"Overdone and Undercooked" Newspaper Columns©

Uh March, the month of green shamrocks and potatoes.  Potatoes?  Yes, that starchy tuber was at one time a major food source to the Irish.  March is the perfect month to celebrate this super stable.

Rich in energy-providing carbohydrates with zero fat the potato is America’s answer to quick and creative cooking ideas.

A potatoes healing abilities start in the peel.  A  baked 7-ounce spud contains more than twice the potassium of one medium-size banana.

The potato is everywhere you look but unfortunately he is still confined to rumors that is best eaten: Fried.

I recently caught up with Mr. Potato cozy in his large space inside Safeway ‘s produce bin.

Q.  The fact that you share your bin close to the sweet potato does that mean you are related?

A.  Actually, expect in name the sweet potato and I are not related.  I mean puh-leeze can’t you tell with that intense lush orange color that she is a member of the morning glory family?

Q.  I have heard that sweet potatoes are loaded with beta carotene, Vitamin A, hence their brilliant orange color.

A.  Yeah, what is your point?

Q.  I just wondered if you might be a little fried over that?

A.  Hey, I thought this interview was about me.   And my relatives, round reds, yellow flesh, blue, purple, russets, long whites (deep breath), etc?

Q.  Yes, you’re quite right.  Let’s start with you Mr. Potato.  Are you considered a “waxy” or “floury” type of potato.  I have heard these terms describe the texture of a potato.

A.  OK.  I want you to get this straight.  This is very important.  Waxy:  Denotes low-starch, high water content.  These waxy potatoes keep their shape when cooked.  They  are my cousins, the red and white potato.

Q.  I see.   Mr…Ummm, can I just call you, Spud?

A.  Of course, of course, I don’t usually get to baked about people using my nickname.

Q.  Spud, please describe “floury” potatoes.

A.  We will always have our differences but the floury potato denotes high in starch and low in water.  This is because heir sugar content has converted to starch by the time the potato is harvested.  These potatoes “fluff” when baked or other words just call them Russets.

Q.  Do I see a little green envy around your eyes?

A.   Psst, come a little closer and I’ll show ya.  OK NOT THAT CLOSE!  My skin… and now, I don’t want you to lose any peel over this, but it has been over-exposed to light.  Which can sometimes cast a green tint of color.

Q.  Oh, I see…does that make you bitter?

A.  Noooooo, just cut away the green portion before cooking.

Q.   Talking of cooking.  I hear that you are absolutely your best fried or in a potato salad.

A.  Geeez!  When are you people going to realize that I can be whipped, scalloped, AuGratin, and mashed and soooooo much more?

Q.   Mashed?

A.  It is easy.  But some people get twice-baked about it. Let me explain.  On your stove top in a saucepan, combine potatoes and enough salted water to cover, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook until tender; drain.  If cooking whole potatoes, allow 30 t0 40 minutes; if cut -up potatoes, allow 20 minutes.  Using a potato masher or electric mixer, mash potatoes.  Mix in, Now this is the most important part – always use WARM milk or cream.  Add butter to taste.

Q.  Recently, a friend informed me that you hope customers here at Safeway will keep you in the dark.  Just, what does that mean?

A.  The reason. .  I didn’t want you to get to close to me, earlier, was because I’v e got a …sprout.

Q.  Oh.

A.  Yeah, if you don’t keep me in a cool (40F to 50F) dry, dark place to protect me from light exposure…I grow sprouts.  But, just knock ’em off and prepare me anyway.  I always taste fine.

Q.  Well, I’ve leaned bushels about potatoes today.   Thank you, Spud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch your metaphors if you catch yourself saying, “I can’t stomach that,” or “I’m fed up.”  Your digestive system maybe sending you a  not too subtle message.

Deborah Krouse-Shields, a certified laser reiki master and hatha yoga instructor, believes people with gastrointestinal complaints will find that yoga massages internal organs and eases constriction.

Sitting on the classroom floor with legs crossed and back straight.  Shield shuts her eyes and breathes in.  Her voice is low.  The room is dark.  A candle flickers and new age music plays softly in the background.

Verbiage like celestial navigation, pranayama, charka, and earth’s energy spews from her lips like water down a fall.

She explains to her students as they bend into their yoga postures that breathing or (pranayama as it is called in hatha yoga) is the point to achieve  state of stillness, perceive celestial energy attuned with other life source energy.

Shield’s quiet, affirming voice allows her words to penetrate as deep as the stretching, which releases accumulated metabolic toxins in the tissue.

“The journey is the goal, so take your time,” She trills, tapping her thyroid with her flattened hand while marching in place.

Yoga is no magic bullet, but our systems that have been stressed by bad eating and poor digestion can be cleansed.  This ancient healing art will allow you to transcend the limitations of everyday thoughts.  It will help strengthen your nerves, and invigorate your life with vital energy.

The landscape is dotted with fast-food franchises only too happy to sell high-fat, sugary foods to all comers.  And yoga philosophy believes that almost all disease derives from poor digestion.

