JULY 4TH FOOD: Star Crackers

Canapés with star quality. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.   For July 4th celebrations, these star crackers add surprise and delight. Turn them into red, white and blue canapés with raspberry jam, brie and a blueberry garnish anchored with a dab of blueberry jam. Or, present the crackers in a basket with different…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Summer Food Safety

Whether you’re taking a vacation, going picnicking or simply bringing lunch to work, the summer heat causes bacteria to multiply in your food—to potentially dangerous levels. Each year, roughly 1 out of 6 Americans (48 million people) becomes ill, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 actually die from foodborne diseases. These safety tips from the American…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Fresh Cherries

Rainer cherries are now in stores. We got ours at Trader Joe’s. Photo courtesy Washington State Fruit Commission.   You can enjoy dried cherries year-round, but fresh cherries are a special event. They’re only available from mid-May through August, so don’t miss out: Put cherries on your shopping list. Cherries are a healthy snack food…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Homemade Grenadine

First, what is grenadine? A deep red syrup used for hundreds of years to flavor and give a reddish/pink tinge to drinks and other recipes, true grenadine is made from pomegranate juice and sugar syrup. The name comes from the French grenade and the Spanish grenada, words for pomegranate. Alas, today’s mass-marketed “grenadine” is faux…
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JULY 4TH FOOD: Goat Cheese Stuffed Celery

Updated retro: goat cheese-stuffed celery with pomegranate arils. Blueberries not shown. Photo and recipe courtesy Pom Wonderful.   An update of the 1950s classic, this stuffed celery recipe replaces the old school cream cheese and pimento-stuffed olives with goat cheese and capers. For July 4th, the white goat cheese is accented with red pomegranate arils…
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