/PRNewswire/ -- La Costena, manufacturers of the #1 selling jalapenos in the U.S., is on a mission to remind Americans budget cuisine does not have to equal bland cuisine in its fourth annual Feel the Heat Jalapeno Tour. The tour will highlight how it's affordable, easy and fun to add the taste of flavor to your everyday meals with La Costena products.
While cooking in a mobile and state-of-the art kitchen, the "Por Sabor" chefs will demonstrate to families how to use salsas, beans, and jalapenos to season every day meals. The tour will be featured at some of the nation's biggest family festivals.
"The 'Por Sabor' patrol will help families realize during these tough economic times they can still cook delicious and inexpensive meals," said Chef Xochitl Guzman. "We want to show budget-minded Americans how salsa, beans and jalapenos can infuse mouth-watering flavor to eggs, baked potatoes, grilled chicken, soups, and spaghetti sauce. You can even throw sliced jalapenos into the ultimate comfort foods when times are tough like macaroni and cheese, or try stirring jalapenos into cornbread, slide them atop a hamburger, or sprinkle a few slices in your Caesar salad."
$200 Award for "Spicy Sport" Winner
At each stop during the tour, La Costena plans to award $200 to the person whose taste buds can endure the "spicy sport" by speed eating jalapenos in one minute. Competitors may also attempt to beat the record by Los Angeles who ate 31 whole La Costena pickled jalapenos last year.
Food Feat Feeds the Hungry
Continuing with its tradition to serve the community La Costena has pledged to donate an assortment of its authentic Mexican food products to local food banks and hunger relief agencies for each jalapeno consumed during these contests.
Family Festival Stops
The La Costena Feel the Heat Jalapeno Tour will be featured at popular family festivals in several major cities. Among them are the Fiesta del Charro, Chicago, IL; Oxnard Salsa Festival, Oxnard, CA; Fiesta del Sol, San Diego, CA; Festival Peachtree Latino, Atlanta, GA; Viva! Chicago Latino Music Festival, Chicago, IL; Labor Day Festival, Chicago, IL; Fiestas Patrias, Chicago, IL.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
La Costena's Motto: 'Budget Meals, Yes! Bland Meals, No!'
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Free Donut at Dunkin' Donuts to Celebrate National Donut Day June 5
/PRNewswire/ -- Dunkin' Donuts, America's all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, is marking National Donut Day with a sweet nationwide offer to help Americans celebrate the joy and fun of donuts. On June 5, 2009, participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants throughout the country will give every customer a free donut of their choice, with the purchase of any beverage, limit one per customer.
Also on National Donut Day, Dunkin' Donuts will announce the winner of its first-ever "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest. From nearly 130,000 donut contest creations submitted online, one of 12 finalists will win a $12,000 grand prize and have their winning donuts sold in Dunkin' Donuts locations throughout the country. Americans can vote for their favorite finalist online at www.dunkindonuts.com/donut.
National Donut Day, held the first Friday of June each year, was started by the Chicago Salvation Army more than 70 years ago. According to Dunkin' Donuts' Brand Marketing Officer Frances Allen, the day holds particular relevance in 2009. "From office meetings to Sunday get-togethers, donuts are one of those foods that lift people's spirits and bring genuine delight to any situation. And now more than ever, Americans are seeking those small moments of happiness," she said. "We hope our free donut offer will create an opportunity for people to celebrate donuts and bring some extra happiness to their day."
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tasty summer dishes sizzle with sweet Vidalia onions
(ARA) - Maybe it was helping your grandma with her favorite summer recipe or shopping with your mom at the market when the first shipment of the season arrived. No matter the memory, Vidalia onions are as versatile and delicious today as they were back then.
Vidalia onions are the original sweet onion. They are only grown in a small region in southeast Georgia and are only available in the spring and summer. Forget about the strong flavor of red and white onions that often leave odors in the kitchen for days. The sweet, mild taste of Vidalia onions makes them a great addition to any summer recipe.
"Vidalias have always been one of my favorite additions to warm-weather recipes," says "Top Chef" season five contestant Spike Mendelsohn. "Then, when my sister married a Vidalia native, I got to go down for their engagement party and see first-hand how much care the farmers put into their crop."
