Earthly Eating

Cookie swaps bring many people together, start traditions, and create strong friendships that last a lifetime. Men, women, children, families, churches, neighborhoods, etc. It is a great way to sample other baker’s cookies, as well as get to know people that share the same passion as you. But, no matter where you live, the bottom line is, you can start the same tradition. Here’s how:

• Ask each guest to bring at least six dozen of their favorite holiday cookies, along with copies of the recipe to share with everyone at the party and a few empty containers to carry home other cookies at the party as well.

• Have a large table cleared so that you can display all the special treats that arrive from the other guests. This is where decorating the table comes into play. If it is close to Christmas, incorporate that theme into your table decorations. If it is a more laid-back swap then, whatever the season is, say summer, use sunshine themed dish-ware. Or if it is cold outside, use snowflakes and tea pots to serve tea, to name a few ideas.

• Break out your calculator and figure out how manu of each type of cookie everyone gets to take home for themselves. (72 divided by how many guests have arrived and brought cookies). Each guest still goes home with six dozen cookies, this time in many different varieties of flavors, shapes and colors.

• Incorporate this idea with a kids birthday party or just a Christmas “kiddie” party, and so on. Kids love to make messes and what better way to have them make a mess than with cookies.

**The United States Botanical Gardens Christmas Display at Washington, DC that Kjersti Wasiak attended looks to be amazing. Click here to see the photos she took while viewing the display.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe - Count-Down To Christmas Recipe Of Sweets:

Gluten-Free Peppermint Meringue Snowballs
Serves: Makes 3 dozen

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract, optional (use imitation peppermint oil so that the meringues won’t deflate.)
1/4 cup finely crushed gluten-free candy canes or peppermint candy

1. Prehat oven to 200°F degrees.

2. Line two large cookie sheets with aluminum foil and set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until frothy.

4. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating until whites stand in stiff, glossy peaks. This will take about 10 minutes. Beat in the peppermint extract as desired.

5. Drop rounded tablespoons of mixture onto baking sheets, leaving a 1″ space in between; Sprinlkle tops with crushed candy.

6. Bake 1 1/2 hours.

7. Turn oen off and leave meringues in oven for 30 minutes. Let them cool completely before removing from the foil. Store meringues in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Happy Eating!

Bacteria, salmonella, etc. may be lurking in your meats whether you want them to or not. In order to cut down on sicknesses with your meat, always practice safe-handling practices. Never assume you are safe when it comes to raw meats. Here are some tips to adopt in your own meat-handling chores. Some of these practices start the minute you pick up your meat selections in the grocery store.

• Seperate meats from fruits and vegetables in the shopping cart and in your refrigerator.

• Never let meat leak onto other foods when stored in the refrigerator or cooler.

• Throughly wash before preparing food and immediately after handling raw meat.

• Always cook meat until the juices run absolutely clear, and use a meat thermometer to ensure the interior of the meat has reached its recommended temperature.

• Keep utensils and cutting boards separate from meats and vegetables. Carefully clean any surface that has come in contact with raw meat before any other item is placed on that surface.

• Buy fresh-looking fruits and vegetables, avoiding any that are bruised, shriveled, moldy, or slimy. Reject anything that smells bad or packaged vegetables that look old. Buy only what you need.

• Always wash fruits and vegetables throughly in clean drinking water before eating them.

• Handle fresh fruits and vegetables carefully. Put produce away promptly, and keep all cut fruits and vegetables covered in the refrigerator until just before serving.

• Wash all countertops and utensils throughly after handling food.

• Discard old produce. Throw way cut produce that has been out of the refrigerator for four hours or more.

• When eating outside, keep food refrigerated until just before serving.

