ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250032
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: DU JOUR
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
Last year, News 7 ``Mornin''' show co-host Larry Dowdy taste-tested 40-some entries in a Spam cooking contest at the State Fair of West Virginia. So for him, joining Cox Cable Roanoke salesperson Marilyn Morgan, Lewis-Gale Medical Center registered dietitian Laura Gunter and me in judging 15 finalists in the Great Kroger Cook-Off was literally and figuratively a piece of cake.
This first-of-its-kind contest, Sept. 13 at the Roanoke Civic Center, drew nearly 150 entries, which included not a speck of Spam. Brenda Liles of FunTime Productions coordinated the event. She said she had originally only hoped for enough entries to fill each of the contest's three categories: healthy delights (under 10 grams fat per serving), desserts and entrees.
Instead, "We really got a variety from all over, especially during the last eight days before the deadline," said Liles, who reads cookbooks for relaxation and estimates that she may own about 500 of them.
There were a lot of chicken recipes, only four casseroles and two cheesecakes, but all were different, Liles reported. A high point for her was the cute and creative notes people included with their entries.
For example, Vivion Dower of Lynchburg imagined that Rhett's response to questions about the calorie count of her winning "Rhett Butler's Dream" cake would be: "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a ''
You get the idea.
Philomena Tinsley, also of Lynchburg, won both the healthy delights and overall best categories with her first-ever contest entry for deceptively rich-tasting shrimp quesadillas.
"I don't know what possessed me to enter the contest," said Tinsley, who only knew that her dish had always been a hit with family and friends. "I've always been interested in cooking because my mom [Gloria Hughes] is a great cook. So is my brother, Pepe Hughes," who is part owner of Cattle Annie's restaurant in Lynchburg.
Tinsley travels all over the world assisting her husband with their business, Pyrocool Technologies Inc.
"People tease me because I come back and talk about the food," Tinsley laughed. "They'll ask, `Did you see the Eiffel Tower?' and I'll say no, but let me tell you about this meal I had."
Meals, and how families can eat more of them together, are the focus of National Eat Dinner Together Week, Sept. 30 - Oct. 6.
This first-time event, co-sponsored by the National Pork Producers Council and 5 A Day, is in response to a survey that found that while about 73 percent of Americans think that eating dinner together is important, only about 42 percent of them do it every night. Conflicting schedules were cited as the primary culprit.
One solution the council suggests is to prominently post a chalkboard or marker board calendar to track the family's schedule. Coordinate dinners around what's happening each day and stick to those times, or keep dinner at a fixed time and plan schedules accordingly.
To receive a free recipe brochure and a kids' activity and recipe book, send a self-addressed mailing label to: National Eat Dinner Together Week, c/o National Pork Producers Council, P.O. Box 10383, Des Moines, Iowa 50306.
The question of "What's for Supper?" was most impressively addressed during The Southern Living Cooking School at the Roanoke Civic Center Sept. 13-15.
If most of us could get our households running as smoothly and efficiently as the fun, fast-paced and informative show, dinner would be no problem.
Seasoned professional co-hosts Cynthia Briscoe and Stacie Hughes and their able staff liberally laced about 17 recipes covering a week's worth of evening meals with tips for decorating and setting moods. For example, use chopsticks as part of the centerpiece for an Oriental meal, or tie napkins with rope for a Southwestern feel.
Brenda Liles, who also produced the school and the Roanoke Home Show at the Roanoke Civic Center, estimated that 1,800 people attended the cooking course - nearly double from last year.
Finally, for those days when dinner together seems like it could be better done by someone else, take a break and take the family to a favorite restaurant.
There, expect to find more seafood on the menu, much of it fried, if the PYA/Monarch Food Show continues to be a reliable indicator of such things. The show, which was at the Roanoke Civic Center last week, was only open to institutional buyers. But the buyers say they purchase in response to consumer demand.
This year's offerings showed an overall decreased interest in healthy type, low-fat, fat-free foods. But a display of produce, edible flowers and herbs from Salinas, Calif.-based The Green House attracted a fair amount of attention.
Representative Frank Holland said that caterers are the primary users of the flowers, but both institutional and private cooks are seasoning more often with herbs. He particularly recommended cilantro as an excellent substitute for salt.
"Oil content gives herbs their flavor," Holland said. "One way to test if an herb will be flavorful is to mash it onto a sheet of white paper; a smudge is good.
And add herbs during the last few minutes of cooking so the oils don't all cook away."
recipes for:
SUMMER SHRIMP QUESADILLAS
JAMAICAN LEMON-THYME CHICKEN
RHETT BUTLER'S DREAM
CORNBREAD PIZZA CRUST
TOUCH OF MEXICO PIZZA
Du Jour runs occasionally in the Extra section. If you have an interesting food item or event, tell us about it. Write to Du Jour, c/o Features Department, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491.
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Touch of Mexico Pizza makes a colorful, savory meal.by CNBcolor.