Food News Roundup

Hostess files for bankruptcy

NEW YORK (AP) -- The maker of Twinkies, Sno Balls and Wonder Bread is trying to lose the fat.

Hostess Brands is hoping to cut its high costs as it heads back into bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a decade.

Hostess has enough cash to keep stores stocked with its Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and other snacks for now as it battles rising labor costs and increased competition. But longer term, the 87-year-old company has a bigger problem: health-conscious Americans favor yogurt and energy bars over the dessert cakes and white bread they devoured 30 years ago.

Last year, 36 percent of Americans ate white bread in their homes, down from 54 percent in 2000, according to NPD Group. Meanwhile, about 54 percent ate wheat bread, up from 43 percent in 2000. MORE


Romania's "Meatball King" dies

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP (AP) -- Meatballs are not taken lightly in the Balkans. Recipes are prized. Favorite restaurants and chefs are endlessly debated. The merits of regional variations can fuel an argument as sizzling hot as a grill itself.

But only one man in Romania was known as "the Meatball King" - Ion Oita - and his death has left a swath of mourners far beyond the small confines of "The Hunchback," his eatery in northern Bucharest.

Brazilian best-selling author Paulo Coehlo, Romanian soprano Mariana Nicolaesco and President Traian Basescu are among those who have eaten at his nondescript restaurant. All were drawn by its hefty claim to fame: some of the best meatballs in the Balkans.

Co-owner Oita, after years of welcoming politicians, writers and fashionistas through his doors, was found hanged in a restaurant annex Dec. 5 at age 64. Oita allegedly killed himself over the outcome of a court case involving his son, who has used a wheelchair ever since a car accident. His death was top news across Romania. MORE

What can a cookie do? Give someone a happy birthday

Last year, my 7-year-old planned a surprise birthday party for me because she learned that I had never had one.

She secretly plotted with her aunt who helped her shop for decorations and food. And she got her father to rent a social hall and invite my friends. She wanted to make me feel special on my birthday.



This year, my little Girl Scout is working to make a lot more people in our community feel loved on their birthdays. She had the means to throw me a party with all the trimmings -- cake, ice cream, balloons, matching plates and cups, banners and streamers, veggie and fruit trays, games with prizes.

She realizes that not every mom and dad can give their children the kinds of parties she has or the party she gave me. We have talked to her about how our local food pantry gives groceries to the needy.

Her Girl Scout troop's service project is to donate a birthday-party-in-a-box to the local food pantry. We are going to include all the elements of a birthday party -- cake mix, frosting, candles, decorations and games, a gift card for ice cream -- things that people with no money for food would like to give their children but can't -- in boxes we wrap and donate to the town food pantry. Then when volunteers hear of someone with a birthday, they can give them the box.

She is living the Girl Scout Law in part by doing her best to be considerate and caring.

So I want to help her all I can. She has a personal goal to sell 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to earn a Kindle. The troop's goal is 2,500 boxes to pay their way to Washington, D.C., for the Girl Scouts Rock the Mall singalong in celebration of Girl Scouting's 100th birthday.

Girl Scout cookies cost $3.50 a box in our council this year. The top-selling Thin Mints, Samoas (coconut-caramel-chocolate) and Tagalongs (chocolate-peanut butter) are back along with Do Si Dos (peanut butter sandwich), Trefoils (shortbread), Dulce de Leche (caramel chip), and Thank U Berry Munch (cranberry-white chip that tastes like Cap'n Crunchberries cereal.) The new cookie this year is a crisp zesty lemon half-moon covered in powdered sugar called Savannah Smiles in honor of Girl Scouts being founded 100 years ago in Savannah, Georgia, by Juliette Gordon Low.

If you would like to help my thoughtful daughter meet her goals by buying cookies, please contact me at iritnus@gmail.com. You can specify that your order be donated to the food pantry or to American soldiers stationed elsewhere.

New Year's Resolutions For This Blog

I'm always looking to improve this food blog. It can always get better.
In 2012, I hope to accomplish a few changes to it.

1. Add how long it takes me to prepare recipes to my post. (This was a suggestion from an anonymous commenter.)

2. Post at least weekly. If I can do this for three months, I am eligible to be cataloged on Blogher.

3. Apply to be included on Blogher.

4. Update the design.

That's plenty.

Party Nibbles: White Trash

This recipe crossed my path at two holiday potlucks. It is yummy and seems easy to make. I also got a giggle at its name.

