"ideas" news and stories

Bea, of Le Tartine Gourmande, was inspired to use her pizzelle maker to create some homemade cones to serve with a light, refreshing sorbet. Using the same principle that is applied to making tuiles, in which a warm, thin cookie is quickly shaped before it has the chance to cool, she twisted her crisp pizzelles into perfect, miniature cones. Normally, one might use a dedicated waffle cone maker to produce homemade cones, but getting multiple uses of out an appliance you already own is a brilliant idea. The tiny cones were just like thin, crispy waffles and Bea says that they went beautifully with the sorbets. An alternative use for pizzelles, which can also be bought in stores if you do not have the equipment to make them at home, is to use them to make crispy ice cream sandwiches! Debbie, at words to eat by, has a recipe for chocolate pizzelles for a flavor variation that might be perfect for pairing with ice creams, rather than fruity sorbets.

Source

Do you have a couple of hard-boiled eggs sitting around? Instead of throwing them out, assuming that you kept them refrigerated or, at least did not cook them more than a day or two ago, peel the eggs and put them to good use. Hard boiled eggs do not keep as long as their uncooked counterparts, so don't try cooking with the ones you used in an Easter egg hunt that might have been in the sun.  A large egg has about 70 calories and is an excellent source of protein, with about 6 grams per egg. There are approximately 5 grams of fat in an egg, with 3.5 of them unsaturated, and they are all contained in the yolk. For more information on eggs, look here, but if you're just looking for a recipe or two, food blogs are a great place to look.

• Deviled Eggs 
• Egg Salad Sandwich 
• Hard Cooked Egg Cookies 
• Vegetarian Scotch Eggs 
• Son-in-law Eggs

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Recipes for home cooks tend to be formulated for a specific numbers of diners, usually 2, 4 or 6, which are all fairly common family numbers. Most recipes are easy to double, so you can turn a chicken dinner for four into a meal for eight quite easily. Recipes for entertaining and parties, however, are different. You generally want small or bite-sized portions and need a single recipe that will feed a house or yard full of people. Fortunately, there are several cookbooks on the market that can help you out here by providing you with lots of recipes that a specifically geared towards pleasing crowds. These are some of my favorites. Some are more traditional and some are more current, but all are great additions to home libraries.

• Party Food by Barbara Kafka
• Entertaining by Donna Hay
• Williams-Sonoma Entertaining
• Joy of Cooking: Party Foods and Drinks
• Just a Bite by Gale Gand

This isn't a complete list, by the way. What are your favorite entertaining cookbooks?

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

I recently found a site that deserves a mention if only for its name: My Lunch Can Beat Up Your Lunch! A self-described "ode to bento lunches," the site has photos, descriptions and recipes for roughly 100 different compartmentalized, on-the-go meals. The recipes are very straightforward and many, but not all, have Asian influences. There's yakitori and gyoza, but also chicken salad sandwiches and fried plantains. All in all, good for inspiration if you're looking to mix up what you pack for lunch every day.

Trend mapping reveals that food trends typically pass through five stages before gaining mainstream acceptance. Not all foods will make it through all five stages, though with increased public awareness of food trends and issues, and thanks to online communities and resources like Slashfood, more foods are making their way from Alinea to your table.

First, the cutting edge chefs with adventurous clientele will test the waters of flavor and texture. The ingredient might only appear as a special to begin with, but once it is established, other chefs will pick it up to appear on regular menus.

Next, if the food is a hit, the phenomenon will soon make its way to magazines like Bon Appetit and other trend-watching media. A television appearance will give the food further exposure.