Carma Spence, Chief Kitchen Creativity Officer

Chinese New Year Cooking Ideas

February 6, 2008Special Occasionschicken, Chinese Food, dumplings, Feng Shui

Julia and Alpha’s CNY Yee Sang Prosperity Salad
Photo by Alpha via Flickr [CC BY-SA 2.0]

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Tomorrow The Year of the Rat begins, so I thought it would be a nice touch to talk a little about one of my favorite cuisines — Chinese!

There are few festivities that are felt around the world on quite the grand scale as that the Chinese New Year. In fact, I really feel for all those people in China who might not make it home for the holiday because of the dreadful weather.

This is an event that affects people all around the globe and the celebrations are quite exotic and a lot of fun for everyone involved. (Did you know that now is the time to put into place new feng shui remedies? If not, you might check out my dear friend Anna Maria Prezio at fengshuiharmony.net.)

One thing that many outsiders may not realize is that several of the aspects of the Chinese New Year celebration have a very specific purpose and meaning — including the food! Whether you are Chinese are not, I know very few people in the world that couldn’t use a small degree of good fortune to make things in their worlds run a little more smoothly.
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Super Bowl Party Foods

January 30, 2008Special Occasionsdips, lunch meat, party foods, super bowl

Photo via pixabay.com [CC0 Public Domain]

Do you follow football? Then I don’t need to remind you that Super Bowl sunday is coming up this weekend. Are you having a party to watch the game? Have you planned out your menu? No worries. I’m here to help out.

To be sure that you have an awesome Super Bowl feast use some of the following Super Bowl food ideas:

Think Dips

Use lots of dipping options. Chips and dip, fruit and fruit dip, vegetables and veggie dip, hot wings and blue cheese dip. The more dips the better!
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Healthy Snacks That Won’t Wreck A Diet

January 23, 2008Healthy LivingHealthy Cooking

And now for my last post on foods choices that help you stay on track for your weight loss resolution — Snacking, the Bane of Many Diets. Snacking might be the No. 1 enemy of a New Year’s resolution to eat better, lose weight and […]

Dessert Ideas That Won’t Blow New Year’s Resolutions

January 16, 2008Healthy LivingDessert

Photo By Renee Comet
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Today, I continue my tips for keeping your New Year’s resolution to loose weight. Now, anybody who knows me knows I love dessert. In fact, its sort of my specialty in the kitchen. And, alas, one of the most difficult obstacles many face in loosing weight involves giving up sweets. Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have to. There are some excellent desserts that can be enjoyed without destroying a diet.

Giving up desserts entirely is not possible for some people (myself included). If you’ve got to have your sweets once in a while, there are smarter choices you can make. It is possible to satisfy a craving without destroying a diet. Moderation and portion control are the key. Here are some excellent choices to satisfy your sweet tooth without negatively impacting your diet:
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Foods That Work With Weight Loss Resolutions

January 9, 2008Healthy LivingExperimentation, Fruit, Healthy Cooking, legumes, meat, vegetables, weight loss, whole grains

By mimiliz2 via morguefile.com

When the clock struck midnight to herald the arrival of 2008, thousands of people all over the world made the decision to lose weight and eat healthier in the new year. Are you one of them? I, for one, renewed my 10-year resolution to lose weight. In fact, I started working out each morning, alternating upper and lower body workouts.

Alas, many of us will stray from their resolutions almost as quickly as they made them. Can you believe I forgot to do my workout this morning? I was so focused on coming to my computer to write this blog entry! Now, how’s that for an excuse?

Anyway, with temptations all around us, and fast food joints often making eating unhealthy seem like the easier choice, the odds just aren’t in our favor.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.
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Healthy Cooking With Ginger

December 26, 2007Healthy Living, Well Stocked Pantryginger, Healthy Cooking

P.R. via freeimages.com

I love ginger, both fresh and dried. It add a robust, but sometimes subtle flavor to a wide variety of recipes, from cookies to sauces. While ginger delivers a satisfying spice to cooking, it is also often used in traditional means of medicine.

When purchasing young ginger at the local grocery store, you will encounter a fragrant, fleshy, juicy, pungent root that supplies a mild taste packed with spice. Mature ginger possesses a great deal of fiber and is dry, which creates a spicier taste than younger samples. Today, an increasing amount of cooks are using ginger to enhance the nutritional value of their dishes.
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Easy Christmas Cooking that is Sure to Please

December 19, 2007Special OccasionsChristmas, food planning, holiday cooking

hotblack via morguefile.com

Christmas is a hectic time of year. (Now there’s an understatement!) Many families find that they barely have time to breathe much less cook dishes to bring for this or that function. In fact, a Christmas tradition that is developing for many is going out for Chinese! Grocery stores have gotten on the “help you have a happy holiday” bandwagon and offer “cheat” dishes that can be purchased and prepared for the occasions with very few people becoming the wiser. Though Christmas may be about being with friends and family it is not about broadcasting a possible lack of talent in the kitchen, time on hand, or a shortage of attention span that is required in order to prepare a stellar dish for your Christmas needs.

Of course, you could begin preparing and freezing large casserole favorites as early as August for the Christmas season. In this instance you could freeze all your family favorites and have great dishes not only for family functions that require a pitch-in dish, but also for those nights when you are far too busy to be bothered with something as demanding on your limited time as actually preparing a home cooked meal. If you prepare casseroles and similar dishes that work well with a holiday theme throughout the year be sure to double your efforts next time and freeze half for busier months such as November and December.
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Author Archives: Carma Spence