WHITE TRASH SNACK MIX
3 1/2 cups Cheerios toasted oat cereal
3 cups Rice Chex
3 cups Corn Chex
16 ounces M&M's plain chocolate candy
2 1/2 cups salted mixed nuts
2 cups small pretzels
2 (11 ounce) packages white chocolate chips OR 1 (1 1/2 pound package almond bark)

Dump the cereals, M&Ms, nuts & pretzels in a large bowl.
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Melt very slowly, stirring occasionally, being careful not to burn the chocolate.
Dump melted chocolate over the rest of the ingredients and fold over and over until you have well-coated hunks and chunks.
Spread the whole mess out on parchment paper and set in a cool place until it sets up, then break it into pieces.
Store in zip-top bags or air-tight containers.

Variations abound and I've seen Golden Grahams cereal, raisins and mini marshmallows.

Christmas Candy: Peanut Clusters

This recipe is the newest I have added to my Christmas candy repertoire. My friend Melanie, with whom I attend Taste of Home Cooking School shows, shared this recipe, which is her Aunt Jean’s. She said her aunt does it differently than she submitted it to me and I made it still differently than that. What I have written below is what I did and it was yummy. The combinations of the two chocolates and the almond bark coating makes the candy’s taste is more complex than just “chocolate-covered peanuts”. I’ve gotten swoons from the people I’ve shared it with so far. It is so easy to make because a Crock-Pot melts the chocolate. All you have to do is stir and drop the clusters onto waxed paper.

PEANUT CLUSTERS
1 16-ounce jar salted dry roasted peanuts
1 16-ounce jar unsalted dry roasted peanuts
1 pound 8 ounces white almond bark, broken into chunks
4 ounces Baker’s white chocolate
12 ounces Baker’s German chocolate
12 ounces Toll House semisweet chocolate chips ( you could use milk chocolate)

Put nuts in Crock-Pot, then add white chocolate, milk or semisweet chocolate and German chocolate. Put the lid on and cook on low for 3 hours.
Turn off the Crock-Pot, remove the lid and let set for 15 minutes.
Stir and drop onto wax paper.

Holiday Eating Tips

Scrapbook Expo posted this on their Facebook Wall. I'm sure they got it somewhere else.

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare... You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it.
Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do.
This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.
Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a great holiday season!!

Restaurant review: The Waffle Hut, So Bad It's Good

The Waffle Hut in Flatwoods has a lot of characters.

Yeah, that’s not a typo.

We visited twice this fall when we stayed in Flatwoods for a conference. Our first impression was marked by a guy on the phone who sounded like an amateur lawyer. He sat at the lunch counter in the lobby area in front of a coffee cup and a newspaper that I would’ve assumed was a racing form if we hadn’t been hundreds of miles from a racetrack. “That is illegal. I’m telling you that is illegal. Now calm down. Calm down! Listen to me. The cops cannot touch you first. It is illegal for them to put their hands on her first. They cannot lay one finger on her. Now I said calm down!”

It’s dim in the restaurant even when the sun is shining brightly outside. The dark wood paneling and booths suck up the light from yellowed lightshades of lamps resembling old gas lanterns on some walls and hanging from the exposed-beam vaulted ceiling in the main dining room. The wallpaper in the lobby I’m sure I’ve seen on my grandparents’ kitchen walls years 30 years ago. The silverware is wrapped in a paper napkin and slipped into plastic sleeves like an old-time cafeteria.

For a late dinner one night we had breakfast: cinnamon-scented French toast, $3.75; sausage, $2; perfectly crisp bacon, $2; Belgian waffle, $3.75; and three pancakes with bacon, $3.

A tough waitress took our order; a quirky one delivered it, calling it “Frenchie" toast and "pancakies."

Bottomless drinks for $1 are unheard-of anymore. I paid $1.99 for a drink with free refills the other day. The food portions are large. Children can get a meal of chicken nuggets or a hot dog with fries and coleslaw, cottage cheese or applesauce for $3.25.

While we waited for our meal the “lawyer” left but we were entertained by a man who had had too much to drink. He kept losing his way back to his table from the bathroom and his friends had to keep steering him -- but not before he fell into our booth.

We returned the next day for lunch on our way home and had the much-renowned Honey-Dipt Chicken for $5.50. It came with a salad, fries, coleslaw or applesauce or cottage cheese and rolls. A fruit fly came too and would not leave; it was off-putting. The honey batter on the chicken was thin and crackly and nothing to crave. The chicken seemed spindly, not meaty. The waitress was especially surly. And we bothered her for dessert, which was not worth remembering.

We will go back when we’re in the area again and we will order breakfast, which is served all day. It’s a dive but it grows on you. William and Shirley Squires own the Waffle Hut and there’s not another one like it – I can say with relief.