I NEED YOUR HELP!!!

As a member of the IACP I was invited to submit one of my recipes with photo, for a chance to win my own $15,000 iOS culinary app from MobileSkillet.com.   If I win, my app will be placed on iTunes for the world to see and purchase.  

I found out a few days ago that I was a semi-finalist and the photo I submitted (above), would be posted on the Mobile Skillet page of Pinterest.  As part of the contest, they've asked us to invite our family, friends and your friends, to "like" and "repin" our photos. The top 10 with the most points and who meet other specified criteria, will make it to the finals.

Of course, I'd love to win this app.  It would be so exciting, to be able to take my passion to the next level - having the opportunity for others, worldwide, to view my recipes from their iPhones and iPads as they walk through the isles at the grocery store, and while cooking in their kitchen.  "At Home with Vicki Bensinger" could literally be in homes everywhere.  It would be AMAZING!

If you have 2 minutes to spare please click  HERE. Where you see the photo above, click "like" and "repin" to a board on your Pinterest page.  If you aren't a member of Pinterest no worries, you can easily join and then "like" and "repin" my photo. 

If I WIN, I promise, I will find a way to reward everyone that voted for me.  I haven't decided what that will be, but I promise to do that.  You can hold me to it! The winner will be notified mid November.

Thank you so much for helping me. I really do appreciate it!  

FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY - JUST IN TIME FOR SPRING!

Sprng is here again in Missouri.  I can hardly believe it.  I'm hoping it will stick around a while this time so that I can finally enjoy grilling season!

Have you ever prepared a meal, waited and waited for the meat to get done, then finally pulled it out, placed it on the table, only to find that it's undercooked?

I HAVE A GREAT GIVEAWAY that I can't wait to share with you!  It will take the guesswork out of cooking.

I decided on this because so many of my students ask me how to tell when their meat is properly cooked.  Besides the touch method that I blogged about in July of 2009, there's a tried and true method which simply uses a temperature probe.

For the past 10 years I've been using the same temperature probe.  It works perfectly and still after 10 years looks like new.  Of course, I take care of mine and have followed the cleaning instructions so it doesn't get damaged.  I still like to use the touch method as well however, but for true accuracy of internal temperatures a probe never lies.

I especially love it when I'm grilling and hanging out with my guests outdoors waiting for the food.  It alleviates running back and forth to the grill, opening and closing it causing the heat escape.  With the long temerature probe you're able to view the gauge on the outside of your grill and know when your meat is done.  It also works great for the oven or even on the stovetop with its special clip attachments for pots.

Since I love the Polder Classic Cooking Thermometer so much I'll be GIVING THREE (3) OF THESE AWAY so that you too can have perfectly done meat everytime. 

In order to WIN one of the three Polder Classic Cooking Thermometers ($24.99 value) here's what you need to do:  




Mandatory Entry:  To get your name entered into this drawing simply tell me in the comments section below, the first thing you will cook using your Polder Cooking Thermometer if you win one.  (worth 1 entry) If you're in the sharing mood feel free to share that recipe with us, we might want to try it!

The mandatory entry MUST be done otherwise the bonus entries if you choose to do them, will not count. However, you can enter just the one time, or to increase your chances of winning you can enter any or all of the bonus entries.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry.  If you’re already a fan or follower, just say so in your comment).  Each one will count for the # of entries I've posted.  Your name will then be entered that many times for the giveaway.  The more entries you have the greater your chances of winning!

Here are the the other ways to enter:

•  "Like" At Home with Vicki Bensinger on facebook and leave your name in your comment. You can leave first name and last initial if you don’t want to leave your full name. (2 entries)
• Subscribe to my blog, (3 entries)
• Follow this blog.   (3 entries)
• Sign up for my monthly newsletter  My newsletter comes out the first week of each month. Please be sure to leave your first name, email address and the state you live in. (1 entry)
• "Like" Polder Housewares, Inc. on facebook and leave your name in your comment below. You can leave first name and last initial if you don’t want to leave your full name. (2 entries)
• Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Leave your twitter handle and a link to your tweet so that I can verify it.  (How to get the URL of a tweet). (1 entry)

You have the chance to be entered 13 possible times for this giveaway. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (I apologize to my international readers ).