"When my family and I were thinking of what type of restaurant to open, we kept coming back to our favorite meals. Burgers, shakes, fries and Vidalia onion rings! What's better?" says Mendelsohn, who is executive chef and owner of Good Stuff Eatery in Washington, D.C. He shares a favorite family Vidalia recipe from his brother-in-law:
Cliff's Homegrown Vidalia Onion Petals
Ingredients for the onion petals:
4 Vidalia onions, cut into quarters
4 cups batter (recipe follows)
Canola oil for deep-frying
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ingredients for the onion petal batter:
(This can be made one day in advance.)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch black pepper
Pinch ground cayenne
1 cup beer
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten
Directions:
To prepare the onion petal batter, sift 2 cups flour, salt, paprika, brown sugar, Old Bay seasoning, cumin, black pepper and cayenne into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the beer, buttermilk and egg. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients, and whisk to prevent lumps. Refrigerate until needed. Line a metal tray with paper towels.
Heat about 3 inches oil in a large skillet until it reaches 350 F on a candy thermometer. To prepare the onion petals, toss the onions in a bowl with 1 cup flour, coating them well, and shake off the excess. Pour the batter into another bowl, and dip in the petals to coat well. Slowly add the petals one by one into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd the skillet. Cook until golden brown and crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove the petals, and drain them on the paper towels. Season the petals with salt and pepper while still hot. Serve immediately.
"I suggest serving these with a homemade basic mayonnaise or a horseradish mayonnaise for a bit of zip," says Mendelsohn. "These onions are also great in soups, salads, sandwiches, salsas, sauces -- the list goes on and on. Just be sure not to miss them as the growing season is short."
Share your own pleasant memory of cooking with Vidalia onions and your favorite family recipe with the famous sweet treat and you could win some cash. Enter the Vidalia Onion Committee's "Sweet Times with Vidalias Recipe Contest" from May 1 to Aug. 14. To enter, visit www.VidaliaOnion.org or join the fan page on www.facebook.com. Entries must be submitted online along with a memory or short story about cooking with Vidalia onions.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
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Friday, May 15, 2009
Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest Lets You Be the Judge!
(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the first time, the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is opening its judging up to you, America! The country’s most prestigious cooking contest once again will have 100 finalists vying for the $1 million grand prize, but now America can help determine 10 of those final 100 recipes with the new You Be the Judge! voting, beginning May 14, 2009, at www.bakeoff.com.
The 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® competition, set for April 11-13, 2010, at the Waldorf=Astoria Orlando and Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek hotel in Florida, will feature two groups of recipes that will comprise the final 100 recipes—90 recipes whose creators will directly earn a spot at the competition and 20 recipes that will be placed on www.bakeoff.com for America to judge.
The 20 recipes will be posted in pairs every two weeks beginning May 14, 2009 (namely, May 28, June 11, June 25, July 9, July 23, August 6, August 20, September 3 and September 17, 2009) where the dishes will be judged. Voting is limited to one vote per person per each pair of recipes. Voters must be registered members of www.pillsbury.com and 18 years of age or older as of May 1, 2009, to participate.
“Through the years, we’ve received many calls from people asking how they can be a judge for the contest, so we thought it would be fun to have people get involved and help us decide which recipes should move on to Orlando and compete for the million-dollar grand prize,” said Kim Anderson, Pillsbury Bake-Off® Kitchens Manager.
The recipe from each pair that receives the most votes will earn a spot in the Bake-Off® finals on April 12 in Orlando, where 100 home cooks will compete side-by-side at 100 mini-kitchens. You Be the Judge! voting for the tenth and final pair ends on October 1, 2009 at 11:59AM CDT. The 100 recipes competing for $1 million at the competition will be announced mid-October 2009.
The 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off ® Contest is sponsored by General Mills, General Electric, The J.M. Smucker Company, Eggland’s Best, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Fisher® Nuts and The Hershey Company and will award more than $1.1 million in cash, prizes and trips.