So, what do we do?  Remember that the body needs food for two purposes: As fuel to supply energy and to repair body tissues.  If fuel in the form of food were not available, the body would consume itself.

The following four elements, proteins, carbohydrates, fat and minerals are found in larger proportions, in vegetables than in animal tissues.

Nuts, peas, beans, milk and cheese contain a  large  percentage of protein, whereas wheat, oats, rice, and other grains, potatoes, etc., are mainly carbohydrates (sugar and starches).

The main supply of organic minerals comes from fruits and vegetables.

Vegetables are the most important source of vitamin in a diet.  Those which can be eaten raw, such  as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and tomatoes contain the three main types of vitamin:  A, B and C.  Vitamins A and B are not appreciably affected by boiling, but frying may destroy them.

Milk is a complete protein food.  Thus, a diet containing milk and dairy products, fresh fruits, leafy vegetables ad whole grains should be an ideal vitamin-rich diet.

The general rule of the Yoga students calls for a combination of nuts, cereals and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables to get all of the important vitamins and minerals. Yoga experts believe a natural diet gives more disease resistance and prolong life.

Some common spices that aid digestion can be sprinkled on food.  Just a pinch of Coriander, Cardamom, Cumin, and Turmeric is very helpful.

Shields says that when holding static yoga postures, inhale deeply through your nose into your abdomen.  Then slowly exhale and envision that your entire being is cleansed of all negativity and no longer needs emotions.

Inhale again visualizing your being suffused with you, then exhale, emanating this joy to the universe around you.  This active focus on using the breath to release tension to heal yourself instills a peace of mind and emotional stability.  It will allow serenity to flow through you and it will deeply change the quality of your life, Shields says.

The five important Yogic rues for good health: proper exercise to stimulate circulation, proper breathing exercise, to absorb more oxygen, proper relaxation of the body and mind, natural wholesome food and proper thinking and concentration of the mind.

Yoga is not for sissies.  You do not have to be strong or even flexible to start. Almost anyone can do it.  It does take practice.  And none too soon in our stress-filled culture that upsets our stomachs.

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I would enjoy hearing from readers who are addicted to eating and show no signs of breaking the habit.  Leave me a message if you have a recipe for breakfast, lunch or dinner that understands a life interrupted by kids, work and laundry!

 

 

Happy New Year!  Quick. . .go get your scissors, you will want to cut this column out of the newspaper and keep it handy.  I have complied many new, quick and exciting helpful hints of food for the body and living hints for the soul.  A terrific way to start your New Year!

If you find a day in this brand New Year where your recipe or just the day feels a little ‘Overdone and Undercooked’ remember this special recipe for happiness. . .just for you.

Here ’tis:  Combine 1 cup of love, a pinch of helpfulness, a sprig of loyalty and a dash of patience.  Mix a generous portion of smiles and a few drops of tears.  Fold these ingredients into the mixture; stir until it forms a light consistency.  Sprinkle with a little kindness and serve every day.

20 FOOD HINTS FOR THE BODY AND LIVING HINTS FOR THE  SOUL

1. Try using plastic bags (that come from the dry cleaners) under your throw rugs to keep them from slipping.  It works like a charm.
2. I have just found a wonderful lint remover.  Just put on a rubber glove and rub the garment.  The lint comes off like a magnet.
3. Use cornstarch to clean fuzzy stuffed animals.  Rub the cornstarch on the fuzzy part and let it stand a few minutes and then brush out the cornstarch and the toys are clean once again.  Use the cornstarch as it comes right out of the box.
4. Don’t throw away lemon halves after the juice has been extracted.  They may be dipped in salt and rubbed on the bottom of your copper-bottomed pots for a few minutes and they will gleam like new. Then pick up a soap-filled pad and scour the bottom of the pot lightly.  This will leave a film on the pot, which will help prevent further accumulation.
5. Lemons also work on a cutting board.  After rubbing on your pots, allow to stand for about one hour.  Then wash the board under your hot water faucet with some good detergent and put out in the sun to dry.  You will find that your cutting board will be bleached to a whiteness as never before.
6. This is a really nifty trick using good ole aluminum foil. Just wad up a piece of foil.  After making a ball rub briskly over any rusted spots on your chrome furniture or chrome-plated bumpers.  Get ready to take a deep breath of wonder as you watch that rust disappear.
7. Would you like to know a surefire method for keeping cut flowers fresh twice as long?  Simply add an aspirin to the water in your vase.
8. To apply nail polish more easily, simply grasp an empty coffee cup with the hand to be painted.  This make it so much easier to steady your hands.
9. Husband used up all the rags?  Got a messy project and don’t want to ruin your clothers?  For shoulder-to-knees protection when painting or doing messy chores, cut a T-slit at the bottom of a plastic trash bag, cut holes at the sides under the fold, slip arms and head through the slits.
10. Here’s the fastest way to remove the core from a head of iceberg lettuce; bang the head, core side down, on to a hard surface such as your kitchen counter and the core should pop right out.
11. To remove pesky onion and garlic smells from your wood cutting boards, scrub the surface with a paste of baking soda and water.
12. Try saving the water from boiled peeled potatoes to use in your next bread mix. It adds the perfect flavor to bread loaves.
13. Neighborhood dogs won’t stay out of your garbage cans? This remedy works every time-pour a dash of household ammonia into garbage bags before closing them.  The scent will deter those critters.
14. When forming meatballs with all of the gooey stuff included, put a few drops of vinegar on your hands every so often and the ingredients will not stick to your hands.
15. A teaspoon of salad oil prevents rice from sticking together and keeps water from boiling over.  And speaking of boiling over, never put a lid on a pot that contains milk, you are guaranteed a mess.
16. When cutting hard-boiled eggs in two dip your knife in boiling hot water first. This makes the most beautiful slice you have ever seen.
17. Have you ever wondered how restaurants make those cute garnishes? For a fancy carrot curl cut thin lengthwise strips of carrot with a vegetable peeler. Roll around your finger and fasten with toothpick. Chill in ice water. Remove picks before using.
18. For radish roses, cut root and stem end from radish. Then, cut down from stem end in four or five pieces to pull skin away and from petals.
19. If your a homemade cook and like to fix and freeze, remember these helpful hints. Cooked foods should be cooled before being put into freezer.
20. Keep food packages as thin and flat as practical, foods will freeze and thaw more quickly.  And if you run out of freezer containers for your homemade soup, let the soup cool and put into freezer bags.  They will freeze flat and you can re-heat in the bag.  Remember do that if you use freezer bags, the frozen mixture may not be as deep as a frozen block of food from a container. Therefore, the reheating time may be shorter.

