Pirozhky can have different fillings. They are usually baked or fried.

Method:Combine the flour, salt, butter and sour cream in a deep bowl. With your fingers, rub the flour and butter together. Wrap the ball of dough in wax paper, and chill for about 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, shape the pastry into a rough rectangle 1 inch thick and roll it into a strip . Turn the pastry around and again roll it out lengthwise. Fold into thirds and roll out the packet as before. Repeat this entire process twice more, ending with the folded packet. Wrap it is wax paper and refrigerate for an additional hour. Filling: over high heat, melt the butter. Add onions and, stirring occasionally, cook over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are soft and transparent but not brown. Stir in the beef and, mashing the meat with a fork to break up any lumps, cook briskly until no traces of pink remain. Grind the meat-and-onion mixture. Combine the meat in a large bowl with eggs, dill, salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and taste for seasoning. Preheat the oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. With saucer cut out as many circles as you can. Gather the scraps into a ball and roll out again, cutting additional circles. Drop 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each round and flatten the filling slightly. Fold one long side of the dough up over the filling, almost covering it. Fold in the two ends of the dough about ? inch, and lastly, fold over the remaining long side of the dough. Place the Pirozhky side by side, with the seam sides down on a buttered baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes ,take them out to grease the surface with beaten egg and put back for couple of minutes until they are golden brown. Serve with clear chicken or beef soup, on the zakuska table or presented alone as a first course.

Ingredients:2 1/2 c flour.1 c sour cream.1 tb butter.1 ea egg for brushing.salt.FILLING.4 tb butter.2 ea chopped onions.300 g grind beef.3 ea chopped hard boiled eggs.salt.

“Pirozhky”

Cuisinart Not to be outclassed by Kitchenaid, Cuisinart is additionally just one in the heavyweights inside the stand mixer arena. This manufacturer has added a variety of attachments to use with their mixers that deliver different capabilities for easier cooking. it is likely the best deal you might get for your personal capital as it is made available in a discounted selling price. Thus you’ll have toe make sure that you have enough speed previous to you start operating with it. regardless of whether you might be creating a fragile pie meringue or mixing dough for dozens of cookies the kitchen assist stand mixers will do it with ease. It’s a sturdy stand for hands-free mixing, and it’s seven speeds, making it effortless for almost any dwelling chef to seek out that great speed to mix their substances jointly.

Finding just one of these stand mixers on line is probably your ideal wager if you are looking to get a great price reduction. Motors – Handheld sport smaller sized motors than Stand styles, the much larger motor on mixers grant it more power than hand held ones. Most of the models occur that has a stainless steel bowl and 10 speed manage configurations. The mixer is sturdy adequate to manage rough work opportunities with out rattling and shaking in every single place. Operation and Performance – Stand on your own mixers undoubtedly have an advantage over handheld mixers on this just one fingers down. A strong mixer is just one with mostly metal areas and just hardly any plastic areas.

This tends to provide you with a good idea of what dimensions are going to be ideal for your requirements. when you really are a specialist cook or baker or just one that has a robust enthusiasm for the kitchen, you will need a mixer with much better effectiveness plus more convenience, to cut it limited, you will need a stand mixer. it options 325 watts of mixing power, which can be more than adequate to whip cream and knead dough with out any problem by any means. Kitchenaid is amongst the ideal, but its claim to your major spot is to some degree contested. it is significant adequate to arrange dough for four loaves of bread, nine dozen cookies or 7 kilos of mashed potatoes. Viking has two essential models the VSM five hundred along with the VSM 700.

when you ever before tried to knead dough or whip up a batch of cookies along with your electrical hand mixer, you understand how tricky it would be to attempt to power by way of the thick dough. You do even so must be certain you decide on a very good just one, that is certainly what this guideline is going that can assist you do standmixerss.com Products Development: The KitchenAid Skilled 600 is produced completely using the very best metal areas making certain it truly is durability and reliability . web site standmixerss.com is very cool. it even contains a timer that shuts down the device instantly once the mixing or kneading it completed to make sure you don’t overdo the work. The KitchenAid Artsian Stand Mixer is amongst the hottest in the significant counter major mixers. The twelve speed configurations may make absolutely sure you use the ideal speed for almost any recipe you might be working on. Below are a few in the advantages and drawbacks of the Kitchen area Aid Artisan stand mixers which will assist you chooser the appropriate machine for your personal kitchen. Getting the ideal colour is vital while you may have to place the mixer on your own kitchen counter, as a result of its bodyweight you can not transfer it approximately.

