This is a great dip to show your children how to make a wonderful after-school snack. Use cut-up apples, oranges, or banana slices for dipping. Even grapes taste great when used with this sweet dip. It can also be used as a spread on graham crackers.

Here’s a hint: If you are making this recipe without the help of your children, throw in some finely-shredded or pureed fresh carrots. They’ll add to the nutritional value, and your kids won’t be able to tell the difference.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp. dry milk powder
• 2 tsp. honey
• 4 Tbsp. boiling water

Directions:

Place the peanut butter into a small bowl. Sprinkle with the milk powder. Add the honey and stir until all the ingredients are blended together well. Carefully add the boiling water and stir until smooth. Makes 1 cup.

Preparation Time:  approximately 10 minutes
Total Time: approximately 10 minutes

Last night marked the unveiling ceremony for slow-food enthusiast Alice Waters' latest project -- a print campaign collaboration with Levi's Workshop. Garden For the Environment, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization dedicated to organic urban farming, and former Chez Panisse assistant Sylvan Brackett also assisted Waters in her printmaking campaign.

Levi's Workshop is a community printmaking shop in Berkeley, Waters' well-known California hometown, run by the makers of Levi's jeans. The workshop is open to members of the public who want to experiment with typesetting, screen printing, and letterpress.

Waters' latest project is a poster campaign to benefit her Edible Schoolyards organization. The concept stresses the importance of a healthy diet just as much as the standard "three Rs." The poster was made entirely on site at Levi's Workshop and will be distributed to participating Edible Schoolyard programs across the nation. The additional posters created by Garden For the Environment displayed a simple recipe for "feeling good," which they hoped would be an "inspiring broadside."

Source: BerkeleySide.com

Most kids love fish sticks, and this is a way to change up their way of eating them while also helping them to eat a few more of those dreaded veggies. If your children prefer tartar sauce with their fish, spread it on the buns instead of making the taco mix.

Ingredients:

• 18 frozen fish sticks
• 3/4 C mayonnaise
• 2 tsp. taco seasoning
• 6 hamburger buns
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 6 lettuce leaves

Directions:

Cook the fish sticks as directed on the box. Place the mayonnaise into a mixing bowl. Stir in the taco seasoning mix. Open the hamburger buns and spread the mayonnaise mixture over the buns. Place a lettuce leaf on the bottom of each bun. Add 3 fish sticks on top of each lettuce leaf. Place a tomato slice on each sandwich and top with the remaining bun. Makes 6 sandwiches.

Preparation Time: approximately 30 minutes
Total Time: approximately 30 minutes

What do you get when you cross the pop-culture trend of "speed dating" with a never-ending supply of gourmet food to help start an otherwise awkward series of conversations?

The answer is Speed Plating, a new concept derived by the host of Food Network's "Rescue Chef" Danny Boome. On August 17th, Boome tested this experiment with 36 adventurous individuals at New York City's Tree bistro in the East Village. Each participant shared a salad with a stranger, then switched partners for the appetizers, again for the main course, and yet again for dessert. The sessions lasted 20 minutes on average. According to Boome, this particular strategy gave the participants more time to spend with each other while reaching a particular goal. "Talk about the food that is in front of you," he said.

The couples shared an asparagus and artichoke hearts plate with an infusion of saffron aioli and horseradish mayonnaise for their first course. The second appetizer course may have been the most exciting, since each table was given an eye mask along with the dish for a romantic twist. Boome instructed couples to take turns wearing the mask and feeding each other the appetizers, which were spiced-wine pears, tequila-marinated lychees, pepper-crusted mozzarella, and duck pate on a thin crisp. During the third round, couples got back to normal conversation over a main course of lamb cutlets with grilled zest polenta and hot fig jus. And for dessert, ginger and lemon grass panna cotta and fresh strawberries dipped in chili-spiced chocolate were served with baked figs and creme fresh. The meals were followed by a 30-minute cocktail session full of mingling and exchanging numbers.

Boome said the evening was quite a success, mentioning that it reminded him of the night he met his current love. He plans to expand Speed Plating to 12 new restaurants across the nation by March 2011.

Source: TIME Magazine

Being in the kitchen can be a lot of fun, not only for children but also their adult helpers. Be sure to teach your children about kitchen safety. Remind them of hot water, sharp knives, and hot cooking surfaces. Teaching them safety in the kitchen also teaches them good habits that will last a lifetime.

Ingredients:

• 3 C uncooked bow tie pasta
• 1 1/2 C frozen baby peas
• 1 C Alfredo sauce
• 1/2 C real bacon pieces

Directions:

Fill a saucepan half full of water, place over medium-high heat, and bring the water to a boil. Carefully stir the pasta into the boiling water. Cook the pasta for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the peas and bring the water back to a boil. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta and peas well. Return the pasta and peas back to the saucepan and place over low heat. Stir in the Alfredo sauce and bacon pieces. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until completely heated through. Makes 4 servings.

Preparation Time: approximately 15 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 15 minutes
Total Time: approximately 30 minutes

During Sunday night's season finale, three potential Food Network finalists met with executives Bob Tuschman, Susie Fogelson, and celebrity chef Bobby Flay as the final results of "The Next Food Network Star" were revealed. And the winner of Season 6 is Aarti Sequeira, a 31-year-old food blogger from Los Angeles whose specialty in Indian cuisine consistently impressed the judges.

The finalists -- Herb Mesa, Tom Pizzica, and Aarti -- were required to shoot their own 3-minute pilot episode, which would then be critiqued by a focus group of Food Network viewers. As a surprise twist, each contestant received valuable training and direction from Emmy-winning chef Rachael Ray in between takes.

