THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410120057
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Morsels
SOURCE: Ruth Fantasia
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
JUST IN TIME for Christmas planning come a couple of interesting cookbooks.
``Bake and Freeze Desserts'' by Elinor Klivans (William Morrow & Co., $25) helps busy folks cook ahead for holiday entertaining. Each of the 130 recipes includes instructions on how to freeze, thaw and serve everything from cakes to cookies. The book even includes a freezable lemon curd.
``Gingerbread Houses'' by Christa Currie (Doubleday/Mainstreet Original, $12.95) is a handy little paperback that takes you through the steps of gingerbread house construction. A few basic patterns are included, but Currie and encourages you to use your imagination. She gives detailed instructions and recipes for assembly and decorating.
The power of powder
If you've had trouble getting some of the new low-fat recipes to rise, check your baking powder. Odds are it has lost its punch.
Baking powder is an essential ingredient in many low-fat recipes because it provides leavening and support with less fat.
If your baking powder isn't fresh, you could be in for a big letdown. To check, use this test from ``Joy of Cooking'' by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker (Hobbs-Merrill, 1975):
Mix 1 teaspoon baking powder with 1/3 cup hot water. Use the baking powder only if it bubbles enthusiastically.
If your baking powder doesn't bubble, mix your own, Rombauer and Beacker suggest. Combine 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/3 teaspoon baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon salt for each tablespoon baking powder needed. Quickly add this mixture to your batter and immediately place the recipe in the oven.
But don't store homemade baking powder: its shelf life is nil.
Barbecue bash
Tidewater Academy will host its annual Great Country BBQ Cook-Off from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Wakefield Ball Park in Wakefield.
Pork, chicken and beef barbecue are prepared by competing teams, but spectators get to watch - and eat all they can.
Tickets are $10, $5 for students under 18.
For more information, call 1-899-6931 or 1-899-5401. MEMO: More Morsels/F1
by CNB