[1] Happy 100th Anniversary to The Laughing Cow. The red velvet cake is available from Daisy Cakes Bakery (all photos © The Laughing Cow Cheese).

[2] The familiar round box; here, in the new Chickpea & Cheese with Herb blend.

[3] A wedge of the new Red Bean & Cheese with Paprika.

[4] The Laughing Cow To Go cup, here in White Cheddar.

[5] Mini pitas spread with The Laughing Cow cheese.

[6] Baby bell peppers stuffed with The Laughing Cow cheese.

We were first introduced to The Laughing Cow Cheese when we were in high school.

A friend who had enjoyed them France found them in the U.S., brought some for lunch and gave me a wedge.

We were delighted by the wedges of soft cheese wrapped in foil, and the red tab that neatly opened it.

We loved not just the novelty of the wedges, but the flavor.

The wedge (now called Original Creamy) tasted a bit like cream cheese; and what a great excuse to eat cream cheese!

The cheese is actually a blend of cream, milk and both fresh and aged cheeses, including Comté. It’s a creamy, satisfying snack.

And it’s more than a snack, as you can see in photos #5 and #6.

The wedges can spend the day out of the fridge, in your bag or pocket for easy snacking.

In those days, the brand was known in the U.S. by its French name, La Vache Qui Rit (The Laughing Cow in French), later Americanized.
 
 
HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY!

The spreadable wedges have been made by Fromageries Bel since 1921.

It’s their 100th anniversary!

They sent us a red velvet anniversary cake (photo # 1) with cream cheese frosting made with The Laughing Cow Original cheese.

It was so good, that when when it arrived frozen, we cut a wedge and began the celebration.

(You may or may not be a frozen cake fan. Sometimes, we find that the frozen cake is even more delicious than in its natural state. We just love the frozen frosting!)

The cake is a limited-edition made in partnership with Daisy Cakes Bakery.

It’s available online at ILoveDaisyCakes.com.

And it’s only $19.21, a nod to The Laughing Cow’s founding year.

Plus, to celebrate the anniversary, there are new varieties of The Laughing Cow cheese.
 
 
THE LAUGHING COW CHEESE VARIETIES

The Laughing Cow Blends are three new varieties of the cheese wedge that that blends creamy Laughing Cow cheese with nutritious legumes, nicely seasoned.

Each wedge delivers 2g of protein, plus calcium and vitamin E, fiber and antioxidants.

So welcome to the line:

 
They join a line of wedges that includes:

 
 
THE LAUGHING COW CHEESE DIPPERS

More nutrition has also been added to the snack cups, which were designed to fit perfectly into a car’s cup holders.

We don’t have a car (living in New York City), but we love snacking on Cheese Dippers, cups of dippable Laughing Cow cheese packaged with breadsticks (only 140 calories per cup with 5g of protein).

The three newcomers include:

 
They join:

 
Thanks for all of the great cheese snacks, The Laughing Cow. We’ve got enough choices to celebrate your anniversary year and beyond.
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHEESE: A GLOSSARY
 
> THE HISTORY CHEESE

Sugar snap peas are in prime season from late winter through the end of spring.

Sugar snap peas, sometimes just called sugar peas or snap peas, are edible-podded peas, meaning that you eat the whole pod (photo #3).

Their name can get confused with another popular edible pod also found in Asian recipes: snow peas.

The difference:

 
We love snap peas simply steamed, in stir fries and salads.

> Here are more ways to use sugar snap peas.

> Bonus: At just 41 calories per cup, sugar snap peas are a very good source of vitamins A and C and a good source of iron.
 
 
THANKS TO HELLO FRESH

Today we share three recipes from Hello Fresh, America’s most popular meal kits.

The first recipe follows; the other two can be found on the Hello Fresh website.

They include:

 
 
RECIPE: BLACK PEPPER PARMESAN SUGAR SNAP PEA CHIPS

We like these “chips” as as plate garnish, a snack, a side with a sandwich, or a topper for salads.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 450°F.