Please be sure to let me know which entries you made so that I can be sure I don't miss any.  I will check out all entries.  Also be sure to leave a proper email address so that I can contact you if you win.


Three (3) winners will be chosen at random sometime on April 1st, 2011. Once the winners are selected, they will be notified via email and posted on my blog.  If a winner does not respond within 48 hours, that winner forfeits the prize and another winner will be selected at random.


Note:  The winners (3) will receive their Classic Cooking Thermometer mailed directly from Polder Housewares, Inc.  just in time for the spring/summer grilling season!.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE THREE (3) WINNERS FOR THE POLDER CLASSIC COOKING THERMOMETER, BASED ON A RANDOM DRAWING.  THEY ARE:

#1 - Lanie
#18 - Loretta
# 24 - Suzitravel
Each comment was given a number in order of sequence.  To view click on the comments below.
Here is how the Random numbers came up:

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

1

18

24

34

15

6

35

10

33

25

12

30

17

27

29

11

32

3

21

19

13

2

8

9

14

28

23

16

4

26

5

7

22

31

20

Timestamp: 2011-04-01 13:41:17 UTC

Culinary Class Poll!

As you know I teach in-home culinary classes through my business At Home with Vicki Bensinger.

Since 2004 when I brought my classes into your home I've had customers ask me when I taught a particular class, could they attend. Since the classes are all privately held in an individuals home I haven't been able to honor that request.

However, recently I've been toying with the idea of hosting a hands on culinary class at a specific location (4-6 times a year) and inviting my customers to join me there.

If I hosted this, would you be interested in attending? If so, which of the classes listed below would you be most interested in OR what type of class would you like to see offered?

This is a small sampling from my culinary class menus.

Knife Skills
Asian Appetizers
Sushi
Mediterranean Feast
Sangria & Paella
Entertaining Menus - offering a choice of one of these entrees'including side dishes and a luscious dessert:
*Stuffed Chicken Breast with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis
*Individual Beef Wellingtons with a Port Wine Sauce
*Sea Bass with Roasted Vegetables

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Class size for these hands on classes would be limited!

I look forward to your reply.

Fregola Sarda with Roasted Vegetables

I guess it must be that my craving for so many veggies lately is the fact that the warm weather is here and I just don't feel like eating anything heavy. I also didn't feel like going grocery shopping since I'd been running all day taking care of business. So when I got home I looked in the refrigerator and saw an abundance of vegetables. I knew if I didn't do something with them soon they would end up going bad. I hated the thought of throwing them away.

So I decided to cut up in cubes and strips most of the veggies I had. They consisted of eggplant, roma tomatoes, asparagus and butternut squash. I also had some Fregola Sarda that I thought would go great with these roasted vegetables.



What is Fregola Sarda? Well,it's toasted breadcrumb-like pasta from the island of Sardinia that is touted for having special health benefits. Plus they say you can indulge in this pasta without the typical carb and calorie overload. Although the carbs appear to be in line with all the others I looked at.

Fregola Sarda has a special kind of dietary fiber called resistant starch that helps maintain blood sugar and improves digestion...plus each serving has 6 grams of protein.

Fregare means "to rub," and this fregola pasta is made by rubbing coarse semolina pasta and water together to create crumbs. The crumbs are then toasted, which imparts a rich, earthy flavor to the pasta. The pasta is cooked a little like rice, with an excessive amount of water that is allowed to evaporate during the cooking process. It's really delicious!

So I cut up my veggies, tossed some extra-virgin olive oil on them and roasted all but the cut tomatoes in a convection oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. I then added my tomatoes to the batch for another 5 minutes.

By this time my Fregola Sarda was done so I drained it, placed some on a plate and covered them with my roasted veggies. Carefully using my microplane I grated some fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano over all. Mmmmm it was heavenly. I love the nutty taste of the Fregola with the vegetables. It was just what I was in the mood for. Light, healthy and delicious!

