Taste of Home Community

Free holiday cookbooks -

Oldfashionedhomecooking — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:16:23 GMT

It's getting close to Thanksgiving and I've been asked by friends "how do I do it" because I always "have it all together" so I've put together my two-week countdown to Thanksgiving. If you would like a copy - just check out any of my blogs -

http://oldfashionedhomecooking.net/

http://thefamiliakitchen.net

http://recipesbyingredient.net/

My e-cookbooks are free - and I have a Christmas cookbook that will be available soon!

Get your copy today!

’Tis the Season…

MarilynI — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:55:00 GMT

September and October—two months that usher in the beautiful fall colors. But then there’s November. Brrrrr, it brings chilly temperatures, snow…and the cold-and-flu season. From the soft sniffles to the “I want to crawl back under the covers and sleep” aches and pains—there’s no telling how those flu bugs will hit. We’ve all been there, and we all treat illnesses in our own way.

In our family, we fight off our symptoms with a big pot of homemade chicken soup or a rib-sticking casserole. It always warms us up and makes us feel all better—or as close as we can get! Below are two of my family’s favorite recipes when we need to be pampered.

Chick-n-Rice Soup recipe is fast and easy! It can be ready in 30 minutes from start to finish. And Chicken Vegetable Casserole takes less than an hour to prepare and bake. Both are warm and delicious, two ingredients you need when you feel a little under the weather.

If you have a favorite cold-fighting recipe you’d like to share, please let me know. I hope not to need it, but I’d love to know about it…just in case!

Marilyn Iczkowski
Editorial Assistant

Random

LoreneLyon — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:40:11 GMT

Well, I'm at home full time, and lately I haven't been baking, but I'm picking up again. I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 last week, so I've been careful with what I eat. Diabetic diet mainly consists of grain and whole wheat foods, a bit of meat and lots, and lots of vegetables and fruit. I bought these marshmallows, so I'm back on trying to find recipes for them. I found a couple. I haven't done much lately, been at home cooking and cleaning. Cleaning never stops, neither does laundry. So yeah, later again! Leave me a note if you like!

Family Favorite Recipes

Amy T. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:34:55 GMT

Do you prepare a family favorite dish so often that you hardly need to look at the recipe when making it? Chicken with Florentine Sauce is this kind of recipe for me. Making it is like getting together with an old friend--it's an easy recipe to make when I've had a long day, and if I haven't made it in a while it comes back to me easily, as if time hasn't passed.

I usually have fresh baby spinach on hand, and it's easy to wilt it in a little water in a non-stick skillet to use in place of the frozen spinach. I coat the chicken breast halves with the Parmesan cheese and herb mixture as the spinach wilts. Then, I set the spinach aside to drain and cook the chicken breast halves while prepping for the rest of the dish. I often prepare the sauce with fat-free milk, reduced-fat sour cream and have substituted other shredded cheese flavors with success.

My family likes when I serve this dish with whole grain pasta tossed with a little warmed marinara sauce. This recipe is perfect for any meal whether casual or for company; it's classic comfort food with no real bells and whistles-simply, it just tastes great!

I also want to tell you about something new I'm working on. I'm looking for your family's favorite recipes to publish in Taste of Home Simple & Delicious magazine. If your recipe is published, you will receive a complimentary copy of the magazine issue, with you in it. Also, at the end of the year, you will receive a complimentary copy of the Quick Cooking Annual Recipes cookbook, with all of the recipes published from the previous year!

To learn more about what I'm looking for, click on this link: "Simple & Delicious Recipe Quest" or go to the Recipes forum to see the announcement. Don't have a recipe this time? No problem! Remember to keep checking the Recipes forum as the "Simple & Delicious Recipe Quest" will be updated.

To submit a recipe, today, click on this link: "Simple & Delicious Recipe Quest." Here's what I'm currently looking for:

Categories:

Simple & Delicious September/October 2010

Quick-and-easy breakfast fare-Send us your favorite skillet egg dishes, quick pancakes and waffles or smoothies
Lunch-box favorites-Whether on you're way to work or school-sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts and homemade granola bars
Dinner's ready!-Main dish entrees ready in 30 minutes or less and quick-prep casseroles made with ground beef, pork, chicken, meatless or seafood
Need to bring a treat somewhere?-We're looking for your favorite take-along treats for a bake sale, classroom snack or work party
Trick-or-Treat!-Share your "spooktacular" Halloween recipes here
Apples-So many varieties and so many recipes! We'd love to try your best apple pies, crisps, cobblers, quick breads, salads and main dishes

Simple & Delicious November/December 2010 Holiday Issue

Special appetizers-festive & fancy
Countdown to turkey day-we need the turkey, Thanksgiving sides and other easy recipes to round out the meal
Holiday desserts with a twist-a variation on apple pie or your favorite recipes using gingerbread or mint
Christmas cookies
Leftovers-new ways to use up ham, turkey and other Thanksgiving extras like potatoes, cranberries and stuffing
Share your heartwarming stories and traditions and the recipes they serve that make the the occasion memorable
Recipes that use chocolate chips-from butterscotch to milk chocolate, vanilla chip to mint, we want to try them all!

