Dona's Kitchen Kapers- Col. 156 Sept. 1, 2004

Dona's Kitchen Kapers is a free E-zine circulated to the cooking/food community. It can also be found at www.smalladdictions.com/Skateboard. Thank you all for your patience while I wrote TEAPOTS: MAKERS AND COLLECTORS. It's going off to the publisher this week for a spring '05 publication date. Whew!

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DONA'S KITCHEN KAPERS©

By Dona Z. Meilach

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1. CONVERSATION SPARKERS

FATS- UNCONFUSING THE CONFUSED

2. NEW PRODUCTS

GRAPEFRUITER from CHEF'N

3. RECIPES IN SEASON

Bananas

4. HEALTH BULLETIN- About Self Breast Exams

5. OLLA PODRIDA

Frozen Bananas

6. Books by Dona Z Meilach

7. Subscribe, unsubscribe

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1. CONVERSATION SPARKERS

FATS UNCONFUSING THE CONFUSED

I can't keep the four different kinds of dietary fats straight and remember which are good and which are no-good for me. I know I'm not alone. I've developed this mnemonic device (to help remember). With it, I can easily make more intelligent choices when I read food labels.

4 kinds of fat; saturated, trans fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Those mouthful words are making life difficult. Here's a way to keep them orderly:

S & T = Saturated and trans fats

Animal products, margarine, baked goods, fast food.

What to they all have in common? The letter A

Any fats with the letter A are Anti- NO good for you because they Age your body. (letter A in the word) Therefore: S T A conjures the word "stay" and means stay away from

M & P = Mono and Poly these are OK (think of the letter O

Oils: olive oil, canola oil, ocean (for fish) and nuts (no o there, but nuts have oils)

There you have it…Avoid A foods because they are Anti good health. O foods are Okay for good health. Eat under 20 grams per day of fats.

Do you have a better system? Let me know.

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2. NEW PRODUCTS

GRAPEFRUITER from CHEF'N

I must have 3-4 types of grapefruit cutters, sectioners, none of which are terribly efficient. Therefore, when I saw the new Chef'n Grapefruiter, I couldn't wait to buy a grapefruit or an orange and try it. Darned if it didn't work better than anything I'd ever used. It's a formidable looking gadget…something like a pair of pliers but with a folded sharp edged metal quarter-moon shape at the jaws. You insert this cutter blade around a citrus section, squeeze the handle and voila! The segment is out of the fruit, ready to drop into a salad or onto a dish.

The unit is plastic and stainless steel with a hand-friendly rubber panel on the squeeze side. Pretty neat. A plastic cutter protective shield is included. See an image of it and a video at www.chefn.com with links to stores that carry the Chef'n Product line. Sells for $19.95. The site will give you stores in your location that sell it. Buy one for yourself and put another away for a Christmas gift.

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3. RECIPES IN SEASON

These recipes reflect the food values inherent to the Weight Watchers program but they work for anyone on any diet or no diet. Visit WeightWatchers.com.
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Bananas Foster
Makes 4 servings

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoon unsalted light butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large ripe bananas, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 pint low-fat vanilla ice cream

1. Combine sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a large nonstick skillet over
medium-low heat. Cook, stirring often, until the butter melts and the sugar
dissolves. Add the banana slices and cook, tossing to coat, until the bananas
begin to soften, 2-4 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and, off the
heat, pour in the rum. Return the skillet to the heat and ignite the rum with
a long wooden match (or, if you have a gas stove, tilt the skillet toward the
flame to ignite); cook, shaking the pan, until the flame goes out, about 30
seconds. Cook 1 minute longer to thicken the sauce slightly; remove from
the heat.

2. Place a 1/2-cup scoop of the ice cream into each of 4 wineglasses or
serving dishes. Top each with 1/2 cup of the warm banana mixture. Serve
at once.

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Banana-Coconut-Cream Meringue Pizza
Makes 12 servings

4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
1 (3.4-ounce) package sugar-free instant vanilla pudding
1 cup low-fat (1%) milk
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 1/2 cups light nondairy whipped topping
3 tablespoons apricot jam
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
5 medium bananas, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 tablespoons toasted flaked sweetened coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 200 F. Line a 12-inch round pizza pan with foil. Or,
line a large baking sheet with foil and use a toothpick to lightly trace a 12-
inch circle onto the foil.