Spending budget Stand Mixers Everything you Want to find out

Documenting and analyzing the history of Filipino food and the way we eat are a doctoral dissertation waiting to be written. while there are many Filipino cookbooks on the market, the earliest printed cookbook dates back to the last century, a researcher must go through the  archives in Spain and Mexico to find older manuscript cookbooks or  compilations of recipes to trace the foreign influences in our food.

Three decades ago, I photocopied a handwritten recipe book in the Agustinian Archives in Valladolid, Spain, but I have not found the time to write about it. although the recipe book is unsigned and undated, the late historian Isacio R. Rodriguez says this was probably used in the Philippines around the 17th, or perhaps the late 16th, century. I remember seeing a recipe for longanisa in it and wondering how different this was from those we buy from groceries today. while longanisa or chorizo are generic terms we use for sausages, everyone knows that no two are alike. Varieties from Lucban, Cebu, Guagua and Ilocos differ in form, taste and meat-to-fat ratio.

If you comb through Tagalog dictionaries and grammars compiled by Spanish friars in the 17th and 18th centuries and pick out all the food and food-related terms, you will see that most consist of words for fish and rice. when food terms are extracted from the early dictionaries in other Philippine languages will we see the same pattern? does this suggest that the pre-Spanish diet was heavy on fish and rice?

Nick Joaquin wrote many articles to prove that there is a Hispanic under the Filipino skin that we don’t want to admit. he argued that the modern Filipino was formed by great events overlooked in Philippine history because they were so common that they have become invisible. two of these life and culture changing events were the introduction of new crops from Mexico and the introduction of the guisado in our cooking.

Maybe it is true, that we are more Hispanic than we care to admit  because our words for dining room (comedor), spoon (cuchara),   fork (tenedor), knife (cuchillo), table (la mesa),   chair (silya), plate (plato), saucer or small plate (platito),   cup (tasa), glass (baso) and many more are Spanish words that have become part of our own everyday vocabulary. A food historian or an anthropologist can work backwards and, in tracing the origins of our food, perhaps find that elusive thing we call national identity. Breakfast, for example, is another of those everyday things that deserve a second look. We know that Jose Rizal ate rice and sardinas  secas for breakfast, these dried sardines are better known to us today  as tuyo (dry).

On the flight up to Northern Luzon with the enemy in hot pursuit, Emilio Aguinaldo had a camote and butter breakfast in the Cordilleras, which they called “Banaue breakast.” What about the other heroes? What about non-heroes? What did they have for breakfast?

Many foreigners visiting the Philippines today are surprised that we have fried rice for breakfast when they have simpler and lighter fare of coffee and bread. They have three main meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – while Filipinos have merienda in between meals. if only there were more readily available sources for Filipino meals, then a history of Filipino food can be written up. Fortunately, much of the stray bits of information have been compiled by Gilda Cordero Fernando, Felice Sta. Maria, and the late Doreen Fernandez. I guess it will now take a man to write it all up.

Former Manila Mayor Felix Roxas wrote a column on his memories of life in the late 19th century Philippines. one of these described breakfast in the Arnedo household of Sulipan, whose hospitality was fabled, where he was a guest in the late   1870s. he followed the servant assigned to him and:

“. . . discovered a scene belonging to the ‘Thousand and one Nights.’ the many tables of the previous night with their complicated silverware had been reset for breakfast: rearranged on elegant trays was an assortment of exquisite biscuits with which Sulipeño hospitality  regaled its admirers. Tea, chocolate, or coffee was each served in appropriate cups; the napkins were hand embroidered. the ensemble was remarkable for its elegance; the service, for its flawlessness.”