A Little About Me

RachelJenaye — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:29:40 GMT

Well, I have been blogging on my own blog(s) for about three years now. You can find out more about me on my regular blog - A City On A Hill. I post recipes, photos and other stuff on there, and upcoming giveaways I will be during for organic products.

I joined this site because I love to cook and bake, and love finding new recipes to try. I have seen some great ones on here already.

many blessings in the name of Yahovah and Yeshua!

~Miss Rachel J

Taste of Home Cooking School Part 7

Kristi217 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:31:11 GMT

I’m back in Colorado this week, and it’s just like I remember – snow! Yes, that’s right, it’s snowing today. Looks like winter is here! It’s a good thing the recipes in our “Fall Comfort Classics” show are great for winter as well as fall! I had a blast in Longmont last night. It was a packed house, and we had a lot of fun. Thank you to every one for sticking around despite the snow!! There are some great pictures of the show on the Times-Call website.

Before coming to Colorado this week, I had a few shows in California: Yuba City, Paradise, Watsonville and Costa Mesa. In Yuba City, they gave away a beautiful dinette set to one lucky winner. In Paradise, I was escorted on stage by Nutsy – the squirrel. He’s the mascot for the local Ace Hardware. I was hoping to get a picture, but wasn’t able to, so you’ll just have to imagine it if you weren’t there Watsonville and Costa Mesa were great shows too! Thank you to everyone for coming!!

I’m heading back to California next week for three shows; it’s going to be a busy week! Monday night I’ll be in Vacaville – it’s a fun show every year, so if you’re anywhere close, I hope you can make it! On Wednesday I’ll be in Oxnard. It’s the first time we’ve done a show there, and everyone is so excited!! There is a great video on the Ventura County Star’s website about the show, and some information on a special contest, so make sure to check it out here. Then I’ll head up north to Redding for a show Friday night. What better way to kick-off your weekend than at the Cooking School? Get your tickets soon!!

Halloween is almost here, and there are so many fun recipes here on tasteofhome.com. Make sure to check them out if you’re looking for something new for your party this weekend!!

Dreary day

northernfleeceweaver — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:24:41 GMT

Good evening all, cooking a chicken wild rice casserole for supper. I have been busy sewing polar fleece most of the day. I make woven polar fleece rugs, mats and bags and sell them on etsy.

I am also putting on the fringe for my suede crocheted shawl. I used the cro-hook method, I m very pleased with the outcome

Very Simple (& Delicious) Soup

john_mcmillan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:12:00 GMT

Fall is here, and cool weather heralds the beginning of soup season. Lots of people enjoy soup year-round, but I like to save it for fall and winter. Growing up in the Deep South, I learned a bowl of hot soup is just about the last thing you want on days with 90% humidity.

But it’s sub-50 degrees right now, and I can’t think of anything better than a slow cooker filled with one of my favorite concoctions, Tomato Veggie Soup.

It’s not just heartwarming and stick-to-your-ribs good; it’s also a total guilty pleasure—not because it’s bad for you or superexpensive, but it all comes from cans. That’s right, cans. I’m normally one who would roast tomatoes with onion and garlic and spend hours happily slaving away at the stovetop, but not with this recipe. Not even a little bit. This is as simple & delicious as it gets, folks:

2 large cans (28 or 29 oz.) tomato sauce
2 cans each of corn, lima beans and cut green beans, drained
1 can of vegetable stock

Pour it all into a stock pot or your slow cooker, then, when it’s good and piping hot, salt and pepper to taste. Serve each bowl with cooked medium shell pasta or egg noodles. It makes a large batch, and I love bringing it to work during the week.

Plus, the variations are endless. Like carrots? Throw ’em in there! You won’t miss the meat, but if you want, you could add rotisserie chicken. Have a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies? Add it for some heat.

Sometimes, when it’s as simple as this 9-can soup, it’s hard to mess up. You ever notice that it’s when you try to get all fancy with cooking, things just don’t work out? So here’s to keeping it simple. And delicious.

John McMillan
Associate Editor, Simple & Delicious

Chocolate in the Morning

Cocoa.Bean.Drescher — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:46:09 GMT

Isn't it funny how when we're a kid we're put in to all of these boxes with rules like, "no, that's dessert, you have to eat that last." Or, "that's BAD for you..." We get told so many things by the media and our surrounding environment, that we hardly have time to think for oursleves and find out what's really good for us.