So if you're in the mood for something and also don't feel like running to the grocery store, just look in your refrigerator and pantry. Be creative and come up with something with the ingredients you have on hand. You might surprise yourself how inventive you are!

Cucumbers

I love to eat cucumbers. So when a friend of mine sent me this article about them I was so shocked at their versatility that I thought I'd share it with you. Who said cucumbers were just for eating?


The Amazing Cucumber

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their
"Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve
common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber
contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid,
Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area. (WOW)

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!! (DOUBLE WOW)

6.. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have
been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores
for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have
enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its
chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also
repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a sliced cucumber and rub it
along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa?
Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals
and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released
in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce
stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a
slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30
seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your
mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take
a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it
remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and
won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and
slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers
that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

I'll bet you didn't know cucumbers could do so many things. I know I didn't!

Asian Appetizer Class

Recently I had the pleasure of teaching Maggie, Nicole and Anne the Asian Appetizer class. Last year they invited me into one of their homes to teach them the Spring Fling menu. We all had so much fun.

In this class I taught them how to make Chicken Satay with a Peanut Dipping Sauce; plus Sushi, which you can see in the photo below.

Here they are fanning the sushi rice in preparation to make various types of Sushi Rolls.














In this photo Anne is preparing one of many Potstickers.





















These are the potstickers that Maggie, Nicole and Anne made with a Soy Dipping Sauce.



In addition the girls also made Vietnamese Summer Rolls with two different sauces.

Everyone had a great time and had a few leftovers to bring home to their families.

I did take videos but since it was my first time filming I kept turning the camera sideways and of course that would have made you dizzy had I posted them. I'll know better for next time.

If you'd like to learn more about the Asian Appetizer class please contact me at:
vkb2@hotmail.com

Proper Hygiene When Handling Food

I received an email yesterday that had some very eye-opening, humerous, yet disgusting videos to share about how germs are passed on from one to another. Of course these are all things everyone needs to keep in mind when eating, preparing food for others and ourselves, or just protecting ourselves on a day to day basis. Here is just one of the videos regarding sneezing.

I'd love to hear your comments.

Dunkin' Donuts Design Contest

Dunkin’ Donuts 60th "birthDDay" celebration includes the return of the “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest. If your ultimate donut creation is chosen, you’ll win $12,000 and the honor of having your donut sold at participating Dunkin’ Donuts nationwide. Create and enter your donut at DunkinDonuts.com. For more details click here.

A dozen finalists will be chosen to travel to Dunkin’ Donuts University, the company’s worldwide training center in Massachusetts. The grand prize winner will be announced—when else?—on National Donut Day, June 4th.

Can't get enough of Dunkin' Donuts? Then shop online at the DD store. Order coffee or get a subscription of their coffee (sent to you weekly, monthly, etc.), order tea, DD merchandise and even get gifts and coffee equipment. Check it out!

What are you waiting for? Create your donut today. Maybe you'll be the next Dunkin' Donut designer for 2010!

Beef Fajitas with Balsamic Onions

The sun was out today and although it was still just 45 degrees it felt like spring. So I decided to grill some beef fajitas with balsamic onions. This is part of a class that I teach. In addition I decided to make a batch of baked sweet potato fries and cole slaw to go with them. It was delicious and hit the spot.

Instead of using flank steak I used a sirloin strip mainly because it's not stringy like flank steak and I didn't have the entire day to marinate it. It was tasty, tender and moist.

If you've never made sweet potato fries they're amazing and simple.

Sweet Potato Fries
serves 4

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

spray a foil lined sheet pan or tray with non-stick spray
lay potato wedges on foil lined tray
sprinkle with Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Bake at 400 approximately 20 minutes.

Serve.

You have no idea how soft and tasty these are-they melt in your mouth. They're so good they don't even need catsup.

With spring just around the corner I have lots of fun culinary classes to choose from. If you're interested in learning more about them please contact me at: vkb2@hotmail.com