From early January through mid-April 2009, home cooks entered their original recipes in one of four recipe categories: Breakfast & Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Dinner Made Easy™ and Sweet Treats. Entrants had to use two or more different eligible products in their recipes, with at least one ingredient from the primary list of products and a second from either the primary or secondary list.
The primary list featured returning eligible products to the contest, including Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls, Classic Pizza Crust, Cookie Dough and Ready to Bake!™ Cookies, Grands!® and Golden Layers® Biscuits, Cinnamon Rolls, Breadsticks, Crusty French Loaf, and Pie Crusts; Pillsbury® Brownie Mixes and Pillsbury BEST® Flour. Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Recipe Creations® flaky dough sheet and Thin Pizza Crust were new products on the primary list.
The secondary list featured Green Giant® Frozen Vegetables, Jif® Peanut Butter, Smucker’s® Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Fruit Spreads and Ice Cream Toppings, Crisco® Cooking Oil, Eggland’s Best Eggs, LAND O LAKES® Stick Butter and Fisher® Nuts. Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk and Hershey®’s cocoa, baking chips or bits and baking chocolate were new eligible ingredients also on the secondary list.
Recipe entries are judged on taste, appearance, creativity, and consumer appeal. For the 44th contest and You Be the Judge! voting official rules, visit www.bakeoff.com.
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Thursday, April 2, 2009
Last Chance to Enter Million-Dollar Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest
(BUSINESS WIRE)--The heat is on for home cooks to come up with a recipe idea that could be worth $1 million, as the April 20, 2009, entry deadline for the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is quickly approaching. One hundred finalists will earn a trip to Orlando, Fla., next year to vie for the million-dollar grand prize and the glory of winning America’s most prestigious cooking competition.
This contest marks 60 years of recognizing and rewarding home cooks’ creativity, a history that began when the first Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest was held at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. Pillsbury will celebrate this 60th anniversary at the contest finals April 11-13, 2010, at the newest Waldorf=Astoria property—the Waldorf=Astoria Orlando and Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek hotel in Florida.
Entrants must submit their original recipes at www.bakeoff.com or the Spanish language site www.quericavida.com for preliminary judging.
“The recipes that make it into the final 100 are dishes families across the country will love. They’re new ideas that look tempting and taste great,” said Kim Anderson, Pillsbury Bake-Off® Kitchens Manager. “Finding inspiration for a simple recipe idea can be as easy as experimenting with new flavors or watching your favorite cooking show on television.”
Whether the idea comes from leftovers in the fridge or the desire to try a new product, Anderson shares these tips from the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Kitchens for creating an original recipe:
* Create a contemporary version of a traditional recipe by streamlining preparation techniques or by substituting a convenience ingredient for several ingredients.
* For inspiration, browse your grocery store aisles or visit a new restaurant and order a dish you’ve never tried.
* Adapt a recipe for a different serving occasion, such as turning a main dish into an appetizer. Try adding a new flavor twist.
* Think about a recent vacation and take cues from the new foods and flavors you tried.
* Challenge yourself to whip up a new dish from foods that are already in your fridge and pantry.
* Once you have a good idea, ask yourself, “Does it look attractive? Will it appeal to the whole family? Would my friends ask me for this recipe?”
* As you test your recipe, ask yourself, “Does it taste good? Are the seasonings too spicy, too bland or just right? What can be done to make this taste even better? Does the texture complement the recipe?”
* Remind yourself what the judges are looking for: taste, appearance, creativity and consumer appeal, and ask, “Will my recipe stand out?”
How to Enter
Creative cooks must enter online at www.bakeoff.com (or at www.quericavida.com). Only entries submitted via the electronic entry form provided on these web sites will be accepted. All entries must be received by 11:59 a.m. (central daylight time) on April 20, 2009.
Cash and Prizes
Four recipe categories define the kinds of recipes consumers should submit for the Bake-Off® competition. These include Breakfast & Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Dinner Made Easy™ and Sweet Treats. One of the four category winners will win the $1 million grand prize and a GE Profile™ Induction Free-Standing Range, plus the winner chooses $7,000 in additional GE Profile™ kitchen appliances. Combined retail value of Grand Prize is approximately $1,010,300. The three remaining Recipe Category Winners will each receive $5,000 and a GE Profile™ Induction Free-Standing Range. Combined retail value of each Category Prize is approximately $8,300.