Do you have any crazy recipes that your friends and family are amazed by the ingredients?  You know like “Brown paper bag apple pie” or 7-UP cake. I would love to feature your favorites next month.

 

 

It’s a pleasant, wet and rainy day, and I am standing in a semicircle of approximately 133 “you cut ’em” Christmas trees.

My husband is running with a sawblade in his left hand, a blue tarp in his right hand, and a translucent look in his eyes.  Evidently, he has spotted yet another tree that might meet his specific conditions.

My 7-year old daughter is lying on the ground at my feet, moaning deliriously that she is “tree sick.”  Her tiny limp body is lying quietly as she explains that after rows and rows of trees she can no long muster the energy to walk another step.

I don’t know about you, but when I go to ‘cut’em” I don’t waste a lot of time. I stride briskly to the most attractive tree standing and shout, “Here!”

Your professional Christmas tree cutter (husband), on the other hand, does not even think about cutting until he has conducted a complete tree study of the site-circling the selected tree warily, as though it were an alien space-ship, checking it out from every possible angle, squatting and squinting, finger in the air checking the wind, feeling the needles, analyzing the distance from the road to the truck, back to the tree…

And so, amid an atmosphere of unbearable tension, comparable to not being able to find your car keys when you are already late to that very important meeting, my daughter and I wait, and wait, and wait.

By now our daughter is trying to make snow angels in the mud and I am unbelievably letting her.  I see other families in the tree farm.  They’re staring intently at trees way off in the distance, but I think they’re staring at us.  We have been here so long.

I think about grabbing my daughter’s hand and pulling her up to her feet and taking her down the hill for our third cup of hot cider and her second candy cane, but too late, she has been entertaining the crowds by holding her breath as she runs up and down the tree rows.

The more time that passed with virtually nothing happening, the more excited I got about that cider.  I started down the hill when suddenly I heard a loud, long, whopping yelp that I recognized as my husband.

I turned to see him stand up, wipe tree pitch off his hands, and in a voice that would have made a gold digger stop, announced, “This …is the tree.”

There it stood in all of its glory-all 14 feet of it.

“That’s too big,” I said.

“Not so,” he said. “I will trim off the bottom.  You’ll see.”

“Don’t you remember last year?” I asked.  “It was too big, you did not trim enough.”

“Did so.”

“Did not.”

“Did so.

“Did not.”

“Did.”

“Not!”

Like anything else, success depends on the proper tools, so in the back of our truck is an assortment of many saws, blue tarps, gloves, rope and any necessity to fall Paul Bunyan’s tree.

“Quick, run back to the truck and pick out the yellowed handled two blade milliliter saw.  Oh, and by the way, grab me a cider,” he says with a big smile.

Rolling my eyes back in my head and shrugging my shoulders, I approached the tree surgeon punched him in the arm where he pretended to be knocked into the fir tree, and I headed to the car trying to consider the many, many complex factors involved in the “you cut ’em tree man.

This is, after all, a once a year experience.  And this tree-prepare to experience a heart tremor- was home cut.  How were we going to get it in the truck, let alone through the front door?  At least when I finally do get home I can make a nice hot cup of:

HOT SPICY APPLE CIDER

6 cups apple cider, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon rind, 1 can (2-1/2 cups) unsweetened pineapple juice.

Heat cider and cinnamon stick in a large pan.  Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 5 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered 5 minutes longer.

