Crystal Ball guests will dine at elegant food stations

When the St. Charles Mercy Hospital Foundation presents Crystal Ball 2008, "Starry Starry Night, A Celestial Celebration" at 6:30 p.m. March 29 at Gladieux Meadows, the evening will include entertainment, grazing stations, and live and silent auctions.

During the program and live auction, each table will have a plate of vegetable pates.

For dinner, guests can circulate among grazing stations, beginning with an elegant Edible Martini featuring two salads: arugula with sweet grape tomatoes, and toasted pine nuts, and field greens with radicchio and romaine, accented with candied pecans and dried cranberries. To garnish salads, there will be wheels of Maytag blue cheese with grapes, pears, and apples, and logs of feta cheese with dried apricots, pitted dates, and walnut halves.

Caramel Biscuit Bikes are a delicious single-serving treat.

The carving station will feature herb-encrusted beef tenderloin and a vegetable gateau with layers of crepes with julienne carrots, broccoli buds, and sliced mushrooms with cheese mousse filling served with a citrus bearnaise sauce.

The Potato Spud Delight grazing station features oven-roasted, cut, and seasoned Peruvian purple potatoes, Yukon Gold Potato and Red Bliss Mix, and sweet potatoes. Toppers include diced bacon and scallions, a cinnamon, nut and sugar mix, shredded Swiss or Cheddar cheeses, and diced tomatoes.

The Asian Fusion station will feature assorted Chinese noodles, lettuce wraps, and chafing dishes with four entrees. The noodles will be served with chicken or vegetarian broth with accompaniments of julienne chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and seasoned shrimp, as desired. Hot from chafing dishes will be chicken skewers, roasted salmon with ginger, and tofu stir-fry with black mung beans.

For a sweet note, the dessert and coffee station will have choices of Peach Melba, Cherries Jubilee, and Hot Chocolate Fudge served over vanilla ice cream. Chocolate bread pudding made with bread and croissants will also be served.

Tickets for the black-tie-optional event are $175 per person and will be sold until March 28; call St. Charles Mercy Hospital Foundation at 419-696-7245. Proceeds benefit programs and services at St. Charles Mercy Hospital, according to Carol Greenberg, co-chairman of the event, with Carlos Carvalho. Lora Thaxton is the chairman of the event.

Northwest Ohio is rich with specialty or "signature" products developed locally. The Center for Innovative Technology and the Northwest Ohio Restaurant Association invite entrepreneurs with ideas on new products or chefs with signature sauces to promote their products through the Celebrate Toledo's Specialty Foods Product Development Competition.

The combined efforts of the two organizations will guide the developer/winner through the appropriate procedures required to take a food product concept and make it a reality. The selected application in the competition will receive product and process development assistance, nutritional analysis, shelf stability testing, information relating to label regulations, and business planning assistance.

"The initial application is focused on your concept and product idea," says Rebecca Singer of CIFT.

Product entries will be evaluated based on viability of product, commercialization vision, potential for success, and the commitment of submitter. Then semifinalists will be selected and asked to present more detailed business strategies in personal interviews.

To learn more about the contest, rules, and for an application, visit www.cift.eisc.org or call Ms. Singer at 419-535-6000. The deadline to register the product idea is April 18.

IHOP restaurants nationwide have joined with Twentieth Century Fox and the film Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! to serve up Seuss-inspired dishes through April 20.

Four new Horton-themed menu items are Beezlenut Splash lemon-lime soda, Who-Cakes stack of shortcake pancakes, Mayor's Breakfast, and Jo-jo's Kid's Breakfast.

The Mayor's Breakfast includes the legendary green eggs & ham - eggs scrambled with spinach, ham strips, hash browns, and a choice of Who-Cakes or original buttermilk pancakes. For smaller appetites, Jo-jo's Kid's Breakfast offers a smaller stack of Who-Cakes, one scrambled green egg and a ham strip.

In five minutes, make a single-serving of cinnamon-scented caramel biscuit bites.

1 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground

cinnamon

1 Pillsbury Microwave

Buttermilk Biscuit (from

16-ounce bag)

2 tablespoons caramel apple dip

2 teaspoons milk

1 teaspoon chopped

pecans, if desired

In serving bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Microwave biscuit as directed on bag. Cut into 8 wedges; toss in sugar mixture.

In small microwavable bowl, mix caramel apple dip and milk. Microwave uncovered on High 15 to 30 seconds or until melted and hot.

Stir; drizzle over biscuit pieces. Sprinkle with pecans.

Yield: 1 serving

Kathie Smith is The Blade's food editor.