Three additional awards will be presented to winners chosen from any of the recipe categories who have not already won another prize. The most innovative recipe will receive the GE Imagination at Work Award and its winner receives a GE Profile™ Induction Free-Standing Range, plus the winner chooses $1,700 in additional GE Profile™ kitchen appliances. Retail value of the GE Imagination At Work Award is approximately $5,000. The Jif® Peanut Butter Award recognizes the finalist who has the best recipe using at least ¼ cup of Jif® Peanut Butter. The winner will receive $5,000. The Crisco is Cooking™ Award recognizes the finalist who has the best recipe using at least 1 tablespoon of Crisco® Cooking Oil. The winner will receive $5,000.
Eligible Products
Contest officials have created two lists of eligible products. Contestants must use two or more different eligible products in their recipes, with at least one ingredient from the primary list of products and a second from either the primary or secondary list.
The primary list features returning eligible products to the contest, including Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls, Classic Pizza Crust, Cookie Dough and Ready to Bake Cookies, Grands!® and Golden Layers® Biscuits, Cinnamon Rolls, Breadsticks, Crusty French Loaf, and Pie Crusts; Pillsbury® Brownie Mixes and Pillsbury BEST® Flour. Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Recipe Creations™ flaky dough sheet and Thin Pizza Crust are new products on the primary list.
The secondary list features Green Giant® Frozen Vegetables, Jif® Peanut Butter, Smucker’s® Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Fruit Spreads and Ice Cream Toppings, Crisco® Cooking Oil, Eggland’s Best Eggs, LAND O LAKES® Stick Butter and Fisher® Nuts. Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk and Hershey®’s cocoa, baking chips or bits and baking chocolate are new eligible ingredients also on the secondary list.
Many of the eligible ingredients are familiar to home cooks and come in a variety of flavors, so people can choose their favorite ingredients from throughout the grocery store to use in their recipes. The official contest rules are available at www.bakeoff.com (or the Spanish language site www.quericavida.com) and list the specific eligible products and the amount of each that must be used in a recipe entry.
The upcoming 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is sponsored by General Mills, General Electric, The J.M. Smucker Company, Eggland’s Best, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Fisher® Nuts and The Hershey Company.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
FunnySpoon.com Launches a New Twist on the Cooking Website
/PRNewswire/ -- Scratch cooks aren't the only people who need a cooking website. Launching today, FunnySpoon.com serves up recipes featuring incredible menu shortcuts that are created through the use of common grocery store items.
FunnySpoon.com features dozens of recipes and coupons, as well as a shopping list generator. The website was created by two working women, Carrie Myers Jaynes and Vicki Monti, who searched for a resource and community to help them create quick and healthy meals that use branded grocery store products. Not finding any, they created it themselves.
"FunnySpoon is for the Wednesday night cook in all of us - when there is no time to cook from scratch, you don't want to drag the family to a restaurant, and you don't want breakfast for dinner again." Said co-founder Carrie Myers Jaynes, "By using everyday ingredients, you can create a dish - in just minutes - that your family will love and you'll feel great about serving!"
"People feel overwhelmed by meal preparation - what to cook, what products to buy, how to prepare. FunnySpoon meets those anxieties head-on by providing solutions that are quick and nutritious, and by celebrating the fact that you can deliver a from-scratch result without the from-scratch complexity. We do this by pairing branded products that complement each other to create the perfect dish. Everyone has their secret shortcut recipe and we'd like them to share their wealth of knowledge with the rest of us who are trying to figure out the daily meal-time dilemma," said Carrie.
With families heading back to their home kitchens for dinner during the economic downturn, FunnySpoon comes at a perfect time to help people put quality food on the table at a fraction of restaurant prices. "FunnySpoon cooking is not cheating," said Vicki. "Not even professional chefs cook from scratch every night they are home. There's no shame in using shortcuts when the result is a great-tasting dish that fits your budget and your time."
