Thursday's Food Tip: Make Great Centerpieces with Grapes

Grapes have been called "a caterer's best friend." That's because clusters of large grapes in various colors are an easy and quick way to accent a buffet or dining table. And they aren't so tall that they make it difficult for guests to see and talk to each other as they enjoy their dinner the way large floral arrangements often do.



This past weekend my older son was married. For the rehearsal dinner we decorated the tables with clusters of green and red grapes on large, square wooden plates, with a votive candle in a pretty terra cotta holder in the middle of the clusters. Plain glass candle holders with cream colored votives were scattered around each centerpiece, and we put a few printed menu cards on easels on each table. The tables looked "casually elegant." But the best part was - not only did the guests enjoy looking at the centerpieces they also got to eat them!

Next time you're decorating for a dinner party, use grapes. They make great centerpieces!

Note: Wash and dry the grapes thoroughly before arranging them on the dining tables or buffet. Use seedless grapes.

Final Two Days for Our Special Offer!

CALLING ALL COOKS: Do you have a food tip you'd like to share? Today and tomorrow are the final two days for this special offer. If you live in the continental USA, send us your food tip - via email to suzanne@threeangelsgourmet.com. If we use it on our blog, we'll send you the following FREE Three Angels Gourmet Co. products (as a "thank you" and to introduce you to our delicious mixes):

Divine Dill Dip Mix
Sun-Blessed Tomato Herb Dip Mix
Single-Serving Potato Cloud Soup Mix
Heavenly Jam Bar Mix

Note: If you submitted a tip and we have already used it, look for your "thank you" package some time next week. They will all be shipped out later this week.

Wednesday's Food Tip: Make Your Own Brown Sugar

Make your own brown sugar, right when you need it. It will be fresher (without those hard, dry clumps that have to be removed) and you'll save money too.

Pour 1 cup of granulated sugar into a bowl. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of molasses (depending on how dark you want the brown sugar to be). Use a fork, or your hands, to combine the two ingredients.

Tuesday's Food Tip: Fruit Smoothies in a Flash

A good way to include more luscious summer fruits in your diet is with a fruit smoothie. And a smoothie makes a cool and nutritious breakfast when you're on the run.

Make a fruit smoothie in a flash! Simply put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until thick and creamy, then pour the smoothie into an attractive glass. Garnish with a slice of fresh fruit, if desired. Note: Freeze the berries and bananas before adding them to the smoothie mixtures for frostier smoothies.

Try any or all of these basic smoothies, then come up with your own delicious concoctions.

BANANA SMOOTHIE (makes 1 serving)

1 ripe banana, frozen
1/2 c. nonfat yogurt
1 Tbsp. honey
1 c. crushed ice


BERRY SMOOTHIE (makes 1 serving)

1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 c. milk
6 to 8 strawberries, frozen
1/2 c. raspberries or blueberries, frozen


STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE (makes 4 servings)

1 qt. whole strawberries, frozen
4 c. pineapple juice
1 c. orange juice
1 1/2 c. lowfat vanilla yogurt, frozen


PINA COLADA SMOOTHIE (makes 2 servings)

1 (6 oz.) carton nonfat coconut yogurt, frozen
1/2 banana, frozen
10 oz. crushed pineapple (from a can)
1 cup nonfat milk

Monday's Food Tip: Homemade Pizza in a Hurry

Stroll the streets of Venice, or any other city in Italy, and you’ll notice little food shops with a wide variety of pizzas in the windows. It might surprise you to see so many pizzas in long retangular pans, instead of the more traditional round shape for a pizza. But, no matter the shape, pizza can be a delicious and simple dish to make at home - whether you live in Venice, Italy, Venice Beach, California, or somewhere in between.



Don’t have time to make homemade pizza dough? You can still create a quick pizza without calling for delivery from your favorite pizza place. Pre-baked pizza shells, flour tortillas, halved bagels, whole wheat pitas, or even halved English muffins can be used as the base for your pizza. For toppings, use a little canned (or fresh) tomato sauce or tomato paste. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan or a little Mozzarella cheese, and top with chopped fresh basil. Put the pizza in the broiler (or a toaster oven) for a few minutes until the cheese melts, then serve.

