TIP OF THE DAY: Fast Decorating With Chips

Need a quick dessert, but want a touch of both fancy and homemade? Grab store-bought cupcakes or cake and a bag of baking chips, regular or mini. They’re available in a rainbow of flavors/colors: butterscotch, cappuccino, caramel, cherry, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, mint, peanut butter, peppermint (white chips with bits of candy cane) and vanilla…
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FOOD HOLIDAY: National Banana Creme Pie Day (Also Spelled Cream Pie)

March 2nd is National Banana Creme Pie Day. But is it banana creme or banana cream? Crème, pronounced crehm, is the French word for cream. As recipes evolved in the U.S., the trend was to emulate French spellings to give the recipe a cachet. Doesn’t soupe du jour (typically misspelled as soup du jour) sound…
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FOOD FUN: You Can’t Have Your Cake And Eat It, Too

We’d have to eat this devil’s food cake: The temptation is too great! Photo courtesy MackenzieLtd.com.   You can’t have your cake and eat it too, is a popular English proverb. Some of us wonder why it isn’t reversed, to the more logical “You can’t eat your cake and have it too.” The earliest known…
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RECIPE: Almond Butter Cookies (Chinese Almond Cookies)

[1] We buy jumbo packages of raw almonds at Costco (photo © Niederegger Marzipan). [2] These are green almonds, harvested from the tree before shelling and roasting. They get their name from the fuzzy green coat. They can be eaten whole, and taste crunchy and tart, with a hint at unripe peaches. When the green…
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RECIPE: Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake Tart

Cheesecake with a twist: made in a tart pan with a hazelnut crust, topped with apples and salted caramel sauce. Photo courtesy U.S. Apple Association.   Dying for a piece of cheesecake, we ran out to the corner deli for a slice. It was satisfactory, but a mistake: 12 hours later, we wanted another piece.…
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