25 Days of Christmas Baking

Christmas is a hugely celebrated holiday in Portland. Many gift exchanges at work as well as potlucks and Christmas parties are not uncommon. When you are getting ready to do your holiday baking, here's a few ways that you can liven them up during the holidays.

Colored Tissue Paper-

When you put your cookies, cakes and fruitcake in the basket, box, or tin that you plan to give the baked goods away in, place some holiday themed tissue paper or even red or green tissue paper in the bottom to liven things up. A plus side to using tissue paper is that it will absorb the grease from the butter and keep that fat moisture in the container keeping your products moist and chewy instead of turning hard.

Holiday Flavors-

There are many flavors that are synonymous with the holiday season, flavors like peppermint, hot chocolate, candy cane, cherry and orange. If you can incorporate these into your baked goods, you will be in good shape. If you are making any items that include a frosting, try crushing up a candy cane to use as a topping. Red and green sprinkles as well as silver degrees make beautiful decorations.

Holiday Baking Papers-
If you are making muffins, cupcakes, bonbons or anything that you can put into a paper cupcake wrapper, consider purchasing the holiday inspired wrappers instead of the bulk package at the grocery store. Often times you can pick up these cheery wrappers at the dollar store in several different designs.

Holiday Shapes-
Not all cookies can be shaped, but for those that can, consider making Christmas shapes instead of letters or geometric shapes. Small cookie cutter sets that include a gingerbread man, Santa, a reindeer and a snowman can be picked up most anywhere, including the dollar store.
Ribbons and Bows-
To top it all off, try using a nice bow or ribbon around the tin of baked goods to make it look more like a present than something that is just going to be devoured within a day or so. The little things like this make these sort of items sell all the quicker at bake sales and bazaars as well.

Mahana Red Apples Come to America

Mahana Red Apples have been very popular in New Zealand since Braden Farms started growing them. This red apple is bright red, crispy, juicy and designed specifically for baking. These vibrant red apples retain their color and crispness during baking, something that no other red apple has been able to claim.

Many that have tried the Mahana Red have decribed it a combination flavor of an apple and pear. This delish apple is available in the produce isles of select Portland grocery stores, so keep your eyes peeled for these bright red apples at your favorite grocery store.

Earth Source Trading, the company that has brought this tasty treat to you from new Zealand has several social media sites set up for the Mahana Red Apple where you can find several recipes, more information about the Mahana Red and videos. Check out their social network pages at:
Facebook.com/MahanaRed
Twitter @ MahanaRed
Pinterest @ MahanaRed

A Memory of Food- a Tribute to my Grandpa

This father's day, my Grandpa Tony will have been gone six years. He was the owner of the popular Sellwood restaurant, Jerry’s Gables. I miss him so much and I know that the rest of our family does as well. I have so many fond memories of my grandpa, but none are so fond as those of being in Grandpa’s restaurant. Grandpa was a great chef and a very generous man. He loved his food so much and wanted others to love it just as much that he would not send a dish out if it were not perfect. His restaurant was always gleaming with its polished wood plaques, white table linens, and green glass candle holders on each table.

The restaurant started life as Jerry’s Tavern, a neighborhood bar where all the locals knew your name, but did not make much money. It was started by my great-grandfather, Jerome Slavich in 1964. When great-grandpa passed on, so did the bar, to my grandfather. When Grandpa took over, he transformed the tavern into a fancy Italian restaurant.

I have many fond memories of that restaurant. The smells of the restaurant will forever linger in my mind every time I think of grandpa. When I was five years old, my family would go to dinner at the restaurant once a month. Even though there would be a line waiting down the street to get in (even if you had a reservation), grandpa always had a table waiting for us. No matter what I wanted to eat, Grandpa Tony would make it for me. If fresh halibut were on the menu, he would gladly cook me a whole fillet, even though he knew that I could not eat the whole fish myself. For dessert, Grandpa Tony would cut a watermelon in half lengthwise and hand it to me with a spoon, not caring at all that I couldn’t even finish a quarter of it. When visiting Grandpa Tony during the day, he would let me play with the sugar cubes while my Aunt Tina folded napkins into swans. 

During the summertime, grandpa would take me to the park across the street to play. He would pack a picnic lunch for us from the restaurant and we would stop at the corner store for a Squeeze-It. After swinging for what seemed like an hour, we would eat our lunches and go back to the restaurant to help prepare for the night. The upstairs of the restaurant was designed as living quarters. There was a labyrinth of rooms that were decorated with cats everywhere. When I was five years old when I found the secret passage from the upstairs living quarters to the restaurant’s kitchen. Family members would use the restaurant for birthday parties, and Grandpa would lovingly close the restaurant down for the night for our private party. 