Variation: Instead of pizza sauce, put a thin slice of tomato on the pizza crust. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and crumbled Parmesan cheese, or a few small slices of Mozzarella, before putting the pizza in the toaster oven or broiler to melt the cheese.

Sunday's Food Tip: Easy Sparkling Juices

For a special brunch or breakfast, it's always nice to have a few varieties of sparkling juice on the menu, and these delightful drinks take only a few minutes to make.

Add a little sparkling mineral water (like Perrier) to orange juice, lemonade, cranberry juice, or your other favorite fruit juice. Serve in a pretty champagne flute, wine glass, or stemmed water glass. Garnish the glass with a slice of fresh fruit, if desired.




A sparkling tropical fruit juice makes an impressive beverage for most any occasion. For one serving, blend the following together in a food processor or juicer: 1/2 mango (peeled and sliced), 1 orange (peeled and sectioned), and 1 kiwi (peeled). Put the blended fruits into an attractive stemmed glass and fill to the top with sparkling mineral water. Garnish and serve.

Saturday's Food Tip: Quick Frosting for Brownies

When you’re in a hurry to frost a pan of brownies, try this. Bake the brownies as usual. After baking, when the brownies are still hot from the oven, sprinkle the top of them with a handful of chocolate chips. As the chips melt, spread them out evenly to frost the entire pan of brownies. Let brownies cool before cutting and serving.

Variation: Instead of chocolate chips, use mint or cinnamon flavored baking chips.

Friday's Food Tip: A Simple Side Dish

Create a delicious, yet simple, side dish with your favorite pasta (bowtie pasta is great for this but you can use spaghetti, fettuccine, or any kind of pasta), olive oil, a little dried basil, and Parmesan cheese.


Cook the pasta, then drain it. While the pasta is still hot, drizzle with olive oil. Stir to distribute the oil evenly throughout the pasta. Sprinkle dried basil over the pasta and stir to combine. Grate fresh Parmesan over the pasta and stir it through the pasta until the cheese begins to melt. The olive oil helps the cheese and basil stick to the hot pasta, and the combination of ingredients gives it a wonderful flavor.

Variation: Make a bread dipper with olive oil and Sun Blessed Tomato Herb Dip Mix (directions are on the package) from the Three Angels Gourmet Co. Use the bread dipper in place of plain olive oil and omit the dried basil.

Thursday's Food Tip: Helpful Honey Hint

If a jar of honey in your pantry has become one big glob of golden crystals, don’t throw it out. Place the jar in a pan of very warm water. Stir until the crystals begin to dissolve and the honey re-liquifies.

Summer Newsletter

Our summer newsletter will be emailed to subscribers next week. Each issue of our newsletter includes product news, baking tips and serving suggestions, recipes, gift ideas, and other helpful information from the Three Angels Gourmet Co.

Don't miss the summer issue. SUBSCRIBE TODAY by clicking on the headline above.

Wednesday's Food Tip: From Plain Potato to the Perfect Potato Salad

Barbecues and picnics just wouldn’t be the same without potato salad. And the type of potato you use will determine both the taste and the texture of the finished dish. Russets are the most commonly used "spud" for potato salad. But Yukon Golds, Yellow Finns, and red potatoes are other excellent choices.
To make the perfect potato salad, scrub the potatoes then cut them into bite-size pieces. Leave the skins on for added taste, texture, and color. Put the potato pieces into a large pot. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the potatoes, then put the pot on the stove and bring the water in the pot to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add a generous amount of salt to the pot, then turn down the heat to keep the water at a gentle boil. Let the potatoes cook like this for about 12 – 15 minutes, until they are soft enough that you can easily pierce them with a fork. Drain the water from the potatoes and add the dressing right away (because hot potatoes will absorb more flavor from the dressing), then put the potatoes in the refrigerator while you prepare other ingredients to add to the salad.

Boiled eggs, pickle relish or chopped pickles, peas, celery, onions, and even small pieces of cooked bacon, ham or smoked salmon make interesting additions to potato salad. Once you have added all the ingredients you want to your salad, refrigerator it for several hours before serving so the various flavors in the salad have a chance to blend and intensify.