In those days a visit to Pampanga from Manila was a major undertaking. one had to stay overnight or perhaps three nights to make it worthwhile. Today with fast cars and the NLEx, you can make a day trip: depart in the morning, have lunch and return to Manila to catch your favorite telenovela. since people in the past stayed more than a day, they had to be served not just breakfast, lunch  and dinner but the in-between meals as well like the segundo before   lunch and merienda before dinner. I asked old people for the   meaning of “segundo” (second), and some replied that it was a contraction of segundo almuerzo’ (second breakfast) because the word  almusal was supposed to have come from almuerzo or almorzar.   however, this is what we call a “false friend” because the Spanish almuerzo means lunch rather than desayuno, which is literally to break a fast,  hence breakfast.

All these are random thoughts, delicious memories,   all pointing to a need to explore other areas in a history that is not   always about battles and heroes.

Comments are welcome in my Facebook Fan Page.

More from this Column:

• Trouble in the hacienda
• ‘Pinoy Scandal’
• Love that kills
• Questions on Rizal’s love life
• Music for silent movies

Recent stories:

Tags: ambeth ocampo , food , History , looking Back , opinion

Delicious random thoughts

The following kitchen layout advice will help you plan that new kitchen you’ve been dreaming about.

Use these interior design tips and techniques to plan a kitchen that fits your family’s needs. Learn if a kitchen island is right for you and how to make the best use of space and traffic patterns.

Smart kitchen layout starts with considering your work triangle.

The simple concept of the work triangle has the stove, sink and refrigerator located at the three points of a triangle. Your triangle can have any angle in order to adapt to a u-shaped, l-shaped or galley style kitchen. Pay attention, though, to the length of the legs of your triangle. Ideally each leg should be from 4 to 9 feet (1.2 to 2.7 m) long.

An efficient work triangle is the basis of good kitchen and layout maximizes the efficiency of movement while you work in the kitchen.

If you have a big household and a busy kitchen, it’s wise to locate your refrigerator on an outside point of your work triangle. This gives the other family members access to the refrigerator for snacking and for putting groceries away while keeping them out of the food prep work traffic.

Dishwashers are a fourth station to consider in your kitchen layout. and are best placed inside the work triangle next to the sink.

Be sure to allow at least 24 inches (60 cm) on both sides of the dishwasher for ease in loading and unloading.

Now grab your tape measure. Get your approximate measurements from wall to wall and put the kitchen footprint down on graph paper. Use a simple scale like 1/4 inch to a foot (1 cm to 30 cm).

Cooking in our house is a social thing. even on quiet week nights, our whole family will pitch in and make dinner together.

A great way to provide additional work space in your kitchen layout is with a kitchen island. If you have room, plan a second sink in your kitchen island to create space for friends to work together creating informal dinner parties.and where family can bond making comforting holiday meals.

Kitchen islands give welcome additional storage. Open, under-counter storage in a kitchen island is a great place for over-sized pots and bowls and for bulky small appliances like blenders and food processors.

Kitchen islands are on almost all of my clients’ kitchen design wish lists, but they don’t work everywhere. and, an out-of-place kitchen island is worse than no kitchen island. to keep your kitchen layout from feeling cramped, a minimum of 42 inches (105cm) is needed for all pathways.

Great Kitchen Layout Blends Function With Timeless Style

It’s a familiar refrain. one day a child’s favorite foods are chicken tenders or pizza with pepperoni, the next day the same kid swears off meat — forever. And cannot be persuaded otherwise.

Cookbook author Laura Washburn faced the same overnight conversion with her daughter, age 10 at the time. Despite having several cookbooks under her belt, Washburn found herself unsure what to cook, she wrote in “Vegetarian Food for Kids: Nutritious and Delicious Recipes for Healthy Children” (Ryland Peters & Small, $19.95).

Her project to educate herself on a balanced vegetarian diet for children, plus find recipes that would appeal to a child and offer enough variety to ensure proper nutrition, led to the book.

Her recipes can provide ideas to families with young vegetarians in the house, whether the entire household is dedicated to the diet, or whether, like Washburn, you find yourself suddenly the parent of someone you don’t know how to feed.

