Cookerati

What I’m trying – Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper

The Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper helps to preserve the wine left in your bottle after you’ve opened it, plus removes any air left in the bottle.  The Classic wine preservation kit contains one pump, to remove the air and two stoppers.  You line the preserver pump onto the stopper and pull the air out until the red indicator disappears. It’s easy to use, and though I don’t have a scientific way to measure success (except for the red indicator), I can tell that when I take out the stopper, the whoosh of air tells me that the stopper worked.  I’ve had other stoppers and I also have an electric preservation kit, but none of it comes close to the Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper. The preserver is small enough to stick in a drawer and doesn’t need to be plugged in to an outlet, more pluses if you ask me.

Cook N’ Stir – My Son’s New Favorite Cooking Tool

I was sent a Cook N’ Stir by Beka - to try out.  It’s a 2 1/2 Quart measuring pot with a pour spout.  When my daughter and I saw it, we both immediately thought of her alfredo sauce.  I think it’s deep enough that her sauce won’t splatter all over – that’s always a problem when my kids cook.  The splatter goes everywhere.  This is less wide and more tall, so maybe less splatter  – one can hope.

What neither of us expected, is that my son has decided that it’s a great pot for using to make dinner.  He first tried it with a spaghetti meat sauce.  I thought it was a good idea (and hey no sauce splatter).  he cooked the meat in the microwave and prepared the sauce in the Cook N’ Stir, then added the meat to the sauce.  We loved pouring the sauce over top of the spaghetti.  Then another day he did macaroni and cheese. One of the features I love about the Cook N’ Stir is the thick bottom.  Not only did we not have splatter, but …

Man with a Pan edited by John Donohue

On Father’s Day I gave a tribute to the men in my life who cooked (or in my son’s case – didn’t cook). I got my inspiration from Man with a Pan, Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who Cook For Their Families. , a compilation of essays by different men, presented and edited by John Donohue, mostly it’s about how they were inspired to cook.  I find it fun to read the male perspective, though I came from a family where men were for the most part, comfortable in the kitchen.  I can identify with some of these men, whether directly or seeing a trait in someone else I know.  Manny Howard turning dinners into events with much ado – that was my father.  He believed dinner gatherings should center around the presentation of the food, even if it was delivered as everyone was leaving.

I get a kick out of reading what some of my favorite chefs like to say – like Mario Batali and how just a little bit of …

Cookerati Alert – Free Lipton Iced Tea

June 10th is National Iced Tea Day – Lipton is celebrating by giving away free iced tea to Facebook Followers.  
HOW:
1. “Like” Lipton Iced Tea on Facebook
 
2. Share free Iced Tea coupon with at least one friend.

3. Claim your free Iced Tea coupon.
New 100% Natural Lipton Iced Tea is available in four flavors: long-time fan favorites, Green Tea with Citrus and Iced Tea with Lemon, as well as two new flavors: Iced Tea with Blueberry Pomegranate and Green Tea with Passionfruit Mango. New Diet Green Tea with Watermelon joins the beloved Diet Green Tea with Citrus flavor.

To celebrate the new line and National Iced Tea Day, Lipton is also treating tea drinkers to unplugged music programming. Check out “The Natural Side of Music” online videos featuring cuts and conversations with music artists.

Everything Books To Help You Have a Healthy Summer

I have been given the opportunity to review a few Everything Books. These are great intro books to different subjects – you can read them from cover to cover to learn all about the subject, or you can search for particular information, tips, recipes and use it as reference material.  My biggest problem is there are no photos to go along with the recipes, and for something like the Everything Raw Foods Recipe Book, you might want to see what the finished product should look like.   The Everything books are perfect for trying out something new and using it as a guideline to figure it all out, inexpensively.    I’m going to quickly review three of these books :  The Everything Juicing Book, The Everything Mediterranean Diet Book, The Everything Raw Food Recipe Books.  Adams Media wants to help you start summer in a healthy way, so read all the way to the bottom to see what they have for us in June.

The Everything Mediterranean Diet Book  – All You Need TO Lose Weight And Stay Healthy -  This book is not just a recipe book.  Written by Connie Diekman and Sam Sotiropoulos the first one third of the book  leads you through the Mediterranean diet and healthy way of living.  What you need to do to live the Mediterranean way.  Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a staple in almost every meal, but there are plenty of other mediterraen must haves like roasted red peppers, red wine, feta cheese, lemons, etc.  There are suggestions throughout on how to lighten up a dish even more – like Chicken Galantine is suggested to be wrapped in Eggplant rather than back in it’s original Chicken skin.  This is a decent guide to help you get through trying to eat healthier and lose weight.

The Everything Raw Food Recipe Book -  by Mike Snyder and Nancy Faass with Lorena Novak Bull.  Raw Food Diets have always been perplexing to me.  I love my food warm and not so raw, so I don’t think I am willing to change.  However, I always say I’m willing to try new things, and raw foods are intriguing as well.  Did you know that dehydrating is a way to get the texture you need without baking or cooking?  I didn’t.  It almost seems like cheating.  The blender is your friend on the raw food diet as it is used in so many of the recipes.  Smoothies are a great way to start, though no one thinks about it being raw food.  I like the recipes in this, and though I don’t think I’m ready to make the switch, this is a great intro to a Raw Food way of eating.  This book also mentions that the Raw Food Diet is a great way to get healthy and lose weight.

Mixer Mate – Great Design for A Mixing Bowl

Mixer Mate is not your standard Mixing Bowl – big and round.  This bowl is narrow and more oblong, to help you mix in a more efficient way.  I  tried it out, and thought it did a great job of whipping things up, quickly.  It is deep, so nothing splatters, even when you are pulling the beaters up a little.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to reach the  bottom of the bowl because of the depth, but  the MixerMate Bowl was the perfect size and yet holds 3 quarts.

When my Mother in Law was visiting this weekend, I showed her the bowl and talked about the features.  Her response was the design made sense since she searches for a narrow bottom bowl when she gets her hand mixer out.  So there you have it perfect bowl for the hand mixer.

I also like the grippers on the bottom that keep it from sliding in the counter, and the wide lip that makes it easy to hold.  There are pour …

The Source by Wasserstrom in North Market

I’m sure I’ve told you that the North Market isn’t just food, but Saturday the Source was a treasure trove for me. The source is an outlet stall for Wasserstrom Restaurant Supply Goods. These items are quality goods, but maybe there’s only one of them.  The clearance rack was stacked with really nice pieces, mostly one plate, or one cup or one bowl of a certain type, but just was a foodie needs – or a college kid if you live in a house with 4 other girls like my daughter.  I made two trips to the counter with things I thought would highlight my food nicely. As a food blogger, it can be money intensive to find the right plates and bowls that draw your eye to the food, without distracting from it.  So one white coffee cup, or plate, or bowl even mismatched is a great deal.

The lady at the counter was really helpful, and told me that the cup I bought for 1.00 was a Rosenthal worth much more, but since there wasn’t a …

New Orleans Classic Gumbos & Soups

Tonight is the end of Mardi Gras – or Fat Tuesday.  The traditions of Mardi Gras originated in the New Orleans area, so I thought New Orleans Classic Gumbos and Soups (Classic Recipes Series) – Recipes From Favorite Restaurants by Kit Wohl – would be a fun book to review today.  If you are looking ahead to next years celebration, and need to figure out what to serve this will be the book to have.

Kit found recipes from her favorite chefs and restaurants all about New Orleans.  This book has the basics to start you out – like what’s the trinity (Oh, oh, I know I know) – to seasonings, how to make a roux, ways to cook ceratin foods and the basic gumbo, and sausage, red beans and rice recipes.  In addition to the ingredients that are normally found in your pantry, you’ll need to expand your freezer to include quail, alligator, turtle, duck and crawfish.  A couple of really neat recipes include the Sweet Potato Soup given …

Sundried Tomatoes – the Tasty Winter Alternative to Bland Store Tomatoes

I agree with Zerrin.  Tomatoes in summer, delicious, juicy, fragrant; tomatoes in winter – ugh bland, tasteless, not worth buying.  I have used canned tomatoes and still will use them, but I’ve found  a really good alternative in sundried tomatoes. Sundried tomatoes will add the texture and the taste without the added water or liquid.  They also don’t break down in your cooking when you use them. Plus they have all that lycopene goodness, 12 times the amount in a regular tomato.  Yummy goodness!

My sister in law made her own dried tomatoes using a dehydrator this summer and stores bags of them in the freezer.  Our tomatoes didn’t do as well,  so no dehydrating for us (we also don’t own a dehydrator – on the list).  I was sent some Bella Sun Luci sundried tomatoes and I love them.  There are both the reclosable zip packs and the jars with olive oil coated sundried tomatoes.  In my eggs I usually …