Of course, then we go to college, try a little bit of everything and go a little overboard, taking to the extremes. Hopefully, if we've survived those years, we can enter in to adult hood and start thinking for oursleves...

Oh, but then we get a job and we're so eager to please that we put ourselves on the backburner again, saying, "No, I have to do this, it's for work... I need this job and I don't want to mess things up." Sure, it's true, it's important to make a positive first impression, feel out the waters and stay humble. However, when are we going to start listening to the happy person inside of us trying to guide us to true happiness-- when chocolate can be eaten in the morning, dishes can wait until tomorrow and a smile sparkles more than expensive jewlery?!

My encouragement for today is for everyone to take a moment, reflect on themselves and do one thing today that makes them happy. Half the time we don't know what really makes us happy, because we don't take the time to really think about it. So give yourself a few minutes, think about you, what really makes you happy and do it! Sure, we need to be realistic here in order to feel like we accomplished something, so try finding joy in little things like bringing home a dozen roses for yourself, stopping at the library for a good book, buying a new lipstick or maybe even eating chocolate in the morning.

Helpful Tips For Prime Rib Grilling

andy1234 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:57:52 GMT

Prime rib has always been one of the most sought after items on the grill. This is because aside from its being quite large enough to fill up anyone, it is more moist, tender and juicy than most other cuts. This cut has been so popular that most restaurants would have it as a specialty, most of the time making a nice steak out of it. More than that, it is also great for an outdoor grill. Outdoor grilling sessions with your family are sure to be much better with some good slices of prime rib.

The common misconception people would have with prime rib is that it is quite difficult to cook and to handle. This however is false; grilling prime rib is just like grilling any other cuts of meat and would just require similar procedures or methods of grilling. Anyone who has grilled other cuts of meat before would be able to make a great prime rib the first time trying it.

Choose The Cut

One of the most common problems for prime rib is that after grilling, a lot of them would get too tough, dry and chewy. This is because the tenderness of a cut would also depend on the meat itself that is why it is important for you to know how to choose the perfect cut. In choosing, pick a cut that has a good marble of fat, not too much but just right. This is because the fat would add tenderness to the meat and would also add a good taste; too much of it however will not make it taste good.

If you could not find this at your favorite shop, then do not hesitate to ask anyone standing by. Prime rib is too basic for a good food store to miss and the people who are standing by are there to help you so never hesitate to ask them. Sometimes, they can even help you choose from a lot of different meats and could offer a lot of different helpful advices that you can really use.

Storing It

Once your cut of prime rib makes its way home, you can store it at room temperature as long as you will grill it that very same day. The most common mistake people make here is that they would immediately toss it in the refrigerator, thinking that it would spoil immediately. This however is not true. You can put it in the refrigerator however if you plan on using it some other day rather than the day you got the prime rib in.

Make sure that you do not keep the meat in your refrigerator for too long. It would be best if you would consume it within 3 days of having it in the refrigerator. Items stored in the refrigerator would tend to lose flavor and tenderness if kept for too long. You do not want this to happen to your prime rib so don't keep it in the refrigerator for too long.

Preparing Prime Rib

After doing all of that, you are now ready to toss that nice cut of prime rib on the grill. You can first marinate it for at least 20-30 minutes and toss it into the grill after. Take not that grilling prime rib is really quite simple and is just like baking it, grilling however is much better than baking and also tastes far better.

After it is done, you can brush some strokes of barbecue sauce on the surface and there it is, your cut of prime rib is ready to be served and enjoyed by everyone.

TOH at Sam's Club in Plano, Texas on Oct. 17, 2009

MarineMom_texas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:51:24 GMT

I was scheduled to meet with Diane Werner, Food Director at TOH, on
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, at Sam's Club in Plano.

I actually arrived at Sam's Club (thanks to my trusty GPS) a little early
and was informed of a time change. The demo and signing would be an
hour later, starting at noon instead of 11 a.m. So I settled myself in
the break room to wait for Diane.
It wasn't long and here came Diane, also not aware of the time change.
So, we had ample time to catch up on the past year (since I had last seen
her in Wisconsin a year ago) and to enjoy a quick lunch from the
snack bar.
It was at this point that we were also informed that there would be no
food demo that day. Nothing had been set up so we were going to sign
cookbooks and chat with customers.
We were informed by the management that an author was seated at our table
until noon, signing his book. He was Rickey Pittman and he was signing
his book, "Stories of the Confederate Southwest". As it got closer to
noon, we chatted with him.
While we were chatting with Rickey, a couple came up with a basket full
of TOH cookbooks they were purchasing for their daughters for Christmas
and were waiting for us to get started with the autographing. As Rickey
was leaving, I got a shot of he and Diane along with the lovely customer
called Mimi by her grandchildren.