SIMPLY DELICIOUS EGGNOG

1 egg, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 cup chilled milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.  Beat egg and sugar together.  Beat in milk and vanilla.  Serve cold in a tall glass sprinkled lightly with nutmeg.  Serve immediately

Note:  This column was published in Sandra Haldeman Martz of Papier-Mache Press, anthology “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays”.  Where I was welcomed by two different Barnes & Noble bookstores that held a booksigning and reading. 

 

They say that home is not where you live, but where they understand you. And everyone knows there is no place like home for the holidays.  Even if you are surrounded by relatives who say all the wrong things, it is home.

Stuffed stomachs and flushed cheeks stagger from the Thanksgiving dining room table and toward the couches and soft chairs of the living room.  Too many people in a small room sacked out on the sofa or burrowed close to  one another like biscuits in a tin.  Thankful for another year.

It is at this time of year we were taught to be thankful for what we have and to think of others less fortunate. But, how many of us have wondered what happens to those less fortunate during the rest of the year.

Something remarkable is happening–right here in Seattle–and it happens every week.  It starts on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Josephinum Hotel in downtown Seattle.  This beautiful building was built in 1906.  The ceilings in the lobby are stained glass.  The original lighting fixtures, huge orb shades, rise in the cathedral ceiling alongside the marble columns.  In the lobby, next to the piano, the room embraces a group of homeless people.  They all admit to being clean and sober and ready for a commitment.

They are about to begin a journey back.  Back before homelessness, hunger, isolation and hopelessness, took them far, far away from home.  They are about to take a tour of a facility called FareStart.

FareStart transforms the lives of homeless and disadvantaged men and women. They have a vision to transform our community so all people have a sense of belonging, enrichment and hope in their lives.

And it is working.  Combining the operations of the hotel restaurant, café and in-depth life skills instruction these people are given a chance to start over; to find a life.

The tour takes them inside the hotel’s restaurant.  The front wall displays pictures of recent FareStart graduates, holding their certificates and wearing ear-to-ear grins.

After the tour-if they accept-they are given shots by the health department, housing, and a 16-week commitment of hard work which will prepare them for future food-service jobs.

“The first two weeks are the hardest,” says Lillian Hochstein, FareStart’s development director. “By then the true commitment comes out. Twenty-five percent don’t make it to the third week.”

Those lucky enough to make it to the third week begin Life Skills.  Life Skills training takes place over three weeks with a licensed counselor. “Here everyone has a chance to deal with anger management, trust issues, being a capable person,” says Hochstein, a petite blond who rolls up her sleeves and tells it like it is. “They learn to butt up against it and deal with it.”

FareStart generates 60 percent of its annual operating budget through Head Start programs, daycare center meals, the restaurant, café, and a Guest Chef night.

The rest of the operating budget is raised by Hochstein-a part-time grant worker-and volunteers.  They rely on individuals, corporations, foundations and special events.

An extensive network of the area’s finest restaurants, hotels and institutions are eager to place program graduates.  That is why during weeks 13 through 15 students spend time in Life Management classes.  Here they are taught resume preparation, interviewing skills, relapse prevention and job-placement counseling.

Hochstein gets a bit misty eyed when asked if the environment might get a little disheartening.  “It is more heartening than not,” she grins. “That first student during his first week: no eye contact, head down, and to see him again at the end of the 16th week: upbeat, employable, chatting.  To see the change is amazing.  Homeless people feel very isolated and FareStart gives them the feeling that they are needed, especially when they see the amount of volunteers who care about them.”

Head Chef Cameron Orel of Yarrow Bay Beach Café volunteered her skills at FareStart when she was a Guest Chef.  Guest Chef night is every Thursday.  A different Guest Chef runs the kitchen producing fabulous meals and also giving the students the ability to work with a variety of chefs.

Orel remembers being very nervous.

Not because the students were homeless; her father instilled charity into her. When she was a little girl, her father worked near the Kingdome.  She remembers his generosity to people on the street.  “Never look down upon someone who has fallen,” he would tell her.

She was nervous about the students getting the food out in time. She was “floored.” Fifteen students with minimal experience and 15 personalities shined.

She remembers one student in particular who did exceptionally well. She hired him after his graduation. She recalls, because it was such a gratifying personal experience.

She showed him how to present the plate. He asked if she would show him again. Then he remarked to her that the second time it was different. Orel replied that each plate you can make different designs.  He was so excited to have the chance to be creative he was almost overwhelmed.

Over 2,000 meals a day are prepared and served. FareStart has doubled the students in the last three years and has added a double shift.

A home and understanding make each day at FareStart a holiday.

Honor your friends and relatives this year by giving a gift that will transform a life. FareStart will host a special giving tree in the restaurant.  Purchase a FareStart ornament to place on the tree.  The money raised from the ornament will go directly to the student services fund, which is used to purchase items for the students such as work shoes, eyeglasses, coats and other essential items.