For "A Dilly of a Potato Salad" make some Three Angels Gourmet Co. Divine Dill Dip Mix with sour cream (follow directions on the package), then fold enough of the prepared dip mixture into the hot, cooked potatoes to coat them evenly. For added crunch, add some chopped water chestnuts. Refrigerate for several hours. Enjoy. The Divine Dill Dip Mix is on special this week. Click here to order.

Tuesday's Food Tip: Make Your Own Flavored Pancake Syrups

Special pancakes call for special syrups. Maple syrup is yummy on traditional flapjacks, for example. But a smooth vanilla syrup is much better than maple if you’re serving apple-cinnamon pancakes. And, if chocolate chip pancakes are your favorite, you’ll probably prefer to top them with whipped cream and a little heated chocolate syrup.


It’s easy to make all sorts of flavorful pancake syrups with the new coffee and soda syrups available in supermarkets these days. Hazelnut, vanilla, caramel, raspberry, mocha, black cherry, amaretto, and banana are just a few of the flavors you can try. But any of these syrups by itself is a little too "runny" for pancakes, so combine just a tablespoon or so of your favorite coffee syrup with some light corn syrup and you’ve got a rich and thick topping that’s just right for pancakes or waffles.

My favorite combination is vanilla syrup on a stack of apple-cinnamon pancakes made from a mix from the Three Angels Gourmet Co. Yum.

Monday's Food Tip: Making Low Fat Dips

For most dip mixes that call for sour cream, plain low fat yogurt can be substituted to make the dip lower in fat.


Divine Dill Dip Mix from the Three Angels Gourmet Co. is delicious whether it's made with plain low fat yogurt or regular sour cream.

For this week only (June 20th - 26th), buy two packages of Divine Dill Dip Mix at our online retail site, and get one package FREE. The shipping is also FREE, and each package includes an insert with 12 ideas for using this versatile mix.

It’s hard to find a better deal than that. Order here today.

Sunday's Food Tip: Buying Small Amounts of Liqueurs for Recipes

Many special recipes call for just a few tablespoons of a specific liqueur or liquor for added flavor. But, if you don't usually serve or drink these items, after using such a small amount for your recipe you're left with a huge bottle of the stuff.

The easy way to solve this problem is to purchase these liquors or liqueurs in the small "airline" size bottles until you know you will be able to use full size bottles. You'll be able to try several different liqueurs and still probably spend less than you would for a regular size bottle of any one of them.

EVERYDAY ITALIAN by Giada De Laurentiis

Reviewed by Suzanne Lieurance

I spent several weeks in Italy last summer and developed a love for basic, simple Italian food. There’s nothing as relaxing as sitting down to a glass of wine and some really good pasta. In Venice, a friend and I brought buffalo mozzarella back to our hotel room to snack on. We just couldn’t get enough of the stuff. We kept trying to figure out ways to cram containers of these tasty little white blobs of cheese into our luggage to take home. Needless to say, that didn’t work out.

Now I love to watch Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network. Her recipes are simple, yet elegant, and so many of them are for basic, hearty Italian dishes my family might actually enjoy (the men in my family are ALL picky eaters). Her new cookbook, named after her show, features many of the same recipes I’ve seen her prepare on TV. And, just as she does on her show, De Laurentiis offers little snippets of information in the cookbook that help educate the reader about food in general, and Italian food in particular. I like that. To me, a good cookbook always offers more than tasty recipes. It provides information to feed the reader’s passion for food, cooking, and enjoying life with family and friends. Everyday Italian does that in an easy to follow format.

The one criticism I have of this book is that it includes so many black and white photos of De Laurentiis that really don't illustrate the recipes or cooking techniques. They just make me wonder, How does she stay so slim and still eat all this delicious Italian food? But maybe that'll be the subject of her next cookbook.

Saturday's Food Tip: Add Pizazz to Most Any Chocolate Dessert

Today’s tips are from Carol Boles of Belton, Missouri. Carol offers two ways to add pizazz to almost any chocolate dessert this summer.



"It’s easy to make fancy chocolate curls to garnish a special pie or cake," says Carol. "Warm a block of chocolate in the microwave on HIGH for five to ten seconds. Then, draw a sharp vegetable peeler down the side of the chocolate. Apply firm pressure for thick, more open curls, or light pressure for thinner, tighter curls.

