But we can’t deny that red velvet cake has become a national craze—so much so that Schmerty’s Cookies of Santa Monica, California have created a red velvet cookie! The cookies are also certified kosher.

Where did the storm of red velvet cake begin?

Actually, in the film Steel Magnolias, featuring six stars of the silver screen: Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts.

Follow the trail prior to then, and there are claims that the red velvet cake originated at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City in the 1920s—birthplace of classics such as Waldorf Salad, Veal Oscar, Thousand Island Dressing and the Manhattan cocktail.

Like red velvet cake? Try red velvet cookies.
Photo by Jerry Deutsch | THE NIBBLE.

The first published record for Devil’s Food Cake is a 1902 recipe from Mrs. Rorer’s New Cook Book. A recipe in Good Housekeeping Woman’s Home Cook Book, in 1909, more closely resembles modern recipes for Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake. A recipe for Philadelphia Red Cake, published in the Perry (Kansas) Home Cook Book in 1920, uses squares of chocolate, baking soda, buttermilk and egg whites—identical to recipes for Red Devil’s Food Cake.

Our mother made Red Devil’s Food Cake—a rich, chocolaty cake, not the bright red, vaguely flavored red velvet cakes of today. So where did today’s red velvet cake come from?

No one knows, exactly. In the 1960s, recipes for today’s red velvet-style cake were being published that added red food coloring as a prominent ingredient, along with buttermilk and cocoa powder. A southern favorite, it was launched to stardom in Steel Magnolias.

Turn a Waldorf Salad, made with apples and
walnuts, into a Sausage Waldorf with apple
chicken sausage. Photo courtesy
AlFrescoAllNatural.com.

But demand for healthier foods has created a robust business in chicken sausage. Just by switching to chicken over pork sausage, you can save 70% of the fat. You can also enjoy more specialty flavors, since chicken’s milder flavor allows seasonings such as apple, chipotle, spinach and feta and sundried tomato to be more expressive.

Just as with pork sausage, there dinner and breakfast varieties as well as “cocktail franks.” In addition to far less fat than pork sausage, most chicken sausage brands are free of nitrites, nitrates, preservatives and artificial ingredients. A 3-ounce link is about 130 calories, depending on brand and filling (cheese flavors will add a few calories). That’s not much more than chicken.

We recently tried two of the nine fully-cooked flavors from Al Fresco, the country’s largest producer of chicken sausage, and look forward to trying the rest.

• Find more information about Al Fresco Chicken Sausage. 

Stonehouse 27 cooking sauces are a boon for anyone who enjoys Indian flavors and would like to enjoy them more often.

From-scratch Indian cooking is time-consuming, but much of that time goes into the preparation of flavorful sauces, in which meat, fish and vegetables are then simmered.

Stonehouse 27’s line of Indian cooking sauces, also known as simmer sauces, make it easy to prepare delicious main courses: Just add meat and/or vegetables and simmer for 30-40 minutes. While it’s cooking, make the rice.

This is also healthier Indian cuisine. It’s all-natural and gluten-free with no added salt. The recipes use heart-healthy canola oil instead of the saturated fats; and diabetic-friendly, low-glycemic agave nectar instead of refined sugar.

The flavors—Dates and Tamarind, Tamarind and Garlic, Tomato and Chilies, Cashews and Cream, and Cilantro and Coconut curries—have varying degrees of heat and are flexible to be used with meat/fish or vegetarian. Most varieties are vegan; two varieties are vegetarian.

Turn out Indian fare with ease, with
Stonehouse 27 cooking sauces. Photo by Yuliya Gorodetskaya | Fotolia.

• Read the full review.
• Find more of our favorite Indian products, including Fabulous Flats tandoori naan to go serve with your Stonehouse 27 preparations.

Get Omega-3s from Spaghetti alla
Puttanesca. Photo by Nishi Daryuichi |
Wikimedia.

We pop three small capsules a day to get our share of Omega-3 (and Omega-6). But most people don’t like to swallow pills. So processed food manufacturers are pandering to consumers’ desire to eat more Omega-3s.

Yet many of products that proclaim “Contains Omega-3s!” are not as beneficial as a consumer might desire.

• If it doesn’t disclose the milligrams of Omega-3 per serving on the label, you can bet that the Omega-3s inside aren’t doing you much good.

• Many “Omega-3 products” contain only ALA, when research now indicates that the combination of DHA and EPA is most effective.

Salmon is the poster boy (poster fish?) for Omega-3; it has the highest amount per serving. But those who’d like alternatives should try anchovies, herring, sardines and mackerel, the next four O-3 heavy fish on the list. Try these yummy ideas:

• Pasta: Toss pasta with anchovies, garlic oil (infuse olive oil with a clove of garlic) and bread crumbs. Pasta alla Puttanesca also contains anchovies. Pasta and anchovies are a natural—look for other recipes. Try different brands of anchovies to find tastier, less salty varieties.

• Anchovy Paste: Use anchovy paste to add flavor and Omega-3s to your food.

• Fresh Anchovies: Marinated fresh anchovies are ubiquitous in Italy, but a rare delight—as different from the canned variety as fresh tuna is to canned tuna. They’re worth tracking down. Serve them as a first course with lettuce and tomato.

• Caesar Salad & Pizza: Two great opportunities to enjoy anchovies.

• Sardines: Sardines are delicious. Buy a good brand and have a sardine salad as a first course.

• Mackerel: If you don’t like cooked mackerel, try it at a sushi bar. It’s one of our favorites.

• Bagel With Pickled Herring Or Herring Salad. Another favorite. Warning: We’re not responsible if you become addicted to this one.

More ideas to come; but now we’ve got to go out for a garlic bagel with pickled herring. And a slice of tomato for some lycopene.

Market research firm The Nielsen Company has released new information regarding store-brand (private-label) buyers.

While some people think that it is lower-income people with limited funds who buy store brands, it is actually middle-income families ($30,000 to $70,000) who are the primary store-brand shoppers.

Store brands also have a loyal and growing following among two-person households looking for value—a more affluent and educated shopper who realizes that there’s no appreciable difference between the branded product and the typical store brand.

Some of the study highlights show that:

• Store brands have won favor among younger households.

• The fastest-growing segment for store brands are families making $100,000-plus.

America’s Choice is the store brand of A&P.
Photo courtesy APFreshonline.com.

Those quarters and half dollars saved on store brands add up. Even if you’re not pinching pennies, they can offset extra treats—like that latte tab.

A $4.00 specialty coffee x five days a week x 50 work weeks a year = $1,000 a year in coffee expenses! So, see how much of that total you can save on store brands. Make a game of it with your friends…and then go out for a latte.

And have fun with this coffee savings calculator.