Cheesy Polenta and Roasted Vegetable Pie

The ingredients here are easily adaptable to your child’s palate. she doesn’t like broccoli or onions? sub in another vegetable, such as carrots or green beans.

2 small zucchini, halved widthwise, cut in ¼-inch strips 1 red bell pepper, cut in ½-inch-thick slices 10 ounces broccoli, sliced in long, thin trees1 red onion, sliced in thick rings2 tablespoons olive oil1 teaspoon salt, divided 3 cups water 1 cup quick-cooking polenta1 tablespoon unsalted butter 2/3 cup grated cheddar (or vegetarian cheddar) 4½-ounce fresh mozzarella ball, thinly sliced

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the zucchini, pepper, broccoli and onion in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil; drizzle with olive oil. Season with ½ teaspoon salt. Roast until just tender and lightly browned, 10 to 20 minutes. (The broccoli may cook faster; check after 10 minutes. Remove if necessary; continue roasting remaining vegetables.) Coarsely chop the vegetables; transfer to a lightly oiled 10-inch square baking dish.

Meanwhile, heat the water to a boil over medium-high heat in a saucepan; season with remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Add polenta slowly in a stream. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick. take care as the polenta can bubble up. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring, 5 minutes. (Alternately, follow package directions for cooking 1 cup polenta.)

Remove polenta from the heat; stir in the butter and cheddar. Pour over the vegetables in the dish, spreading evenly with a spatula; arrange mozzarella on top. Bake until browned and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

Nutrients per serving: 239 calories, 13 grams fat, 6 grams saturated fat, 28 milligrams cholesterol, 21 grams carbohydrate, 9 grams protein, 560 milligrams sodium, 3 grams fiber.

“Vegetarian Food for Kids: Nutritious and Delicious Recipes for Healthy Children” by Laura Washburn

What to feed the new vegetarian in the house

By Sam Conner –

The Winslow Arts Council voted last week to form a partnership with the Friends of the Library to sponsor an Altered Books Contest. The agreement for joint sponsorship came after a presentation by Librarian Docia Blaylock.

More information on the contest will be publicized in the near future. The final entries for the contest will not be due until June, but those interested in participating may begin making their altered books and may turn them in before the deadline.

Prizes will be awarded to three winners in each category: adults over 18 years of age, and students in grades six through 12. The library will have some books available for use in making items, but entrants are welcome to use their own books and materials.

Most of the meeting was spent discussing the Arts Sweet Arts IV auction, which was deemed a huge success. There was some discussion of doing some things differently and those discussions will continue in the next meeting of the arts council.

The auction was well attended and the proceeds were more than double the amount any previous auction has generated. The event was agreed to have been entertaining and rewarding for most who came, as there was entertainment, good artwork donated and sold, and far more than enough good food available.

The success of the auction will enable the arts council to sponsor more events, and encourage the growth and appreciation of art in Winslow.

AzJournal.com » Arts Council And Friends of Library To Sponsor Altered Books Contest

When it comes to Italian language meals, you must know that it was not simply the actual Italians that shaped the way the meals preferences or even looks. there is a great deal of additional affects which have molded the actual Italian language meals that we understand these days, and when you actually look difficult enough you can actually see a few of the additional nations handy work and feet prints on the ethnicities associated with Italia. The actual Greeks being close and convenient neighbours have had a hand in the actual Italian language meals picture, even though they have not always become along throughout history the actual Italians and Greeks possess shared many quality recipes and made them much better. Exactly the same could be aid for the Persians as well, as Arabs relocated into the regions inside Italia and remaining their own tag as well.

Ocean Meals is a New Development

While the Italians possess a good amount of coastlines the actual Italian language meals picture in early stages didn’t actually consist of sea food as a perfect option. This took the actual Greeks to exhibit the actual Italians that sea food is actually abundant and that you could can even make wonderful meals along with the likes of crustaceans and finned fish. There’s a major Italian language fish business these days, and it is most evident through the quantity of people who you find at the local fish marketplaces upon Sunday mornings. The actual Greeks launched the actual Italians to fish quality recipes along with white salsas and fine pastas, and also the nation associated with Italia accepted and practically used this particular cost as its. Today, you will discover many excellent Italian language restaurants that actually make use of sea food as their own perfect dinner of preference and also the product sales upon sea food dishes go through the roof.

