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  • recipes

    Plan less, party more

    By J.M. Hirsch

    Rule No. 1 of hosting a party: Let ­yourself enjoy it.

  • Turn a grill into a pizza oven with tasty results

    By Donna Pierce

    Making pizza on the grill turns out to be so user-friendly that a friend decided to throw a ”make-your-own“ pizza party recently for her picky teenage daughter and her ­daughter’s friends.

TIDBITS by Sharon Thompson
External Link »  Flavors of Kentucky Sharon Thompson's blog

  • Peaches in the pub

    By Lauren Chapin

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three years ago, O’Fallon Brewery near St. Louis quietly launched Wheach — a wheat beer flavored with peach extract.

  • You can’t beat beets for color or nutrients

    By Jim Romanoff

    It seems improbable that a rough, ugly, dirt-covered root vegetable can be transformed into something utterly soft, delicious, even beautiful, but that is ­exactly what happens to beets when they’re cooked.

  • A dynamically different duo

    By Jill Wendholt Silva

    Like Batman and Robin, hummus and pesto are a dynamic duo.

  • Cream cheese is at heart of many great dishes

    By Sharon Thompson

    An eight-ounce block of cream cheese is pure heaven for a cook.

  • Recipes: Cream cheese

    Hot pizza dip

  • She has the passion, pedigree to head Greek fest

    By Sharon Thompson

    As a youngster, Sandra Scalos loved being in the kitchen with her dad, James. Instead of playing outside with other youngsters, she would rather pull a chair up at the stove and learn to make Greek specialties from her father's homeland.

  • Good wines in tough times

    By Bill Daley

    With the economy nose-diving and costs rising, what we all really need is a good, cheap drink. Try an ­inexpensive white wine. Cool, crisp and refreshing, white wine might be the one thing that gets you through those hot nights when you've cut back on the air conditioning and swapped out steak and sushi for wienies and baked beans.

  • Arugula: a political hot potato

    By Jill Wendholt Silva

    Asking candidates' spouses to trade cookie recipes has become part of the modern presidential campaign.

  • Go for the gold with Asian influences

    By Linda Gassenheimer

    Celebrate the Beijing Olympics with this main-dish salad, a simple meal made with shiitake mushrooms, chicken, cashews and an Asian dressing. It's perfect summer evening fare, warm or at room temperature.

  • A winning start

    By Sharon Thompson

    Hey kids! Two exciting things are happening this month: the Summer Olympics and the beginning of a new school year.

  • Recipes: Breakfast champions

    Banana dog

  • Salsa with low sodium and no fear

    By Jill Wendholt Silva

    A healthy condiment bursting with fresh tomato flavor and few calories, salsa has become nearly as popular as ketchup.

  • A vegetarian recipe starter set

    By J.M. Hirsch

    Whether you're dabbling with vegetarianism or just need help dealing with an end-of-summer zucchini ­onslaught, you're bound to find inspiration in this trio of new veg cookbooks:

  • It doesn't look like rice and beans

    By Jim Romanoff

    Variations of basic rice-and-bean recipes are found in just about every culture in the world — and for good reason.

  • Break out of breakfast's mold

    By Sharon Thompson

    There's no need to have traditional breakfast foods every day, Lexington nutritionist Patti Geil says.

  • Breakfast weds dessert, and it's hog heaven

    By Michelle Locke

    SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Here are three little words that might give the staunchest snacker pause: Chocolate-covered bacon.

  • Chinese restaurant embraces the Olympics

    By Sharon Thompson

    Late last year, when Panda Cuisine was under construction, owner Tong Xu insisted that a satellite dish be installed in his restaurant for one reason: the Beijing Olympics.

  • Fired up for fresh flavors

    By Sharon Thompson | swthompson@herald-leader.com

    You're an expert at chicken and burgers on the grill. But if the idea of grilling fruits and veggies intimidates you, worry no more.

  • Recipes: Grilled fruit

    Pesto grilled corn

  • Get yourself out of a pickle and into a jam

    By Sharon K. Ghag

    MODESTO, Calif. — ­Publishers are updating titles and issuing new releases in an effort to satisfy home ­canners and food preservers.

  • cookbook

    There's more here than meets the mouth

    By Sharon Thompson

    If you're vacationing closer to home but don't really think of your back yard as an ideal vacationland, perhaps that's because you're not familiar with all the local spots that offer great places to stay, eat and play.

  • A dozen fast-food rules of ordering

    McClatchy Newspapers

    Trying to find the more nutritious options at your favorite fast-food restaurant?

  • Cobbled together

    By Sharon Thompson

    Before the late-summer heat takes its toll on the fruit crop, farms, stores and markets are full of the prettiest, most delicious berries, peaches and melons. They taste their best when eaten out of hand, but the next-best way to eat berries and peaches is when they're combined with flour and sugar and turned into old-fashioned desserts.

  • 'Hungry Girl' doesn't diet; she dishes

    By Hillary Rhodes

    When Lisa Lillien lost about 30 pounds seven years ago, she did it by giving up “everything good.”