**Over at Los Angeles, CA blog here at 451 Press, Megan Palmer talks about the two stunt men that were burned while working on the set of Adam Sandler’s new movie You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, Which is due to be out in late June 2008. To read more about this, click here.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Spiked Southern Comfort Style Sweet Potato Pie
Serves: Makes 1 pie

1 graham cracker pie crust (9″)
1 1/2 cups cooked and peeled sweet potatoes
1 cup whipping cream
3 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tbs. Southern Comfort Liquor

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine all ingredients until well blended and pour into prepared pie crust. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Turn heat down to 350°F and cook for an additional 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool pie on rack before refrigerating.

Happy Eating!

Hot cocoa warms your body on winter nights, everyone knows this. But, more good news about hot cocoa is it can help protect your blood vessels as well.

Cocoa can inhibit the platelet activity that causes blood clotting. Potentially fatal blood clots have been linked to long-haul flgihts, as well as to cardiovascular disease, birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, and extended periods of inactivity (like being laid out with the flu).

A significant increase was observed following the consumption of CocoaPro powder.

Although the drink isn’t available in the U.S., you can purchase CocoaVia Original Chocolate Bars on their website.

Here is a recipe to use with that rich chocolatey candy bar:

Fill a mug with 1 cup of 1 precent milk, then microwave on medium for about a minute; add 2 squares of a CocoaVia Original Chocolate Bar and stir until the chocolate melts. And drink up to your hearts health. To learn more, visit the CocoaVia website.

**Jessica Simpson was a guest on The View and discussed airport security with Whoopie Goldberg, and the rest of the ladies. Watch the small clip over at Simpson Watch by clicking here.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Vegetable Pancakes
Serves: 6

1 egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbs. baking powder
3/4 cup reduced fat milk
1 cup grates zucchini
1 cup grates carrots
Cooking oil spray

In a mixing bowl, whisk together egg, flours, and baking powder. Whisk in milk, then stir in vegetables. Let stand 20 minutes.

Coat a large, nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Pour batter from a measuring cup or a small pitcher onto pan to make pancakes of desired size. When bubbles form on top, turn over with a spatual. Continue cooking just until golden on both sides. Serve with maple syrup, sour cream or unsweetened plain yogurt.

Happy Eating!

Thanksgiving is the day of the year when we eat so much that most of us afterward need a good long nap to feel better. Eating healthy and indluging don’t really go hand and hand on this day either. But, eating reasonably healthfully isn’t a loos cause on this day of thanks. Here’s how to keep in check and not go over-board with eating.

• FOWL: If the choice is between glazed nitrate-cured ham or traditional big bird, opt for the poultry. Although the dark meat has a higher fat content, it’s also richer in iron and zinc, two important minerals most Americans don’t get enough of. A smaller portion will take you farther nutrionally than an equal portion of white meat.

• SIDES: Most of your holiday sides are where the nutrition actions is, at least they’re done right. Winter squash, squash as butternut squash and pumpkin, is loaded with vitamin A as beta-carotene and other antioxidants to help prevent heart disease and cancer. They’re also a good source of potassium and brimming with fiber. Fiber helps prevent a number of cancers while acting as a probotic and feeding the helpful microorganisms in the digestive tract.

• YAMS/SWEET POTATOES: Like the other yellow, orange, and gold root veggies, they have the vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and fiber. But they also are one of the best sources of food energy. Boiled or steamed sweet potatoes and yams are one of the healthiest foods people can eat. The low-heat cooking helps them retain more nutrients and provide the type of carbohydrates most suited for weight management and blood-sugar control.

• THE COLOR RED: Red fruits and vegetables are some of the best sources of vitamins and antioxidants. Berries contain proanthocyanidins that can prevent the adhesion of various bacteria associated with urinary tract infections, gum disease, and stomach ulcers.

• DRIED FRUITS: Look to dried fruits such as dried plums, dried figs, raisins, and dried cherries, for more than iron, zinc and other minerals. They have plenty of calcium, too. And of course, they are loaded with fiber and potassium. You can make pies from most of them, add them to stuffing, sauces, and compotes, or eat them just they way they are with some nuts.