"Another way to add pizazz to a chocolate dessert is with a simple Raspberry Sauce," suggests Carol. "Place 2/3 cup of seedless raspberry jam into a microwaveable bowl. Heat on HIGH for 45 to 60 seconds, or until thin. In a swirling, motion, drizzle one tablespoon of jam onto each dessert plate."


CALLING ALL COOKS

Do you have a food tip you'd like to share? If you do, and you live in the continental USA, please send it to us via email (suzanne@threeangelsgourmet.com). If we use it, we'll send you the following FREE Three Angels Gourmet Co. products (as a thank you and to introduce you to our delicious mixes):

Divine Dill Dip Mix
Sun-Blessed Tomato Herb Dip Mix
Single-Serving Package of Potato Cloud Soup Mix
A Full Size Package of Heavenly Jam Bar Mix

This special offer is worth almost $18.00, but you'll have to hurry! It's only available until June 30, 2005.

Friday's Food Tip: Make These Pretty Pats of Butter

Pretty pats of butter can add interest to your dining table or buffet. You can make them easily, in a wide variety of shapes. Here’s all you do:

Soften several sticks of butter. Use a knife to spread the softened butter evenly into a candy mold (flip the mold over once you have some butter in it, to make sure the butter is filling the mold completely; the butter tends to leave "gaps" of empty space, even when you feel like you’re filling the mold solidly). Freeze the filled mold until the butter is firm.

When firm, pop the butter pats out of the mold. Line a large pan or baking dish with waxed paper. Layer the butter pats in the pan, with a piece of waxed paper between each layer to keep the pats from sticking together. Refrigerate the molded pats until you're ready to serve them. At serving time, place some crushed ice in a bowl and place the pats on top of the ice to keep them cold.

A heart-shaped candy mold is perfect for butter that will be used at a June wedding reception or rehearsal dinner.

Candy molds come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Just choose one that is right for your special occasion.

For pretty herb butters, add some of your favorite chopped herb(s) to the butter before putting it in the mold.

Thursday's Tip: Impress Your Guests With This Simple Strawberry Sorbet

A cool and delicious strawberry sorbet can be an impressive end to a meal on a hot summer’s eve. And the only special equipment required is a food processor or blender. But you don’t have to tell your dinner guests how simple the sorbet was to prepare. That can be your little secret.

Note: While sorbets are generally made without milk products, eggs, or gelatin, this recipe does call for sweetened condensed milk. This is all you’ll need:

1 quart sliced strawberries
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. lemon juice

Puree all the ingredients together in a food processor or blender. Pour the pureed mixture into a shallow metal pan and freeze until ice crystals form. Use a fork to break up the crystals about every 30 minutes or so and continue to let it freeze until it is solid enough to be scooped into balls. Makes about 6 servings.

Wednesday's Food Tip - Make a Superb Salad in Minutes

With all the prepared salad mixes in grocery stores these days, a simple salad can become a superb salad in a matter of minutes. Add a glass of your favorite wine, some crusty bread or a few crackers, and you’ve got a complete meal without even heating up the kitchen.

If you don't care for lettuce, you can still create a superb salad by cutting up some tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions and marinating them in your favorite Italian dressing or vinegrette for several hours. Drain the mixture, top with fresh cilantro or chopped fresh parsley, and serve.



But here's my favorite combination for a superb salad. Look for a salad called "Spring Mix" in the produce section of your favorite grocery. Add to it some carrot strips (you can buy these already prepared too, or get whole carrots and cut them into strips yourself), a few grape tomatoes, and a can of tuna, salmon, or cooked chicken (drained). Sprinkle a handful of honey roasted sunflower seeds over the salad. Drizzle with your favorite dressing and your superb salad is ready to serve.

Tuesday's Tip - Resealable Plastic Bags: A Cook's Best Friend

How did people EVER cook before the invention of resealable plastic bags? I can’t seem to work in the kitchen without them. They are definitely a cook's best friend. If you read our cooking tips last week, you probably remember that I suggested using plastic bags for marinating meats.

Now, here’s another similar tip from Evelyn Guy of Demopolis, Alabama. Evelyn seems to think the resealable plastic bag is a cook’s best friend, too.