2. LINE a baking sheet linked with aluminum foil or parchment paper (this makes cleanup that much easier).

3. PLACE the sugar snap peas in a single layer on the sheet.

4. COAT the peas with olive oil and sprinkle with the parmesan, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Toss to coat thoroughly.

NOTE: For better coverage, we prefer to toss these ingredients in a bowl before adding to the baking cheet.

5. BAKE until crispy, 7-8 minutes. Enjoy hot, at room temperature or chilled.

[1] Baked sugar snap pea “chips” with parmesan (photos #1 and #2 © Hello Fresh).

[2] Add sugar snap peas to crostini as a topper for ricotta or goat cheese. Here’s the recipe.

[3] Sugar snap peas are eaten whole, but here’s what’s inside (photo © Good Eggs).

Botanically, peas are fruits, not vegetables.

Fruits are not necessarily sweet. Tomatoes are fruit, avocados are fruit, hot chiles are fruits, cucumbers and squash are fruits.

Because they aren’t sweet, people think of them (and classify them in recipes and produce departments) as vegetables.

The Difference Between Fruits & Vegetables

By botanical definition, fruits have their seeds on the inside; the only exception is the strawberry. With fruits, the seeds, or pits, are contained in the fruit’s ovary sac. True vegetables have no “pit” or seed sac.

[1] Irish-style potato nachos (photo © Irish Potato Commission).

[2] Clockwise: horseradish root, prepared horseradish (made with vinegar and salt) and grated horseradish (photo © Microplane).

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?

If you’d like a special bite to serve with beer and Irish whiskey, try these Irish-Style Potato Nachos.

This recipe was created by Patterson Watkins, a Philadelphia catering manager, for the Idaho Potato Commission, using homemade crinkle-cut potato chips instead of tortilla chips.

Instead of grated queso quesadilla, salsa, and other classic nacho toppings*, this recipe nods to Ireland with Irish cheddar and corned beef†.

And of course, make that beer an Irish beer!
 
 
RECIPE: IRISH-STYLE POTATO NACHOS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F.

2. DEEP FRY Deep fry the waffle cut potatoes until crisp. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

3. ARRANGE the chips on a sheet pan and sprinkle the cheese, corned beef and horseradish evenly on each piece. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

4. ARRANGE the bites on a platter, drizzle truffle oil and garnish with chopped chives. Serve hot.
 
 
> NACHOS HISTORY

*Mexican restaurants often use queso quesadilla, a great Mexican melting cheese. But other restaurants and home cooks making classic nachos use Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and cheeses we never use but they have their fans, American cheese and Velveeta.

Other nacho toppings include black olives, cilantro, jalapeno slices, refried beans and sour cream (crema mexicana). See more toppings here.

†Corned beef is not an Irish dish. Irish immigrants to New York learned to make corned beef from their Jewish neighbors on New York’s Lower East Side. The brisket used was a cheaper alternative to Irish bacon, and led to the now-traditional Irish-American combination, corned beef and cabbage.

Corning refers to curing or pickling the meat in a seasoned brine. The word refers to the “corns” or grains of kosher (or other coarse) salt that is mixed with water to make the brine. Typically, brisket is used to make corned beef; but round can also be used. The dish has many regional variations and seasonings. Smoking a corned beef, and adding extra spices, produces pastrami.

March 9th is National Crabmeat Day.

Some of our favorite ways to enjoy crab: crab cakes, crab dip, Crab Louie (a fancy crab salad), deviled crab, crab soup (bisque, corn-crab soup, she-crab soup) or just plain boiled/steamed crabs or sautéed mixed seafood.

Today we offer something different: crab for breakfast.

While you can certainly substitute crab for the Canadian bacon in Eggs Benedict, the recipe below starts the day with a hearty hash.

Alas, it’s a restaurant-size recipe. Assuming two eggs per portion, it makes 24 servings!

However, here’s a slightly different crab hash recipe with family-size proportions.

