RECIPE: Homemade Peppermint Patties

February 11th is National Peppermint Patty Day. Whip up a batch today, and make extras to hand out on Valentine’s Day. (For Valentine patties, top with heart-shaped sprinkles or Conversation Hearts.)     IS IT PATTY OR PATTIE & THE HISTORY OF PEPPERMINT PATTIES Whether it’s candy, meat or veggies, to be perfectly correct, the…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Kitchen Torch

The kitchen torch, culinary torch, cooking torch or [less poetically] butane torch is used by chefs and sophisticated home cooks. Today’s handy culinary torch descends from the heavy duty blowtorches, long used by gold and silversmiths (the first patent dates to 1791). While its most famous kitchen use is to caramelize the sugar on the…
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VALENTINE RECIPE: Cherry Nut Dip Or Spread For Crackers Or Veggies

Last year our suggestion of foods for a Valentine’s Day “pink party” was very well received. So we’ll build on that list of pink foods with another recipe this year. Here’s a dip from the Cherry Marketing Institute, made pink with cherry juice or the stronger cherry juice concentrate. You can also use this cherry…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Mardi Gras Party

[1] Shrimp and Grits, a popular Mardi Gras dish. Here’s a video recipe (photos #1 and #2 © Mackenzie Ltd). [2] A classic Louisiana gumbo (photo © Mackenzie Ltd.).   Mardi Gras is a week away: Tuesday, February 17th. Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday” and called Shrove Tuesday in English, is part of the…
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FOOD FUN: Strawberry Cake With Strawberry Heart-Shaped Macarons

Steph, a blogger in Sydney, Australia, created this masterpiece: a fluffy vanilla cake layered with strawberry and balsamic vinegar icing, topped with heart-shaped macarons filled with the same icing strawberry-balsamic icing. The recipe is on her website, RaspberriCupcakes.com. In Italy, fresh strawberries with a few drops of fine aged balsamic vinegar are a popular dessert.…
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