2. With an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the egg whites and cream of
tartar in a large bowl just until frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar, 2
tablespoons at a time, until the sugar completely dissolves and the whites
stand in stiff, glossy peaks, about 8 minutes. Spread the mixture onto the
pan, making a 12-inch round with a 1-inch high border around the outer rim.
Bake until crisp to the touch, about 3 hours. Turn the oven off and leave the
meringue in the oven until it is crisp and dry to the touch, about 30 minutes
longer. Let meringue cool on the pan or a rack for 30 minutes. Carefully
loosen and peel of the foil. Gently place the meringue on a serving plate.

3. Meanwhile, to prepare the custard, whisk together the pudding, milk, and
coconut extract in a medium bowl until thickened, about 2 minutes. Fold in
the whipped topping until just blended. Refrigerate, covered, until chilled, at
least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

4. Heat the jam in a small saucepan over low heat until melted; remove from
the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

5. To assemble, brush the melted chocolate on the meringue, spreading it to
the edge. Spoon the custard over the chocolate. Arrange the banana slices
over the custard; brush with the apricot jam mixture, then sprinkle with the
coconut.

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Peanut Butter-Banana Shake
Makes 4 servings

1 medium banana, cut into chunks
1 cup ice cubes
2 cups fat-free chocolate milk
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1. Freeze the banana chunks in a freezer container or zip-close freezer bag
until firm, at least 2 hours.

2. Crush the ice cubes in a blender (or place them in a zip-close freezer bag,
crush them with back of heavy skillet, and place in the blender). Add the
banana chunks, chocolate milk, and peanut butter; puree until smooth.

All recipe courtesy, Weight Watchers Greatest Hits: 250 Classic Recipes from the
Sixties to Today. (C) 2003 Weight Watchers International, Inc.

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4. HEALTH BULLETIN- NEW METHODS FOR BREAST SELF EXAMS

For years women have been told to check their breasts for lumps by using a circular motion. But more and more doctors are now recommending a different technique known as the vertical strips method. “It provides more thorough coverage of the breast, including under the arm,” says Debbie Saslow, Ph.D., director of breast and gynecologic cancers at the American Cancer Society, which now recommends this method for women who do breast self exams. And according to Harvard researchers, the technique has a better track record of detecting smaller lumps than the circular exam.

Imagine a grid drawn horizontally from your armpit to your breastbone, and vertically from your collarbone to just under your breast.

Using the pads—not the tips—of your three middle fingers, move in tiny circles and apply varying degrees of pressure, starting under the armpit. Move your fingers down to the next square and repeat. Continue these vertical strips until you’ve covered the entire grid.

A thorough exam of both breasts should take at least 10 minutes. At your next checkup, ask your doctor to review the vertical strips technique with you.

OLLA PODRIDA

This is a Spanish term for a pot of stew. Literally, olla is a round earthenware pot and podrida is a dish composed of different meats and vegetables.

FREEZE BANANAS IN THEIR PEELS

When your bananas get brown you probably mash them and put them in a container in the freezer. Here's a tip that will make baking easier. When you put them in the freezer. DO NOT peel them No need to wrap, bag, or anything else. When you want to use banana in baking or cooking, take it out of the freezer and let it defrost on the counter for about 30 minutes. Cut the stem end off the banana with a sharp knife, then squeeze the banana into your mixing bowl as if it were a tube of toothpaste. The banana will come out of the peel perfectly. Easy and more space saving.

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6. BOOKS by Dona Z. Meilach for Yourself - For Gifts

Dona's Kitchen Kapers is an associate of Amazon Books. Using the link provided to one book, will take you to others when you request it by title or author. You will be returned to this page after checking their listings (I hope). There's a 20% to 30% saving per book. For the following books or those mentioned in the book reviews. Books bought thru AMAZON earn a small referral fee.all such fees will be donated to the American Cancer Association. : Log in with the URL below for all your AMAZON book purchases.

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CONTEMPORARY STONE SCULPTURE 2^nd Edition.. 224 page, over 350 photos. $24.95

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