Category Archives: Food
Chocolate makes the world go round
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
Chocolate is one of the most popular things to eat in the world.
Almost anything you make for dessert benefits from chocolate. Pies are the primary focus this week for purely personal reasons.
Pie is the favorite dessert at my house. We don’t like dry desserts, and these recipes are all creamy, moist and delicious.
Make one for get-togethers or just for an at-home treat. Enjoy.
Sun-dried tomatoes brighten wintry days
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
In summer, we take for granted our unlimited access to juicy, delicious, mouth-watering ripe homegrown tomatoes.
But it isn’t summer anymore, and winter tomatoes tend to be tasteless.
If you still crave that rich tomato flavor, have you thought of using sun-dried tomatoes in recipes?
You don’t have to dehydrate them yourself if you don’t want to. They are available in most grocery stores and offer a versatility in dishes that may surprise you.
I hope you’ll try and enjoy these four recipes.
More than one way to cook greens
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
Sometimes I fall into a rut in the kitchen and stick with the tried-and-true methods of cooking certain foods. That’s not a bad thing or a good thing.
But I may be missing out on a new wrinkle when it comes to foods that are so familiar.
All of these recipes have some things in common. They also have some elements that are very different. But they are all good.
You may prefer one over another, but until you step out of the box and try them, you’ll never know how good collard greens can be.
New Year’s dishes bring good fortune
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
All over the world, people believe that serving certain dishes on New
Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day will bring a prosperous New Year.
Greens of almost any kind are chosen to represent folding money, pork is considered a prosperous meat and peas and beans represent coins in many cultures.
In the South, especially the Carolinas, collard greens, black-eyed peas and rice are universally thought to be most important for New Year’s dishes.
This tradition can be traced to several other regions, primarily Africa, France and the Caribbean.
The pork roast and saurkraut tradition is favored in states with strong German and Dutch heritages, and the orange brandy cake is a Greek Island tradition.
They’re all good. And I hope prosperity will come to you immediately after eating at least one of these dishes.
Old-fashioned treats help celebrate holidays
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
Perhaps food isn’t important to some, but at our house, it’s always a topic
of interest.
And food is an integral part of celebration. The smell of evergreen, the crackle of wrapping paper and the scents from a busy, fragrant Christmas kitchen are all part of ritual.
You may want to make special foods a part of your family’s rituals.
Usually, especially if there are children in the home, this is a much-anticipated activity. And including them, when possible, in the preparations will be an experience they never forget.
So gather at the table and cook.
Pecans for special occasions
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
The holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without pecans. They add
something to the entire experience of food prep for special dinners, and I hope we never have to live without them.
These recipes are all aimed at satisfying your sweet tooth. Don’t worry about the calories, the sugar, the fat and the starch. Just think about the flavor and the protein nuts bring to the table.
No matter when you bake these treats, they’ll always make it feel like a celebration.
Steaks make a great
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
When it’s time to tailgate, there aren’t many options better than grilling steak. And there are a few basic rules to apply to all steak grilling projects.
Never put a steak on a cold grill. Get the grill hot before starting. Leave the steak out of the refrigerator for 30 minutes before grilling. Let the steak rest, loosely covered with foil, after cooking. When you take the steak off the grill, put it on a platter that has been heated. Keeping the hot stuff hot is important.
Never leave the grill unattended. That’s about the size of it. Oh, and buy the best quality meat you can find. Cheap meat is never really a bargain. Go team!
Treat kids to lunches that meet all needs
School lunch may seem like a relatively easy concept for parents to master. However, day in and day out, enterprising moms and dads grow anxious over what to put into kids’ lunch boxes or bags.
Parents have foods they want their kids to eat, and then there are foods their grade-schoolers will actually consider. Schools may also place limitations on what kids can bring to school due to allergies or school rules on sweets versus healthy foods. Then there’s the packaging itself. Parents may weigh the benefits of everything from clever accessories to eco-friendly
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Promote healthy weight starting with school lunch
Although there are a variety of theories behind the growing obesity problem plaguing North American adults and children, the most consistent findings point to caloric intake as the culprit. Here’s a simple equation to get to the root of the problem:
Calories eaten > calories spent = weight gain.
According to National Health Examination Surveys, adult obesity trends in the United States between 1976 and 2014 indicate the percentage of the adult population classified as obese has roughly doubled to more than 38 percent in the last three decades. Children may be learning eating habits from their parents,
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Time to serve the awesome ears
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
There’s nothing in the world that can hold a candle to fresh corn, straight from the garden to the table.
Whether you prefer yellow corn, white corn or bicolor doesn’t matter.
What is important is how much it has filled out, if it has received enough rain, how hot it has been and how long you cook it.
For plain corn on the cob, or roast’n ears, the kernels should not be large and 
tough. They should look like pearls, and if a kernel is pricked, juice should come out. Otherwise, pass it by.
Also, never boil fresh corn for more than 20 minutes. Overcooking will make any cob of corn tough and chewy.
Keeping all that in mind, enjoy it. Corn doesn’t hang around forever.
