High Time For Pie

This is the season for pie baking. Between harvests and Thanksgiving everyone should be rolling out crusts and preparing filling It s’ a great dessert with a long history. People have been celebrating with this simple dessert for millenniums. It’s no wonder that we moderns include it into our holiday rituals.

We have the ancient Egyptians to thank for pie making. They were the first to put a mixture of nuts honey and fruit s into uncooked pastry and bake it. They haeven had two names for covered and open pies. The covered ones were called coffins because of their closed in shape while the ones without were called traps. The Greeks who ruled Egypt in the late Fourth Century were so enamored that they brought the recipes back to Greece. They surrendered the recipe to the Romans who fell madly in love with them. They were even offered to the gods in the temples. From then it spread through out Europe with variations leading to tarts and tartlets. Pie hit England and made their way over to America with the early colonists. Early pie crusts were solid and not at all flaky like their modern day cousins The crusts acted as containers to hold in the juices and fillings. Pie crusts got so thick at times that anything could be put into them , including jugglers and orchestras.

Luckily you don’t have to put Cold Play in your Thanksgiving pie to impress guests. You can go with apple or pecan, both easy pies to make. Another fun and quick choice is the pudding pie - taking an already made pie crust and filling with the pudding of your choice. It’s then easily topped off with Cool Whip, or Reddi Whip and garnished. There’s a lot of variations here but th e most popular flavor s are chocolate and butterscotch.

Pies are a wonderful and fun addition to any holiday dessert table. They’re easy to make , especially if the whole family pitches in. Make two or three in one flavor or vary it. Either way you’ll have a good time both baking and eating these treats.

Is Champagne Bubbled Out?

I normally reserve any Times article for Thursday's entry but there was one in today's Saturday's Business section that caught my eye. It was about champagne going flat - no not that kind of flat but flat lining it in sales. A lot of the major companies like Moet-Chandon and the ever expensive Veuve-Cliquot are reporting worldwide losses. That means that the companies are going down in price overseas mostly in Britain and France. Hopefully the price will go down as well.

Let's face it though, Champagne is a tough sell. I ordered it for my birthday dinner not long ago. the maitre d' suggested I try Prosecco which was fifty dollars cheaper. I did and was glad. Now I'm a Prosecco fan for life and will probably run to that for any kind of celebratory drinking. I'm also loyal to Prosecco's cousin Asti, thanks to my Piemontese heritage . As a life long New Jersey resident I will probably forgo any overseas champagne and stick to my beloved Tommisello winery's vintages or even some Napa Valley Asti or Prosecco.

Should you buy a bottle of champagne during these hard economic times? You can, but maybe save it for a romantic evening or anniversary or celebrate that everyone still has their jobs with a few close office pals.I wouldn't serve it at a family Christmas party. Relatives usually expect wine or some other kind of mixed drink(unless of course it's to announce something special like an engagement or a promotion). have a few bottles for new year's . The best bet is look for sales along with comparison shop and go for the best deal.

If you want to help the industry buy a bottle of champagne. The pricing should be good these days and it does pay to have one or two bottles in the house. It's rare that champagne goes on sale. This alone should be reason to celebrate.

Killer Foods

Surprisingly enough your diet may be killing you. I'm not talking about the fried food and beef here but the good stuff. Some fruits and vegetables can have some negative side affects. We all know about their attributes but did you know they also have a dark side? Yup. What may look like a plate of pure healthy may actually be bad for you.

Take for example the beet. Yes it's good for you in moderate doses. Who doesn't love it in a salad covered with vinaigrette and set off by onions? Yet eat too much and it can cause kidney damage. It's also not recommended for people who suffer from kidney stones. The same applies to the iron rich spinach. We're all taught from an early age to venerate spinach yet it does have a dark side. Again it's not good for those suffering from kidney stones. However it still is a good green to eat so have it at least once a week.Then there are tomatoes. Yes they are tasty and are good from salad to soup however they are high in acid. This is a bad thing for those suffering from stomach disorders.

Fruits should also be eaten with care too. The main reason is that they are packed with sugar - albeit the natural kind. Gobble down too many apples and bananas and you'll gain weight. Some berries like strawberries contain powerful allergens which can cause all sorts of painful rashes and hives. Ditto for oranges. Eating a lot of this fruit can bring on the case of hives - definitely not a good thing with the winter wool season coming.

Veggies and fruits are healthy for you. However , like with any other foods, don't over do your intake! Ea in moderation and they'll remain healthy and good for you!

A Salute To Po Boys

Yesterday's Dining section of the New York Times ran an excellent and well detailed article by John T. Edge about that Louisiana staple the po boy. This is a great sandwich that can be made a variety of ways, with seafood or meats, sauces and veggies. New Orleans is celebrating the sandwich in the city of its' birth by having a festival celebrating it this November 22nd. Famous restaurants such as Emeril's and Jack Dempsey's will have cooks making tons of po boys for the crowds and fans expecting to gather there.

The po boy has an interesting history. It is one of the newest sandwiches being born in 1929 during a labor strike for streetcar workers. The strikers who would come for lunch would be called "poor boys' by the Martin family where one time streetcar workers themselves and now had a new business a coffee and sandwich shop. They vowed they would feed the striking and hungry workers a new kind of sandwich that had wider slices of bread. This enabled them to put more fillings on and thus provide a more satisfying lunch. The sandwich took and was perfect for the varied cuisines of New Orleans.