You can also pick up a wish list for a student or a graduate.  Gifts will be collected until Dec. 20.  For information call FareStart at (206) 443-1233, ext. 17

 

Fall brings a season of delicious harvests.  But who cares?  It is October!  I can feast on apples and pears any ol’day. But at the end of this month it is Snickers and Mars bars.  Bite size, king size, oh-h-h-h for a chocolateholic is there any better holiday than Halloween?

What other holiday do you send your child out to roam the streets in the dark to come home and deposit $100 worth of candy on the kitchen table.  There gleaming under the kitchen light: Butterfingers, M&M’s, Baby Ruths, Dots and Hershey bars.

You beg and cajole with your children to pleaaassse share that tiny Tootsie Roll, only to have their grubby (oh, I meant chubby) little hands grab it and yell, “NO!”

Halloween is such a wonderful time for children, full of spooky stories, costume parties, games and good things to eat.

With all that trick or treating children will be thirsty.  Have big pitchers of cold apple cider or have a large bowl of punch or grape juice, and tell the children they have to stir it well to make their spells jell!

Let’s face it.  Halloween is sugar, sugar, sugar!  Let’s get the kids (and Mom) started now!

Trick or Treat!

P.S.  It is October–the beginning of the frightful threes:  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  Soon we will be plunged into heavy holiday eating.  But stop right there, because the fact is, like a lot of us, I need to regain my composure and admit there are only two months until Christmas!  We have got to paint the living room, sew drapes, hook a carpet, make matching outfits and bake! Help!  Share your favorite quick and easy recipe.  Keep those e-mails coming!

MONSTER MUNCH

1 cup chocolate pieces

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup peanuts

1 cup corn Chex cereal

Melt chocolate pieces until all are smooth.  Mix remaining ingredients with the chocolate.  Shape into round balls, place on wax paper. Chill.

KEEN HALLOWEEN ICE CREAM

1 gallon of any flavor ice cream.  Width-wise slice one inch thick and place each slice on top of a graham cracker.  You have an ice cream sandwich!  Freeze on wax paper until serving time.

TRICK OR TREAT BASKETS

Cut firm oranges in half and scoop out the pulp.  Be careful not to break the skins.  Save the pulp and press through a strainer and use for juice at breakfast.  Fill the empty orange halves with canned or fresh fruit cocktail and before serving, top with scoops of vanilla and orange sherbet ice cream.

JACK O’LANTERN CAKE

Mix together: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 1 tsp. ginger (powdered) 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. salt.  Set aside.  In a large bowl beat one egg until fluffy.  Add 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup dark molasses.  Sift 1 tsp. baking soda with 2 cups flour and add to above mixture.  Bake at 325 degree in ungreased round cake pan for about about 35 minutes.  Cool before icing.

ICING:  1 cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 Tbsp. butter, 2 Tbsp. milk, orange food coloring.  Mix the sugar and butter in a bowl with a fork.  Add the milk slowly.  Stir until creamy.  Add drops of food coloring, stir until you get a pumpkin color.  Spread icing on the cake

PUMPKIN FACE:  You will need gum drops, candy corn and red licorice.  Arrange some gumdrops in a triangle shape to make the eyes. Arrange the candy corn in a triangle shape to make the nose.  Use the licorice whole as as strip or in pieces to outline the shape of the pumpkin’s mouth. Presto! You have a Jack O’Lantern cake!

GLOWING JACK O’LANTERN COOKIES:  Carve each pumpkin, then put in the “glow”

1/2 cup shortening

6 Tbsp. butter

3/4 cup sugar

Beat shortening and butter with an electric mixer in a large mixing bowl. About 30 seconds.  Add sugar and beat until mixture is fluffy.

1  egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. milk

Add egg, vanilla and milk to shortening mixture.  Beat well.

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1  1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

In a separate mixing bowl coming flour, salt, and baking powder.  Gradually add flour mixture to shortening mixture, beating well.  Cover and chill three hours.

Roll out half of the dough on a floured surface.  Cut into 4 to 5 inch circles.  With a sharp knife, cut pumpkin eyes, nose, and mouth out of each circle.  Fill holes with crushed hard orange sour candy.  Attach cut out stems.

Place cookies 2 inches apart in a foil covered cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes until cookies are light brown.  Cool.  Makes great pumpkin-head cookies that you can see through.

 

 

 

“When I lived in Italy, it was like I was on the Planet Crypton,” Nick Stellino confides. “When I arrived in America (planet earth) I felt as if I could become Superman”.

Sicilian-born, Chef Nick Stellino, decided to follow his heart.  His hard work and long efforts have made him the star of PBS’ most popular cooking show, “Cucina Amore”.

A partnership with West 175 and KCTS/Channel 9, has created a nationally syndicated cooking show and three cookbooks: Cucina Amore, Nick Stellino’s Glorious Italian Cooking and his newest, Nick Stellino’s Mediterranean Flavors, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

His graciousness showed under pressure at Woodinville’s Columbia Winery recent “Taste of Red” event.

Settling down on a couch in an upstairs room of the winery, he began to say how surprised he was by the power of television and how he marveled that people now stand up and listen to what he has to say.

