ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606120006
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: dujour
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
If you hear whooping and thumping followed by eerie silence, that will be Karen Wood of Ferrum, "screaming and jumping up and down, right before I pass out."
Wood predicted that will be her reaction if she wins the Delmarva Chicken Cookoff.
She, along with Ellen Andrews of Arlington and Jim Pleasants of Williamsburg, is among 20 finalists out of 900 entrants who'll vie in Salisbury, Md., on Saturday for a Caribbean vacation for two, cash, appliances, spices and other prizes.
Wood said that her succulent, savory Ranch Baked Chicken was created more by accident than by design when she crushed up some ranch-flavored pretzels to supplement an inadequate supply of bread crumbs and used bottled ranch dressing to make the mixture stick because her family likes ranch flavor.
Chicken breasts can be used, Wood said, but tend to be a little dry; the thighs, which she boned for her youngest son to safely eat, add just enough fat.
Wood's husband, Dickie, and sons, Brian and Shane, encouraged her to enter the cookoff, which is her first, outside of some canning competitions in local county fairs.
"I'm still stunned that I got this far and just happy that I'm getting to go," Wood said.
Her creation will be included in a booklet of chicken recipes available for $2 from Delmarva Poultry, Cookbook, R.D. 6, Box 47, Georgetown, Del. 19947-9622.
In the meantime, we'll be rooting and listening for her on Saturday.
Congratulations to Robert Prophet, Roanoke College's "Chef Bob," who is now Certified Executive Chef Bob, having recently been awarded the status by the American Culinary Federation Inc. for earning points through work experience, education and activities in the American Culinary Federation.
Since joining the school's staff in 1992, the Roanoke native has earned kudos from the collegiates for establishing pasta, deli, salad, entree and dessert bars in the cafeteria to make dining in the Commons uncommon. Prophet said the nine months spent earning the certification were well worth it for its prestige, peer camaraderie, interaction and personal satisfaction.
Congratulations to this newspaper's restaurant reviewer, Dolores Kostelni, whose first book, "Cookies by the Dozen" just underwent a second printing. The delectable 75-recipe compilation of cookies in small quantities, also is an alternate selection of Book-of-the-Month Club's Homestyle Books.
Pearl Fu, organizer of Roanoke's annual Local Color diversity festival, at a recent Sister Cities-Lijang China meeting served glutinous rice dumplings and recounted the legend of them being thrown into the river to deter sea creatures from eating beloved Chinese patriot poet Qu Yuan after he committed suicide. The dumplings are now traditionally served in most cities with a Chinese community as part of the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 20 this year. In China, their fillings would vary by region: Northern, dates; Yunnan Province, rice soaked in bicarbonate of soda; and Eastern and Taiwan, meat, which Fu served because they're "more to Western tastes."
The Roanoke Valley Wine Festival promises to be a culinary/cultural cuvee, combining samplings of some of Virginia's finest wines, gourmet foods, arts, crafts and entertainment by the Ray Ebbitt Trio. The fourth annual Roanoke Jaycees fund-raiser will be held 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. June 22 at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. Tasters' tickets cost $8 in advance, $12 at the gate; nontasters tickets cost $5 anytime. They're available through Jaycees, at Montanos International Gourmet, Market Square Wine Shop, Lee & Edwards, Provisions Kitchen Gourmet and Vintage Cellar In Blacksburg. Call 345-1316.
BARBECUERS, kids and health-conscious cooks will find classes to suit their tastes among offerings from Roanoke City's and Roanoke County's departments of parks and recreation:
nJune 22 - July 20, Make It-Bake It Workshop for Kids ages 6-14, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Eureka Park. $5, registration required. Call 981-2236 or 981-2675.
nJune 27 - Aug. 29, Bread, cookies and snacks workshops for kids ages 6-12, 10 a.m. - noon, Grandin Court and Garden City locations; 1-3 p.m. Buena Vista center. Call 981-2236.
nJune 28, Healthy Homemakers presented by the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension, will cover healthy eating, household hints and grocery bill budgeting. 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Eureka Park, $3. Call 981-2236 or 981-2675.
nJune 28, Grilling, with Chef Lee Wright of Be Our Guest Catering, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Brambleton Center. $8 fee includes lunch. Call 772-7505.
OREO cookies are in for an 85th-birthday makeover in the spring, and Nabisco Biscuit Company is asking consumers what color filling they'd prefer. Every 85th respondent will receive a free package of the limited-edition anniversary cookies, and all voters will be eligible to win a spring outfit that coordinates with the cookies' new color.
Pink, yellow, blue and lavendar are among the contending shades, but Nabisco also is open to suggestions, presumably including to leave the classic, dye-free white filling alone. To cast your vote, call toll-free 1(888) EAT-OREO before July 15.
Brown (or any other color) bag your fruits for perfectly ripened peaches, plums and nectarines, suggests the California Tree Fruit Agreement. Place plump, firm-skinned, unblemished fruit in a paper, not plastic, bag, being careful not to crowd or crush the fruit. Leave the bag open to allow air to circulate around the fruit and trap the fruits' natural ripening vapors. Place the bag on a counter or other room-temperature location, but not the windowsill, which might become too warm. Check the fruit daily, and in about one to three days, it will be soft, ripe and ready to eat.