Since I had a recipe published in the cookbook, they wanted me to sign my
recipe and Diane signed the flypage.

It was such fun talking to customers about the cookbooks. Before we knew
it, it was time to go. Diane had to catch a plane and I had a football game
to attend. (No, not the Texas/OU game but the TCU game).
The time had flown by and it was so much fun to see and talk to Diane
again. I might add that she had been on Daybreak and Good Day Dallas
the previous two days, doing her food demo. The day before, I had been
sitting in the waiting room of a local hospital while my husband was
having cataract surgery and glanced up at the TV and there was Diane,
giving her food demo!!! I was so glad I hadn't missed it.
I thoroughly enjoyed not only seeing Diane but being able to talk about
Taste of Home and the Cooks Who Care edition of the TOH Cookbook and the
Baking Cookbook.

Cooks Who Care in Dallas with Diane

Diane_Werner — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:01:03 GMT

I appeared on "Good Day Dallas" on October 16. Friendly people in Dallas and good eaters. Here is a photo of me with host Lauren Przbyl. Watch the segment

The segments were barely over and the crew was eating the food. This Roasted Pepper Chicken Penne recipe has proven to be a very well received dish.

Probably because it uses everyone's favorites--chicken, pasta and a simple fresh tasting homemade, but simple sauce.

The band in the photo below was excellent! They are a new blues band called Black Joe Lewis. I went and bought their CD that day. It's great. Joe is only 22-years-old but a good guitar blues player. The host of the TV segment is holding our Caramel Apple Pecan Pie on the set. He wasn't sharing with anyone.

Hopefully, people are finding our Cooks Who Care stories interesting and checking out this pie which is told about with one of their stories. They can find the recipe in that CWC's story.

On Saturday, I visited Sam's Club for a book signing with our field editor, Joan Hallford. She wrote about the event in her blog.

I'd rather have an omelet.

john_mcmillan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:17:00 GMT

What the heck is polydimethylsiloxane, and why did I feed it to my daughter?

A couple of days ago, my wife was out of town, and I wanted to treat my daughter to a fun dinner, something different, something new. I remembered when I was a child in the ‘70s my father used to buy TV dinners, and we’d eat in front of the tube watching “The Gong Show” or “Hee Haw.”

Sure, the meals weren’t that good, but I remember laughing with my dad (as much as I remember the crunchy edges of the “brownie”), and that feeling was what I wanted to give my daughter. So off to the store I went, perusing the glass-door aisles for something tasty and fun for my unsuspecting 5-year-old. I found some cartooney boxes and picked out one I thought she might enjoy. The bright container showed ham-and-cheese stuffed breadsticks, macaroni and cheese, corn and for dessert, granola bites. Not super-nutritious, but this was to be a treat, so I was ok with it.

We got it home, popped it in the microwave and set up the TV trays. This was going to be fun! But when it was time to eat, she wouldn’t touch it.

“It just doesn’t taste good, Daddy.”

I took a bite of the “breadstick.” It was not good. It was so bad that it was unidentifiable. I’ve professionally tasted food for 6 years now. I’m a foodie, but not a food snob; in fact, I love a fast food cheeseburger every now and then. But I can honestly say that I’ve never tasted anything quite like that “breadstick” before.

I grabbed the box and read the ingredients. Rather, I tried to read the ingredients, because the print was too small and full of words I’d never seen before.

I was appalled. Giving myself a headache, I started counting ingredients. Among my favorites: #113 polydimethylsiloxane, #62 sodium hexamethphosphate and #110 propl gallate.

Total number of ingredients: 168.

One hundred and sixty-eight things I tried to feed my child. I felt like a horrible parent, but at least she didn’t eat the boxed mess.

So after throwing the lot in the trashcan, we decided on a ham-and-cheese omelet with a side of strawberries for dinner. Total ingredients: 12.

I learned my lesson. Like my grandfather used to say, “Make sure you read the fine print.” What he left out was, “If you can.”

John McMillan
Associate Editor

Easy As (Apple) Pie!

Amy T. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:04:08 GMT

Apples are one of my favorite fall comfort foods. Even though they're available all year long, the apples this time of year just seem to taste better. I think it's because they remind me of the season. Every year, I always look forward to my first cup of hot apple cider. Apples are a versatile fruit--great as a snack or paired with cheese in a salad. Plus, it's simply hard to beat the smell of a baked apple dessert!

In the grocery store now, I'm intrigued by the bounty and variety; they're visually striking lined up in grocery bins ranging in sizes, colors, flavors and textures.

