment and follow their intuition when making homemade pasta dough.

For my first round of experimentation,  I decided to get everyone involved. I think of pasta as a family-friendly food, so  I invited my mother-in-law over to work with me and told the children that we’d be making pasta for the afternoon.

To get started, I readied my sixteen-year old KitchenAid Classic mixer and cleared the countertop. I then opened the pasta press box and reached for the owner’s manual.   I followed the assembly instructions and decided to make the Basic Egg Noodle Pasta, which is the first recipe listed in the recipe section of the booklet.  The dough is made in the bowl of the stand mixer and calls for 4 large eggs, 3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon water, and 1 teaspoon salt.

My mother-in-law has used the pasta press accessory before and warned me not to make the dough too wet or it would be difficult to feed through the disks.  Hence, I followed the booklet recipe exactly.  When I was mixing the dough in the KitchenAid, we sensed it was too dry, but we carried on as instructed. When I kneaded the dough by hand on the counter, it still seemed dry, but it was fairly manageable. 

The press comes with six disks—rigatoni, fusilli, spaghetti, bucatini, large macaroni, and small macaroni. I was in the mood for a rigatoni, so we started with that one.   As instructed by the manual, we formed the pasta dough into walnut-sized pieces and fed it through the press while the machine was running.  It was slow at first.   My mother-in-law eventually figured out that if she added a little water to her hands and rolled the dough in her wet palms, the dough seemed to feed through better.  Prior to that, the machine seemed like it was clogging and the dough wasn’t feeding through easily enough. We sensed that the issue was with the dough and not with the press itself.

We made rigatoni and fusilli that day. Even though my dough was a little too stiff and dry,  the pasta was very good once it was cooked.  Nonetheless, I wasn’t fully satisfied with the dough and the way in which it fed through the machine. I sensed that the dough and the extrusion process could be better. 

So, the next day I woke up early with a bee in my bonnet. I wanted  a better dough --a dough that was easier to feed through the press and that felt more malleable.  On a mission,  I ferreted through my cookbook collection and found the perfect recipe in Beard on Pasta by James Beard. Published by Knopf, the book is a treasure trove of information on pasta.  On page 33 in my 1987 edition, I found Beard’s recipe for Basic Egg Pasta.  I immediately knew that was the one.

The recipe only calls for four ingredients—1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 large eggs, and 1 tablespoon oil if using the electric mixer or the food processor.  Indeed, when I made the dough in the bowl of my KitchenAid, it felt right. It was malleable yet substantial. (When I was putting it in the fridge to "relax" as directed in the recipe, I had a brief flashback to my childhood, because the dough felt just like Play-Doh!) After I chilled it and broke off walnut-sized pieces, the dough fed through the machine like butter and held its shape once it was formed. I made bucatini that night. The long tubular pasta was sublime. I think the chilling of the dough and the little bit of oil made the difference in the finished product.

So, if you purchase the new KitchenAid Pasta Press, my advice to you is this:  Loosen up.  Have some fun. Try different  recipes.  Be prepared for a little trial and error.  Invite your friends over for a pasta making party.  Make the dough in advance and let it relax in the fridge before you get started. Set the table and enjoy some really delicious homemade tubular pasta made right in your own home!

Do you have any tips for making homemade pasta? If so, I'd love to hear them, because I am still tweaking, experimenting, and hunting for new ideas!

Photo by Carolyn B. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

 

Seasonal Tool Of The Trade: A French Bean Slicer

If you happen to have a glut of green beans in the garden these days, then you might consider buying a French bean slicer. I purchased my hand held Krisk French bean slicer six years ago at Harrod's in London.

I had just wrapped up a  cookery class at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland. Darina Allen had enthusiastically demonstrated the nifty little tool and said it was just great for a garden glut of beans. 

I readily admit that I find it a bit tedious feeding each bean through the blades individually. (It takes a lot of beans to satiate appetites at my house.) However,  I do favor the tool because it is very convenient for those beans that have grown a little past their prime and are a little tougher than desired. The slicer seems to reduce the toughness. When sliced, the larger beans seem so much more palatable.