“When I was a dishwasher no one said, “oh your eyes are so blue”, he laughed.  Dressed in a black turtle neck sweater, black pants and his black hair swept back in his now famous ponytail; Stellino seemed more philosopher than chef, his words spoken with his hands and his heart.

“Being a chef is a dream come true for me.  It has enabled me to incorporate all the things that are important to me into my daily life.”

Commutes from L.A.

Stellino’s daily life is spent living in Los Angeles with his wife Nanci. He spreads genuine warmth when he talks of her, and the passion of his childhood in Italy and the family stories which have become his trademark.

Each fall he arrives in Seattle to begin taping “Cucina Amore”. Twenty-six shows are taped a year at KTCS, sometimes up to three a day.  He is such a natural that there is no need for a rehearsal.  He writes his cookbooks at his favorite coffee shop in Los Angeles, or in his office at home.

Arriving in the United States as a teen-age exchange student, Stellino stayed and established a career as a stockbroker.  But, in 1991, after returning home to his uncle’s funeral in Sicily, he remembered his words, “that you should never die without having followed your dreams”.

He came home, quit, and landed a job as a dishwasher-but, the informal lessons he had learned from his family of passionate cooks helped him to rise from dishwasher to prep cook, to salad chef, to saucier-all the way to executive chef.

A local talent scout selected Stellino as the TV spokesperson for Ragu tomato sauces.  This national exposure led to his television cooking series.

As he enters the room to his attentive audience, he places a red-and-white checked kitchen towel around his waist.  He immediately charms them as he reiterates a question I had asked earlier, “What does it feel to be a success?”

Perceptions of success

He explains to the audience that success is a perception.  “It is not status quo-only perfect moments-are success.  People on TV seem so good, so special, but believe me I have burned a lot of recipes.  I can cuss very good in Italian”, he said.

His third book, “Nick Stellino’s Mediterranean Flavors,” is an all new collection of traditional Mediterranean cuisine recreated to make them simple enough for a novice or busy cooks.

I tried this recipe and found it very easy.  The gravy looked beautiful and the flavor was company quality.  After this success I tried many more recipes in this book.  I found them all to be peppered with Stellino’s enthusiasm and emotional connection making each dish memorable.

CHICKEN WITH GARLIC SAUCE

2 tablespoons flour

1-1/2 teaspoons sage

1-1/2 teaspoons rosemary

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 boneless chicken breasts, with skin on

3 tablespoons olive oil

20 garlic cloves!, cut in half length-wise

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 white onion, chopped

1/4 cup white wine

1-1/4 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon soft butter mixed with 1 tablespoon flour

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the flour, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper on a plate.  Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess flour.  Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauce pan set on medium high heat until sizzling, about 2 minutes.

Add the chicken breasts to the pan, skin-side down, and cook for 4 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a baking dish, skin-side up, and cook for 10-15 minutes in the preheated oven.

While the chicken is baking, add the remaining olive oil to the saute pan used for browning the chicken and heat over medium-high heat until sizzling, about 1 minute.  Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and onion and cook until the onion softens and the garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

Stir the wine into the pan, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Boil the wine until reduced by half, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the chicken stock and boil until reduced by half, about 7-8 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter-flour mixture, stirring until it has melted completely.  Return the pan to the heat and boil for a minute, until the sauce thickens.  Keep warm until ready to serve.

To serve, place the chicken breasts on serving plates, top with the sauce and a sprinkle of the chopped parsley.  Enjoy with a class of Cabernet Franc.

 

 

 

 

At exactly 3:05 p.m. on a recent afternoon, for no good reason, I found a pen beside the phone.

“What is this!” I shouted.  Looking at it in disbelief, I dropped everything and ran into the living room to express my excitement to the family.  Nothing much happened, a shrugged shoulder, a yawn, “When’s dinner?” was heard.  They just didn’t get it.

The plain and simple truth is that I have spent years taking phone messages and knocks at the front door for payment to the paper boy, Girl Scout cookies, the school drive wrapping paper fund, with only the writing utensils found in the house: crayons, pencils with no lead, yellow highlighters, chalk, eyebrow pencils, scented felt pens with collapsed tips, but never a pen.

Come to think of it, I can’t remember when I ever had a pen when I needed it…

“Your order please.”

“Yes. We will have a Happy Hamburger and…What? What do you mean it has to have ketchup and pickles only,” I lamented to my preschooler in the back seat of our mini-van.  “Last time you liked cheese.”

“I hate cheese,” she bellowed.  “Ketchup and pickles only!  Ketchup and pickles only!” chanted her three other friends in the car.  Now thumping their feet to the beat.

“Your order pleassse.”

“OK. OK. OK. We will have…”

“That will be $13.76. Please pay at the next window.”

I never have cash.  Not even pennies in my pocket.  Two reasons. Number one: If the kids I haul around hear that jingle they beg unmercifully.  If they see change in the ashtray they become animals and if they get their hands on it prying them away from gum, toy, and pop machines becomes well, you don’t want to know.  Number two: I write a check for everything and of course you need a pen.  I’m just thankful I have carbon checks.

