Recommended | Bite of the Best

Contrex Natural Mineral Water

Bonnie: When invited on a European Great Springs Safari many years ago, I couldn’t resist. Not only would I get to sample waters at the source of four different springs, but I’d learn how each source affects the water’s taste and character, about the latest research in hydration, the “gastronomy of water” and hydrogeology itself. (The latter, a branch of geology concerned with movement of water underground through rocks or on the surface of the earth.)

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00July 11th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|16 Comments

Near East Original Plain Whole Grain Couscous

Bonnie: My first couscous memory is of Mediterranean cookbook author Paula Wolfert standing in front of a class of hungry cooking-school students, lifting her hands full of the cooked grains high—almost above her head—to aerate them and break up the lumps. She had steamed the couscous in the top part of a couscoussière (a special two-part cooking vessel just for that purpose) with the meats and vegetables simmering in the bottom part. That was more than 25 years ago when I was covering her cooking class for the New Haven Register. I described the then tedious—yet authentic—process in detail, so my readers could reproduce the dish at home. I made [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00July 4th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|7 Comments

Black & Decker Lids Off® Jar Opener
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Black & Decker Lids Off® Jar Opener

Kitchen Counter, Drawer and More, xyz misc

Black & Decker Lids Off® Jar Opener

Bonnie: Opening a jar was always easy with two growing boys in the house. I always did try before calling them. First with the rubber jar openers I’d picked up at many a convention or show where folks gave away imprinted tchotchkes. Next I’d try my niece’s method. I turned the jar upside down, firmly hit its bottom with my hand, or gently hit the top against the counter. That worked … sometimes. I then just called Bryan or Eric to help. “Mom, it’s so easy, I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” they’d say as one of them removed the top with no trouble at all. After my nest [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-09-04T17:57:25-04:00June 27th, 2007|Kitchen Counter, Drawer and More, xyz misc|3 Comments

Saco Dried Buttermilk

Bonnie: Looking back on weekend breakfasts, I recall the smiles on my boys’ faces when they saw the hot pancakes that disappeared faster than I could get them off the griddle. Fresh butter, pure maple syrup or fresh fruit—the only toppings served. Some mornings, when in a whimsical mood, I’d pour three circles of batter—one large, the other two smaller ones touching the large—to make Mickey Mouse; or I’d create three concentric ones, adding raisins to the top circle to make a snowman. Both always produced smiles. For the lightest, fluffiest, most delicious pancakes I start with Saco Buttermilk Blend. I’ve been using it to make pancakes as long as [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00June 20th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|57 Comments

SPA CUISINE™ Lemongrass Chicken from LEAN CUISINE®

Bonnie: I never thought I’d tout a frozen meal, but that was before I tasted Lean Cuisine’s Spa Cuisine Lemongrass Chicken. Stouffer’s (makers of Lean Cuisine) uses the subtle taste of lemongrass—that perennial herb used in Thai and other Asian cooking—to make a flavorful sauce for their chicken, brown rice and medley of veggies that includes broccoli, carrots, baby corn, and red peppers. The entree’s 240 calories certainly aren’t a meal, but you can make it one by serving it with a tossed salad, some fruit and a glass of chilled sauvignon blanc, a crisp white wine that goes well with these flavors. I prefer sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00June 6th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|5 Comments

Cabot Aged Cheddar Cheeses

Bonnie: As Berta tells the story, I bounced (yes, that’s the word she uses) up to her at Cabot’s exhibition booth at the summer fancy food show in Manhattan, said “I love your cheese, have it delivered to the Good Morning America studios by 6 am tomorrow I want to use it on the show,” and bounced off. There was something about me that made her take me seriously. She got the cheese to the studio and it appeared on my GMA segment the next morning. Berta’s been my champion—and friend—ever since. And I’ve been hers and Cabot’s. I love Cabot Cheddar. Berta MacDonald, the face of Cabot, is recognizable [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00May 30th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|26 Comments

Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Arugula

Bonnie: The peppery taste is what draws me to arugula. It’s not crunchy like iceberg or the ribs of romaine; it’s soft like mesclun with a peppery kick. I’ve had trouble finding good quality fresh arugula locally, that is, until Earthbound introduced this organic pre-washed version. I often toss it with a light balsamic and olive oil vinaigrette— sometimes adding artichoke hearts and diced tomatoes—and serve it as is or atop grilled pizza. That’s a recipe I demonstrated at the Hartford Civic Center with my cousin Susan Tandy assisting as my sous chef. A memorable demo, as off stage behind the scenes we had no facilities other than a folding [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00May 23rd, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|7 Comments

Craisins Sweetened Dried Cranberries

Bonnie: A cranberry bog? I couldn’t resist when the folks at Ocean Spray offered the opportunity to actually go into one and help harvest cranberries. What fun, I thought.

