Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 18, 1993 TAG: 9403220001
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Almena Hughes
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Ginger Gold and Gala apples have only been available in this state for about three years, with production increasing yearly. Harvested between July and August, they boast crunchiness, juiciness and flavor not usually associated with summer varieties.
The greenish-gold skinned Ginger Gold - a cross between Golden Delicious and Albermarle Pippin - remains white even after being peeled or cut for several hours. That, along with its crisp, juicy flesh, makes it ideal for salads, hors d'oeuvres or garnishing.
Galas get their golden skins with red stripes from their hybrid of Kidd's Orange Red Delicious and Golden Delicious. Their cream-colored sweet/tart flesh holds up well during baking or pops into lunch boxes for munching out of hand.
"Oh, groan," you say? Well, sorry, but lunch-box packing isn't as far away as some of us would like to think. One perennial packing favorite is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and jelly jars bearing scenes from the recently released "Tom and Jerry - The Movie," just might be keepers.
Welch Foods says its collectibles glasses featuring Howdy Doody from the 1950s now fetch $25-$30 each, and it is anticipated that its cat and mouse duo jars will gain equal popularity.
If you've still got some traveling with the kids planned before you again start packing lunch boxes, a free road-trip club might help make it more fun.
The Cracker Backers Back Seat Snackers Club packet includes a Busy Book full of games and puzzles for children ages 6-12, as well as tips for parents, such as how to avoid sibling fights, how to deal with motion sickness and fun snacks to pack for traveling.
Request it from Cracker Backers Club, P.0. Box 1836, Elgin, Ill., 60121-1836.
Maybe by the time you return, you'll be ready for Campbell Soup Company's booklet that aims to help even the busiest working parents overcome time constraints and become partners in helping their children learn. To get yours, send a business-size self-addressed, stamped envelope to: 101 Things You Can Do To Help Education, P.O. Box 964, Bensalem, Pa. 19020.
Parent Teacher Associations often are among the various nonprofit groups that publish cookbooks to help raise funds. Such books, published in 1992 or 1993, are wanted for entry by Oct. 1 in an annual community cookbook competition. Entries will be judged on layout, design, title, theme, story line, recipes and the organization's fund-raising efforts.
Winners will receive wall plaques and contributions for their charities. For an entry form and/or a booklet to help those in the process of developing a community cookbook, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Community Cookbook Awards, c/o Hunter MacKenzie, Madison-Inc., 41Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010-2202.
Remember those school class photos, when the photographer hoping to elicit a group grin instructed everyone to say "cheese"? The winner of the $5,000 grand prize in the Wisconsin Cheese Potluck Recipe Contest sure will have reason to smile. Categories include appetizers; salads, vegetables and side dishes; and main dish casseroles. Deadline is Sept. 30. For rules, write to Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Dept. NP, 8418 Excelsior Drive, Madison, Wis. 53717.
Pollsters doing their homework on consumers' eating habits recently have found that dining out raises our hackles and lowers our resolve.
A survey by MasterCard International found that consumers' expectations of restaurant service have risen since a similar study was conducted last year. Among the items that increasing numbers of consumers view as inalienable restaurant rights are asking to sit elsewhere; requesting substitutions or special orders; or asking for a different waiter. Their biggest pet peeve: reservation snafus.
The National Restaurant Association's study, "Attitudes Towards Nutrition in Restaurants," found that while about 87 percent of American adults recognize the importance of good diet and nutrition, only about 37 percent (down from 39 percent in 1989) are committed to actually practicing principles of good nutrition when eating away from home.
The studies say several factors have turned us into cuisine curmudgeons: cynicism over reports that one day say something's good for us and the next day it's not; economic uncertainty and its accompanying stress driving us to seek comfort foods; and baby boomers finally accepting that they're never going to fit into their college bell bottoms again.
Fastest-growing among the nutrition ignorers are the "vacillators" who, when dining out, might order a salad with low-cal dressing but then end the meal with a high-calorie dessert.
One high-calorie dessert you're not likely to find on a restaurant's menu is the "Banana Split Cake,"which I asked about in an earlier column. Thanks to reader Emily Hamilton of Roanoke for sending in her diet-defying recipe:
stick melted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 eggs
2 sticks softened butter
5 or 6 ripe bananas, sliced
1 large can crushed pineapple, drained
1 large tub whipped topping
3/4 cup chopped nuts
Mix melted butter and graham cracker crumbs in an 8x8-inch dish to form a crust. Beat together sugar, eggs and softened butter until fluffy; pour over crust. Cover mixture with bananas; cover bananas with pineapple; cover pineapple with whipped topping. Sprinkle with nuts and refrigerate until ready to serve. (To avoid possible salmonella risks if you try this recipe, you might want to use an egg substitute instead of raw eggs.)
Personally, I think one of my good friends, an admitted vacillator, has the right idea: "Life's uncertain," she says. "Always eat dessert first."
Shelf Life runs twice a month in the Extra section. If you have an interesting new product, cookbook, contest, gadget or gew gaw, tell us about it. Write to Shelf Life, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.|
by CNB