We were inching our way closer to the window as I desperately searched for a pen in the car.  The car my husband specifically said, when it was new, we would never eat in.  I buried my hand in between the seats coming up with juice straws, sunflower seed shells, an overdue library book, but…no pen.

Anticipating the rolled eyes I would get from the cashier at the window when I asked for a pen, I braked and ordered everyone to put their heads down and look.

As I glanced under the car seat at the spilled coffee stains and candy wrappers, I thought of my husband who had recently rolled the van (I can’t eat in it, but he can dent it!)  He said that the accident was not bad, the really scary part was all the barreling lunchboxes and the stretched out arms and legs of Barbie dolls flying at him like scud missiles.

In the back seat squeezed in between the children was the dry-cleaning bag, the used clothes for the consignment shop (that had sat in the car so long it had its own permanent seat), the milk bottles, the post office parcel, and everything else for our day in the car errands.  Each stop would need a pen.

After taking the silent abuse from the cashier, I assertively explained to her my plight.  “Could I be as bold as to ask you for your pen?”  She just looked deep into my eyes and let me know that there was a speed car racer pen in the Happybox. “You flip the headlights back and write,” she growled, then threw back her head and laughed.  Relieved, I went to our next stop only to have the pen run out of ink.

I had had it with my family.  I left the living room to go look at the pen beside the phone.  Naturally, it was gone.  I didn’t even flinch.

Now write this information down (with whatever you’ve got) because here are a few excellent food tips to better your day:

*Cornstarch is a tried-and-true “secret ingredient” that’s right in your cupboard.  It makes glossy gravies, satiny sauces and delicately firm cream-pie fillings and puddings. This easy-to-use thickening agent is made from corn, and is an economical substitute for flour.

*Use celery tops as a basting brush.  Eliminates brush washing.  Nature’s baster.

*Serve tea with an orange wedge instead of lemon.  Orange adds a tangy natural sweetness.

*In its original container, butter can be kept in the freezer.

*Instead of adding milk when mashing potatoes, add the hot cooking liquid the potatoes were cooked in and save calories.

*For uniformly sliced mushrooms use an egg slicer instead of a knive.

*For soft biscuits, bake close.  Firm biscuits, bake inches apart

(Shanna enjoys sharing her stories and recipe ideas with readers. Her column appears the first and third weeks of each month.)

 

Experts agree that the correct way to get into the holiday spirit is to relax and not allow yourself to become overwhelmed.

For example, the other day someone told me that it was the end of June.

“WHAT?!”

Helpful strangers standing yards away, shouted.  “Three days until Fourth of July!”

“How could it be?” I queried the clerk as I scratched out “May” on my check for groceries.  Then my faithful friend, Margo arrived on the scene and without a second’s hesitation reminded me I am to bring the main course for the annual Fourth of July picnic.  What was I bringing?

By now I am considering making a break from the grocery line but I had other items on my busy agenda, with number one being remembering how to breathe.

I remembered to rely on the techniques for living a well-balance life that I had just read as I waited in line to check out my groceries.

So here was the procedure:

Visualize what you want to accomplish (I cannot believe I signed up for MAIN COURSE!)

Try to see as an opportunity for growth and learning (The worst part is you have not a clue what to make and you are at the end of your monthly budget.)

Do things that bring joy and fulfillment into your life (And don’t think for a moment that you are going to get out of it, because you aren’t.)

I came out of my unconscious state mumbling, “Hot Dogs.”

“HOT DOGS!” Margo yelled over her shoulder.

I look down the crowded aisle of shoppers and they look at me with the bright polite smiles of people who do not have a clue what had just been said.

“Whoa! Now, Margo lets not be hostile.  I mean I’m not going to serve them with Cheez Whiz,” I explained.

‘To the best of my recollection, Cheez Whiz on a hot dog is mighty good,” said the customer second to the left in line.

I smile weakly.

Not feeling exceptionally energetic after purchasing $107.82 worth of groceries I knew as a food columnist I had to give that weenie a gourmet twist.

“Did I say Hot Dogs?  No, no, no I meant Frankfurters,” I said.  I felt a quiet giddiness and relief until I realized–condiments.

I pondered on this on the drive home.  As I breathe deeply (so as not to become overwhelmed) I thought there has to be more than one way to butter a hot dog bun.  Never doubt it, it only takes a rise in blood pressure to stagger the imagination to make a pretty dull weenie into…FOURTH OF JULY FRANKFURTERS

Score frankfurters about 1/4 inch deep.  Brush with a sweet-sour BBQ, or zesty tomato sauce.  Grill 6 inches from heat, turning and brushing once or twice with more sauce.  Grill for 10 minutes or until hot dogs are puffed and richly glazed.  Now take your pick of homemade condiments:

-Top grilled hot dogs with mashed avocado, sliced ripe olives and crushed cornchips.

-Line toasted hot dog buns with sautéed red and green peppers seasoned with chili sauce.