When I perused the bean slicer selection here on Amazon this morning, I was happy to see a diverse selection of slicers. Some can be attached to a table and some seem far more efficient than my little hand held version because they can slice more than one bean at a time! I'm thinking it might be time for an upgrade at our house!

--Melissa A. Trainer

Save Your Sanity With This Back-To-College Kitchen Essentials List

Launching any child back to school can be a pricey task. Launching a college student back to campus can be downright astronomical.  

If that scholar has to equip his or her first apartment, then the task becomes that much more challenging and expensive. Microwaves, coffee makers, blenders, and miscellaneous kitchenware are frantically shoved into packing boxes along with sheets, books, laptops, and clothing.

If you want to preserve your sanity and need a little help with the shopping and packing drudgery, then seriously consider this Back-to-College Kitchen Essentials list from Amazon.

Of course, the items can be shipped directly to your student's new digs and some of the savings clock in at more than 30%. If I was launching my children, I'd send this for culinary inspiration and this because toast burns easily!

--Melissa A. Trainer

Back To School With Woody And Thermos Funtainers

If your children tend to be persnickety about school lunch, then seriously consider sending them off with a Thermos of their favorite hot or cold food.

My daughter is now in high school, but I vividly recall getting her prepped for kindergarten many years ago. I wanted to get her a Thermos so she could enjoy a hot homemade soup or pasta on those cold rainy Seattle days. Much to my disbelief back then, it was hard to find a Thermos. They simply weren't available. Did everyone think they were too retro or dated?

I eventually found one at a store on Vancouver Island, British Columbia that summer. I paid a hefty price, but I was happy to have that very basic utilitarian container. Over the years, through trial and error, I learned that it was best to preheat the Thermos with boiling water before loading it with minestrone, spaghetti, or chicken curry. I also learned that the containers will keep food hot for about five hours.

In the last couple years, I've noticed that Thermos has introduced trendier more fashionable containers called Funtainers. Squat in size, the containers feature popular characters such as Woody from Toy Story and characters from Star Wars. So, does this mean that what is on the outside of the container is now as important as what's inside the container?

--Melissa A. Trainer

Dinner In Under Four Minutes? Absolutely With Zip'n Steam Bags!

Is it possible to crank out a decent dinner in under four minutes and have no messy cleanup? Absolutely, if you have a package of Ziploc Zip'n Steam bags handy. The bags are similar to the traditional Ziploc bags, except they can be used to cook foods in the microwave and each bag has a handy cooking guideline chart on the front.

I have found these bags to be quite handy when I need to make a quick salmon dinner for myself or my children. The bags work great, and it isn't necessary to add any additional cooking liquid. On occasion, I have assembled a couple bags in the afternoon, refrigerated them, and cooked them as needed during the evening whirlwind of dinner, extracurricular activities, and homework. After some trial and error,  I found that a six-ounce piece of wild Alaska salmon and a little broccoli can cook in under two minutes in my 1000-watt microwave.  And, best of all, cleanup is kept to a minimum because the bags are thrown out.

The bags are available in various sizes and are also handy for cooking shrimp, chicken, hot dogs, green beans, and corn on the cob. Are you a Zip'n Steam fan? If not, what tricks do you pull out of the bag when you need to get dinner on the table fast and in the midst of chaos?

--Melissa A. Trainer

This Hot Sauce Will Push You To The Limit

What’s your favorite hot sauce? My twelve-year old son is now very partial to Navy SEALs Hot Sauce that I purchased for him when I was vacationing in Florida a few weeks ago. 

Ever since William was a little boy, my husband has brought him to The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum whenever we visit Florida. Located in Fort Pierce on the Treasure Coast, this national treasure is the birthplace of the Navy frogman.   When my daughter and I perused the souvenir section of the museum, we had to decide between the Navy SEALs Barbecue Sauce and the Navy SEALs Hot Sauce.  We ultimately landed on a  bottle of hot sauce for Will, who was vacationing elsewhere.  I wasn’t sure if  Will would like the sauce or not. But, it was the  signature sayings on the bottle that sold me-- “Will Push You To The Limit” and “The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.”