**Toys-R-Us makes a statement about the many recent toy recalls. Read the statement made by a Toys-R-Us spokesperson over at Reviewing Toys. While you are there Eliza Ferree has posted many reviews of other toys, so before you buy read some of her postings to see if the toy is a good buy or not.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe: Day 5 Of Low-Fat Eating

Guilt-Free, Low-Fat, Healthy Snacks For You And Your Family

• Just Vegetables: Dehydrated niblets of corn, carrots, peas, tomatoes, and bell peppers make eating veggies almost as satisfying as eating popcorn. There is nothing added, so all you get is phytochemicals, fiber, and vitamins A and C. Plus a mild, slightly sweet flavor. Find them at natural foods stores everywhere or click here for an online company distribution.

• Dried Fruits: Here is a snack that’s packed with potassium, antioxidants, and fiber. Granted, dried fruit is high in sugar, but that actually makes it a food choice when you need a little pick-me-up. You can munch a cup of dried blackberries and take in just 90 calories and a whopping 9 grams of fiber in them.

• Edamame: A traditional snack in Japan, edamame, or blanched soybeans in pids, are becoming increasingly available in the United States. The sweet, nutty-tasting beans are loaded with soy protein, which has been shown to help lower cholesterol. A half cup of chelled beans has 125 calories and 4 grams of fiber. Look for unsalted edamame in the frozen foods section.

• Sliced Raw Vegetables: Make you own mini-party platter with sweet red peppers, baby carrots, celery, and a bit of hummus. The fiber in the veggies and creamy bean dip will fill you up, withgout loading you down with calories.

• Rice Cakes: Whole grains are the prixe here. Diets rich in whole grains ,ay reduce your risk of diabetes and some cancers. Unsalted rice cakes can be cardboardly; if you’re eating them unadorned, opt for ones with a littel salt. Quaker’s Lightly Salted rice cakse are satisfying crunchy and are made with only two ingredients, whole grain brown rice and salt. Two cakes, deliver 70 calories and a scant of 30 milligrams of sodium.
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Lime and Ginger Custards
Serves: 5

1 tsp. lime zest
1/3 cup fresh like juice
1/2 cup cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 tsp finely grated ginger

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Whisk together all the ingredients in a large glass bowl.

3. Place five 4-ounce custard cups in a large baking dish. Fill cups 3/4 of the way from being full with the mixture.

4. Carefully pour hot water into the baking pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the custard cups.

5. Place baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 mintues, or until just about set. The centers should be slightly liquid.

6. Remove pan from the oven and let custard cool in the water bath.

7. Chill and serve.

Happy Eating!

Even though it’s Halloween, that doesn’t mean the kids get to partake on the festivities alone. Here are some Halloween recipes to put anyone and everyone in the mood of Boo!

Spooky Spider:
Serves 1

Black licorice
Chocolate chips
Marshmallow or other chocolate sandwich cookie
Microwave oven

Bend four 3 1/2 inch-long pieces of black licorice lace into semicircles. Spread some chocolate from 1 tbs. chocolate chips, melted in the microwave, on bottom of 1 chocolate-covered marshmallow cookie. Press licorice into chocolate for 8 spider legs. Dip 2 chocolate chips in melted chocolate; atache for eyes. Refrigerate 10 minutes.

Marshmallow Ghost:
Serves 12

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup water
1 tbs. cornstarch
2 tbs. confectioners’ sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 ts. vanilla extract

1. In cup, sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup water; let stand to soften gelatin. Onto waxed paper, sift conrstarcj and 1 tbs. confectioners’ sugar. Spray 9″ by 9″ baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; coat with cornstarch mixture.

2. In 2-quart saucepan, heat granulated sugar, corn starch, and 1/4 cup water to boiling, stirring. Boil 1 minute. Add gelatin mixture; cook over low heat to dissolve, stirring.