The actual Feed Which Changed The Lifestyle

Should you had been to check out what actually transformed the actual culture associated with Italia probably the most when it comes to Italian language meals, it would need to function as the intro associated with rice by the Arabs. when the Arabs made their own way to Italia, they introduced together a feed right now referred to as rice. This was brought to Italia via The country, and Greece and actually do quite well in Italia when it resolved. The actual land in Italia was nicely equipped to develop rice in crops, as it required low toned land that was close to excellent drinking water resources. Over the years the actual Italians used the actual rice to forge a number of their own most well known quality recipes available today. so when a person dine upon Italian language in a restaurant, you will notice many meals that will be possibly served along with rice as the primary program or even with the rice on the side.

There is no Denying The actual great Scope of the Food

As it pertains right down to it, there is no denying the actual great range associated with fine Italian language meals. Italian language restaurants can be found in pretty much every major town in the world today, and this speaks volumes to the high quality and appreciation from the meals how the Italians enjoy on a daily basis. You’ll be challenged to find a meal in the Italian language menu that won’t increase an eyebrow and cause you to curious to test.

If you are searching for Maryland Farms Pizza or Brentwood Pizza, ensure that you do research and check out reviews on any Nashville Pizza restaurant to ensure it is the best!

The Influences Of Italian Food

It may just be the cure.

Taco Bell launches new menu items

Roughly one year after the sky almost fell in on Taco Bell – amid a since-withdrawn lawsuit that falsely accused the nation’s largest Mexican fast-food chain of stuffing its beef with filler – the brand is going on an offensive to turn its 50th anniversary year into one for the fast-food record books.

USA TODAY was the first media brought inside Taco Bell headquarters and into its secretive test kitchen to observe and taste the breadth of the brand’s attempt at self-reinvention. Among the highlights: a slew of new products, including a Chiptole-like Cantina Bell platform; a new breakfast roll-out; a new slogan and brand campaign; and one ultra-simple but culturally cool concept that could finally revive the brand: a line of Doritos Locos Tacos with shells made entirely from – you guessed it – Doritos.

Get ready to rock, Doritos-heads. You’ll soon be able to turn your tongue, fingers and hoodie strings orange by eating at Taco Bell. The national roll-out is on March 8, but the buzz has been building for months. a clock on Taco Bell’s website is counting down the seconds until launch date of the product that it brags, has “Taco Bell on the inside and Doritos on the outside.”

Wounded brands such as Taco Bell can take years to recover. What the 5,600-unit fast-food behemoth is about to try is almost unprecedented. It’s making so many major changes at the same time that next to the wildly successful McDonald’s turnaround of the past decade, this could rank as one of fast-food’s most complex turnaround attempts in decades. its likelihood of success – or failure – rests on the head of a Doritos chip.

Two commonly ridiculed “junk” foods – the Doritos chip and the Taco Bell taco – are being rolled into one. in this case, one plus one might not equal two. For Taco Bell, it may equal millions of dollars in incremental sales. The year has hardly begun, but there’s already industry chatter about the Doritos-laced taco emerging as one of the nation’s top new products this year.

Take it from new products guru Lynn Dornblaser. As director of innovation and insight at research firm Mintel, she sees tens of thousands of new products every year. But this new taco, she says, will be “one of the big successes of 2012.” She calls the link-up of the snack food and fast-food giants targeting 18-to-34-year-olds “a marriage made in belly-busting heaven.” Savvy to social media, Taco Bell is even hosting a “tweet off” to determine one town that gets the new tacos delivered ahead of the curve.

Never mind that it’s taking place at a chain coming off a lousy year, when same-store sales fell 2% after the lawsuit.

“Taco Bell could have a McDonald’s-like year,” says David Palmer, industry analyst at UBS Investment Bank. That’s the same McDonald’s that’s been pummeling the rest of the fast-food industry with growth throughout the economic downturn.