FunnySpoon.com Announces Recipe Contest
Just in time for the website's debut, FunnySpoon.com is holding a "Share Your Recipe" contest inviting all non-scratch cooks, young and old, new and experienced, to share their recipes for quick meal preparation and shortcuts to simplify the cooking process. The first fifty submissions will receive a canvas, eco-friendly shopping bag courtesy of FunnySpoon.com.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Your Recipe Creation Could Be Worth $1 Million
(NAPSI)-The 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is now open for entries. One hundred finalists will compete for the $1 million grand prize. The entry deadline is April 20, 2009. For contest details, visit www.bakeoff.com. This recipe example from the 43rd contest fits the Entertaining Appetizers category. The simple step of spraying the pan with no-stick cooking spray helps create a crispy, nicely browned crust.
Mango, Prosciutto And
Goat Cheese Appetizer Pizza
1 tablespoon CRISCO® pure olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 firm ripe mango, seed removed, peeled and cut into ¼-inch pieces (1 cup)
1/3 cup SMUCKER'S® sweet orange marmalade
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 to 2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated classic pizza crust
4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
1 cup crumbled goat (chèvre) cheese (4 oz)
Heat oven to 400°F. Heat 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add oil and onion; cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and starting to brown. Reserve ½ cup mango. Stir remaining mango into onion. Cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in marmalade, mustard, vinegar and soy sauce. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens and most of liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; cool while preparing crust.
Spray large cookie sheet with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Unroll pizza crust dough on cookie sheet; press dough into 15x10-inch rectangle. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges just begin to brown.
Spread mango-onion mixture over crust. Top with prosciutto; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and goat cheese.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Sprinkle with reserved ½ cup mango.
Makes 24 appetizers.
• Bake-Off is a registered trademark of General Mills
• Smucker's and Crisco are registered trademarks of The J.M. Smucker Company
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Creativity In The Kitchen Could Pay Off
(NAPSI)-A simple recipe idea could be your ticket to fame and fortune. The 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is accepting entries now through April 20, 2009. One hundred creative home cooks will compete for a $1 million grand prize at the contest finals April 11-13, 2010, in Orlando. For more details, visit www.bakeoff.com. This recipe example from the 43rd contest fits the Sweet Treats category. The caramel ice cream topping in the filling and drizzled on top makes this creamy cheesecake irresistible.
Spiced Creamy Caramel-Peanut Torte
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated chocolate chip cookies
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 jar (12.25 oz) Smucker's® caramel ice cream topping
½ cup Jif® creamy peanut butter
⅓ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or regular ground nutmeg
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1¼ cups Fisher® honey roasted peanuts
Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 10- or 9-inch springform pan with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Press cookie dough on bottom and ¼ inch up side of pan. Bake 16 to 23 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, ⅔ cup of the caramel topping, the peanut butter and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold in whipped topping until well mixed. Fold in 1 cup of the peanuts. Cover; refrigerate until crust is completely cooled.
Spoon cream cheese mixture over cookie crust. Freeze at least 30 minutes until set.
Just before serving, top cheesecake with remaining ¼ cup peanuts and drizzle with remaining ⅓ cup caramel topping. For easier cutting, wipe knife after each cut. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cheesecake.
16 servings
Bake-Off is a registered trademark of General Mills, Smucker's, Crisco and Jif are trademarks of The J.M. Smucker Company, Fisher is a registered trademark of John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc.
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Kids Compete To Become "Baker Of The Year"
(NAPSI)-A popular recipe contest adds a new ingredient to the mix by inviting kids and their baking "sous chef" parents (grandparents, aunts or uncles) to take part.
The contest centers on recipes that can be made in Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven, which has given many kids their first baking experience. The 2009 "Baker of the Year" contest celebrates 45 years of making sweet memories in the classic side-loading lightbulb oven.
To enter the contest, children ages 8 through 12, along with their "sous chef," are invited to log on to www.easybake.com and submit their favorite original recipes, using one or more Easy-Bake mixes. In addition to submitting a copy of their recipe, entrants must upload a photo that features their creation, themselves and their "sous chef."
Through February 2009, one child-"sous chef" pair will be chosen each month as a finalist, for a total of seven finalists. In May, the seven pairs of finalists will be flown to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., where they will compete for the winning title.