Yesterday, Will  finally got around to trying his souvenir sauce and drizzled  some on the homemade pizza I had made for lunch. He shook his head knowingly and chuckled when he saw the sayings.  He loved  the sauce and told me, “It was perfect.” I think it is now the official souvenir hot sauce in our house. 

What is your favorite hot sauce and does it push you to the limit?

Photo by Carolyn B. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer
 

Freeze Those Nuts!

I'm annoyed. Okay, I'm very annoyed. I was just gearing up to make a wonderful hazelnut cake recipe that I recently found in the "Sugar and Spice" column of the October, 1991 edition of Gourmet Magazine.

I vaguely recall this recipe from when I worked at the magazine, so I thought it would be fun to resurrect it again. Also, I love the hazelnuts grown here in the Pacific Northwest, so I thought it would be fun to use them in a new way.

The recipe is super quick and calls for making the batter in the food processor. The two 8-inch layers of cake are sandwiched with cocoa-enhanced whipped cream. In order to get prepped,  I tracked down my Chicago Metallic cake pans and readied my Cuisinart Elite food processor. I preheated the oven.  I went to the cupboard and  grabbed my bag of Holmquist DuChilly hazelnuts. Hardly thinking and barely awake,  I sampled a nut before I made the cake. Ugh! They were rancid. They were beyond bitter. They were so totally nasty!

So, I've tossed those expensive heirloom nuts in the compost bin and am now left without a key ingredient for Cousin Elsie's Hazelnut Cake!! I really do know better, folks. Normally, I freeze all nuts, regardless of the variety, in our large freezer in the basement. For some reason, this bag evaded the freezer. Ugh.

Photo by Melissa A. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

Get A Grip With Le Creuset French Oven Magnets

If you have children who will be heading back to school in the next couple weeks, then you are most likely anticipating the barrage of paperwork that will be carted home in backpacks--permission slips, sports forms, volunteer sheets, lunch menus, reading charts, and homework.

There are lots of ways to tackle the tsunami as it crashes on the kitchen counter, but I think one of the cutest tools for the task is this set of Le Creuset French Oven Magnets. Made from earthenware and modeled after the company's classic cast iron dutch ovens, the magnets look good and clean easily. If you have multiple children, then each child can have a designated color right there on the fridge.

And, if you need inspiration for dinner one day, the little magnets might even inspire you to crank out a yummy soup or stew before the kids come crashing back in the door with paperwork in hand yet again.

--Melissa A. Trainer

Study Snacks At The Tombs in Georgetown

When I was visiting Washington, DC with my sister, niece, and two children a couple weeks ago, I was very excited when Al decided we should visit Georgetown for the afternoon. Georgetown holds sentimental value for me because my dad, uncle, and sister attended the University and now my “little niece” goes there as well! I hadn’t visited the campus in more than thirty years, so it was a rare treat for me. 

We toured around for a little while and then everyone was hungry. After walking off campus a few steps, my sister spontaneously suggested we head to The Tombs. There was a resounding yes from the troops, so off we went. It was a Monday afternoon in August, so The Tombs, which is popular with students and faculty from Georgetown,  was very quiet.  Nonetheless, we were given a warm welcome by a gal who is an undergrad at the University. 

We ordered an array of starters and then opted for burgers and pizzas. While we chatted and waited for our meal, my daughter noticed a little menu  on the table entitled, “Study Snacks.”  Everything on the menu was under $6.50 and the selection ranged from a cup of chili for $3.50 to a chicken salad wrap for $6.50.  The menu is offered every night after 10 pm and in the afternoons between 3 pm and 5 pm.   The menu isn’t elaborate, but I must say that I think it is absolutely on target.  I’ve fed a lot of hungry children and students over the years and can confirm that the selection is exactly what tired folks ask for after a few hours of hitting the books, writing reports, and crunching numbers. 