This would be huge about-face for the chain, whose parent, Yum Brands, also owns Pizza Hut and KFC. Taco Bell, whose sales topped $7 billion last year, sees 35 million customers walk in or drive up every week. It’s the nation’s sixth-largest fast-food chain, ranking just behind Wendy’s in domestic sales, says research firm Technomic.

Not everyone, however, is jumping on the Taco Bell rebound bandwagon. “Unemployment remains their challenge,” says Steve West, restaurant analyst at ITG Investment Research. no matter what new products Taco Bell rolls out, he says, as long as unemployment is above 8% – particularly affecting the brand’s target 18-to-34-year-old demographic – the chain will struggle.

Don’t tell that to Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed, whose 11-year stint has been marked by a series of image-challenging twists and turns. For Creed, it’s redemption time.

“This will be the biggest new-product launch Taco Bell has ever had,” says Creed, who at 54, may be playing out his last chance to fix the brand.

Getting here hasn’t been easy.

In the past six years, Taco Bell has faced a series of serious image setbacks. in 2006, it was hit by an E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 70 people in five states. less than a year later, it was skewered by a viral video that showed rats running rampant in a Manhattan unit that it shared with sister brand KFC. more recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked Taco Bell to a 2011 salmonella outbreak that sickened 68 in 10 states. then, there’s the lawsuit.

The Alabama law firm behind the lawsuit, Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles, isn’t talking. its lawsuit was quietly withdrawn about 90 days after it was filed. Spokeswoman Helen Taylor says the firm won’t comment on the suit.

The suit claimed that Taco Bell’s beef was made from 35% beef, and the rest was binders and extenders. Taco Bell says its tacos are made from 88% beef and the rest is seasonings and water. Taco Bell has done everything to fight back, except countersue. Creed insists that wouldn’t be worth it because it would, once again, put the media focus on a negative instead of a positive. “Why go back and make it a story again?” he asks.

Public relations guru Katie Delahaye Paine says Taco Bell has little choice. “I think the question about the beef and filler lingers on,” she says.

Creed says he is sick and tired of addressing the issue. He prefers to discuss Taco Bell’s multiple changes in the works for 2012 and beyond:

Rolling out Doritos tacos. two years ago, amid softening taco sales, Taco Bell approached partner Frito-Lay about helping it reinvent the taco. Frito-Lay had previously helped it develop the top-selling Beefy Crunch Burrito, stuffed with spicy Fritos. When the snack-maker came back with the Doritos Locos Taco, “it was a no-brainer,” Creed says. “It was so simple. So obvious.”

Especially to Frito-Lay. Doritos is the nation’s no. 2 snack brand, second only to sister brand Lay’s. Frito-Lay’s chief marketing officer, Ann Mukherjee, is ecstatic about the link-up – and the buzz. Eat a Doritos Locos Taco, she jokes, “and you get a Doritos fix.” then, a couple of hours later, she says, “You’re gonna want a bag of Doritos.”

It didn’t happen overnight. New machinery had to be added in four Frito-Lay plants to create hundreds of millions of new shells. a special cardboard holster was created for the taco, so customer hands aren’t coated with the familiar orange Doritos cheese dust.

Test-market results around Toledo, Ohio, San Bernardino and Bakersfield have been outside the bun. About three in 10 consumers are ordering the new tacos – an enormous number for a new product. in northwest Ohio, where 14 stores are selling the new tacos, sales of Doritos Locos Tacos outnumber conventional tacos, says franchisee Don Unruh. “It’s been huge,” he says.

Customers keep asking if they can buy the Doritos shells and bring them home. He’s refused.

One commercial airing in test markets features the true tale of 25-year-old customer Nat Christiana, who drove from Clifton Park, N.Y., to Toledo, Ohio, just to try one. there are plans to extend the line to Cool Ranch – and, ultimately, even more of the current 123 Doritos flavors worldwide.

Marty Schreiber, a handyman from Laguna Hills, Calif., purchased a Doritos Locos Taco at a Taco Bell in Lake Forest, Calif., that was test-marketing them only for the day. “I know it’s kind of a gimmick,” says Schreiber. “But I happen to like Doritos.” He was so excited to eat the new taco, he concedes, “I even forgot to put on hot sauce.”

