Home Cooking

One of the Piedmont's world-renowned fine dining chefs heads to the horse races this weekend to rate down-home fare that's oft times served from the back of a pickup truck. Patrick O'Connell, longtime chef and proprietor of the five-star Inn at Little Washington in Rappahannock County, serves as "celebrity tailgate judge" for today's Montpelier Hunt Races at James Madison's Orange County estate. He told the Star-Exponent earlier this week the folks at Montpelier have been trying to get him to do it for years.  

One afternoon in July, executives at Unilever's corporate headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., had decided it was the right time to serve up, of all things, Thanksgiving dinner. Inside the test kitchen next to a conference room, about half a dozen women in aprons and tie-back hats hurried about a long table, laying out the victuals they'd cooked especially for the occasion. The feel was festive, right down to the pine cone-and-pumpkin centerpieces on the tabletop-but the purpose was pure business.

It used to be that [mayonnaise and similar condiments] were used for kids and at picnics and in the summer. It wasn't a normal ingredient in everyday use. But now, people are packing lunches two, three times a week.   -Marcia Mogelonsky

 

Trisha Yearwood has more recipes to offer. She's put together a second cookbook. Yearwood, along with her mother Gwen and her sister Beth, gather family recipes for "Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood."  

LEBANON, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (the "Company") (Nasdaq: CBRL - News ) today announced that it has entered into an amendment to its existing credit facilities. The amendment extends the availability of $165 million of the $250 million currently available under the Company's revolving credit facility to January 2013 from April 2011. The maturity of $250 million of its existing $643 million term loans was extended by three years to April 2016.

We are pleased to successfully complete this amendment, strengthening our capital structure by extending the maturities of our revolver and a portion of our term loans. We will also be able to appropriately size our revolver to a level consistent with our improved inventory management and cash flow needs. We appreciate the response from our lenders and their assistance in making these important enhancements to our credit facilities.   -Sandra B Cochran

 

Judy Creighton, a longtime journalist with The Canadian Press, has received a prestigious award for her lifetime of service to Canada's culinary community. Creighton, 71, was given Cuisine Canada's Founder's Award on Friday at a ceremony on the opening day of the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. Creighton's byline is well known in Canadian food journalism.  

More Feast, Less Fuss: Nicole Aloni, Sam's Club member and cookbook author, team up to teach members how they too, can enjoy the cost-savings benefit of spreading holiday cheer with home-baked holiday treats. Bentonville, AR (PRWEB) November 6, 2009 -- Sam's Club, traditionally known for its economy-sized values, says that families this holiday season can benefit from (the savings) of buying in bulk, especially when it comes to gift-giving home-made treats. With ...  

During spring and summer, I avoid recipes that require putting on the oven. In our small house, the heat from the oven seems to radiate straight from the kitchen into the living room and no one wants that when it is 90-plus degrees outside. But now that the weather has cooled down again, I can get back to some of my favorite recipes that start off on the stove top and require a little cooking in the oven.  

The Webberville Woman's Advance Club's Oct. 19 meeting at the Okemos home of Joan King had a distinctly seasonal flavor. King served a dessert, and each member received a pumpkin, which had the recipe for pie on the bottom. On Nov. 18, Jill Moon, Cleo Chase, Joan King, and Nancy Webb will attend the Ingham County Home Association Trustees and Ingham County Residence Board of Directors meeting at Marsh Pointe.  

We've talked about Peter Reinhart before; his book The Bread Bakers' Apprentice , a thick textbook-style volume is a brilliant resource for all things bread, and it's recipe for Napoletana Pizza Dough is renowned. Reinhart's latest title is even easier to digest (and to peruse on the subway). It has just fifty recipes, all relatively quick and easy, for just about every favorite bread, with a few riffs on the classics like sandwich loaves, pretzels, baguettes, sticky buns, Challah, pizza dough, Babka, English muffins, and those tantalizing bagels.