Dip gets hip

BY EMILY NUNN CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Hey, how come people don’t have dip for dinner? Why is it only a snack, why can’t it be a meal, you know? I don’t understand stuff like that.” We don’t understand either, but it’s also hard to fathom how this perfectly reasonable question was used as a laugh line on Seinfeld years ago. (It was asked by Elaine’s lug of a boyfriend David Puddy; she tried to break up with him in the same scene.) When did dip become a joke? Clearly it was after the great dip rush of the early ’50s, which began when a recipe for clam dip presented on television’s Kraft Music Hall caused such excitement that the next day New York sold out of canned clams. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

DINNER BELL : Error, omissions put Dog Days Salad on short leash

IRENE WASSELL

I’ve been dogged by Dog Days. In last week’s Dinner Bell column, we used a recipe called Dog Days Salad. It was from my daughter, who, I’m proud to say, is an excellent cook. She’s just not quite as good at writing down recipes. (Don’t tell her, but sometimes we lovingly call her Lucy, as in the television program, I Love Lucy.) The recipe for her salad, which I liked so much she served it to me at least twice during a recent visit to her home, called for 1 /2 cup Italian salad dressing mix. She failed to explain, however, that you use 1 /2 cup of the salad dressing made from the mix according to package directions. (She used a 0.7-ounce package of Good Seasonings salad dressing mix, which makes 8 ounces of salad dressing, enough to prepare the salad twice.) But she adds that you don’t have to mix your own — you can use any ready-made Italian dressing. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

7day menu planner

BY SUSAN NICHOLSON

SUNDAY FAMILY Serve a Spiral-Sliced Ham for an easy summer family meal. Add baked sweet potatoes, Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower (see recipe) and sourdough bread. For dessert, top angel food cake with fresh blueberries and whipped cream. Plan ahead: Save some ham and cake and bake enough sweet potatoes for Monday. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

IDEA ALLEY : Sweet potato biscuits get rise out of readers

BY IRENE WASSELL

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The cook won’t be skewered for making delicious kebabs

BY BRETE HARRISON COLE PUBLISHING GROUP

Skewered meats and vegetables grilled on an open fire are nearly as old as humanity. Speared on a twig, bamboo stick, sharpened bone, mid-rib of a coconut palm leaf or modern metal skewer with heat-resistant handle, food roasted on a “stick” is a favored cooking method in many cultures. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

UNCORKED : Why cook with wine you wouldn’t drink?

LORRI HAMBUCHEN

Does it really matter what type of wine you use for cooking ? - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Strawberry dessert dish will start the egg rolling

BY JILL WENDHOLT SILVA MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Surely you’ve noticed the price of flour and eggs. They’re going up, up, up. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Slim pickings

— Jennifer Christman

WHAT: Emerald Breakfast On-the-Go Trail Mix STATS: A serving of the Breakfast Blend contains 120 calories and 4 1 /2 fat grams. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

A Basket-A-Month keeps state food project healthy

BY ELIZA HUSSMAN

On a sweltering afternoon, soon after I arrived at the Basket-A-Month (or BAM) Community Supported Agriculture Program pickup site in Little Rock, I was invited to cool down by a refrigerated truck and enjoy a hunk of delicious, cold watermelon. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Savory tortellini dish a wonder in one pot

BY BONNIE S. BENWICK THE WASHINGTON POST

If the aroma of this pasta dish’s “sauce” doesn’t attract takers, something must be wrong with their sense of smell. Another virtue of the dish: With the exception of toasting pine nuts, it’s a one-pot recipe. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

SUPERMARKET SLEUTH : Ronzoni pasta goes portable; Bull’s-Eye shucks corn syrup

ROSEMARY BOGGS

Ronzoni Bistro is an innovative new line of quick and portable pasta meals that are a snap to prepare. They’re packaged in single-serving, stand-up pouches that require only 90 seconds in the microwave. Then you empty the contents onto your own dish and enjoy. They are available in four flavors: Penne With Chicken and Broccoli made with white-meat chicken and broccoli tossed in a light rosemary and garlic cream sauce. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Basic Italian flourishes elevate easy pasta dish

BY RENEE ENNA CHICAGO TRIBUNE

This vegetarian Italian “casserole” is mostly a stove-top preparation. Instead of making marinara sauce, we’re using a good-quality jarred version. (But nothing’s stopping you from using your own!) Cooking the ingredients on the stove top, then popping a pan into the oven just long enough to melt the cheese and warm all the ingredients together, gives this entree the feel of a long-cooking casserole, minus the long cooking. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Cooking notes

RECIPE CONTEST For its “Taste of Your Town Pizza Battle,” Bolla Wines is asking participants to submit a pizza recipe that best reflects Arkansas (such as a pizza made with all local products), and then pair the recipe with a Bolla wine. The grand prize is a trip to Verona, Italy, to visit Bolla’s winery, and to attend the 2009 World Pizza Championships. - Wednesday, July 23, 2008