Evelyn says, "Breading chicken, fish, or steak fingers makes them so delectable. But the mess! Makes it almost not worth the effort. If these are your thoughts, follow this tip for easy, mess-free breading:

Use a gallon size resealable plastic bag. Put your breading mix in the bag, with all the spices and additives you want to include. You can mix them directly in the bag, so you don’t need to dirty a bowl. Next, add the pieces of meat you want to bread. You can add several at a time. Then, SHAKE! SHAKE! SHAKE!

Open the bag. Remove the breaded pieces. Reseal the bag and toss into the garbage. No mess!"

Monday's Tip - Toasting Special Occasions

There’s nothing quite like a champagne toast to mark a special occasion. But don’t plan to serve champagne "unless you can afford something of at least moderate quality (nine dollars and up per bottle depending on where you live)" advises chef and former caterer Nicole Aloni, author of SECRETS FROM A CATER'S KITCHEN. And it must be served in a "flute-shaped glass to protect the effervescence that makes champagne so special."

If you’re having a large celebration and have no place to store dozens of champagne flutes (or any future need for them) simply rent champagne flutes for your special occasion. Also, keep in mind that you’ll have some guests who don't like champagne, and underage guests will want to join the toast, so have a few bottles of ginger ale or sparkling white grape juice to offer them when it comes time for the toasting.

Click here for more Toasting Tips.

Sunday's Food Tip - Kiwi Fruit For Good Taste and Good Health

Maybe "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But, years ago, that same sentiment didn’t seem to apply to a strange looking little fruit from China known as Yang Tao.

Missionaries in the early 20th century brought Yang Tao to New Zealand, and in 1960 it was renamed the Chinese Gooseberry. In 1961, the Chinese Gooseberry made its first appearance in the United States and the name was changed again. This time to kiwi, in honor of the native bird of New Zealand, whose brown fuzzy coat looks somewhat like the brown fuzzy skin of this unusual little fruit. This name change seems to have been a good move. Doesn’t a kiwi fruit sound much more appealing than a Chinese Gooseberry?

Today, people everywhere love kiwi fruit. And, with good reason. The kiwi has a sweet unique flavor and is loaded with vitamin C, as well as a variety of other vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that promote good health.

Kiwi fruit can be eaten by itself, but it is also delicious in tossed salads, or fruits salads. But here’s a tip you might not know. Kiwi fruits should be eaten soon after they are cut because they contain enzymes that act as a food tenderizer. These enzymes can tenderize the kiwi, making it overly soft. These enzymes can also make other fruits soggy, so add kiwi to fruit salads at the last minute.

It’s easy to enjoy a kiwi fruit. You can even eat the skin. Just rub off the fuzz, wash the kiwi, slice it, and enjoy.



How do you enjoy kiwi fruit? Please share your recipes and serving suggestions with us here.

Saturday's Food Tip - Eat More Berries!

Berries might be small, but they’re packed with powerful health benefits. Research shows that the simple blueberry is high in antioxidant activity, which can slow the aging process in humans and even prevent disease.



Blackberries are also chock full of antioxidants, vitamins C and E, and ellagic acid, which may also provide protection against cancer and chronic disease.

But the best part about blueberries and blackeberries is their delicious taste. So it shouldn't be difficult to eat more berries this summer.

An easy way to enjoy blueberries and blackberries is to freeze them, then place a few frozen berries in a small bowl. Pour a tablespoon or two of fresh whipping cream (unwhipped, straight from the carton) over the berries. Wait a few minutes and the cream will freeze from contact with the cold berries, resulting in a "Berry Freeze" that is nutritious and refreshing on a hot summer day.

A Delicious Decision - Order Our Comfort Food Sampler

For the easiest and most delicious decision you'll probably make all day, order our Comfort Food Sampler. The sampler box lets you try a variety of our easy-to-prepare mixes (like our Heavenly Jam Bars, pictured below) and save money at the same time.



Click on the headline above for details.

Friday's Food Tip - One Way to Avoid Food Contamination

Today's tip comes from Dave Knechel, known as "Marinade Dave." Dave knows a thing or two about food safety since he once owned a restaurant. Here's his tip to avoid food contamination:

"Every time I tell someone this, they always go, hmmm, I never thought about that, kind of like never checking the dirty grime under a can opener."