I'm usually on the look out for any new varieties to sample. However, for the most part, I'm a classic apple kind-of-gal with a few of my favorites, including MacIntosh and Granny Smith.

In celebration of the season and to satisfy my craving for an apple dessert, I recently made a Dutch Apple Pie. I have been longing for the taste of a homemade apple pie topped off with vanilla ice cream for some time now and decided that there was no better time to make one.

When my cousins came over for dinner I decided to make the pie for dessert. I found that the pie was not only delicious, but the recipe turned out to be great to make when you're preparing a whole meal. It can be prepped rather quickly (as far as pies go) with only having one crust and two cups of peeled and chopped apples to prep. Not bad! Plus, I live for pie with streusel on top...total comfort!

I'd like to hear about your favorite fall comfort foods, and what recipes you look forward to making in the season. Do apples top your list?

Dutch Apple Pie

TOH birthday dinner for my husband

saw-whet — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:36:39 GMT

Today is my husband's 56th birthday, so I made him a special dinner. His mother came over and showed us pictures from her recent trip to Michigan's UP and Mackinac Island. They watched the football game while I was cooking. (The Ravens lost.)

The recipes I chose are some of his favorites from Taste of Home magazine. My husband loves salad, so I made him his favorite, avocado citrus toss. It's a little time consuming to prepare, but worth the effort. It may be the best salad recipe I've ever come across.

The other recipes all appeared together on one page and were part of TOH magazine's "My Mom's Best Meal" feature. The lasagna recipe is top notch, and so is the carrot cake.

Here are links to the recipes I used.

Avocado citrus toss

Mom's lasagna

Chive garlic bread

Old-fashioned carrot cake

Here is a picture of the dinner table.

Happy birthday, darling.

*******************

This is a carb heavy meal. Since I am diabetic, I estimated the number of grams of carbohydrates in the lasagna, and decided on my carb choices before we sat down to eat.

I checked the nutrition labels on the lasagna ingredients and wrote down the total number of carbs for the recipe. The mozzarella and parmesan cheese were very low carb, so I did not count them. Ground beef has no carbohydrates.

Ten pieces of pasta = 168 grams of carbohydrates
15 oz tomato sauce = 28 grams of carbohydrates
6 oz tomato paste = 30 grams of carbohydrates
16 oz cottage cheese = 24 grams of carbohydrates
Total = 250 grams of carbs

One-twelfth of the recipe (a medium sized portion) has 21 grams of carbs. I limited my portion to one-twelfth of the pan. That's about 1-1/2 carb choices.

I made the salad dressing with splenda. My husband can not tell the difference between splenda and real sugar. I made individual salad plates, and put slices from one-half of a grapefruit and one whole orange on my plate, for two carb choices.

I nibbled on a tiny piece of bread and counted it as one-half of a carb choice.

That's four carb choices total. So I splurged a little bit tonight. I did have a nice glass of red wine with dinner, which doesn't count at all. The birthday cake I just admired.

Taste of smiles .....

TasteOfSmiles — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:43:05 GMT

Im here to just enjoy this Sight and the wouderfull magazine TasteOfHome. Rason why i choose the nickname TasteOfSmiles is becosue i would like to put smiles on people faces whether it a good or bad smile and i just recently nicknamed my self smiles. everytime when sumone gets to know me i smile alot towreds them and they allways wounder whenever is my smile gunna not be there one day. so this is why i am Taste of smiles on this sight i hope you enjoy whatever i have planned for this futer of mine and i am gladly willing to share it with you fokes on Taste of home .

Counting carbohydrate choices in a TOH dinner

saw-whet — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:50:23 GMT

I prepared these recipes today from the April/May 2002 issue of Taste of Home magazine. I've made this meal before, before I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This time I counted carbs. The dinner was very tasty and satisfying for both me and my husband (who is not diabetic).

These are the recipes I prepared:

Country roasted chicken

Dot's corn muffins

Creamed carrots

Taste of Home has listed the nutrition content underneath each recipe. This is very helpful. I also counted the approximate amount of carbs while I was cooking the meal, and decided what I would eat in advance.

The country roasted chicken recipe is very good; the meat was flavorful and tender. Chicken does not count as a carb choice.

The recipe calls for eight small red potatoes. I used four medium-sized potatoes instead of eight small ones. A two-inch slice of any potato, red, white, or sweet, counts as one carb choice. I had 1/2 of a red potato, and counted that as one carb choice (about 15 grams of carbohydrates).

The corn muffins contain 19 grams of carbohydrates each. I made my muffins with splenda. I had one muffin and counted it as one carb choice.

I was taught in my diabetes nutrition classes that carrots have a "bad rap" when it comes to carbs. Carrots are not among the vegetables with carbs that need to be counted. This is good news for me, because I love carrots.