Each finalist will be assisted in the kitchen throughout the competition by his or her "sous chef." Contest entries will be judged based on the criteria of creative use of ingredients, presentation, ease of preparation and taste.
The grand prize-winning pair will receive a culinary-inspired trip for four to San Francisco, where the group will visit local food-related sites and attractions. The six runners-up will each receive a $500 gift card and a one-year supply of Easy-Bake mixes. All finalists will have their recipe and photo of their creation appear on the Web site.
To honor its birthday, the oven will "cook up" a new look by bringing back its original aqua color.
For more details on how you can enter the contest, visit www.easybake.com.
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Monday, November 24, 2008
KFC Searches for America's Most Original Holiday Traditions
/PRNewswire/ -- Whether hanging homemade ornaments on the tree, dressing the family in matching holiday sweaters or decorating the yard in festive colors, it's original family traditions that make the holidays merry.
This holiday season, in the spirit of KFC's new Two Originals Meal, including Original Recipe(R) chicken and new Original Recipe Strips, KFC is asking families across the country to showcase their Original Holiday Traditions. The grand prize winner will receive $1,000 to help carry on their family's Original Holiday Traditions and a year's supply of KFC to enjoy the new Two Originals Meals with their family.
"At KFC we're all about families, and one of the Colonel's favorite occasions was gathering families 'round a good meal," said Javier Benito, executive vice president of marketing and food innovation. "This contest will celebrate the most original holiday family traditions and encourage families to start a few new ones with our new family meal option -- KFC's Two Originals Meal."
KFC's Two Originals Meal includes everything needed for a family meal: five pieces of Original Recipe chicken, four Original Recipe Strips, two large home-style sides and four buttermilk biscuits, for just $14.99 plus tax (at participating locations).
Beginning November 24, log on to http://www.kfc.com/ and upload a photo or video featuring your family's Original Holiday Tradition. On December 11, KFC will select 12 semi-finalists and then, beginning December 15, allow America to vote to select the single-most Original Holiday Tradition. KFC will announce the grand prize winner December 22, awarding them with $1,000 cash and KFC for a year to enjoy the Two Originals Meal with their family. To further celebrate originality, 11 semi-finalists will each receive KFC for a month to enjoy the Two Originals Meal. For complete contest rules and additional information on KFC's Two Originals Meal visit http://www.kfc.com/. While online, visitors can also purchase KFC gift checks, a perfect stocking-stuffer.
Holiday Tradition Continues at KFC
The Original Holiday Tradition contest follows last year's Festive Fanatics contest, where KFC went in search of America's most festively decorated holiday home. Dozens of homes were nominated in the contest, and thousands of festive fanatics from coast to coast voted online to select the winning house. The home of the Holdman family of Pleasant Grove, Utah, which featured 45,000 lights synchronized to music, was selected the winner.
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Friday, November 21, 2008
America's Best High School Chef Launches November 21, 2008
CC Note: High schools students in Fayette County and all of Georgia need to get their cooking caps on! Let's see Georgia represented in this contest.
/PRNewswire/ -- America's Best High School Chef, a national culinary competition for college-bound high school students with a flair for the culinary arts, launches its application period beginning Friday, November 21, 2008 through Friday, January 30, 2009. Talented, aspiring chefs will vie for high marks and impress celebrity judges, including the Food Network's Marc Summers, for the soon-to-be-coveted America's Best High School Chef title. The competition will be inaugurated the weekend of Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 19, 2009 at Monroe College in New Rochelle, New York.
ABOUT AMERICA'S BEST HIGH SCHOOL CHEF:
America's Best High School Chef is a three-day culinary competition, with an emphasis on promoting teamwork and acknowledging skill and leadership, for high school seniors who have a strong desire to pursue the culinary arts at a college level. A maximum of 16 teams will be selected to participate in the competition and experience the award-winning Culinary Arts center at Monroe College's School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts. The top-rated member on the winning team will be acknowledged as America's Best High School Chef.
Monroe College, the host of America's Best High School Chef, is dedicated to the goal of strengthening the culinary capabilities of our nation's youth by providing a state of the art educational experience. Monroe College believes that another way to meet this goal is to identify, recognize, and reward excellence among high school students through this competition.