Whenever spreading a condiment, such as mayonnaise or mustard, on a sandwich, never touch the meat or cheese(or anything with an expiration date.)

This contaminates the condiment and changes its expiration date to that of the product it came into contact with. Either spread it on the bread, or clean the spreader before coming into contact with the condiment again."

Thanks for the tip, Dave! I'm sure we'll all remember this when making sandwiches this summer!


Here's the link to an excellent article about marinating, written by Marinade Dave.

Thursday's Food Tip - Juicing Oranges

A glass of chilled, fresh orange juice is a refreshing and nutritious way to start the day. But not just any orange will do for juicing. While you CAN juice a Navel orange, Valencia oranges are the best for juicing. They have a thin skin, few seeds, and lots of juice. Save the Navel oranges for snacks.

To get more juice from an orange, microwave it on high power for about 10 seconds. Then remove the orange from the microwave and roll it lightly on the counter while pressing down. This will loosen up the juice, so you will get more of it from the orange.

Juice from Valencia oranges can be frozen for up to 4 months. But, again, those pretty Navel oranges just won’t do if you want to freeze the orange juice. Juice from a Navel orange will turn bitter when frozen.

Rule of thumb for juicing oranges: You will get about 1/3 cup of juice from 1 medium-size orange.

Wednesday's Food Tip - Summer Means Sun Tea

Warm, sunny days make me think of Sun Tea. It's so simple to make. Just put 1 to 1 1/2 quarts of cold water in a clear glass container. Add 4 to 6 tea bags. Put a lid on the container and place it in a sunny spot for about 2 to 3 hours to let the sun brew the tea. Remove the tea bags. Serve the tea over ice. Store any remaining tea in the refrigerator.

For mint tea: Put 4 to 6 large mint leaves in with the tea bags and water before you place the container in the sun. Remove the mint before serving the tea. Garnish each glass with a fresh mint sprig, if desired.



Do you have any other tips for Sun Tea? Please share them with us.

Tuesday's Food Tip - How to Choose a Mango

Although mangoes have been available in supermarkets across the country for many years now, to many shoppers a mango is still a mysterious fruit and one they have never tried because they don't know how to choose a "good" mango.



Color is not the most important thing when choosing a mango. Instead, choose a mango that is firm, plump, and has a heady fragrance. Just like pears, mangoes are harvested firm and they ripen OFF the tree.

Ripen the mango at room temperature. It will be ready to eat when it gives slightly to a little pressure at the bottom.



CALLING ALL COOKS

Do you have a food tip you'd like to share? If you do, and you live in the continental USA, send it to us via email (suzanne@threeangelsgourmet.com). If we use it we'll send you a box of the following FREE Three Angels Gourmet Co. products (to thank you and to introduce you to our mixes):
Divine Dill Dip Mix
Sun-Blessed Tomato Herb Dip Mix
Single Serving package of Potato Cloud Soup Mix
A full sized package of our Heavenly Jam Bar Mix

But hurry, this offer is only good through June 30th!

Monday's Food Tip - Using Your Crockpot

Crockpots are so convenient. You just put the food in the pot, leave it there to cook all day, and by dinnertime you can have a complete meal on the table in minutes. But did you know you should NOT lift the lid on the crockpot while the food is cooking? If you do, it makes the temperature in the pot drop from 10 to 15 degrees, which can significantly lengthen the cooking time needed for what's in the pot.

That's why crockpots have clear glass lids - so you can see the steam condensing on the inside of the lid and know the crockpot is "on."

Raspberry Brownie Mix Makes An Easy, Yet Elegant Dessert

Our Raspberry Brownie Mix has been a big hit at the Kansas City Gift Show this weekend. And it's so easy to make an elegant dessert with this delicious mix. Just make the mix according to the directions on the package. Instead of pouring the mixture into an 8x8 inch square pan, put it in a fluted tart pan.

Sprinkle the top of the batter with the sliced almonds that are included in the package. Bake as directed. Let the brownies cool, then remove the sides of the tart pan and place the brownies on a footed cake plate.

Drizzle chocolate syrup or raspberry syrup on top of the brownies, then pipe whipped cream all around the outer edge. No one will dream this "brownie tart" was made from a mix!