The creamed carrots recipe calls for one cup of evaporated milk (I used skim) and one tablespoon of flour. Both ingredients have carbs that need to be counted. One cup of skim evaporated milk has 24 grams of carbs. One tablespoon of flour has about 6 grams of carbs. The creamed carrots recipe has about 30 grams of carbs (not counting the carrots). I had one-half of the carrots and counted them as one carb choice.

I also prepared gravy with the pan drippings, using cornstarch as a thickener. My husband enjoyed the gravy, but I passed on it.

My meal had three carb choices. This was a good dinner which my husband and I both enjoyed.

Introducing My Grandson To Other Food Cultures

geeemjay — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:16:53 GMT

My grandson and I have decided to try other cultures foods. My grandson is a 15 year old bottomless pit (just as his dad was) and loves to try new dishes. We have decided to try authentic Mexican and Thai foods next. Anyone out there with any filling recipes for us? We are also going to find restaurants for Mexican and Thai foods and then try and recreate the meals at home.

Up-Close and Personal TOH Dinner

skipper — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:41:05 GMT

As part of the Taste of Home Homecoming Tour to Greendale/Milwaukee this fall, we planned a special dinner with one of our TOH Field Editors—the menu featured her recipes! Louie and I hosted the group at our home.

What a fun evening we had with Jean Ecos and her husband, Chris, and our travelers! They enjoyed appetizers of Jean’s Cheese Boereg and Sante Fe Cheesecake followed by Pork Loin with Peppers, Rice Pilaf and Armenian Garden Salad. Dessert was Toffee Mocha Dessert, served as a trifle. Jean’s Armenian heritage and focus on delicious, healthy meals flavored the delightful dinner.

That’s Jean holding the trifle dish in the photo—taken before we realized we’d forgotten to add the whipped topping!

She chatted with the group about what it was like being a Taste of Home field editor and gave them some background on her recipes. Those with a link are available with a click. We’re considering the pilaf and salad for a future issue.

(For information on our tours, visit countrytours.com)

Diabetes: The importance of exercise

saw-whet — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:40:38 GMT

For type 2 diabetics, exercise is also known as "Poor Man's Insulin."

Exercise has an immediate, direct effect on blood glucose levels. If you're using a blood glucose meter, you can test the result for yourself.

One evening, two hours after dinner, my blood glucose was abnormally high: 163. I hopped on my stair stepper machine and exercised as vigorously as I could for 1/2 hour. After 15 minutes, my blood glucose had dropped to 113; after 30 minutes, to 97.

This summer my husband and I spent several days hiking and bike riding while on vacation. I woke up with a fasting blood glucose under 100 for three magical days in a row. After a recent weekend backpacking trip, my fasting blood glucose was 98.

Exercise also raises metabolism, lowers blood pressure, burns calories, helps with weight control, reduces stress, helps us sleep better, and promotes a feeling of wellness.

Thirty minutes of physical activity per day is recommended. When you don't have a solid half-hour to devote to exercise, three 10-minute sessions can be worked into almost any schedule.

Walking is my favorite way to exercise. My stair stepper is a good way to get in a quick workout, and I also use an old fashioned barbell a couple of times a week.

Here are some other activities to consider.

Dancing
Household chores
Yard work
Gardening
Walk breaks
Park (the car) and walk
Walk the dog
Take the stairs
Bike
Swim
Jog
Hike
Skate
Fitness classes
Power walk
Pilates
Lifting weights
Core training

"Dynamite" Creamy White Chili

Amy T. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:51:42 GMT

When I flipped my calendar to October, it dawned on me that I have been blogging for a year! I can't believe it! Looking back at this "delicious" journey - it has been an interesting one at that - I've realized that I have made quite a few recipes and shared them with you. (Some recipes I may not have made otherwise without this blog.)

I've been inspired to show that cooking dynamite food is within reach, and for me, the first step is to share recipes. This has been a fun and unique experience to give you details of my first-hand trials, plus any tips from making the recipes that I have discovered along the way.

Here's the low-down on my latest recipe that I tried and thought was just fabulous. It's marked in my file as a recipe to definitely make again. Creamy White Chili is the name, and first, let me say, that it's perfect football food!

I prepared this recipe to eat while watching the Monday night Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings game. It was a score for me as far as how many pantry ingredients I used and didn't have to buy at the grocery store. This was my first time actually making white chili. I usually make more of a traditional red chili in the slow cooker. I liked that this recipe was cooked on the stovetop, and that we had comforting, warm chili to eat in about an hour.