  • Salvation Army opens new mobile kitchen

    By Sharon Thompson

    A soup kitchen is always a welcome sight for emergency workers at a disaster scene, but the Salvation Army's new mobile kitchen can offer more than a bowl of hot soup and a cup of coffee.

  • It's good to be back home

    By Sharon Thompson

    Back Home Restaurant got its start in the trunk of a car.

  • Kentuckian honored for her Irish collection

    By Sharon Thompson

    Falling in love with the land and people of Ireland is common after a first visit, but Viki Pidgeon fell harder than most.

  • Shrimp: Easy to cook, even easier to overcook

    Simple marinade turns shellfish into tropical delight

    By J.M. Hirsch

    Aside from overcooking, it’s hard to go wrong with shrimp.

  • Have a slice of flax

    Banana bread recipe adds healthful omega-3

    By Jill WWendholt Silva

    Have you been lax about getting your flax?

  • New Orleans now has more restaurants than before Katrina

    By Patti Nickell

    It didn't matter that he had no staff and no customers other than rescue workers, reporters from around the world and the few stragglers who hadn't either evacuated or been run out of town by the National Guard. There he was day after day, cooking up pots of jambalaya and red beans and rice, and doling them out free of charge to grateful customers.

  • Eat what you can't see at "Lights Out Dinner'

    Sharon Thompson

    Eating what you can't see

  • Be deviled

    Here are some creative ways to dress up hard-cooked eggs

    By Jill Wendholt Silva

    At first glance, hard-cooked eggs might appear rather bland and one-dimensional. But add a wink of caviar or a nudge of gorgonzola to the filling and you’ve got yourself some deviled-may-care whimsy. We invite you to pop a few of these good eggs, but hurry: You know they’re always the first to go.

  • Renowned chef prefers to play with his food

    By Mike Hale

    In an age when chefs attract paparazzi and hire image consultants, Michel Richard exudes humility, despite a résumé that places him in every intelligent conversation about the world’s top culinary minds.

  • Menus from old restaurants stir up memories

    By Sharon Thompson

    A restaurant manager runs off with the register receipts; another ­restaurant's namesake gets arrested; feather boas and polyester suits catch on fire (a bad bananas Foster incident); and a notorious rogue cop gets shot on the steps of an upscale restaurant.

  • In cookbooks, Q is for quinoa

    Tiny, versatile grain is a nutritional powerhouse

    In most cookbook indexes, the “Q” section is tiny or nonexistent. Not so, however, in The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook by Judith Finalyson (Robert Rose, $24.95). The reason: quinoa.

  • It isn’t strawberry season yet, but don’t let that stop you

    Spring can bring a longing for fresh, seasonal fruit, especially with strawberry season just around the bend.

  • Tea for 200 means thousands of pieces of finger food

    That means 3,250 pieces of homemade finger food for Richmond auxiliary's event

    Often, our fast-paced schedules don't allow time to relax and enjoy time with friends.

  • New fad: spray-on pancakes

    Aunt Jemima meets Reddi-Wip

    By Michelle Locke

    SAN FRANCISCO — You want pancakes, but adding water to powder and stirring it seems like too much effort. Enter Batter Blaster, the pancake you just point and spray.

  • Ham: bone up

    There are many choices, so make sure you know which you want

    Serving a holiday ham might seem like an easy choice. Until you get to the grocer.

  • A few tweaks make Italian favorite better for you

    Bread-crumb coating cuts down on oil absorption

    Eggplant is like a sponge: The more oil you add to the pan, the more fat it sucks up. Coating the eggplant with bread crumbs or batter helps to provide a barrier.

  • This candy is hard, but it's not difficult to make

    Try it in an Easter mold

    Despite its name, hard candy is easy to make.

  • A meal in hours

    Slow cookers are easier than ever to use

    By Sharon Thompson

    The slow cooker is the quintessential wedding gift. The price range is great — $29.95 to $249.95 — and it’s a useful addition to anyone’s kitchen. The small appliance works on a low or high temperature setting, and some even have programmable timers that switch to warm when the food is done.

  • COOKBOOK

    Natchez native accessorizes her menus

    By Sharon Thompson

    Regina’s Table at Twin Oaks is a coffee-table cookbook that will surely be smudged with flour and butter before long.

  • Have a full slice of this cheesecake

    Lighter ingredients don't sacrifice flavor

    By Jim Romanoff

    Cheesecake is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, but it’s hard to be pleased with the amount of fat in many classic versions — usually more than 30 grams a serving. Happily, a delicious lighter cheesecake is possible.

  • Salsa adds some spice to ground chicken burger

    Just be sure to use breast meat only to avoid additional fat

    Spicy tomato salsa gives these light, juicy chicken burgers a hint of the Southwest. Coleslaw is a perfect side dish, and making it is a breeze when you start with a package of shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix, available in the produce section.

  • Festival features my cookbook, corn

    By Sharon Thompson

    I will be signing copies of my cookbook, Flavors of Kentucky, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Sweet Corn Festival at Evans Orchard and Cider Mill in Georgetown. For more information go to www.evansorchard.com
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