Little Red Riding Food

GourmetSleuth - Gram Conversion Calculator

This tool is used for cooking and recipe conversions.  When you convert from grams or ounces (weight) to teaspoons, tablespoons or cups (volume), you are converting from a weight to a volume.  This simple calculation may not be highly accurate in many cases.  This should not be used for measuring medicine or any form of critical science. Increasingly in the U.S. we encounter foods weighed in "grams" and we still live in a "teaspoons and measuring cup" country.  Sometimes we just need an estimated amount for cooking. How To Use: We've provide a chart (below) that displays basic gram to cup equivalents.  Our converter is based on a conversion of 229.92 grams per cup. You can locate a item on the chart that is similar to what you need to weigh and decide if you need to make any adjustmentsExample, a teaspoon of baking powder does not weigh the same as a teaspoon of peanut butter.  This calculator will simply give you an approximate measurement. When accuracy is imperative you should purchase a scale that will weigh in grams.

via www.gourmetsleuth.com

Just in case.

The Ginger Gourmand: Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients200g butter200g good quality plain chocolate (as Sue-L says, 70% cocoa solids makes the best brownies!)600g golden caster sugar4 large eggs250g plain flour4 tablespoons cocoaMethodPreheat your oven to 180C (170C fan assisted).Grease a rectangular roasting tin or oven proof dish which measures approximately 8" x 12" (20 x 30cm) and line with baking parchment (not greaseproof paper as this will stick to the brownies!).Melt the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure that the bowl doesn't touch the water inside the pan and be careful not to let the water come into contact with the chocolate as this could make it all go horribly wrong.Cool the chocolate and butter mixture slightly and then stir in the caster sugar. Whisk the eggs and add then a little at a time, making sure they are well blended before adding more.Sift the flour and cocoa into the mixture and beat until smooth.Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. It may take up to 50 minutes to cook, depending on your oven, but you don't want to over cook it or your brownies will be too dry. To get the right consistency the mixture needs to be just cooked, so start testing with a cocktail stick after about 40 minutes – there should be moist crumbs clinging to the cocktail stick, but not wet batter.Cool the brownies in the tin slightly and then mark into pieces. Depending on how big you want your brownies to be, this mixture will make between 15 and 24 pieces. It is fairly rich though so you may just want to make mini sized brownies, in which case you could make 32 pieces.Leave the brownies in the tin until they are completely cold, then turn out onto a board and cut into pieces along the pre-marked lines.

via thegingergourmand.blogspot.com

This recipe sounds so perfect I'm making for the backstage cast of our little Christmas Pageant. I'll let you know how they go over.

Mashed-Potato Cakes with Onions and Kale Recipe - MyRecipes.com

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via find.myrecipes.com

This just sounds so good. It's what's for supper tomorrow! I'm fresh out of sage so I'll have to make it without.

Coffee Consumption Associated with Reduced Risk of Advanced Prostate Cancer

(PhysOrg.com) -- While it is too early for physicians to start advising their male patients to take up the habit of regular coffee drinking, data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference revealed a strong inverse association between coffee consumption and the risk of lethal and advanced prostate cancers.

via www.physorg.com

The 10 Best Cookbooks Of 2009 : NPR

Michael Pollan famously lamented, earlier this year, that cooking has become a spectator sport. Not if this year's cookbooks have anything to do with it! Traditional cuisines get broken down and re-introduced, ingredients that have become familiar only recently get recombined as casually as speed-daters. Meanwhile, the bakers outdid themselves this year, clarifying flavors and streamlining their methods until they fit snugly in anybody's kitchen. This year's cookbook instructions are detailed and sure-handed, so you'll feel confident even taking on those fiddly little jobs you usually leave to your good friend Joe, the Trader.

via www.npr.org

I know what I want for x-mas!

For Foer, Meat Is Murder ... And Worse : NPR

In his new book, Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer grapples with the moral and environmental consequences of the decision to consume meat. The author, who flirted with vegetarianism for years, says his dog helped him finally commit to the cause.

via www.npr.org

Beef sold in two states recalled over salmonella concerns - CNN.com

STORY HIGHLIGHTSGround beef products were sold in Arizona, New MexicoThe beef from Beef Packers Inc. was sold under different brand names Salmonella strain found in two people is resistant to commonly prescribed drugs, agency says

via www.cnn.com

sigh.

M&M’S® Recipes & Ideas: Recipes: Red's Ultimate M&M'S® Cookies

1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 large egg1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 12-ounce package M&M’S® MINIS® Milk Chocolate Candies3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

via www.mms.com

This is what's cooking today! I'm using full size m&m's in x-mas colors.

Computer model reveals where food pathogens grow

Thanks to a new computer model developed by researchers at the University of Florida, Wageningen University and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, food safety experts may have a better chance of predicting where contamination risks lie and what can be done to minimize those risks.

via www.physorg.com

So cool!

Organic Grapes

The things kids say....

"Wow! These grapes are really good! How do you get them to taste so good?"

To which I reply, "Well I didn't do it, nature did."

A grape, a raisin, a glass of wine (or two), oil, and juice. For these things, we are truly thankful. Have you ever tried Grape Pie? It's a wow with vanilla ice cream.