“The trend in cabinet design is not just exterior aesthetics, but personalized function, including products with features that are designed around use or task,” says Kalpesh Nanji, Manager of Product Development, Armstrong Cabinets. “Our focus with ChefCenter™ was to create an inspiring space where cooking becomes fun and efficient. We are honored to be recognized by a leading authority for renovation and design enthusiasts.”

According to HOME Senior Editor Carolyn Weber, versatility and scalability are key elements to the ChefCenter™ program, which can be customized in either the “Family Chef” or “Epicure” configuration. “The convenience of having everything you need within arm’s reach is a winning combination,” she said.

Choices abound with different sizes of pullout fillers that contain shelves or perforated organizers to wall cabinets with pull out shelves. “This robust solution provides enough choice for customization but is designed to be extremely easy to specify, design and order” says Nanji. A lifestyle solution that makes daily tasks easier and more enjoyable, ChefCenter™ is an integral part of any cooking zone and works well other kitchen zones. The center, available only from Armstrong, features either a 30” or 36” drawer base with organizer and pull-out organizers. Plus, since it is modular and scalable, it is easy to include innovative, value-adding features to enhance standard kitchen plans.

“Combining ChefCenter™ with our other zoned organization products for preparation or food storage, for example, allows the entire kitchen space to be truly functional,” says Nanji.

For more information and design tips, visit www.armstrong.com/cabinets or call 1-800-527-5903.

Well what do you know, there’s a Penzey’s within a couple miles of where I work.  I’m so in trouble!  Walking in for the first time was like sensory over load.  There were six different paprikas, several curries from around the world, and so many custom blends that the combinations were endless.  Each spice is accompanied by jar of the product in bulk.  It was a wonderful experience to walk through the store burying my nose in each jar to get the essence of the ingredient.  My favorite new finds were the Sate Seasoning, and Indonesian curry; and Smoked Spanish Paprika.  Awesome stuff!!!  I’m hooked on Penzeys.

For quick biscuits that taste close to homemade, I gotta give two spatulas up for Grands! Southern Style Biscuits.  These frozen biscuits go from hockey pucks to fluffy rich biscuits in 17 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  The resealable bag means that you can prepare two or three biscuits now and have more for later.

I’m a huge biscuits and gravy fan.  Growing up in Northwest Iowa, it wasn’t a staple breakfast.  Now it is my go to comfort food, so I have to admit, that my Grands! Biscuits were put to good use under a bucket of sausage gravy.  All is right with the world.

After a long Easter binge of milk chocolate rabbits, the family that was looking for something different, delicious, and a little more healthy. Now I said a little more healthy, so don’t confuse this with text book diet food. We’ve got some green stuff there and turkey instead of red meat for a change.

The ground turkey was seasoned with Sate seasoning and Smoked Spanish paprika from Penzey’s Spices. Summer savory, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper were added. Summer savory is one of my favorite herbs. It is very aromatic and intoxicating. Recently, Mexican oregano made its way to my pantry. What a distant, way distant cousin to the oregano we use in Italian cooking. The Mexican varietal is stronger, grassy, and sharp. If you have a recipe that calls for Mexican oregano, don’t substitute for the Italian version.

Why are those milk chocolate rabbits hollow anyway?

My four year old son has been seeing the many TV infomercials running on the cartoon channels for pancake puffs. “Dad we need to get some of those!” I hear it every time. Doing some quick research (thanks to Google) I learned that they are a traditional Danish snack. Having a Danish Great Grandmother, I was surprised to have never heard of them.

Aebleskivers, or pancake puffs to my son, are a cross between a donut hole and a pancake. The round balls are as fun to make as they are to eat. Traditionally, they be eaten cold as a snack with jam and/or confectioner’s sugar. They can be stuffed with jam, creme filling, pudding, etc.

The key is the aebleskiver pan. It looks like you’d use it for egg poaching and can be found in antique stores. Our cast iron Danish pan was a $10 eBay find. With a little clean up and seasoning, it was ready for action. Here’s a video showing how aebleskivers are made.

Great fun and great food!!!

March 20 is the spring equinox.  It is one of two days each year where we have equal day and equal night. A strange phenomenon that only occurs on the equinox is that you can balance an egg on end.  Now it is not as easy as it seems, but does work.  It took me a couple dozen attempts to get my egg to stand up.  Then the second was a bit easier.  My theory was that the position of the yolk in the cold egg took some time to settle into a balanced position.  It’s a theory.

Happy spring.

Meatballs
1 pound ground lamb
1 T Panko bread crumbs
1 t cumin
1 t Hungarian paprika (Spicier than the Spanish or California variety)
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 t cumin
1 t Hungarian Paprika
salt and pepper to taste

The dish was served on garlic toast with a poached egg.

BlueStar™, manufacturer of high-performance gas ranges and cooktops for the residential market, introduces the new built-in Gas Wall Oven available in 24”, 30” and 36” sizes and 190 different colors to its line-up of professional cooking equipment for the home.

The 24” features a standard left to right swing door, while the 30” and 36” ovens feature French doors. All sizes feature convection ovens and fully retractable racks. Customers can order the ovens in 190 different colors, for no extra charge. Custom colors also are available. Retail prices range from approximately $2,500 for the 24” single door, gas wall oven to $6,700 for the 36” French double-door model. BlueStar’s new gas wall ovens are truly unique to the industry. Each oven features a 30,000 BTU burner and a 15,000 BTU infrared broiler, providing the power BlueStar is known for. The 30” and 36” ovens also have the largest oven capacities in their class.

“The aesthetics of the ovens have been getting a lot of attention, between the French doors of the 30” and 36” ovens, and the 190 colors,” says Keith Wolf, BlueStar’s Vice President of Marketing. “The ovens demonstrate that as we continue to innovate, we’re staying true to BlueStar’s heritage as a commercial-style gas range.”

For more information, visit www.bluestarcooking.com.