Plopping breakfast inside burritos. Taco Bell has tried and failed at breakfast three times. this time will be different, insists Liz Matthews, senior director of food and beverage, because the chain has learned that most consumers prefer more traditional American breakfasts. “They don’t want jalapeos in the morning,” she says.

That’s why 800 West Coast locations are selling breakfasts that have only a slight Taco Bell twist. Instead of serving eggs and sausage on English muffins, they’re rolling them into burritos. And they’re selling round, pop-able, Cinnabon co-creations that have the icing melted on the inside.

The chain plans to slowly roll out breakfast nationally in the next two years, Creed says. But the hours are targeted at teens, not hourly workers, so don’t look for 6 a.m. breakfast. At Taco Bell, it’s served at a more civilized 8 to 11 a.m.

Already on board as a regular is Eduard Eisenhauer, a CPA from Lake Forest, Calif., who stopped at Taco Bell on his daily drive into Los Angeles. “It’s convenient,” he says holding a customized burrito in one hand. “Eating in the car only saves a few minutes, but it seems like it saves you an hour.”

Selling Chipotle-like grub. following Chipotle’s success, Taco Bell is testing a Cantina Bell line of more upscale foods made with more natural ingredients in Louisville and Bakersfield. if it’s a hit, it will likely roll out nationally in 2013.

Taco Bell enlisted celebrity chef Lorena Garcia to help create the line, with entrees priced a few bucks below Chipotle.

She concedes: “It was surprising for me to hear from Taco Bell.” her goal with the Cantina Bell line: “Keep it simple.”

Among the items: all-white-meat chicken marinated in a cilantro dressing, grilled corn salsa and black beans. “This will change the perception of what you can get at Taco Bell,” Creed says.

Creating a slogan – with attitude. So long “Think outside the bun.” That’s being nixed for a more lifestyle-targeted slogan: “Live Mas” (“Live More” in Spanish.)

The idea is to replace the concept of “food as fuel” with “food as lifestyle,” says marketing chief Brian Niccol.

The very brand that once advised consumers to “Run for the border,” and later enlisted a feisty Chihuahua to utter, “Yo quiero Taco Bell,” is now advising folks to “Live Ms.”

Which is exactly what Jose Acosta, a twentysomething sign installer from Fountain Valley, Calif., did while on a work break with some buddies. He sat down with a tray-load of food that he bought for less than $5: a burrito, a bag of Doritos, a soft drink – and a Doritos Locos Taco, which he eats with gusto. “That’s good,” he says.

“Junk food” doesn’t bother Acosta, he says, as he prepares to inhale the second half of his Doritos Locos Taco, then stops, smirks and offers one final thought: “Hey, at least it’s got lettuce.”

Taco Bell + Doritos success?

Among the many biographers who have reported on the foods most liked by George Washington, there’s agreement. the Father of our Nation favored hoecakes “swimming in butter and honey” for breakfast (along with three cups of tea, without cream) and meals comprised of fish, which was his favorite food. by all accounts, Washington also loved ice cream and nuts and had a genuine affection for Madeira wine.Of course, there are countless other foods he enjoyed, especially in the years he lived in Mount Vernon, Va. — an expansive enclave made up of self-contained farms and orchards that included animals and numerous outbuildings, such as a smokehouse and a salt house, in which hundreds of pounds of salt was stored to preserve foods like meat and fish, such as cod.

When prepared correctly, a boiled salted codfish dinner, served with a little melted butter, potatoes, boiled vegetables and some kind of sauce, was considered fine eating.while salted cod is still enjoyed in a myriad of cultures around the world, today’s recipe for cod cakes is offered to remind us how lucky we are to live in an age where fish comes fresh frozen and recipe ready.

