If you ever questioned the commercial with the “nothin’ says lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven” tagline, you’ll probably become a believer once you read “Christmas Cookies Are For Giving: Recipes, Stories and Tips for Making Heartwarming Gifts” (Tyr Publishing LLC/$16.95).
The cookbook is the work of two childhood friends, Kristin Johnson, an award-winning writer, and Mimi Cummins, an accomplished cook and owner of Christmas-Cookies.com. No matter your level of baking expertise, you’ll find a cookie like Zingy Lemon Bars, Cranberry Decadent Cookies or Hazelnut Cappuccino Cookies to delight an appreciative recipient.
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Boon For Brain Activi-Tea
Investigating the properties of green and black tea, Newcastle University Medicinal Plant researchers found the teas had some of the same benefits as Exelon and Aricept, two drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease patients. The teas also obstructed the activity of beta-secretase and butyrylcholinesterase, which are found in the brains of patients with the disease. Scientists believe their findings are valuable, although they admit so far there is no published evidence showing the disease is any lower in tea-loving countries like Britain, China and Japan.
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Fair Foods We Can Agrease On
The 2004 State Fair of Texas is history; still, it may take some time for fairgoers to erase the reminders of the sweets and treats marketed at the Dallas fairgrounds from their waistline measurements and cholesterol readings. Fair fare this year included fried marshmallows topped with chocolate syrup; deep-fried Nutter Butter bars; Fasnachtskiechli, Swiss carnival pastry; German fajitas made with sliced sausage; Paradise pie bars, chocolate-covered Key lime pie ice cream studded with strawberry bits; spicy olive bits, a black olive-salsa–and-cheese mixture dipped in a Japanese-bread-crumb-jalapeño-pepper seasoning and deep fried; fried S’more candy bars; and Tornado Taters topped with Maytag blue cheese.
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If You Can’t Take The Heat
Our story that ran the end of last month about presidential culinary picks overlooked the fact that after 25 years, White House Chef Roland Mesnier had retired and exited the First Family’s kitchen. The good news for the rest of us is that now he’s free to serve the public. His first post-Executive-Branch assignment is as a special contributor to the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana. So far he’s adapted three of his recipes — White House Banana Celebration, White House Pumpkin Friendship Cake and White House Passion Fruit Pound Cake — that can be shipped fresh in tins. Presidential Pastries can be ordered through the bakery’s toll-free number, (800) 292-7400.
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Take That Down A Notch
Finally, maybe those fast food pledges to supersize have gone over the top as far as many customers are concerned. Opinion Dynamics Corp., an independent market research firm, did a study that showed the majority of consumers would rather have appropriate-sized portions when they go out to eat. And 40 percent of them claim they’d be more inclined to eat at restaurants that offer half-sized portions.
