Presented by The Creative Kitchen, this is a fun-filled, flavorful weekend of family activities that showcase how delicious and easy it is to make better-for-you foods.

A celebration that educates families about making balanced food choices, it’s a great opportunity for adults to help create wholesome, lifelong eating habits for kids and adult family members alike.

With a fantastic line up of chefs, performers, and exhibitors, free general admission includes:

When kids are immersed in enjoyable activities, they absorb information more effectively. The Kids Food Festival embodies this philosophy of learning through fun events.

Families will cook, dance, laugh and taste their way to making balanced food choices! Get your forks ready for a weekend full of flavorful fun!

Discover more at KidsFoodFestival.com.
  

If you love the combination of beets and goat cheese, try this recipe for Beet Tarte Tatin. We adapted it from one by Katrina Woodman, originally published in the October 2012 of Australian Good Taste.

The Tatin sisters, Caroline and Stéphanie, ran the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, southwest of Paris in the Loire Valley, not far from the town of Chambord. Tarte Tatin is a one-crust fruit pie invented by accident in France in the early 1880s. It is served upside-down; the fruit (initially, it was apples) are on the bottom with the crust on top.

As the story goes, Stéphanie, preparing an apple tart, erroneously put the apples in the pan without the crust underneath. The apples caramelized, the customers loved it and the Tarte Tatin was born.

It can be made with sweet vegetables as well: beets and carrots are delicious prospects.

This vegetable Tatin, cooked in a skillet, serves four as an appetizer or as part of a light lunch, with a salad.

Ingredients For 4 Servings

2. MELT the butter in a ovenproof non-stick 7″ or 8″ frying pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the beets and cook for 2 minutes. Add the sugar, vinegar and thyme. Season. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until mixture thickens.

3. COVER with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until the beetroot is just tender. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool. Increase oven heat to 430°F.

4. TRIM the pastry into a 9″ to 10″ disc, depending on size of pan. Arrange the beets evenly over the base of the pan. Top with pastry. Fold in excess. Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

5. PLACE a plate turned upside down over the frying pan (it should be bigger than the pan). Holding the two together, flip the entire pastry over. Top with goat cheese and herbs and serve warm.

BEET VS. BEETROOT

Beetroot (Beta vulgaris) evolved from the wild seabeet, a leafy plant that grows at coastlines around the world. It was first domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, although it was only the leaves that were eaten back then. (The wild seabeet is also the common ancestor of spinach and chard.)

The Romans began to cultivate beets in earnest, cooking them with honey and wine. Recipes in oldest surviving cookbook De Re Coquinaria by Apicius’s, included beetroot in broths and salads, the latter with a very modern-sounding vinaigrette of mustard, oil and vinegar.

The beet is a plant with a taproot system. The taproot is a large, central, dominant root, typically straight and very thick, tapering downward (see image above). For most of its life, beetroot was long and thin like a carrot or parsnip—both taproots, along with burdock, radish and turnip, among others. The familiar round shape was developed in the 16th century.

Beetroot continued to grow in popularity in Victorian times, favored for its dramatic color in salads and soups. It was also used as a sweet ingredient in cakes and puddings. Beet sugar, used more widely around the world than cane sugar, was made by boiling all the sugar out of the beets, then cooking down that sugary water into dry crystals.

Today, as a result of mutation and selective breeding, beets are available in numerous shapes and sizes, including orange, yellow, white and candy-striped (with red and white concentric circles).

 
BEET VS. BEETROOT VS. SUGAR BEET

The term beetroot is used in the U.K., France and elsewhere. It is known by its shorter name, beet, in North America.

 
You can eat a sugar beet as a vegetable, but can’t make sugar and molasses from a table beet.
  

Watermelon radishes are available year-round, with peak seasons in spring and late fall (meaning they’re more bountiful and less expensive). Work them into your Valentine’s Day menu: They’re a great special-occasion ingredient.

A large Chinese radish, its exterior is creamy white with touches of pale green. But the flesh: ooh-la-la.

The watermelon radish has a eautiful rosy pink-magenta flesh, reminiscent of the color of watermelon. It is patterned with bright circular striations of color that are captivating whether sliced, quartered or julienned.

The texture is crisp and firm yet succulent. And the flavor is mild, lacking the peppery profile of conventional radishes. Instead, it tastes more like daikon, the white Japanese radish.

The Chinese name is shinrimei, and the radish is known by several other names including Rose Heart and Beauty Heart.

Depending on when harvested, watermelon radishes can range in size from golf ball to soft ball—up to three inches and more in diameter.

The color and mildness of the watermelon radish make it a lovely surface for hors d’oeuvres (and a better-for-you alternative to a bread or cracker base). It perks up a green salad. It makes a beautiful garnish on anything savory.

But there’s so much more you can do with watermelon radishes.

Watermelon radishes can be served fresh or cooked, hot or cold. They pair well with apple, bacon, butter, citrus, egg dishes, cheeses such as feta and chèvre, cucumbers, creamy based dressings and vinaigrettes, fennel, mild salad greens, noodles such as soba and udon, white fish and a variety of seasonings, especially cilantro, mint and tarragon.

