New Salon every Friday – and you’re invited

C’mon in and help yourself to tasty resources

Hosted by Barbara J Nosek

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Kitchen Talk –  In our 08.06.21 Salon we brought you a big list of Fresh Summer Appetizers from MyRecipes, and made and displayed the mini corn cakes with salmon and dill creme fraiche. But . . . with a few “companions” this snack easily upgrades to lunch or brunch. Here we invited in potato salad, tomatoes, pickles and olives. Mmmmm.        Vegan or vegetarian. Full-time? Some time? Give it time? Taste of Home has you covered with its Plant-Based Guide, mostly taking the mystery out of meat substitutes but with lots of links to other information.      If you kick diets to the curb, this is 100% good news. An Oreo Cafe opened last month in Rutherford NJ, where the iconic cookies go wild, and we can only assume more places in the country will also soon be serving countless calories-be-darned twists and turns.

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Shopping Finds – Oh this is good, and a National Bestseller, “The School of Essential Ingredients.” And those ingredients are almost like characters, showing us not only how to appeal to all our senses but also, as the books says, to “live in our senses.” And as the human characters come to life one by one, we discover something else – the varying roles food and cooking and sharing may play within each person’s own individual world. A cover quote says it best: “A delicious, meltingly lovely hymn to food and friendship.” Multiple formats, 4 1/2 stars on Amazon.        Well how how handy is this. Frozen nuggets of crushed ginger, ready to be popped out as needed whenever the fresh stuff isn’t on hand. May not be a one-for-one sub for the actual root, but the fragrance as it melts into hot butter or oil tells you ginger is in the house.

This week’s featured CS-designed, Zazzle-crafted item – See our NEW o’clocks. We have designs for lovers of pizza, wine, candy, beer, burgers, coffee, tea, cheese, chocolate, cupcakes, pie, and ice cream. See them on our CS t-shirt page and CS foodie mug page.

 Featured Recipes

Jean-Philippe on Instagram

Jean-Philippe Ruzé is a first class French guide and keto chef that I am honored to call friend. He regularly posts dishes on facebook that tempt you to reach right into the screen, and a recent one was such fun I wanted to bring it to you here. Chaffles! Cheese * Waffles = Chaffles. Here’s his recipe to make two: mix an egg with 50 g shredded mozzarella, salt, pepper and some parsley. Divide the preparation into 2 and bake in the waffle iron {Alexa says 50 g is just under 2 oz or about 1/2 cup}. He tops these with butter cooked eggs on a slice of emmental, sprinkled with a pinch of tarragon, salt & pepper You can also tap into his awesome preps at the Instagram link above. From Jean-Philippe

Chicken Tamale Pie

Anything that promises 5 min prep time is a magnet for us. And this recipe can probably live up to it with an ingredients list composed of cooked chicken, canned goods, jarred salsa and shredded cheese. Some nice spices go in there too, all topped with a broth-infused cornmeal crust. {Oops, that crust could stretch the prep time by a couple of minutes.} I’m also thinking this could be good in large individual ramekins. From Food Network

Slow Cooker Pineapple Habanero Pulled Chicken

Those same folks check in with another chicken prep, this one though considerably higher on the “thermometer.” And in case the 1-2 habaneros don’t tingle your tongue enough, there’s also black pepper and hot sauce in the mix. Thank your culinary stars for the pineapple, sour cream and lime juice. Lots of other good stuff in {and on} there too. From Food Network.

Tomato & Bacon Flatbread with Greens

Well this is quite the colorful plate-ful. Ready-made pizza dough means an easy start and the rest moves along pretty smoothly too. A super flavorful vinaigrette seasons the dough and then waits in the wings while the flatbread goes through an initial baking and then back in the oven with the tomatoes, bacon and cheese. Then the mixed baby greens take their turn with the remaining vinaigrette and Voila! ready to enjoy. From Real Simple

Sweet Lemon Desserts You Can Make All Year Long

Cheesecakes and crumb cakes and pound cakes, oh my. And more. Pies, and bars, and cookies. And more. From Southern Living

   Cocktail Hour Buzz   

Sundowner snacks, drinks, talk – whether for a crew, or for two, or just for you

♦   Topo Chico? Has this hot topic made its way to your doorstep yet? The short take is it’s a mineral water from Mexico, but the fact is it has quite a backstory. It involves a legend, history, geography, health claims, drink ideas, name origin, and hangover buzz, prevention as well as cure {alternatives just below}. Thanks to the WideOpenEats site {shows as secure} much of the story is all gathered in one place. They can be hard to find, so if you need to, can turn to good ol’ Amazon.

♦   Yeah, we do tend to feature Yearwood creations here a bit, but mercy Trisha just does so much that’s fun, so much that’s tasty. The latter goes into overdrive in her Charleston Cheese Dip, where cheese x 3 meets bacon, scallions and a touch of spice, all creamy-ed up with mayo. I’m in!

♦   A recent episode of “Chopped” on Food Network was themed on “hangry,” though a specific application which is to say hangovers. While as always ingredients abounded, both inside and outside the baskets, these are the ones that both contestants and judges seemed to think best address the issue: eggs, avocados, broth, cheese, noodles, hydrating fruits like watermelon, any kind of bread or crackers, anything creamy whether sweet or savory. For what it’s worth.

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