If you missed Sunday’s Explore section, an annual listing of summer events and festivals, be sure to check out the online version here.
Besides the long list of summer festivals (many of which revolve around — or at least include — food), you’ll find profiles of 16 Eastern Iowa wineries and one brewery. It’s a great guide to our growing wine industry… it’s just too bad we can’t do online tastings, too.
After we ran a couple of stories on how to save money on your grocery bill, a reader e-mailed to tell me about Angel Food Ministries, a non-profit, non-denominational program that sells discounted groceries through churches in across the country, including here in Eastern Iowa.
The reader, Carla Ekman, coordinates the program at Hope Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids. A quick search on the Angel Food Ministries web site (www.angelfoodministries.com) showed another 20 churches within 40 miles of Cedar Rapids that offer this program.
It’s not a food bank. There are no qualifications, minimums, income restrictions, or applications.
Carla writes:
“Basically the way it works is ANYONE can preorder a monthly menu box for $30. The food has an average retail value of anywhere from $50 to $80 depending on what the menu for the month is and where you would normally purchase the food. Keep reading →
It’s been just over a month since I last wrote about the kitchen remodel. Lest you think the project is in shambles, a photo:
I have cabinets! (And a power tool!)
It’s been a busy month. With the exception of the week that I spent visiting friends in Portland, my husband and I have been spending every weekend and a couple of hours each evening working on the kitchen. So we now also have walls (textured and painted!), a lovely fakewood floor, base and wall cabinets, counter tops, a sink (no disposal yet though) AND a working oven. The fridge is also back to it’s proper home, and I’m just starting to get used to not having to put on my shoes to go out into the garage to grab a yogurt or cold soda. (Excellent.)
Now it’s just a long list of little jobs: Putting up trim (lots of trim), getting the electrician to finish the outlets/wiring, installing the dishwasher and over-the-range microwave, shopping for new light fixtures and moving our dinnerware and cooking gear into the new cabinets.
I can’t wait.
TCBY sent along a press release this week to let me (and you) know how much they love moms: All TCBY locations are giving away free cups and cones to Moms on Mother’s Day. As far as I know, their only local store is in Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids.
Any other food give-aways for Mother’s Day that you’ve heard about?
It’s nearly time for summer picnics and potlucks, and I’m looking for Gazette reader’s favorite recipes for an upcoming Accent story.
What’s your on-the-go go-to dish? Send us the recipe, along with a brief description of why you like it, to recipes@gazcomm.com or The Gazette, Attn: Potluck Recipes, PO Box 511, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406
Include your name, address (we’ll only print the town) and daytime phone number.
One of the tips in today’s stories about saving money on your grocery bills was to stock up on staples when they go on sale. But how long can you let those stockpiled items sit around in your house? Here are some guidelines for commonly stockpiled items from consumer magazine ShopSmart:
I spent most of last week in Portland, visiting some old friends and their new baby. And their kitchen.
The good news: In my month without a kitchen of my own, I haven’t forgotten how to cook. (Though I did manage to fill the entire first floor of their condo with smoke while making Peach-Spiced Lamb Chops on a skillet instead of a grill pan. Again, really sorry guys.)
The other good news: I did make it out into the city for one really great meal (fresh oysters, some wine and buckwheat crepes stuffed with leeks, shrimp, crab, fiddleheads and cheese at Higgins, a contemporary Pacific Northwest restaurant that uses fresh, seasonal ingredients)…. And a doughnut.
The donut was from VooDoo Doughnut, a tiny bakery that looks more like a divey punk-rock bar than a bakery and is known for it’s unusual, experimental doughnut recipes. Including what’s got to be Homer Simpson’s dream food: a bacon donut.
I’m sorry to say that I went for something that sounded slightly less artery clogging. I’m already regretting it. I mean, just because the name of the doughnut included a fruit — it was ”strawberry lemonade” — doesn’t mean it was really any more healthy than that crazy breakfast mishmash. Now I’ve missed my chance! D’oh!
*image is from Jocelyn | McAuliflower on flickr
Tomorrow’s column is all about food blogs. So I’ll send out the query here, too: Which food blogs do you read? Any favorites that you’d recommend I check out? Any Eastern Iowans out there with food blogs?
Fellow Gazette staffer Todd Dorman is looking for some recommendations for great Mexican food over on his blog, 24Dorman. So, foodies, where do you like to get your south-of-the-border fix? Recommended so far: Villa Patio in Marion (one of my favorites), La Salsita, Gringo’s (really?!) and Hacienda/Casa las Glorias. Hop over and add to the comments on his post.
I’m thinking maybe I should stop writing about food, and spend more time baking it. Specifically, cookies. More specifically, cookies like Carolyn Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies.
Her simple recipe — it uses refrigerated cookie dough as its base — took the $1 million Grand Prize in this year’s Pillsbury Bake-Off. Oh, and she also won an additional $5,000 for having the best recipe that uses at least 1/4 cup of Jif Peanut Butter.
According to a news release from Pillsbury, “contest judges agreed that Gurtz’s recipe surpassed the 99 other competitors as the grand prize winner for its simplicity and approachability, allowing the home cook to take a convenience product and turn it into an unexpected cookie that bursts with layers of peanut butter flavor. Contest judges described Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies as a delightful taste that combines two classic cookies – a snickerdoodle and a peanut butter cookie.”
Do Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies really taste like 1 million (plus 5,000) bucks? I can’t say. I’m still kitchenless. But if any of you are inclined to whip up a batch of cookies, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Here’s the recipe.
To see other winning recipes, visit www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff/
 | wwh on Iowa wines (and a beer) |
 | Jen & Michelle on Notes from Portland |
 | Anne on Who do you read? |
 | Anne Ries on Who do you read? |
 | Dana on The piecemeal kitchen |