-Serve with grilled (canned or fresh) pineapple spears, chopped macadamia nuts and diced green peppers.

-Insert tiny pieces of white American Cheese into scored hot dogs before grilling; spread mustard on hot dogs buns  and arrange slices of red and green pickled cherry peppers around hot dog.

-Spread toasted hot dog buns with canned deviled ham, place grilled hot dogs over and top with chopped Bermuda onion or Walla Walla sweets.

-Wrap lean bacon around hot dogs before grilling and top with hot dog relish in toasted buns.

-Fill toasted hot dog buns with rice salad and place grilled hot dog over top with dairy sour cream seasoned with mustard.

-Top grilled hot dogs in toasted buns with orange sections and sweet onion slices.

#

 

 

 

 

It was Kathie Lee-or maybe it was Sara Lee-who once said, “Taking the highway to thindom has invariable been a bumpy road with a stop sign at the turn to dessert.”

Ever since I can remember any delectable morsel, that had the tag dessert, immediately registered: guilt and shame…following each bite.  Feeling deprived if not eaten, I had a continuous daydream, well more like a haunting novel, that some day, there would be a knock on my door…

My hero…with his palm gripping my doorknob, his heart throbbing in his ear, his free hand reaching for the sword that hung at his hip and his billowy white long-sleeved shirt, stuck to his perspiring chest, would kick the door in with his foot, sword thrust forward, and instead of grabbing me this modern day pirate sword turned into a plate of cookies!

Naturally, they would be low in salt, cholesterol and fat, high in fiber, several important minerals thrown in, and best of all–wouldn’t taste like a cereal box.  Guilt-free flavors of chocolate chip, brownie, macaroon and…

Pinch me.  Am I awake?  This is not fiction this is a fact!  Their is a super hero, Dr. Cookie-a.k.a., Dr. Marvin Wayne and Dr. Stephen Yarnall.

These medical professionals who believe wholeheartedly in a healthful lifestyle which includes desserts have written The New Dr. Cookie Cookbook.

“I believe that we can save more people with cookies and humor that we will with cardiology,” Yarnall stated when I talked with him recently at his cardiology clinic.

Dr. Yarnall”, a gregarious man with an impish grin, was sitting among walls lined with shelves of books and bright green magazine holders brimming with papers.

“What is this?” I asked, spreading my arms out to make a wide circle. Pointing to the papers, he looked at me, and explained that it was his library of research for Dr. Cookie and his other passions, writing and travel.

“Robin Leach, on his new TV food cable network, (via telephone) first question was about our Hippie Cookies,” Dr. Yarnall remembered, as he reached for a cloth covered bowl and handed me a chocolate chip cookie. (It was very chewy and very chocolate!)

Inching closer, I whispered, “Robin Leach? What other celebrities do you know?”

“Well,” Dr. Yarnall said proudly, “Julia Child and I were on CNN, and she complimented me for being a doctor who felt butter and eggs were not to  be thrown out of our lives.”

This…a cardiologist-a man who knows about clogging arteries-promoting cookies.  Since the only conversations I have had with doctors is flat on my back wearing a hospital gown, I was feeling a bit emancipated, and vertical. I pluckily asked, “Doctor!  You are going to offer me inner peace, by saying, it is OK to eat dessert?”

“What the consumer need think about butter, cheese, and eggs,” Dr. Yarnall explained, in his opinion, “is not to eliminate.  But the key to good nutrition, which is directly linked to good health, is moderation.  We believe in enjoying life to the fullest.  And for us, that means eating desserts.  Eat your basic food groups, exercise faithfully, and enjoy dessert.”

“Desserts are sweet and filling.  They satisfy your appetite as no raw veggie can.  They are warm and comforting.  They are fun and celebratory.  Each recipe is carefully, lovingly, created for enjoyment, without the explosion of fats and calories,” he assured me.

Thumbing through his book, I asked what was his favorite recipe.  He said it was “Dr. Cookie’s World Famous Cheesecake.”  The recipe: One slice of your absolute favorite cheesecake.  One very special friend.  Two forks. Combine the ingredients. Savor every bite.  Talk about how wonderful it is to enjoy great food with even greater friends. Smile a lot.  And don’t feel guilty.

I liked Dr. Yarnall.

He is also known for “Doc Talk,” a monthly question and answer column he writes for Hope Health Letter.  He and his wife, Lynn (a 100-mile ultra marathon runner)enjoy giving lectures on Royal Cruise Line tours in his philosophy of dessert-ing your way to health.  They have fun by using magic tricks and optimism; they naturally share.

I hate to tell myself this, but there is no more excuse for daydreaming.  This book supports those of us that have had an unhealthy fear of eating desserts and can actually say, “It is the doctors orders.”

DR. COOKIE’S DIVINE ALMOND MACAROONS

1 large egg white (at room temperature)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sliced almonds

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

Beat egg white with an electric mixer set at high until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating. Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Add the almond and vanilla extracts and beat at medium speed just until blended.  Fold the almonds and oats into the meringue.

Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonful’s onto the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned