The Science of Good Food - The Ultimate Reference on How Cooking Works - This is more like an encyclopedia and more comprehensive over all. It is a thick heavy juicy reference book.  The different food topics are covered in alphabetical order, they include pictures, recipes, charts, cooking tips and instructions.

Entries are broken up into 3 sections.

• What it is - a definition, with maybe some historical background and other tidbits of information.
• What it does - the significance in food preparation and cooking with practical kitchen tips.
• How it works -the science behind the item including flavor chemistry and transformations that occur during cooking. 

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Route 29 is more retro looking, and has cool packaging ideas.  Chocolate caramel pops, and caramels in ornament boxes or peppermint bark in a store front box and even cinnamon licorice reindeer, really cool stuff.   The caramel pops are really cool peppermint caramel or gingerbread covered in chocolate for the holiday flavors, plus vanilla in milk chocolate, or chocolate in dark chocolate for all year.  The caramel tree ornaments are available in Cinnamon/Sugar Double-Up Caramel and Peppermint/Chocolate Double up Caramel.  Their caramels are so delicious, it’s difficult to describe how good they really are.  I loved the cinnamon/sugar double up myself, but the peppermint caramels are really good too.  There are also Mini-tubs with vanilla caramels, fruit caramels and vanilla and chocolate caramels.  The Uptown snackers are cute with little small business on the front.  The chocolate Peppermint Bark (White and Dark chocolate sprinkled with peppermint bits) had Dee’s Barkmint Store on the front of it.  These treats are sure to please!

Bloomsberry Chocolate is more of a message chocolate.  You can send the message you feel about the season or the holidays by the different types of wrapping on the chocolate bars.  For Thanksgiving you’d get one that says Stuff the Turkey - Eat Some Chocolate.(Hmm, which turkey are we referring to)  There’s another titled Holiday Hell or another that says Peace on Earth or  Hannakah Nosh - eight days of Chocolate.  These are thick 3.5 oz chocolate bars, most are 55 % dark unless they are milk chocolate. That’s sure to put you in a good mood, I’m sure it helped mine. Bloomsberry even has Emergency Chocolates, which is probably just what your college kid needs right before finals, right?

PETA is giving away a Tofurky.  win one of five Tofurky Roasts with gravy. The contest ends on November 19, and winners will be selected and notified the same day.

Turkey Hill has a recipe contest - Every three months we’ll select one lucky winner to receive a $50 Turkey Hill gift pack. -( It’s not a Turkey, but hey, it had turkey in the name).

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If you’ve never canned before, this is a great way to venture into it.  If you’ve done it before, but you think it’s a lot of work, then this is a great shortcut, believe me, I know.  If you are reluctant to spend the money on canning equipment start small and just get the jars and the lids, or plastic canning bowls and instead of doing the boiling water bath, put the jars into the freezer and make freezer jelly.  Then hand them out when everyone is leaving or bring them in a cooler to hand out to family.

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If you haven’t yet listened to WD Radio’s In the Kitchen  (WD Radio) on BlogTalkRadio, you’re missing a real treat. The show is hosted by several of Woman’s Day’s food editors and they offer tips and recipe ideas for the home cook. Lately they’ve been featuring some holiday themed shows. For instance, today at noon they’ll be giving out some kitchen prep tips. The beautiful thing about the BlogTalkRadio shows is that you can always catch the podcast version soon after the live broadcast.

Here are some past segments from In the Kitchen. Each is only 30 minutes long, but you’ll walk away with plenty of good stuff.

•  Holiday Baking
• Grocery Savings
• Sensational Stir Fries

Hope you enjoy what you hear. I should probably add the disclaimer that I work at BlogTalkRadio as the community manager, but this is good stuff I’d listen to anyway. Tell me what you think!

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I belong to a “Ladies Gourmet” group. It was the offshoot of a local newcomers club that has since disbanded. The Ladies Gourmet crew still keeps it going with dinners out once a month and themed team dinners. I love the themed dinners.

Here’s how it works:

At the beginning of the year three or four women will agree to host, they will be team leaders. Each leader picks names from a hat to form teams. We then set dates, one dinner each month. Each team chooses has a theme for their chosen month. We take it very serious. All cooking is from scratch and homes are decorated to reflect the theme. Though the themes are a surprise, we send all of our guests an invitation indicating the proper attire.

At each event we display a menu. Appetizers are provided buffet style first and we all snack and chat while waiting for all the guests to arrive. We also try to find appropriate cocktail recipes. Dinner is a sit down affair with us serving our guests (and vice versa when their turn comes). Usually there are four or five courses. (more…)

The turkey was about 12 lbs, and for the three of us, it was a decent size.  Especially since turkey leftovers are half the fun.  We did it according to the directions, left to run a few errands, came home and the turkey was perfectly done( my son was home in case we were late) .  You’ll never have to worry about the darned giblet bag because there isn’t one.  There is however, a gravy bag which you pour out into a pan, heat up and use with your turkey if you so desire. 

How did it taste?  It was moist and tender and good. The only real drawback is that you can’t stuff it.  I am not a stuffer.  I make the stuffing with the turkey broth and bake it for a side dish, so I guess that’s not a drawback for me. The Jennie-O Turkeys in our grocery store  were in a freezer case away from most of the meats and in with the prepared frozen foods and you might have to search for them.

Oh, and my husband thinks you should take a look at their ads on their website.  He thinks they’re funny.

Want to send a romantic gift to your favorite couple? Here’s my recommendation: A nice bottle of Chardonnay and Fondue for Two from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Trust me, this one can’t miss.

My husband and I were fortunate to enjoy a nice wine and cheese night courtesy of Fondue for Two and it left us wanting more. It was delicious and a better midnight snack than our usual popcorn or chips.

The packaging is adorable. The fondue itself is made up of a mixture of Appenzellar, Gruyere and Emantaler cheeses plus white wine and a dash of Herbs de Provance. The mixture is placed inside a garlic rubbed bread bowl ( a great crusy french roll) and packaged for shipping. All you have to do is stick it in the oven until bubbly, about 20 minutes or so. My mouth waters just remembering it. I love this job.

Fondue for Two is also affordable. It retails for $15 plus shipping. Because of the perishable nature of this item, overnight shipping is a must.  In addition to the upcoming holidays, I’m thinking Fondue for Two is the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, birthdays and a nice accompanyment to a wedding gift. I promise, the recipient won’t be disappointed. Heck, buy two so you can enjoy it yourself!

The Turkey Brine I used was Spice Hunter Turkey Brine.  It contains: Sea salt, brown sugar, dried cranberries, dried apple, garlic, orange peel, juniper berries, Malabar black peppercorns, thyme, rosemary and sage.  I wondered if you would be able to taste any of the other flavors in your turkey(chicken) and we could.  I didn’t use any other seasonings when I roasted it because I wanted to see what the brine would do to the bird.  So without any other seasonings when I roasted it, the chicken was flavorful.  I got little bites of flavor here and there that were a delicious addition to the chicken. 

Brining the Turkey.

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