ELIGIBILITY:
-- A team of four (4) high school seniors nominated and coached by their
high school culinary instructor or designee from the high school;
-- Each student must be a high school senior that has an interest in a
college level culinary program;
-- Each student must have successfully completed at least one cooking or
culinary class at the high school level; and
-- Each team member must be in very good standing, academically, and
within the community through the current school year.
TOP AWARDS:
America's Best High School Chef
-- Full college academic scholarship to Monroe College's School of
Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts and admission to the
study abroad program in Italy for 15 weeks; (Total value-$35,000)
OR
-- $2,500 scholarship if the student plans to attend another college or
university;
-- Recognition and publicity campaign along with the opportunity to meet
New York City's leading chefs and restaurateurs; and
-- A guaranteed one-week internship at a leading restaurant.
America's Best High School Chef Team
-- $7,500 scholarship to each team member towards Monroe College tuition
OR
-- $1,500 scholarship to each team member who plans to attend another
college or university;
-- $2,000 donation to the high school for the enhancement of its culinary
program; and
-- Recognition and publicity campaign for the high school and winning
team.
The application package must be postmarked no later than Friday, January 30, 2009 and sent to:
America's Best High School Chef, Tanya Whaley - Office of Admissions, Monroe College, 2501 Jerome Avenue, Bronx, NY 10468.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Get More Than Dough In Baking Competition
(NAPSI)-Dust off your recipe box and put on your thinking apron: America's oldest flour company is bringing a new baking competition for home bakers to the nation.
The National Festival of Breads, sponsored by King Arthur Flour and Kansas Wheat, is a celebration of "the staff of life," a tribute to the age-old tradition of home baking and to the role bread plays in a healthy lifestyle.
Any home baker age 18 or older with an original yeasted bread recipe can enter the contest. Contest categories include Ethnic Breads, Rolls, Time-Saving and Easy Breads, and Whole Grain Breads.
Eight finalists will bake their recipes for judges at the National Festival of Breads competition in Wichita, Kan., in June 2009. One lucky home baker will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to King Arthur Flour's Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vt.
For contest rules and entry form, visit kingarthurflour.com/ events. Here's an idea for an easy bread that requires no kneading:
No-Fuss Focaccia
1½ cups (12 ounces) warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast or 4 teaspoons (2 packets) active dry yeast, stirred into the water
3 tablespoons (1¼ ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1¼ teaspoons salt
3¼ cups (13¾ ounces) King Arthur's Unbleached Bread Flour
Italian seasoning or dried herbs of your choice, for topping
1) Lightly grease a 9" x 2" deep round or a 9" x 13" rectangular pan. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom and tilt pan to spread.
2) Combine all of the ingredients (except the topping) in the order given. Beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.
3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan with a towel and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes (for instant yeast) to 90 minutes (for active dry yeast), until it becomes puffy.
4) Preheat the oven to 375° F.
5) Drizzle dough lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired.
6) Bake the bread until it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
7) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Yield: 1 loaf.
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Sunday, November 9, 2008
Tips For Holiday Decorating And Entertaining
(NAPSI)-Time-honored traditions such as baking family recipes, cracking nuts by the fire, and decorating with handmade crafts help make the holiday season merry. Some items, such as in--shell nuts, are naturally associated with the holidays and appear year after year during the season.
Over the last 96 years, the experts at leading nut brand Diamond of California have discovered many uses for inshell nuts. Tina Salter, culinary producer and cookbook author, offers the following ideas for using this heritage product at the holidays.
Roasting: All nuts, even in their shell, taste better freshly toasted. Bake inshell nuts at 375° F for 20 minutes (smaller nuts may toast faster). Crack one nut in a towel to check for doneness. The "meat" should be toasted and aromatic. If it still looks pale, roast a few minutes longer. Let the nuts cool before serving with a nutcracker and nutpick. Children and guests will delight in shelling them by the fire.
Entertaining: Finish a holiday dinner with an elegant course of port, soft blue cheese and freshly toasted inshell walnuts. Serve with slices of a crusty baguette. Guests will linger at the table to crack nuts, sip port and tell stories.