When I got back to Seattle, I contacted Molly Quigley at The Tombs. She told me that the Study Snacks menu was started in 2002 and that it has indeed been quite popular with the ALL of the students (elementary, high school, and university) in the neighborhood.   In my opinion The Tombs Study Snacks menu deserves an A+. It’s reasonably priced. It offers an array of items. And, it’s available at offbeat hours, which is exactly when students need some serious sustenance!

With schools and universities kicking back into gear, I’m  asking you to name your favorite study snacks. Chili? Chicken wings? Hummus? Nachos?  Salad? Brownies or chocolate chip cookies?

Photo Courtesy of The Tombs

--Melissa A. Trainer

Rotary Cheese Graters Are Simple, Convenient, and Teen Friendly

I'm in the market for a new rotary cheese grater.  Over the years, I've generally used my Cuisinart food processors to shred large blocks of Tillamook cheddar.

Earlier this summer, however, I realized that my teenagers were using that cheese as fast as I could shred it.  I began to wonder if a rotary cheese grater would work with my hungry crowd. I figured it was time to encourage cooking skills and self reliance in the kitchen.

Hence, when I saw a decent rotary grater at a thrift store a couple weeks ago, I bought it for about 79 cents. I did a quick demo for my daughter and handed it off to her. I told her it was the perfect tool to use when she made her late night nachos. I added a little philosophy to the lesson and assured my daughter that the "do it yourself" approach is a worthy one to practice in life and when making nachos.

My daughter soon fell in love with that grater and began to crank it up each night. Well, my secondhand grater didn't last long, because the handle succumbed to the pressure and broke one night when I was rushing around and using it!!   I am now put to the task of buying a new one. I'm leaning towards the Zyliss Classic or the Microplane.

If you prefer one over the other, I'd love to hear why. If you prefer another brand completely, then chime in. Your input is "grately" appreciated!

--Melissa A. Trainer

What's Your Favorite Hot Dog?

This might seem like a rather mundane question, but I’m wondering what your favorite hot dog happens to be.  Personally, I haven’t given this a ton of thought over the years, but I started to ponder the question while I was visiting Florida a few weeks ago.

When  I was growing up on Long Island, I definitely loved Nathan’s hot dogs and Hebrew National hot dogs. While I was traveling in Florida with two of my children a couple weeks ago, I purchased a package of Hebrew National all beef hot dogs while stocking up at Publix. My eight-year old son absolutely loved those dogs. Then when we were driving along US Highway 1 in Fort Pierce one afternoon, I decided to try a quirky little ice cream and hot dog shop called Di-Z’s. 

My sister had told me they make great meatballs, but I wasn’t in the market for "Mama's Meatballs" that hot afternoon, so I started to ask about their Hot Dog Menu while the children waited for their ice cream cones.  The chatty congenial owner, who is originally from New York, told me that they only used Hofmann dogs because they are “the best.” The menu was quirky and the dogs themselves hailed directly from Hofmann’s, which was founded in 1879 in  Syracuse, New York. I had never had a Hofmann dog. 

So,  I was pressed to choose between  Di-Z’s many choices--The Chicago Dog, The Syracuse Dog, The Bronx Dog, or The Poor Man Dog. Ultimately, I played it safe and simply ordered the Hofmann Beef Hot Dog.  It set me back $2.55 and the owner tossed in a side of his special macaroni salad as an accompaniment. I haven’t had a hot dog that delicious in ages.  The dog itself was juicy, tender and flavorful. The bun was toasted just right. And, the mustard was squeezed on in the traditional zigzag pattern. My daughter and I split that dog. I was contemplating buying another one, but a crowd of guys showed up and the kitchen thus went into a backlog.

So, what’s your favorite dog and where do you find it? If you need a little inspiration or food for thought, be sure to go to Di-Z's website and check out their video!