That’s a lot to work with!

You can cook radishes like turnips, but these beautiful radishes deserve to be enjoyed in all their bright color and crispness.
 
Salads

 
STORING WATERMELON RADISHES

To store watermelon radishes, discard the leafy tops and wrap the radishes in plastic. They’ll keep for several weeks.

For a special Valentine’s Day breakfast, brunch or lunch, Taste Of Home magazine suggests these red velvet pancakes.

Red food works for July 4th and Christmas, of course. Just vary the garnish:

 
Note that the recipe below is for a party-size batch of pancakes—five batches of 16 pancakes per batch.

However, the mixed dry ingredients can be divided into five batches, which can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. You can use the recipe as a guide to make smaller amounts.

Or, make the five-batch lot, and give the four extra batches as Valentine gifts—tied with a red ribbon.

Prep time is: 30 minutes, cooking time is 15 minutes per batch.

Ingredients For 5 Batches (10 Cups Mix Total)

 
Additional Ingredients (For Each Batch)

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the first six ingredients in a large bowl. Place 2 cups in each of five resealable plastic bags or containers.

2. PREPARE pancakes: Pour the mix into a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs and food coloring. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened.

3. POUR the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until the second side is golden brown.

4. SERVE with butter and syrup.

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.)

> The recipe is below.

> Most people get it wrong (including York): peppermint patty vs. pattie. Plus the history of peppermint patties.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 9 mint holidays.

> The history of chocolate.

> The different types of chocolate: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 69 chocolate holidays.
 
 
IS IT PATTY OR PATTIE & THE HISTORY OF PEPPERMINT PATTIES

It’s patty! Whether it’s candy, meat or veggies, to be perfectly correct, the spelling is patty. Patties is the plural form, so many folks assumed the singular to be pattie.

The word first appeared in English around 1700-1710, derived from the French pâté (paste in English), a mix of finely-ground ingredients. Pasta is the Italian word for paste; and in modern French cuisine, pâté refers to a meat loaf as well as the more finely ground goose or duck liver pâté.

Bonbons—creamy flavored centers enrobed in chocolate—appeared in the 19th century. However, the peppermint versions of the time were gummy.

Henry C. Kessler of the York Cone Company in York, Pennsylvania set out to make a better peppermint center. In 1940 he developed a center that was firm. He called it the York Peppermint Pattie (alas, not the correct spelling, which is patty).

Other companies followed suit, most notably James O. Welch, a candymaker in Cambridge Massachusetts who had created Milk Duds, Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies. In 1949 he introduced Junior Mints, a small, round, bite-size version.

Today the York brand is owned by Hershey and produces the Peppermint Patties in Monterrey, Mexico. Junior Mints are owned by Nabisco Brands, and still are produced in Cambridge [source].

So you could run out and get a York Peppermint Pattie or a box of Junior Mints (we far prefer the flavor of York).

Or, you could spend 40 minutes of prep time making your own (plus 9 hours of drying time).

And if you’re not in a candy mood, how about a Peppermint Patty Martini?
 
 
RECIPE: HOMEMADE PEPPERMINT PATTIES

Because the recipe uses uncooked egg whites, you may wish to consider Safest Choice pasteurized egg whites.

Ingredients For 30 Pieces

 
Preparation

1. LINE two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut a separate 2-inch square of parchment paper. Set aside.

2. COMBINE the powdered sugar, egg whites, water and peppermint extract in stand mixer on low speed until smooth. Increase the speed gradually to high, to form a stiff, smooth dough, adding ½ teaspoon of water at a time if mixture becomes too stiff.

3. DUST a clean surface with powdered sugar and roll the dough into a log, approximately 12-inches long and 1-1/4-inches in diameter. Slice the log into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces, rolling the pieces into balls as you go. Arrange them on lined baking sheets, about an inch apart.

4. PLACE the square of parchment paper on top of each dough ball and flatten it into a disk, using the bottom of shot glass. Repeat. Let the candies dry, uncovered, at room temperature for at least six hours. After the patties have dried…

5. COMBINE the chocolate and vegetable oil in a small bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is smooth and melted. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly. Dip each candy into the melted chocolate, coating both sides.

6. RETURN the candies to the parchment paper until the chocolate has set, about 3 hours. To set faster, place the candies in the refrigerator.
 

[6] Consider growing peppermint at home (photo © Fashion Freak By E | Etsy).
 

[2] Make them inside-out. Be sure to use real white chocolate chips, not confectioners coating which is made with vegetable oil. Here’s the recipe (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[3] York Peppermint Pattie minis (photo © The Hershey Company).

[4] Four more uses for peppermint extract: a drop in hot chocolate, a peppermint mocha, whipped cream or frosting. Soften a pint of vanilla extract and add extract and chocolate chips (Abacus Photo).

[5] Semisweet (50% cacao or more) or bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao or more) are a better counterpoint to the lively mint than milk chocolate (photo © Debrand Fine Chocolates).

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