Decorating: Nuts add a touch of nature to holiday decor. For a chic table, lay a garland around the base of a large glass hurricane vase. Place a pillar candle securely in the center and fill space between candle and glass with inshell nuts to about one-third of the height of the candle. For added sparkle, paint some nuts gold and silver before filling.
Get Creative at the Holidays!
A great idea that uses Diamond inshell nuts could win you a trip to New York City for another memorable holiday tradition: "The Nutcracker" ballet. The person who submits the best idea for entertaining with Diamond inshell nuts will win a trip for four to see a performance of New York City Ballet's production of George Balanchine's "The Nutcracker." The winning idea will also be published on millions of bags of nuts in 2009 and featured on Diamond's Web site. For contest details, information on second- and third-place prizes and holiday recipes, visit www.diamondnuts.com.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
One Creative Kid Chef Could Win a $25,000 Scholarship Fund
CC Note: Come on Fayette County! Grab that peanut butter jar and get going!
(NAPSI)-As parents prepare for the back-to-school season, packing school lunches such as the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a great way to stick to the family budget and satisfy even the pickiest eaters. A recent survey conducted by Kelton Research on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company found a variety of ways adults prefer to eat their sandwiches made with peanut butter--69 percent of consumers prefer to use creamy peanut butter while 36 percent like their sandwiches toasted. However, for the past six years, thousands of kid chefs from across the country have been able to think outside the "lunch box" and create butterfly pancakes, lettuce wraps and even a "Monstwich" using Jif® peanut butter and their own imagination to earn scholarship funds.
From August 4 through November 14, 2008, the makers of Jif peanut butter are accepting entries for the 7th Annual Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest™. The grand-prize winner will receive a $25,000 scholarship fund and four runners-up will be awarded a $2,500 scholarship fund. The contest is open to children ages 6 to 12.
Last year's most creative peanut butter sandwich was influenced by a child's love of Chinese food. Eleven-year-old Samuel Sosa of Riverside, California, hit a home run with his "Crunchy Chinese Fortune Cookie Sandwich," consisting of Jif Creamy peanut butter, celery and apple on wheat bread crimped into the shape of a fortune cookie. The "fortune cookies" are served with a dipping sauce of Jif Creamy peanut butter, coconut milk, soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, sesame oil and chili powder. Samuel added more creativity to his sandwich by handwriting fortunes such as "Smile, Mom Loves You" for his "cookies."
Jif is also offering up something for adults to help spark their creativity. For years, choosy moms have made Jif their No. 1 choice of peanut butter, which is why Jif is inviting adults to share stories--250 words or less--of how moms make the best choices for their families in the Jif Moms Voice their Choice Contest™. One grand-prize winner will win a trip to New York City to serve as a judge at the 7th Annual Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest final live judging event in March 2009. Last year's winner and mother of two, Mary Grabowski, from Commerce, Mich., said in her winning essay "The way I make the best choices for my family is simply by using two things: my heart and my head. The job of 'Mom' is the hardest job in the world but is definitely the most rewarding."
For Official Rules, entry form, recipes or to learn more about the contests, visit www.jif.com.
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Monday, July 21, 2008
Block Parties Raise Fun and Funds Across the Nation
PRNewswire/ -- Block parties are one of the most affordable and popular ways to gather friends and families together for fun. And, starting tomorrow, a new national contest is launching to give block parties "funds" and a fresh new feel.
This summer, Farm Rich is searching for the most exciting, fun-filled ideas to gather neighborhood communities, families and friends together to raise "fun" for a cause. Simply visit www.farmrichfun.com to enter the Block Party contest through October 31. Enter a great party idea that will benefit a cause, family or individual in need and have the chance to win $1500. Whether hosting a drive-in movie to benefit an ill community member, or a summer picnic filled with sack races and face painting to raise funds for a neighborhood playground, Farm Rich hopes the contest will encourage "funraisers" in neighborhoods across the country!
Farm Rich will choose the top two party ideas and winners will receive $500 to throw the party and $1,000 to donate to their cause of choice. The party winners will also be supplied with $500 in product coupons for favorites such as Farm Rich Cheese Sticks, Mini-Stuffed Pizza Slices and other delicious appetizers to please their party-goers.