During Herb's "Cooking Con Sabor," he prepared a healthy-yet-flavorful frittata with bell peppers and chicken sausage. Tom used his "Big Chef" boisterous personality to create a roasted chicken stuffed with portobello mushrooms. And Aarti baked an Indian-inspired pizza with mango chutney as a part of her newly-acquired series, "Aarti Party."

Each pilot was well-received by the focus group and the judging panel, making the decision much harder, according to Tuschman. "We brought the right three people back. You, all three, honestly have star potential," he said.

Here are Aarti's thoughts immediately after winning the competition:  "I'm waiting for it to all sort of sink in. It just feels magical, like this is the beginning of something. I don't think I was mature enough to do something like this five years ago.  It doesn't matter where you are -- just hold on, just keep going, because something huge could happen."

"Aarti Party" will premiere on Sunday, August 22 at 12 p.m. ET.

Source: Reality TV World

Kids of all shapes and sizes enjoy a good pizza, but when they can make it themselves, it’s even better. These quesadillas are perfect for them to cook. Make sure they don’t fill them too full, though, or all the goodies will end up in the pan instead of their quesadillas.

Ask your kids what their favorite pizza toppings are, and incorporate those ingredients into the recipe. For example, you can try substituting the cheddar cheese for mozzarella and add pepperoni bits, olives, peppers, sausage, mushrooms… the possibilities are endless!

Ingredients:

• 8 flour tortillas
• 1 C pizza sauce
• 1 C cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Lay 4 tortillas separately into a large, non-stick skillet and place over low heat. Spread 1/4 C of sauce evenly over each tortilla. Sprinkle each tortilla with cheese. Place a second tortilla over the top. Cook 5 minutes or until the bottom is lightly browned. Carefully flip the tortilla and cook an additional 3 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove and cut into triangles. Makes 4 servings.

Preparation Time: approximately 5 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 8 minutes
Total Time: approximately 13 minutes

Celebrity chef and winner of "Top Chef Masters" Marcus Samuelsson took some time this past Friday to pass on his cooking knowledge to a room full of eager-to-learn youngsters at the 2nd Annual Youth Health Forum, which was held at the Greater New York YMCA in Harlem.

During his presentation, Samuelsson explained that there are many ways to turn a healthy meal into a delicious meal and into something that children would actually want to eat. "Slow cooking is one way. Fresh, seasonal ingredients are important. And use spices. Learning how to cook, learning where the food comes from, and engaging with the food makes it taste good."

Samuelsson then hosted a cooking demonstration featuring healthy, easy-to-learn recipes -- and let his 150 guests sample the tasty results. The menu included a tomato and watermelon salad with almond vinaigrette dressing, simple grilled chicken with shallots and herbs, and a yellow couscous salad. (Visit tonic.com for the list of ingredients and cooking instructions.)

While making the couscous, Samuelsson suggested that families could take meat off their dinner menu every once in a while for both health and financial reasons. "A big box of couscous, which can feed a family, sells for less than two dollars. Portion control is also important. But maybe most important of all is a good recipe, " he said.

Source: Tonic

One of the best ways to teach a child how to cook is by baking. This recipe is very simple and makes a great beginning recipe for children just learning to cook. These muffins will disappear pretty quickly, but just in case there are leftovers, they can be frozen and reheated in the microwave for 10 seconds on high power.

Ingredients:

• 1 (6.4 oz.) pkg. banana nut muffin mix
• 1/2 C water
• 1/4 C quick-cooking oats
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 24 milk chocolate candies

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 24 liners in a mini muffin tin and spray them lightly with a non-stick cooking spray. Place the muffin mix into a mixing bowl. Add the water, oats, and oil into the bowl. Add the egg and stir until the ingredients are blended together well. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full of the batter. Gently press 1 chocolate candy into the middle of each cup until covered with the batter. Bake the muffins for 15 minutes or until the tops puff back when lightly touched. Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks and allow them to cool for at least 5 minutes before eating. Makes 24 mini muffins.

Preparation Time:  approximately 15 minutes
Baking Time: approximately 15 minutes
Cooling Time: approximately 7 minutes
Total Time: approximately 37 minutes

In an intense battle of the chefs during the Season 3 finale of Gordon Ramsay's reality show "Hell's Kitchen," Holli Ugalde emerged victorious over finalist Jay Santos. The pair were instructed to create five courses (drinks, appetizer, warm appetizer, fish, and a main course) that would impress a judging panel of some of Ramsay's best executive chefs. According to the critics, Ramsay's decision was quite a shock, since Santos seemed to be more of a fan favorite. However, Ramsay says of Ugalde, "Holli won because she had grown more than any other chef."

As part of her prize, Ugalde has been offered a six-month position at the Savoy Grill in London, which closed in 2007 to undergo a complete remodeling. The Savoy plans to re-open in October of this year, and Ugalde will serve as a main chef alongside head chef Andy Cook and chef director Stuart Gillies.

The new menu that she will be working with at the Savoy is inspired by classic British and French cuisine, featuring starters such as boudin blanc foie gras with spiced quince and king crab cocktail. Main courses will include lobster thermidor and beef Wellington from the trolley, while desserts will include Escoffier's signature Savoy peach melba.

And the menu isn't the only thing that got a much-needed makeover. Interior design consulting firm Russell Sage Studio plans to re-decorate the restaurant with 1920s art deco lighting, wood paneling, recessed mirrors, silk and velvet fabric, and a separate 40-seat private dining room.

“The aim is to go back to what the Savoy Grill used to be," says Gillies.  "There will be a large menu of dishes with a lot of theatre around them. It’s all about the room and creating a great atmosphere."

Source: CatererSearch