What is a classic po boy? It could range from one with a ham filling to fried shrimp to roast beef and gravy.It's usually also stuffed with lettuce tomatoes and a pickle and the bread is slathered with mayonnaise. There is also a French fries po boy where crinkle fries are stacked on top of beef. There are others that have fried green tomatoes and remoulade sauce,a homage to Creole and Southern cooking at their best. You can make your po boy own using French or Italian bread and a variety of favorite fillings, gravies and extras.

The po boy is a great Louisianan dish , reflective of the city's history. It honors the seafood and beef along with the colorful culinary history . It's also a wonderful dish to make , giving it your own personal spin.

Spinach The Good Green

By now you’re probably sick of being told to eat your spinach. Yet this leafy green is not only good for you but is also tasty and a great addition to any meal. It’s one of the most versatile too. It can go into a cold salad or hot dish. You can eat it for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. It can be served so many different ways that you’ll never grow tired of it.


The plant is one of the oldest. It was first cultivated in India and Persian and brought to Europe and Asia through Muslim traders and invaders. It is still a popular ingredient in Indian cooking and is the base for many of their vegetable dishes. Spinach made its' way into Muslim Spain around the 11th Century and became popular in European cooking. It was a favorite of Catherine de Medici who brought it from Northern Italy into French cuisine when she married the French king Henri IV. Spinach is a member of the Amaranthaceae family and is a cousin to chard. It does flower however its’ the leaves that are edible and widely used. Spinach is an excellent source of iron however it's not absorbed into the body unless it’s eaten with Vitamin C The leaves are also a good source of calcium as well along with Vitamins A,B, K and magnesium.

Spinach is also versatile. There’s nothing like a good spinach salad at lunch. You can add bacon and chopped hard boiled egg to it along with a simple vinaigrette dressing. Another easy dish is a spinach omelet made with freshly sautéed leaves. Just sprinkle in a dash of Parmesan cheese for more zip. This holiday season make creamed spinach as a great side to your turkey or ham. Add a teaspoon of nutmeg and a few pats of butter for a richer, slightly spicier flair.

Spinach is a great addition to any diet. It’s not only good for you but fits in well with your plans. Serve it cold in a delicious and refreshing salad or warm as a great side to any meat. It truly is a good green.

Is Your Kitchen Holiday Ready?

Even though it's two weeks before Thanksgiving you should be asking yourself is my kitchen ready for the holidays? Are your appliances up to snuff?Do you have the right equipment to make your favorite dishes and to try new ones? these are the questions you should be asking yourself before you ask what to make and serve.



The most important appliance to check are your stove and fridge. These two are the main ones that keep any holiday kitchen functioning. make sure your stove, its' burners and broiler is in working order You'll be needing every part of it for various roasting ,baking and broiling needs. If there is a problem , then have it fixed within the next two weeks. The same philosophy applies to the fridge. You don't w ant it to go when you haven a whole freezer of veggies as well as a lower section stuffed with a turkey. Other appliances that need to be checked are your food processor ,. blender and mixers. Some of these probably haven't been used since last year (or to mix that last August's batch of margaritas). Check out these to make sure they work properly. Luckily every store from Target to Wal-Mart to K-Mart is having big sales right now so you can easily run out and replace anything at low cost.

You should also do a run through on lesser items too. Make sure your cookie sheets are up to snuff as are your graters and corers. Again if they're not , then just buy new ones. Check cookie cutters and icers to make sure they're ready for another round of holiday baking. Replace anything that's looks raggedy or junky..You may also want to get rid of any old spices and sauces that are laying around in your cupboard or fridge. They've probably lost their potency and need to be replaced.

Before you know it the holidays will be here. Make sure your kitchen is ready for them with working appliances. It'll make holiday cooking and baking that much easier and less worry free.

Get Stewed

November’s chilly days call for a nice stew. It’s the perfect and the easiest meal to make for these cold days. You can add as much or a s little as you want. It can be chicken, beef, fish lamb or even vegetarian. Stew is a perfect dish to customize and make your own.

Stew has been around for millenniums. It was first mentioned in ancient Rome‘s by Apicius and or Taillevent wrote about ragouts in his Le Viander cookbook. The English a nd Irish have been making hearty lamb and mutton stews for centuries. These recipes were brought to America where colonists enjoyed Brunswick stew. This was a robust mix of squirrel, rabbit ,pork and beef along with corn, tomatoes and onions. Today the squirrel is omitted but okra and peas are added in for extra flavor.

Today’s stews are just as interesting to whip up. What’s even better is that you can make it in the morning and pop in into a slow cooker for your evening meal . By the time you come home from work, voila - a nice hot dinner! You can vary your stews with red wine for a more French taste or paprika for a Hungarian goulash vibe. Also you can top with a quick Bisquick crust or make dumplings to add to the stew’s richness. If you feel your stew is too ‘thin” then add some barley to thicken it.. Another good thing is that stew is reheatable and makes for good leftovers as well.

This is the perfect season to create a hearty stew. You can use tried and true recipes such as Brunswick or your own creation to come up with a rich and flavorful dinner. Either way a hearty , hot stew is the best way to chase away November’s chills and frosts.