3. In a large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat gelatin mixture and vanilla 15 minutes or until very thick and glossy. Spread in pan; sift 1 tbs. confectioners’ sugar over top. Cover with waxed paper; let set at room temperature 2 hours or until firm enough to cut.

4. With 30inch ghost-shaped cookie cutter, cut mixture into ghost. Serve on a platter.

Eyeball Mash
Serves: Many

In a food processor with a knife-blade, blend 12 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese, 1 can (4 1/2 ounces) chopped mild green chiles, 1/3 cup light mayonnaise, 1 tbs. vinegar, and 1 tsp. mustard. Transfer to bowl; stir in 1/2 cup sliced ripe black olives.

Pumpkin Tortilla Chips
Serves: about 20 chips

Prehat oven to 400°F. From 2 burrito-size roasted red pepper and/or jalapeno-cilantro flour tortillas, with 2 1/2-inch pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter, cut out pumpkins. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 5 minutes, or until crisp. Cool on rack.

Monster Crispy Treats
Serves: 12

2 tbs. butter or margarine
3 cups miniature marshmallows
4 cups “pebble” cereal (you can use chocolate ones for a different effect as well.)
12 lollipop sticks or wooden pop sticks
12 cups ready-to-spread frosting, tinted as desired
Assorted Candies

Microwave butter in a 2-qt. microwaveable bowl on high 30 seconds, or until melted. Microwwave times will vary, so be sure not to burn the butter. Add marshmallows; toss to coat. Microwave 1 minute or until marshmallows are completely melted, stiurring about every 30 seconds. Add cereal, and mix well.

Shape into 12″ monsters, using about 1/3 cup cereal mixture for each one. Insert stick into each. Decorate with frosting and candies as desired. Let stand until firm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. (You can also flatten out the cereal mixture onto a cookie sheet and press out designs with a cookie cutter. Be sure and add waxpaper under cereal mixture to make it easier to lift shapes. Once shape is out of cookie sheet insert stick in bottom and decorate.

**Looking for last minute costume ideas for Halloween? Summer M. over at Creative Mom Cafe has some great ideas for the costume in a hurry. Read some of the ideas here, but hurry “Trick-or-Treating” is tonight.**
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Earthly Eating Recipe:

Taco Bowls
Serves: 8

8 flour tortillas
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup 2% Milk shredded Cheddar cheese
5 lettuce leaves
1 large tomatoe
1/4 Ranch dressing

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Microwave tortillas on high 30 seconds, or until soft.

2. Press 1 tortilla into each 8 medium muffin cups to form a bowl. Carefully fold edges of tortilla back to keep an opening foe the filling. Bake 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, brown meat in a large skillet on medium heat; drain. Stir in slsa; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Cut lettuse with clean kitchen shears (about 2 cups chopped.)

5. Chop tomato into 1/4-inch pieces with knife (about 1 cup chopped).

6. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture into each tortilla bowl.

7. Top evenly with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. Drizzle with dressing.

Happy Eating!

It’s Labor Day, go ahead eat a watermelon.

Watermelon’s botanical name, Citrullus vulgaris, comes from the diminutive form of citrus, referring to the color and shape of the fruit, and vulgaris meaning common or ordinary fruit. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where its English common name, watermelon, comes from. The flesh of this succulent fruit is over 90 percent water. Native to Africa, it was a valuable and portable source of water for desert situations and when natural water supplies were contaminated.

Watermelons were cultivated in Egypt and India as far back as 2500 B.C. as evidenced in ancient hieroglyphics.

The more than five hundred varieties of watermelon grown worldwide give consumers many choices, with a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors to choose from. They are generally divided into icebox and picnic categories. The icebox category is so called because the size of the melons, ranging from five to fifteen pounds, allows them to fit more easily into the refrigerator. Picnics are larger, weighing from fifteen to fifty pounds, yet they can grow much larger. In 1991, Bill Rogerson of North Carolina, USA, won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for his gigantic 279-pound watermelon!

Happy Labor Day Eating!