The hoecakes, a study in contrasts, are presented as a means to depict the difference between the sit-down breakfast hoecakes that were prepared and consumed by Washington and those cooked by field hands and slaves. the recipe left to us by Nelly Lewis Custis, Washington’s step-granddaughter, contained yeast and egg and required an overnight sitting before use. Those made in the field, with the same shovels and hoes used to work the cotton and tobacco fields for up to 16 to 18 hours a day, were made on the spot, with just water and cornmeal — food for thought on an otherwise celebratory occasion.

Lastly, I give you a cake made with Madeira, the fortified wine named for the islands off the North African coast, near Portugal, from where it comes. Washington would have loved it, but so would Martha. As an alternative to her famous “Great Cake,” originally made with 40 eggs, four pounds of sugar, five pounds of flour, five pounds of fruit and a half pint of fresh brandy, Martha surely would have liked the cake’s streamlined list of ingredients and ease of preparation. As for George, it would be about the nuts and the wine — but especially the wine.

Hoecakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled.

2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

2 teaspoons baking powder

Oil for greasing griddle

In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. in a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg and melted butter. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry; set aside. over medium-high heat, heat a lightly oiled griddle, until hot. when the griddle is hot, drop batter by ¼ cupfuls onto the griddle. once the batter begins to bubble, turn the cake over and cook the other side, until lightly browned and cooked through. makes about 10 hoecakes. Serve hot and eat with lots of butter and honey, just like George would.

Cod Cakes for Two

1 cup prepared mashed potatoes, homemade or instant

1 (16-ounce) package frozen cod, thawed

2 teaspoons grated fresh onion

½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1/3 cup dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Refrigerate mashed potatoes for 30 minutes. With a knife, finely chop fish. in a medium bowl, stir chopped fish, onion, salt, Tabasco and mashed potatoes, until blended. With your hands, shape fish mixture into four 3-inch round cakes. in a pie pan, beat egg with a fork. on a sheet of wax paper, measure out bread crumbs. Dip fish into egg, then coat with bread crumbs. in a 12-inch skillet, over medium heat, heat oil with butter. when butter is oil mixture is hot, cook cakes until nicely browned on both sides. Remove cakes from skillet, draining well on paper towels. makes 4 cakes, to serve 2.

Black Walnut-Madeira Cake

2 cups sifted Sofassilk cake flour (may substitute with while Lily brand all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs, room temperature

6 tablespoons Madeira wine

1 cup chopped black walnuts (if you cannot locate black walnuts, substitute with equal amount English walnuts, plus ¼ teaspoon black walnut flavoring)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 x 4 x 3-inch (1 pound) loaf pan. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. in a large bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar; stir in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients alternately with the Madeira, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 70 to 75 minutes or until firm to the touch and cake tests done. Cook in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. makes 8 to 10 servings. to store, wrap tightly in aluminum foil for up to 3 days.

HOECAKES & HOSPITALITY: NEWS FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOUNT VERNON ESTATE, GARDEN & MUSEUM

Mount Vernon invites visitors to experience a behind-the-scenes look at the Washingtons’ kitchen through its brand new exhibition, “Hoecakes & Hospitality: Cooking with Martha Washington.” on display inside the Donald W. Reynolds Museum, this temporary exhibition celebrates food at Mount Vernon and Martha Washington’s role as early America’s premier hostess. following food from the Estate’s field to kitchen to table, visitors will see recipes and cookbooks that Martha treasured, pots that simmered in her kitchen, and fine tablewares that made Mount Vernon’s dining room fit for a president. the exhibition also takes a closer look at the slaves who worked in Mount Vernon’s kitchen and includes a detailed timeline of the cooks’ 16-hour day. “Hoecakes & Hospitality: Cooking with Martha Washington” is included with general Estate admission: adults, $15; children ages 6 to 11, $7; and children under 5 are admitted free. the exhibit will remain open until August 11, 2013. For ticket information, call 1-800-429-1520 (option 5) or e-mail onlineticketing@mountvernon.org. Photo and exhibit information courtesy of George Washington’s Estate, Garden & Museum, www.mountvernon.org.

Sue Ade, a Lowcountry resident since 1985, is a gourmet baker and collector of vintage cooking utensils and cookbooks. She can be reached at kitchenade@yahoo.com or 683-0375.

Sue Ade: Recipes fit for a president