If you hear whooping and thumping followed by eerie silence, that will be Karen Wood of Ferrum, "screaming and jumping up and down, right before I pass out."
Wood predicted that will be her reaction if she wins the Delmarva Chicken Cookoff.
She, along with Ellen Andrews of Arlington and Jim Pleasants of Williamsburg, is among 20 finalists out of 900 entrants who'll vie in Salisbury, Md., on Saturday for a Caribbean vacation for two, cash, appliances, spices and other prizes.
Wood said that her succulent, savory Ranch Baked Chicken (recipe on Page 5) was created more by accident than by design when she crushed up some ranch-flavored pretzels to supplement an inadequate supply of bread crumbs and used bottled ranch dressing to make the mixture stick because her family likes ranch flavor.
Chicken breasts can be used, Wood said, but tend to be a little dry; the thighs, which she boned for her youngest son to safely eat, add just enough fat.
Wood's husband, Dickie, and sons, Brian and Shane, encouraged her to enter the cookoff, which is her first, outside of some canning competitions in area county fairs.
"I'm still stunned that I got this far and just happy that I'm getting to go," Wood said.
Her creation will be included in a booklet of chicken recipes available for $2 from Delmarva Poultry, Cookbook, R.D. 6, Box 47, Georgetown, Del. 19947-9622.
In the meantime, we'll be rooting and listening for her on Saturday.
Congratulations to Robert Prophet, Roanoke College's "Chef Bob," who is now Certified Executive Chef Bob, having recently been awarded the status by the American Culinary Federation Inc. for earning points through work experience, education and activities in the American Culinary Federation.
Since joining the school's staff in 1992, the Roanoke native has earned kudos from the collegiates for establishing pasta, deli, salad, entree and dessert bars in the cafeteria to make dining in the Commons uncommon. Prophet said the nine months spent earning the certification were well worth it for its prestige, peer camaraderie, interaction and personal satisfaction.
Congratulations to this newspaper's restaurant reviewer, Dolores Kostelni, whose first book, "Cookies by the Dozen" just underwent a second printing. The delectable 75-recipe compilation of cookies in small quantities, also is an alternate selection of Book-of-the-Month Club's Homestyle Books.
Pearl Fu, organizer of Roanoke's annual Local Color diversity festival, at a recent Sister Cities-Lijang China meeting served glutinous rice dumplings and recounted the legend of them being thrown into the river to deter sea creatures from eating beloved Chinese patriot poet Qu Yuan after he committed suicide. The dumplings are now traditionally served in most cities with a Chinese community as part of the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 20 this year. In China, their fillings would vary by region: Northern, dates; Yunnan Province, rice soaked in bicarbonate of soda; and Eastern and Taiwan, meat, which Fu served because they're "more to Western tastes."
The Roanoke Valley Wine Festival promises to be a culinary/cultural cuvee, combining samplings of some of Virginia's finest wines, gourmet foods, arts, crafts and entertainment by the Ray Ebbitt Trio. The fourth annual Roanoke Jaycees fund-raiser will be held 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. June 22 at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. Tasters' tickets cost $8 in advance, $12 at the gate; nontasters tickets cost $5 anytime. They're available through Jaycees, at Montanos International Gourmet, Market Square Wine Shop, Lee & Edwards, Provisions Kitchen Gourmet and Vintage Cellar In Blacksburg. Call 345-1316.
Barbecuers, kids and health-conscious cooks will find classes to suit their tastes among offerings from Roanoke City's and Roanoke County's departments of parks and recreation:
nJune 22 - July 20, Make It-Bake It Workshop for Kids ages 6-14, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Eureka Park. $5, registration required. Call 981-2236 or 981-2675.
nJune 27 - Aug. 29, Bread, cookies and snacks workshops for kids ages 6-12, 10 a.m. - noon, Grandin Court and Garden City locations; 1-3 p.m. Buena Vista center. Call 981-2236.
nJune 28, Healthy Homemakers presented by the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension, will cover healthy eating, household hints and grocery bill budgeting. 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Eureka Park, $3. Call 981-2236 or 981-2675.
nJune 28, Grilling, with Chef Lee Wright of Be Our Guest Catering, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Brambleton Center. $8 fee includes lunch. Call 772-7505.
Oreo cookies are in for an 85th-birthday makeover in the spring, and Nabisco Biscuit Company is asking consumers what color filling they'd prefer. Every 85th respondent will receive a free package of the limited-edition anniversary cookies, and all voters will be eligible to win a spring outfit that coordinates with the cookies' new color.
Pink, yellow, blue and lavendar are among the contending shades, but Nabisco also is open to suggestions, presumably including to leave the classic, dye-free white filling alone. To cast your vote, call toll-free 1(888) EAT-OREO before July 15.
Brown (or any other color) bag your fruits for perfectly ripened peaches, plums and nectarines, suggests the California Tree Fruit Agreement. Place plump, firm-skinned, unblemished fruit in a paper, not plastic, bag, being careful not to crowd or crush the fruit. Leave the bag open to allow air to circulate around the fruit and trap the fruits' natural ripening vapors. Place the bag on a counter or other room-temperature location, but not the windowsill, which might become too warm. Check the fruit daily, and in about one to three days, it will be soft, ripe and ready to eat.
DuJour runs occasionally in the Extra section. If you have an interesting food item or event, tell us about it. Write to DuJour, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.|
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