I had roasted a whole chicken the prior weekend and I used the leftovers in place of the boneless, skinless chicken called for in the recipe. I had fresh garlic that needed to be used up so I threw in about a teaspoon of minced, fresh garlic in place of the garlic powder. Since the chicken was already cooked, I first sautéed the onion and added the minced garlic about three minutes into cooking. Then, I added the cubed chicken to heat through.

I pretty much followed the rest of the recipe as written, except that I used half-and-half cream that I had on hand in place of the heavy whipping cream. I also put out a bowl of chopped, fresh tomatoes to garnish the chili. It was crazy tasty! Whether you're looking for fuel to watch the big game, or, just a great version of white chili, Creamy White Chili is the recipe to try!

Interested in viewing all of the recipes I've blogged about and have tried in the past year? Check out my "My Page" under Amy T.'s Favorite Recipes. It would be great fun if you shared with me whether or not you make any of my favorite recipes or have read my previous blog posts.

Until next time...keep on cookin'!

TOH on GMA in NYC...A-OK!

Catherine M — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:59:23 GMT

My day started early Friday--and, man, I mean EARLY. When you're standing on a New York City sidewalk and not being assaulted by wailing sirens, honking cabs and the jackhammers of almost continuous construction, you know it's pretty darn early. I was up at 3 AM and out the hotel door soon after, en route to ABC-TV's Times Square studios for an appearance on "Good Morning America" to promote our Cooks Who Care edition of The Taste of Home Cookbook. I do a lot of TV, but the national stuff is always a neat treat for me.

The segment itself was a ton of fun. Weather guy Sam Champion was my cheerful host, and together we built yummy Breakfast Bake casseroles, one of our Cooks Who Care recipes (labeled as such because the ingredients are easy to buy and assemble, it makes a lot, it's pretty cheap and, maybe best of all, the casseroles can be frozen before baking for up to three months!).

Ours were uncooked and completely inedible, but our wonderful food stylist, Karen Pinkus, had beautiful, delicious and fully cooked versions for the TV cameras to romance and for the GMA hosts to sample.

We also had our wonderful Caramel-Pecan Apple Pie and that ever-popular Tortilla Chicken Lasagna, too--all portioned neatly onto plates by Karen. Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts joined us at the end, and they all ate happily. Which proves the magic of Taste of Home recipes--they even work on celebrities! (The photos are a little blurry and angle-challenged; the TV cameras had all the best spots!)

Having so many people watching--they crowd folks into the street-level studio for certain segments to keep the energy high--added to the overall merriment. They laughed and applauded and were thoroughly enjoying their role in all of it. The GMA hosts are beloved, and it certainly was special for me to be a part of that great human chemistry.

Especially significant was that we were able to give a "shout-out" to three of our Taste of Home readers who are Cooks Who Care. Sheral Wilson of Lehi, UT, galvanized a community to help provide good meals for the family of a young girl undergoing chemotherapy. Alison and Larry Gilmore of Portland, OR, bring casseroles every Sunday to their city's Potluck in the Park, a weekly volunteer event aimed at feeding homeless and needy city residents. And then there's Miranda Walters. At church in Cedar Falls, IA, Miranda learned about the plight of African children suffering from malaria. She decided to help: With help from her grandmother and other church members, she organized a bake sale and raised over $600 to buy mosquito nets for these children. She is just 12 years old.

Our hope is that by sharing these and other Cooks Who Care stories, more home cooks will be inspired to find an opportunity, perhaps as close as their own neighborhoods, to use their passion for cooking to give back to someone in need. (When you purchase the book, you get access to an exclusive web site that offers many suggestions on how you, too, can become or be recognized as a Cook Who Cares.) So it was wonderful to have a national spotlight for this grass-roots effort that's simply about what Taste of Home readers do anyway. You cook because you care. And we love to share that.

Being at a national television network always gives one a very interesting view of the news. It's kind of cool to hear news not in my own home but in the place where it's actually transformed from satellite feeds, phone interviews and video into an Emmy-Award-winning telecast. Well, more than kind of cool: For someone who majored in journalism in college, it's like being at Disney World when you're 6 years old.

I learned today that President Barack Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Whether you voted for him or not, you have to admit this was a great moment for our country. I saw people who were interviewed in the morning for a "20/20" segment about the infamous Astor family scandal that aired later Friday night. I also learned about NASA hurling two SUV-size rockets at the moon today. Well, that's not entirely true. I actually first heard about this moon thing from the doorman at my hotel.

As I waited for the car to pick me up early this morning, this affable gentleman at the door discovered where I was headed. "You goin' to ABC?" he asked. "Well, find about them blowin' up the moon."

O-kay. As if reading my mind, and before I could ask any questions of clarification, he said, "My brother heard they blowin' up the moon. What's up with that?"

