Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 13, 1994 TAG: 9404130090
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Almena Hughes
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Don't make meringue or yeast bread in damp weather because they absorb the air's moisture and usually flop.
Burn a candle next to where you're cutting onions to keep your eyes from watering.
Drop a raisin in the bottle to revive a sparkling wine that's gone flat.
Food tips have probably been around since folks found fire. The helpful tidbits of kitchen wisdom, mostly come by through trial and error, could go on forever and probably will because, face it, when two or more foodies get together they're gonna swap food tips.
Tip-swapping in part made recently visiting Provisions Gourmet a fun and enlightening experience. That and the informative and tasty product samples set out throughout the store.
The spacious shop in Hunting Hills Plaza off 220 South is a budding treasure-trove of specialty foods and gourmet accessories and cookware ranging from the unusual to the unnecessary, from high-ticket to toss-aways.
Co-owning spouses Karen and Jeff Hunter about five years ago came to Roanoke from Minneapolis. Karen, the more full-time manager between the two, has a background in home economics, advertising and retail management. The store is something they'd wanted to open for a long time, she said. Last October, the time and place seemed right.
In addition to attending trade shows and reading specialty publications to keep up with trends, Hunter and the staff track down clients' requests and place special orders, when feasible, such as one for a single-burner tabletop butane stove that's expected soon.
The shop recently started selling its own line of in-house baked goods, and plans are underway to also offer gourmet cooking classes, though Hunter says her predilection for perfection probably is slowing that process. In the meantime, she said she hopes that people will continue to stop in to browse, buy, ask questions or swap tips.
True food tipsters will find Sharon Tyler Herbst's compilation, "The Food Lover's Tiptionary" ($15, Hearst Books) in stores April 20 to be an absolute must-have. No matter how much you know about food, you'll find some surprises in here. The book contains more than 4,500 food and drink tips, secrets and shortcuts, from A to Z, collected by the author of "Food Lover's Companion," who reportedly at age 10 added a liberal dash of sherry to a casserole she was making for her Brownie troop's potluck supper. Among Herbst's tips is to use caution when adding wine to food.
Tips and recipes for heart-healthy international dishes will be given to all customers of the Inn at Union Run Restaurant in Lexington through Saturday. Call 463-9715 or (800) 528-6466. In honor of Heart Healthy Week, guest chef Margo Solod will create low-fat, low-cholesterol versions of Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Cambodian, Indian and Caribbean cuisines.
Chef Kevin Murphy of Virginia Tech wishes he knew what international dishes he'll prepare for the university's fourth Annual Global Market Opportunities Conference, April 25-27. But this week at press time he was still waiting for menu suggestions from the embassy chefs of the 11 Southern African countries taking part in the trade-boosting event.
Usually, the embassies' chefs do some of the cooking. But activities set for Washington, D.C., in connection with South Africa's first democratic elections April 26-28 are keeping that country's contingent too busy.
Many of the chefs are not used to working off-site and so sometimes request ingredients or utensils that are commonplace for them but rare in these parts, which might be a problem, Murphy said. Then, too, there's the touchy little matter of protocol - who sits with whom, when and where - that will be deftly handled by assistant to the president Carol Nickerson and vice provost for Outreach and International Programs Patrick Liverpool, who thought perhaps round tables arranged in a circle might work.
Previous conferences have all been successes, as this one is expected to be. "There's always a lot of scrambling, but it always comes together in the end," Murphy said before turning his attention to the more-pressing Founders' Day and president's installation preparations. His tip for entertaining: Be prepared for the unexpected, ready to improvise and above all, stay calm...
...Even if you're just an average cook trying to compute how much to prepare for 25, 50 or 100 people and want tips on how many rolls or gallons of lemonade are needed. You'll find them along with calorie counters, coupons and favorite recipes from area cooks in "Home Cookin,' Cooking with Neighbors, Wasena Neighborhood Forum" ($7, Cookbook Publishers Inc.). Proceeds from the 100-plus page community cookbook, the first joint venture between the forum and Wasena Elementary School, will go toward a school-playground fund and various neighborhood projects. Order from Jennifer Perkins, 342-4734 or Melyssa Weldon, 982-0308.
Have you got a favorite food tip? Send it care of Shelf Life, and we'll start our own swap system. For starters, here's one given to me by Provisions Gourmet's Karen Hunter: Foods taste best served at noon or 8 p.m. because, for some biological reason, our palates peak then.
Feel free to use it the next time you're explaining why dinner's late.
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