Sub Op

For those of you who like to cook and write out there, I spotted this sub op in the Paying Markets forum over at AbsoluteWrite.com:

"Are you a master chef with cooking Ramen Noodles? Are you able to make cuisines out of such a basic food staple?

Great!

A new food blog is looking for someone who can make fabulous recipes with Ramen Noodles. This would require you to take 2-3 pics of the food, write the recipe and write a blurb/description about it. The most IMPORTANT part is to have an appealing photo of the food. No one will eat it if it doesn't look appetizing. The pay is $15 via Paypal with a byline.

Send writing samples and photos of your creations for consideration. Content must be original and this is for exclusive web rights. A food photo sample is REQUIRED. Snap a quick pic of your lunch with your cell phone of any meal as a sample. Send samples to BrunchOnABudget [at] gmail [dot] com for consideration."

Uh-oh

I am taking off today to spend time with my mama, who is visiting for a few days, but I thought I'd share this:

The Guardian reports that an autobio/cookbook manuscript, written by Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders and (allegedly) discovered only recently in KFC's corporate vaults, will be published online and given away via Facebook.

I avoid fried foods and fast foods these days, but I do think it's nice that the company is giving away the book instead of selling it; free books always get a gold star from me. Certainly Colonel Sanders was a self-made man, and can be considered one of the earliest, iconic founders of American fast food, so it might even be an interesting read from those perspectives (I won't know; I'm not on Facebook.)

Thing is, the man's been dead for thirty-two years, and evidently he didn't choose to publish this work while he was alive (or it would be in print, yes?) Based on what I've read quoting his opinion of KFC's food (scroll down to the bottom of this page for an angry tirade about the gravy) I wonder if he really would have wanted his opus to be used by the KFC corporation for any reason.

Yet another reason to destroy before you die anything you don't want published posthumously -- it might end up being part of a Facebook fast food marketing campaign.

Heart Warming

Cooking is one of my self-prescribed therapies, and I've already confessed to being something of an emotional baker. So it shouldn't have surprised me when my daughter picked up this cookbook for me (the kid has the gift of spooky timing.)

Author/baker Erin Bolger combines a very funny narrative of her emotional life with simple recipes that literally define making your own happiness. There are so many luscious-looking treats in this one that I may spend the whole winter trying them out on my family. I also love the hilarious titles she bestows on her many baked delights: So Far So Good Bar, Who Needs a Man on Valentine's Day Biscotti, My Eggs Are Not Getting Any Younger Crème Brûlée and I'm So Done With You and The Horse You Rode In On Haystack Cookies. I don't know when I've laughed out loud so much just reading the names of recipes.

The Happy Baker was the perfect book to land in my hands at this moment; I'm definitely going to buy some extra copies to hand out as gifts this holiday to stressed-out friends. I'm also going to send a copy to whoever wins the BookWish for my Sanctuary Reads giveaway as a little something extra to warm up your kitchen and your heart.

Holiday Treat Ideas

If you want to get some healthier treats into your children's Easter baskets this year, check out Caeli Esser's article Easter Bunnies do not eat Snickers.

An Easter egg hunt is always fun, even when the kids are supposedly too old for them (mine aren't.) Some tips: don't use real eggs unless you're hiding them outdoors, or count the eggs before you hide them indoors; have extra empty baskets to hand out to your hunters in case someone falls on their basket or a handle breaks; if you have kids who race around and snatch eggs from other kids, fine them 2 eggs or make them sit out for two minutes (this also trains them to be good sports), and have a special secret prize for the youngest kid and/or whoever finds the fewest eggs (I always gave the slowest hunter the much-coveted golden egg.)

A lot of moms like to make Jell-O Jigglers as treats for the kids, but if you use the egg molds Jell-O sells they can be too big and slippery for little hands to hold. I used to make half-eggs by pouring the gelatin into a deviled egg dish like this one (lightly spray first with PAM or cooking oil spray) and served them on a bed of coconut tinted green with food coloring.

Absolutely the cutest and easiest decorated Easter cupcakes to make (this would be great to have the kids decorate, too): Chick and Egg cupcakes.

For Easter dessert this year I'm going to try a spin on an old favorite of my childhood: coconut cake. Cooking Light's recipe for Double Coconut Cake is lighter than my grandmother's egg- and butter-heavy recipe, so I'm going to give that a try. I like the commenter who mentioned adding crushed pineapple as filling to give it more of a tropical flavor; I might do a variation on that with fresh peaches.

If you're not a fan of coconut, Cooking Light also has a recipe for what sounds like a really scrumptious Chocolate Cake Roll. For those of you who are already celebrating Passover, check out this reipe for Pistachio Pavlovas with Lemon Curd and Berries.