If you like the ingredients below, just substitute them in that recipe.
 
 
RECIPE: POTATO & CRAB HASH WITH POACHED EGGS

We liked the festiveness of this crab hash recipe from the Idaho Potato Commission: three different types of potatoes, plus the luxury of crabmeat.

One tip, though: This recipe uses the most expensive type of crabmeat, jumbo lump. There’s no reason to spend the extra money for home use. Instead, look for crab claw meat or any other variety (the different types of crabmeat).

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PEEL and steam all potatoes until soft. Drain, let cool and cut into medium dice.

2. COMBINE the diced potatoes in a bowl with the onion, peppers, butter, honey, salt, pepper and bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly. Gently fold the crab in and refrigerate.

For each order (i.e., it’s a restaurant recipe)…

3. SAUTÉ 6 ounces of loose potato-crab hash in 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan, turning gently until hot and crispy. In a separate pan…

4. POACH 2 eggs. Plate the potato-crab hash and top with the poached eggs.

[1] Potato and crab hash with poached eggs (photo © Idaho Potato Commission).

[2] Jumbo lump crab meat (photos #2 and #3 © Phillips Foods).

[3] Claw crabmeat, much less expensive than jumbo lump (above).

[4] Maryland blue crabs. The shells turn red when cooked (photo © Cameron’s Seafood).

While crabs are found worldwide today, the earliest known fossils come from what is now the area of Britain, which likely represents a stem-group lineage, as it lacks several key morphological features that define modern crabs.

The crab population expanded in the Late Jurassic, corresponding with an increase in reef habitats.

Crabs increased in diversity through the Cretaceous period (145.5 to 65.5 million years ago). By the end of the period, they were the largest group of decapods, the order of crustaceans that includes many familiar groups, such as crabs, crayfish, lobsters, prawns and shrimp.

Crabs are found in all of the world’s oceans. Many species also live in fresh water and on land, particularly in tropical regions.

Crabs vary in size from the pea crab, a few millimeters wide, to the Japanese spider crab, with a leg span up to 4 meters (13 feet) [source].
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CRABMEAT

> THE HISTORY OF HASH

[1] Baileys Deliciously Light Irish Cream has half the calories and carbs of the original (photo © R&A Bailey & Co.).

[2] How about a Baileys cheesecake for St. Patrick’s Day? Here’s a recipe (photo © Kraft).

Baileys is the number-one selling liqueur in the world [source].

If you’re a lover of Baileys Irish Cream liqueur, here’s a waist-pleasing option:
 
 
BAILEY’S DELICIOUSLY LIGHT

Cream from grass-grazing Irish cows, and the flavors of cocoa and vanilla, are still here.

How does it taste?

Compared to the The Original Baileys, it’s less thick and rich, as if it were made with half-and-half instead of cream.

But it’s equally delicious, especially when you look at the benefit:

Gone are many of the calories: 40% fewer calories and 40% fewer grams of sugar than Baileys Original Irish Cream (see comparison in the footnote *).

What this means to us is: a larger glass!

We love Baileys instead of dessert at the end of dinner. You can also enjoy it:

 
 
GET YOURS

Check with your local retailer. Online, we’ve found prices raging from $25.99 to $38.99 (in a pricey zip code of Manhattan).

In addition to grabbing a bottle for yourself—or maybe two, since it will go quickly—Baileys Deliciously Light and Baileys Original both make spot-on gifts for St. Patrick’s Day.

A bottle is gift enough; but if you want something more elaborate, there are also themed gift boxes through a partnership with Cocktail Coutourier.

Check out these Baileys recipes for cocktails, desserts, hot drinks

*Per 2.5 fl. oz. serving:
> Baileys Deliciously Light calories-139; carbs-9.3 g; protein-0.8 g; fat-3.7 g; sugar-7.8g.
> Baileys Original Irish Cream calories-233; carbs-16.1g; protein-2.1g; fat-10.1g; sugar 13.3g.