Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411230074
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RAM House kitchen manager Lynn Owens had, through the largesse of Roanoke Restaurant Service, received 40 donated cases of Wishbone French salad dressing. Now, granted, the Roanoke Valley's only day shelter for the homeless, operated by Roanoke Area Ministries and open year round, feeds approximately 115 people per day, Owens said. But even at that rate, it would take a lot of salads to use up the generous bequeath. So, what else can you do with French dressing, Owens wanted to know.
How about using it as a marinade or brushing it on meats or vegetables during the last few minutes of grilling, suggested a Thomas J. Lipton consumer services spokeswoman. Or use it as a sandwich spread instead of or in combination with mayonnaise or mustard. Add it to vegetables' cooking liquid, casseroles or top-of-stove combinations, or use it as a vegetable topping.
The spokeswoman promised to send me a copy of the cook booklet, "Wishbone Quick and Easy Marinating and Grilling." If you'd like one, too, call (800) 697-7887.
While some people give tangibles to help feed the needy, others donate time. Such will be the case Thursday when Hollins College faculty authors Rita Ciresi, R.H.W. Dillard, Lucy Ferris, Cathryn Hankla, Jeanne Larsen, Marilyn Moriarty, Eric Trethewey and Phillip Welch join approximately 800 other writers nationwide to read from their works in the Share Our Strength's third annual Writers Harvest: The National Reading. (The reading originally was set for tonight, but was resheduled.)
The reading will be at 8:15 p.m. in Hollins College's Ballator Gallery in Moody Center. Tickets, sold at the door, are $5 for students, $10 for nonstudents. All locally raised funds will go to the Federation of Virginia Food Banks in Roanoke.
Speaking of giving, the 3-year-old Hunters for the Hungry program will again this year assist hunters in contributing venison to help feed the needy. The program, which received the 1994 Wildlife Conservationist of the Year Award from the Virginia WIldlife Federation, is also asking that this time hunters donate $1 at the time of license purchase to help with meat processing costs.
Hunters who enjoy cooking their catch may find the new "Reward of the Hunt" videos to their tastes. Featuring Certified Master Chef/outdoorsman/hunter Milos Cihelka, the three-tape series covers proper field dressing, transporting, aging, skinning, butchering, wrapping, storing and cooking of big and small game and gamebirds.
"Big Game - Field to Table," "Venison Healthy and Tasty" and "Care & Cooking Gamebirds & Small Game Animals," including custom companion cookbooks, are $29.95 per video. Call (800) 819-3799 to order.
For nonhunters who nevertheless enjoy a taste of the out-of-the-ordinary, Virginia's Buffalo Meats is offering gourmet meat sample pacs, including various combinations of buffalo, boar, rabbit, alligator and rattlesnake. The company's new phone number is 362-1387. Owner Paul Grice is usually good for a recipe or two, too.
To top off this wild meat/French dressing binge, consider Plantation Peanut/Apricot Puffs. Helen Crane Munson of Blacksburg recently took honors for her delicious-sounding recipe in the national Martini & Rossi "State of Dessert" promotion, which challenged contestants to create recipes using an official state ingredient. Virginia's was peanuts.
Munson said she's been entering cooking contests for about 10 years and even subscribes to a cooking contest newsletter and has won contests before. Warm weather, ice cream and fruit inspired her peanut puffs.
"I'm basically lazy," Munson insisted, when told that her recipe looks complicated. "So it's really not hard to make. Just don't try the puffs on a humid day or they won't work."
Munson received a 12-inch quiche dish for her efforts, but said she REALLY, REALLY wanted one of the ice cream makers that was to have been her prize before the sponsors ran out of them. She's still hoping to get that ice cream maker someday - maybe as a prize, or maybe as a gift.
It does, after all, seem to be a giving time of year.
PLANTATION PEANUT/APRICOT PUFFS
\ see microfilm for recipe
by CNB