"Huh. Wow. Really!" Having not heard this piece of news previously, and given I'd had about three hours of sleep, it was pretty much the only response I could offer.

"Why would anyone want to blow up the moon?" he went on. "We done enough damage here on the Earth without screwing up the moon. What if stuff falls down on us? Scientists, man, what are they thinkin'?!"

Indeed. There was nothing I could do but agree, and certainly about the falling stuff part. So my first task when I arrived in the GMA green room (not green at all, as you would guess) was to ask green-room monitor Rachel if she knew anything about this moon destruction business. She hadn't. But being a savvy internet user, she Googled "blowing up the moon." Sure enough, Rachel found some truth to my good man's assertion. It later played out on GMA live.

If you watched any news today, you know that NASA was not blowing up the moon. But they did, in fact, aim and shoot gigantor-size projectiles at it, hoping to discover what might lie beneath the moon's surface (all apologies to Buzz Aldrin and his crew for way oversimplifying this). In the green room, we watched the live coverage of the droppage. We joked about how the graphic identifying the location of this news event as, simply, "The Moon." Not Washington, D.C., or Baghdad or New York City Hall or a street in your town, but...The Moon. In the early morning hours today, that was somehow utterly hysterical to us all.

After the show was over, I walked back to my hotel hoping to find my pre-dawn pal to let him know the real deal about the moon. Alas. His hotel shift over, he'd split. Oh, well. I hope someone else sets him straight.

Catherine M Cassidy
Editor-in-Chief, Taste of Home Brand

Parting note: Converse shoes seem to be a favorite of many GMA staffers, including our producer, Anthony. His black and gold "wheels" were so cool I couldn't resist snapping a photo to send to my college freshman daughter. Jess had--and wore--the same pair of brown and white Converse sneakers through her ENTIRE four years of high school. And we live in Wisconsin. They were ripped to absolute shreds and practically disintegrating by the time graduation rolled around. I shared with the group that I'd wanted to trash them three years ago, but Jess simply wouldn't part with them. Nods all around the room. Ripped and nasty Converse, apparently, are cool Converse. I learn something new every day.

Witch's hairy fingers breadsticks

GMtina — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:38:18 GMT

I made these wonderful breadsticks and want to tell you that I reached for the wrong bag of cheese. The recipe calls for Parmesan cheese but I put in mozarrella cheese instead. Made the breadsticks nice and light and absolutely delicious! I still put the parmesan cheese on the outside. I will be making lots of batches of this easy and fun recipe. It is from the "halloween food & fun" it has the cute cupcakes on the front cover.

weekend cooking

Kavina — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:18:11 GMT

Ok so The boys and I have made muffins, and will be working on apple crisp. It is going to be a 4day weekend of baking and cleaning. we are practising for the holiday back off.. it is not really a bake off, we call it that cause it seems that every week or every couple of days starting on halloween we are always baking for something or someone!! We have fun wile doing it though. Wish us luck this weekend!

Taste of Home Cooking School Part 6

Kristi217 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:28:32 GMT

It's been a busy couple of weeks! I had a great show at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi UT. The stage looked gorgeous with the decorations from the gardens there. It was a near sell-out crowd, too! From there I headed to sunny California for a couple of shows. The first was at the Convention Center in Los Angeles, as part of the 33rd Annual Home Remodeling and Decorating Show. There were quite a few kids in the audience at this show, which was fantastic! I love seeing children get excited about cooking!! I have one more show in partnership with the Home Show - it's at the Orange County Fairgrounds on October 24. If you live close by, make sure to come out for some great remodeling and decorating ideas from all of the vendors, and then stick around for the Cooking School.

My next stop was way up north, in Yreka CA. It was my second time doing a show here, and it was just as good as last time! Fantastic vendor booths (I even saw a chocolate fountain at one!) great door prizes, and just a fun crowd. Then I continued my way north to Grants Pass Oregon. It's been a few years since Taste of Home has done a Cooking School here, and we were happy to be back! Soroptomist International River Valley sponsored the show, and they did a fantastic job. Lots of door prizes, fun vendor booths, excited crowd - it was a lot of fun!

I'm headed back to California this week for two shows - Yuba City and Paradise. I did shows in both of these location last year, and they were both great! Make sure to get your tickets soon, if you haven't purchased them yet!! Hope to see you there

Growing up in Washington, one of my favorite things to look forward to in the fall was apples. It's so nice to have fresh, crisp apples to snack on. When I was in high school, I came across this great dip for apples - it's so quick and easy, and definitely delicious. Give Taffy Apple Dip a try if you're looking for something new!

While you're exploring tasteofhome.com, make sure to stop in at the Cooking School Forum. We'd love to hear about your experiences at the Cooking School!!