Tasty gifts
Bring Cuban flavor to the kitchen with Soul de Cuba’s family of products. With the New Haven, CT restaurant’s line of mojo sauces and salsas and dressings, you’ll be cooking Cuban fare at home. The restaurant says, “from chicken with mojo and honey to traditional Lechon Asado or Cuban-style fish, we selected our top restaurant favorites to help you have a full-flavored Cuban experience at home. The “Let it Marinade “collection has five mojos and sauces to help “take meat flavors to a new “Cuban-inspired level.” New to their repertoire, is the Soul Mojito Mix. Michael, the General Manager, referred me to the website where it says, “it is all-natural, just add soda and rum and bring home the taste of our famous Soul Mojito.” https://bit.ly/31WbwWL
For the children on your list, Young Chefs’ Club by America’s Test Kitchen is a fun way for kids to learn about science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. And what child doesn’t enjoy being in the kitchen? According to the website, the monthly themed box includes kidtested and kid-approved recipes, engaging hands-on activities and experiments, creative projects and games, shopping list, and useful, unique, and fun physical items.
Box themes change every month and will be a surprise for kids (grown-ups can find the shopping lists on the website). Themes range from specific ingredients (such as cheese or bread) to cooking techniques (such as cake decorating), scientific subjects (such as food texture or molecular gastronomy), and cuisines or types of food (such as tacos). Purchase a single box, a month, 6-month or year subscription. Choose from the preschool chefs‘club (ages 3-5) or young chefs’ club (ages 6-12) ATKkids.com
“The New Cooking School Cookbook,” by the editors of America’s Test Kitchen
(2021, $45) might be the only cookbook a recipient would need. The cover flap says, “Go to cooking school in your own kitchen with nearly 100 themed courses to learn, more than 200 skills and cook 400 recipes.” With almost 700 pages, anyone can learn both the “hows” and “whys” of cooking. For example, why does pizza come out better when it is cooked on a stone? Why is it best to salt food at different times during the cooking of the dish? Why does the temperature of butter react differently in the cooking process? I found the recipe overviews and the science lesson sidebars for each dish, interesting. For example, the recipe for sausage lasagna says,” Untraditionally, this lasagna uses cottage cheese rather than ricotta. Ricotta can become dry and pasty when baked, while cottage cheese contains more moisture and stays pillowy-soft
and creamy.” The graphics and step-by-step photos add to the understanding of the recipes and cooking techniques.
What a great idea….and it is free! Two dozen recipes you can print and mail this holiday season. Bed and breakfasts across the U.S, including a few from Pennsylvania, have shared their best holiday recipes in postcard form. Make a recipe every day as a Christmas countdown, sharing deliciousness across the miles. According to the information I received, nineteen inns, beds and breakfast and boutique hotels across the country have joined together to create mailable recipes in the form of postcards as a yummy way to countdown the days till Christmas.
“The idea is to count your blessings, not calories,” says Erin Gilchrist, innkeeper with A’Tuscan Estate Bed & Breakfast in McMinnville,
Oregon. “By making these postcards free to download, we’ve whipped up a way to bring people together, regardless of location and circumstance. It’s now possible to cook together in different kitchens, in different states, even in different countries thanks to video calls. Our hope is the recipe postcards will provide many opportunities for friends and families to virtually connect,” says Dena Finneran, innkeeper of the Caldwell House Bed and Breakfast in Salisbury Mills, New York. “Of course, we also hope in the future people will connect offline and consider a reunion at one of our properties.” Recipes include holiday drinks, desserts, cookies, breakfast foods, and more. Here is the link to print out your set https:// bit.ly/3CroCb4
Stay tuned for more ideas for the foodies on your gift list.