Portlanders that remember Jerry’s Gables often have lovely memories of their times there. Many of Portland’s older residents remember the restaurant and my Grandfather even though the restaurant has been out of business since 2002. Although there were many fine dishes available in this five star restaurant, most say that their favorite was the spaghetti or chef's choice, a popular dish my grandpa created that consisted of bits of steak with sautéed mushrooms and onions over a bed of rice pilaf. Grandpa had only one rule for his cooking; cook from scratch. Everything that Grandpa Tony made, he made from scratch. Moreover, with lots of love. 

If anyone has any fond memories of Jerry's Gables in Portland, I would love to hear them. 

It's National Chocolate Chip Day

Today is national chocolate chip day in America. How will you be celebrating this tasty day? Not only did we have chocolate chip waffles (with 'Ronis and Cheese for Hail-- Gross I know but he's one!) but I will be making some chocolate chip cookies tonight once the weather cools off.

I hope that everyone enjoys their chocolate chip treats and posts their favorite treats!

Today is National Eat What You Want Day

Well, just like the title says, today is national eat what you want day. So let the diet slide, forget about being super, ultra healthy (for today at least) and find that super indulgent snack that you have been craving but you haven't eaten yet. America gives you permission to eat it today; after all, if they didn't want you to eat it, they wouldn't have invented a day of the year for such things. I will be indulging in a delicious piece of Orange Pineapple Bundt Cake.

Good for you Late Night Snack Options

Everyone knows that you shouldn't eat late at night because it's bad for you. Just because you are eating late at night doesn't mean that you have to eat junk food or fast food, however. While I am not much of a partygoer, I am a muncher and prefer to graze throughout the day instead of eating a full meal. This means that I am often looking for something to eat late at night. If you find yourself in this same predicament, read on.

Pretzels-

Potato chips, Doritos, Pork Rinds, and any other variation of the potato, swine fat or otherwise are deep-fried. This means that all of that fat you're consuming is going to go straight to your middle and will more than likely make you feel bloated. Not only that, but it is going to be harder to take off at the gym than eating a pound of turkey at Thanksgiving. Pretzels or baked chips are baked and made with high protein flour so they will not be so hard to get rid of.

Air-popped Popcorn-

Bagged popcorn is swimming in fat solids waiting to be reconstituted. You may as well sit down with a stick of butter if that's your snack of choice. Air popped popcorn has none of these horrible preservatives in it, making it not only better for you but you can add a little extra flavor by sprinkling on some seasoning salt or garlic. If you must use butter, make sure that it's real butter and not margarine. It may take a little longer to pop but it is worth the wait.

Graham Cracker Sandwiches-
If you think that packing away a few Twinkies in the middle of the night won't hurt, then you must be stuffed with Ding Dongs because that just isn't the case! These are nothing but carbs and sugar. Graham crackers with a little all-fruit spread or Nutella is a filling snack that not only tastes great but will fill you up faster and keep you fuller longer than something that will make you crash and burn.

Fruit Juice or Water-
When sitting around late at night watching TV, you may be tempted to run in the kitchen at commercial and grab a soda. These drinks are filled with as many meaningless, empty carbs and sugar as a box of Twinkies. Fruit juice will satisfy your sugary drink craving while providing you with some fruit in your diet. If you are just looking for something to drink, grab a bottle of water to really quench your thirst. It's completely guilt free. Also, after drinking some water, you may find that you aren’t really hungry at all.

Vegetables-
The very best late night snack that you can have over everything is vegetables. Dip them in some peanut butter and they will keep you fuller longer and you can eat as much as you want, guilt free. The peanut butter is high in protein and the vegetables are just good for you. Not only that, but it will keep your skin clear as well, unlike that box of Twinkies.

Cheesier Mac n' Cheese tip

In this house, we LOVE Mac n' Cheese. My son is going through that toddler stage of his life where he only wants to eat Mac n' Cheese and chicken nuggets. While I find the Blue Box to be superior to all other brands, I did learn something new when missing a key component to making this staple meal in my Portland home. If you use extra butter and no milk, you will end up with cheesier  'ronis that most everyone loves. Now that I have, unintentionally, made my mac n' cheese this way once, my son won't eat it any other way.