Here's a photo of our raspberry brownies baked in a fluted tart pan - I left them in the pan to show you the pan, but they should be removed from the pan for serving.

Sunday's Food Tip - Marinate Meats the Easy Way!

With warmer weather it's fun to experiment with marinades for beef and chicken and then put the meat on the grill. But marinades can be messy, so marinate the easy way by using a resealable plastic storage bag.



The bag makes it easy to evenly distribute the marinade (just move the meat around in the bag, or gently shake the bag).

When you're ready to cook the meat, just toss out the plastic bag.





Click here to read an excellent article about marinating, written by Marinade Dave.

Our Booth at the Kansas City Gift Show

Here are a few pictures of our booth at the Kansas City Gift Show.

Samples are set up on the middle section of the baker's rack and on the high table behind the rack.



Since this is an "orders only" show, we don't take too much packaged product for display so we don't need much space. This time we are sharing a booth with two other businesses (notice the lamps to the left of our baker's rack, and the jewelry behind it).




That's Debra Steiner, our sales rep, next to the display.

Come See Us at the Kansas City Gift Show!

Hey, wholesale buyers, the Kansas City Gift Show started today and will run through Tuesday. If you're in Kansas City, stop by Booth 704 and meet our rep, Debra Steiner, and sample some of our delicious products. Here's our sampling schedule for the show:

SATURDAY'S SAMPLES
Divine Dill Dip - Made with sour cream and served with butterbraid pretzels
Raspberry Brownies - These are our newest product, topped with slivered almonds, and this is the first time for samples at a trade show.
Heavenly Jam Bars - We'll have both Apricot Jam Bars and Seedless Red Raspberry Jam Bars!

SUNDAY'S SAMPLES
Divine Dill Dip - We're having a "Show Special" on the Divine Dill Dip Mix, so we'll have samples of it, made with sour cream, available during the entire show.
Heavenly Jam Bars - Today try our Blackberry Jam Bars and Strawberry Jam Bars!
Currant Scones - These are our most traditional scones and you'll want to try a sample with a cup of coffee.

MONDAY'S SAMPLES
Divine Dill Dip - Made with sour cream and served with butterbraid pretzels.
Heavenly Jam Bars - We'll have Apricot Jam Bars and Strawberry Jam Bars.
Raspberry Brownies - If you missed these on Saturday, try them today!

TUESDAY'S SAMPLES
Divine Dill Dip - Made with sour cream and served with butterbraid pretzels.
Heavenly Jam Bars - Today try our Seedless Red Raspberry Jam Bars and Blackberry Jam Bars
Cranberry Scones - Filled with delicious sweetened cranberries. One of our most popular varieties of scone mixes.


Be sure to ask Debra about our "Show Special." An opening order for wholesale buyers is only $38.00 at the show!

Note: Check below for today's food tip.

Saturday's Food Tip

Make your own caramel sauce with sweetened condensed milk. This is easy to do. Just be sure NEVER to heat an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in the oven or in a pan of boiling water. It could explode! Instead, open the can and pour the milk into a 9 inch pie pan and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Put this pan in a larger shallow pan. Fill the larger pan with hot water (about an inch deep). Bake at 425 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours, until the milk has become thick and caramel colored.

Friday's Food Tip

It's easy to season food while it's cooking if you fill a large shaker with six parts of salt and one part pepper and keep the shaker next to the stove.

Thursday's Food Tip

Did you know you can use tomatoes to tenderize a roast? Just add a few tomatoes to the roast. As it cooks the acid in the tomatoes will break down the meat, tenderizing it naturally.



CALLING ALL COOKS:
Do you have a food tip to share? Send it to us by June 30th. If we use it, we'll send you a box of Three Angels Gourmet Co. products, FREE, as our thanks. Click on the headline above for details.

Wednesday's Food Tip

This is one of the best tips I've learned over the years. I think I got it from watching one of Martha Stewart's shows:

Did you know that stainless steel can remove odors like garlic and onions from your hands? Sounds strange, but it's true. After you've chopped onions or garlic, rub a stainless steel spoon between your hands, or rub the DULL edge of a large stainless steel knive. You can even rub your hands in your stainless steel sink, if you have one. The garlic or onion smell on your hands will be gone, just like magic.


Do you have a great tip to share? Then click on the headline above.