Photo by Carolyn B. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

Let's Butter Up!

Having been born and raised on Long Island, I ate a lot of local corn as a child. When I was very young, we would spend the month of August in a little cottage that overlooked the Great Peconic Bay near Riverhead. Corn fields were everywhere in the neighborhood and I spent many afternoons shucking corn over the picnic table.

I haven't been home to Long Island in a number of years, but my sister was there visiting friends and family last week. They must be having a good corn harvest this year, because everyone served corn last week and Sheila was amused by the diverse way in which everyone buttered an ear of corn. I have never given this simple task much thought.

Growing up, we usually just placed a pat of butter on top of a hot ear of corn and then simply twirled the corn on our plate. That method worked well enough, but it did get the rest of the plate messy and interfered with other simple seasonal foods like sliced beefsteak tomatoes.

While dining in the homes of her friends and relatives, Sheila noticed that one family simply swiped their hot ears of corn over a stick of butter designated for that purpose. She also noticed that another family preferred to  take a piece of bread and cut it into pieces the size of a dab of butter. They then sliced dabs of butter and put them on the pieces of bread, which were then swiped over the corn. Sheila liked this method and said it worked great. A third family opted to put the corn in a bowl and just put dabs of butter all over the corn.

I haven't decided on a favorite method just yet, but I am wondering about your favorite method for buttering up...For those of you who prefer a tidy convenient method, check out Butter Boy Green. He's cute and he butters corn!

--Melissa A. Trainer

Go Back To School With Lock And Lock Containers

My three children have never been big fans of the lunches served at school. Over the years, I've heard some real horror stories. As a result, I've spent a lot of time making and packing lunch for my little scholars.

One of my favorite tools for the task is the Lock and Lock container. I first discovered these containers down at Uwajimaya, which is Seattle's wonderful Japanese grocery store. The sales gal assured me that the containers would never leak, because the rubber gasket in the lid prevented that. She also demonstrated how the flaps from the lid flip down and lock into place. She also told me they were great for packing a child's lunch. Aha!

I purchased a couple containers and was hooked from that day forward. Over the years, I've collected a variety of containers in various sizes. They've all come in handy. I love to stash sliced carrots and celery in them. And, they do a great job of holding ranch dip or homemade applesauce. The square container has been priceless, because it protects sandwiches from being flattened and deformed! Without a doubt, these containers have endured a tough journey being carted to school. They've never leaked. They've never warped. They always wash beautifully in the dishwasher at night.

So, if you want to help your kids get a better midday meal at school, then seriously consider buying some Lock and Locks and stuffing them with carrots, celery, apples, dips or even trail mix. Your kids will be surprisingly content.

--Melissa A. Trainer

Gourmet Live Will Launch In Fall 2010

Are you all aware that Gourmet Live will be launched this fall? For additional information on this "new technology experience," check out the video found on Gourmet.com.  Stay tuned, because Gourmet Live is coming to "your favorite device" soon.  If you want additional information as the site evolves, be sure to sign up for their email updates.

Photo by Melissa A. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

Mobile Smoothies For The Mad Dash Crowd

Has anyone noticed that smoothies are now being sold just about everywhere?

I rarely buy smoothies when I am out and about, because my children prefer the fruit smoothies we concoct in our Vitamix at home.  While traveling on the East Coast last week, however, my daughter did try a Real Fruit Smoothie at a McDonald’s in Maryland. Carolyn gave the strawberry banana smoothie a thumbs up for freshness, flavor, and price. 

With school starting in less than a month, I  am shifting into “back to school mode.” Smoothies are a breakfast staple at our house. They are quick, nutritious, and easy to gulp down while on the go.  I’m beginning to think one of these Aladdin Migo Aero Insulated Water Tumblers might be a useful vessel for serving smoothies.  The children are often running late in the morning, so I figure the sturdy reusable cup  could be a helpful vessel for handing off a smooth drink during the early morning mad dash. 

--Melissa A. Trainer