After giving a talk on food trends at Expo East, a natural products show in DC, I boarded the commuter jet to Boston on my way to East Sandwich, Cape Cod.

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00May 16th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|10 Comments

Soda Club Sparkling Water Maker

Bonnie: I don’t know when the love affair began. For as long as I can recall, I’ve been passionate about sparkling water, AKA seltzer or club soda.

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:15-04:00May 9th, 2007|Kitchen Counter, Drawer and More, xyz misc|185 Comments

Campbell’s Select Gold Label Golden Butternut Squash Soup

Bonnie: Oddly, many of my tennis girlfriends have birthdays in spring. Although none of us belong to Ridgetop Pool and Tennis Club where we all met and bonded playing singles and doubles, we still get together. Or try to. Not so much for tennis, although we attempt to play a couple of times a summer. In our heyday (pre injury, surgery and aging) we were all pretty decent players, aggressive, competitive and—to the bane of those on the red clay court next to us—laughing while we played. So much fun. That is, other than the couple of times we decided to enter the women’s doubles club championship where four of [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:16-04:00May 2nd, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|58 Comments

Angelina’s Hot Chocolate

Bonnie: For years I’ve been sending friends heading to Paris to Angelina’s for hot chocolate. I’ve only gotten raves back. Back up to 1992. There I was in Paris, not with foodies, but with my 8- and 11-year-old sons. We had won the airfare for the trip. First class. But that’s a whole other story. We were economically squeezing in as much as we could afford, which wasn’t much, as I was a single parent freelance writer just getting by. Paris with young boys is different than with a lover or, for that matter, any adult. We climbed almost every set of stairs in the city, hung out with the [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-25T13:47:09-04:00April 25th, 2007|Bites from the Road, Food & Drinks|91 Comments

Häagen-Dazs Light Mint Chip

Bonnie: Okay, I admit that it’s true. I’m middle-aged. With two sons in their 20s, and the evidence of gravity on my body parts, I can no longer hide that fact. Years ago when I could jog miles a day, play tennis almost daily and easily bike ride twenty-five miles more than once a week, I could luxuriate in a bowlful of super premium ice cream without it ending up on my hips. I’m talking Häagen-Dazs chocolate chocolate chip ice cream. That’s rich-and-worth-every-mouthful ice cream. I don’t eat ice cream often, but when I do, I want to relish each and every bite. Once my activity lessened due to arthritic [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:16-04:00April 18th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|5 Comments

Frieda’s Zululand Queen Baby Pineapple

Bonnie: Whenever I cut into a fresh pineapple, my mind floods with memories of the college summer my friends and I lived in Waikiki. I attended the University, while my roomies worked the line in the Dole pineapple cannery just off Nimitz Highway, returning each day reeking of the fruit. While they packed sliced and diced hala kahiki in its juice, I studied ethnobotany and climatology and—to make pocket money—sewed muumuus. While others carried surfboards aboard the plane to Honolulu that summer, I toted my baby blue Singer sewing machine. Having been to the islands a couple times before, I knew of their fabrics, with vibrant colors you’d never see [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-08-31T16:18:16-04:00April 11th, 2007|Food & Drinks, xyz misc|3 Comments

Oxo Pop-Up Dish Rack
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Oxo Pop-Up Dish Rack

Kitchen Counter, Drawer and More, xyz misc

Oxo Pop-Up Dish Rack

Bonnie: Hell for a baker? An oven that required re-tying the door with a rope each time you opened it. That was my kitchen during the writing of my 365 Great Cookies and Brownies cookbook. I knew I’d have to do something, but kept putting it off as I was planning a kitchen renovation. That planning moved to a higher priority at one of my soup parties—a great way, by the way, to entertain, as everything’s done before guests arrive. Slight aside, for those of you interested in this type party: just set out pots of soup (either on the stove or on hot plates at various stations around the [...]

By Bonnie Tandy Leblang|2017-09-04T18:47:00-04:00April 4th, 2007|Kitchen Counter, Drawer and More, xyz misc|3 Comments