National Cold Cuts Day ~ What Are Cold Cuts?

[1] A bologna sandwich, long a cold-cut standard. American bologna evolved from Italian mortadella. See the *footnote below (photo © Francesdo Di Bartolo | iStock). [2] Precooked, smoked, or cured sausages are considered cold cuts. Here’s how to put together a Vesperplatte, a German charcuterie board. This one contains Landjäger (left); Dauerwurst, a type of…
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Beignet Recipe: Make Beignets For Mardi Gras

Celebrating the Carnival season, Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) has been a state holiday in Louisiana since the 19th century. So evoke Mardi Gras and New Orleans with a batch of homemade beignets. National Beignet Day, September 17th, was declared in 2024 by the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group.     WHAT’S MARDI GRAS? The Carnival season…
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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: Surf & Turf Sushi & More

While meat and seafood have been served at the same meal since since the dawn of plenty, and Diamond Jim Brady (1856-1917) consumed platters heaped with steaks and lobsters, the pairing known as surf and turf originated in 1960s America. It became the darling of American steakhouse menus, combining the two most expensive items on…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Rainbow Vegetables

Baby carrots move beyond the familiar orange to purple, red and yellow. Photo courtesy Sprinkle Side Up. See her recipe for glazed rainbow carrots.   In picking up supplies for our “diet Oscars menu,” we came across rainbow baby carrots—our first sighting—and rainbow cherry tomatoes, which have been available in our market for a few…
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