Sweethearts candies come with Menu of Love

1/17/2009

Sweethearts, the heart-shaped brightly colored confection, have been a Valentine tradition for more than a century. More than 8 billion Sweethearts are produced, about 100,000 pounds of the candy.

Every year the New England Confectionery Co. (NECCO) introduces 10 new Sweethearts phrases that relate to current American trends and culture. This year s Menu of Love sayings embrace the role that romantic or family dinners play in celebrating love.

The 10 food-inspired phrases include Recipe 4 Love, Table 4 Two, Stir My Heart, My Treat, Top Chef, Sugar Pie, Sweet Love, Honey Bun, Spice It Up, and Yum Yum.

Approximately two words with four letters can be stamped on the small hearts, and two words with five letters each can be used on the larger hearts. Each small heart has 3 calories and the larger heart offers 6 calories. They are fat-free and sodium-free.

The National World War II Museum in New Orleans is seeking to capture culinary history by encouraging members of the Greatest Generation to share memories of food in a program called Kitchen Memories.

The museum is seeking to gather a nation s individual and collective memories of shopping, rationing, growing, cooking, serving, and eating during the war from those who experienced these things firsthand.

They are also encouraging people who did not experience the home front to gather stories from someone who did. Talk to your mother, grandmother, a relative or friend in your community who has food stories to share.

The goal of the program is to produce stories, recipes, and memories. For guidelines on recording your Kitchen Memories or those of a loved one, visit nationalww2museum.org/kitchenmemories.

Two Toledoans are among the winners of the Dei Fratelli Ripened Recipe Contest. Charyl Le Duc-Noller of Toledo won for Sausage and Crushed Red Pepper with Fettuccine. Casey Pogran of Toledo won for the recipe for Secret Salsa. The top 10 winners were chosen by Dei Fratelli and will be awarded free products sent monthly for a year.

The Culinary Vegetable Institute has a series of classes to teach recipes and techniques of healthy eating. The easy-to-prepare meals that compose the institute s concept of Green Cuisine are taught in three-hour class sessions (10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) three times each month for $245 per person for each series. The classes are presented by executive chef Johannes Klapdohr.

Feb. 7, 21, and 28 features healthy recipes including creative salads with lean proteins, healthy fats, and raw-vegetable preparations.

March 7, 14, and 21 features creative meals that focus on the seasons and your budget.

April 4, 11, and 18 includes innovative ways to cook sauces and braised meals at home.

For reservations and information call Mary Jones at 419-499-7500. The Culinary Vegetable Institute is located at 12304 State Rt. 13 at Milan, Ohio.

From entrees to desserts, the U.S. presidential inauguration is inspiring the food scene.

• Inaugural dining customs and presidential palates have varied through history, according to the Ohio Beef Council. Presidents Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush, both Texans, enjoyed beef tenderloin during their inaugural activities. John F. Kennedy s guests were served prime Texas ribs of beef au jus, along with other meats and seafood. Abraham Lincoln lunched on corned beef and cabbage when he took office in 1861. One of Bill Clinton s inaugural entrees was boeuf a la mode, an elegant French take on what Americans generally think of as pot roast.

• Zingerman s Creamery is launching Baracky Road gelato and is shipping nationwide at zingermans.com. Based on traditional Rocky Road, the gelato is made Sicilian-style with Michigan milk and cream, butter-roasted Virginia peanuts, chocolate chips (made at the Ann Arbor Creamery from Callebaut and Valrhona chocolates), dulce de leche from Argentina, and handmade marshmallows from Zingerman s Bakehouse.

Gelato-maker Josh Miner notes the paradox in celebrating the new administration with something that recalls rocky road. The name was not intentional, notes Mr. Miner, who wanted to find a way to mark the occasion. But given the shape of the country, it s a pretty fair description of what s facing his administration, he says.