Local Holiday Fare

These three local spot are personal favorites of mine. Get to know them better and check out their sites for more info:

-------------------------------------------------------

Balasia is offering our Very Vegan Christmas Feast!

For those of you who may be Vegan or know or love someone who is, Chef Wendy is preparing a Vegan Christmas/Holiday Feast with all of the fixings!

Available for 1-100 People (gluten-free available)

There will be:

• Homemade Whole Grain Bread Stuffing with Rosemary and Garlic
• Parsley and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Butternut Squash soup with Ginger
• Homemade cranberry sauce with clove and orange zest
• Roasted Sweet potatoes with carmelized walnuts
• Roasted Vegetables with garlic, soy butter and herbs
• And your choice of homemade seitan with baby bella mushroom gravy, Coriander mustard baked tofu, or pineapple baked vegan ham
• Finished with a Pumpkin Dessert of your choice (pie, cake, or cheesecake)

Call 484-330-6405 to place your order!

-------------------------------------------------------

Black Forest Deli

Week before the big Holiday - Haven't Ordered your catering platters from us yet?
Well, what are you waiting for? Place your orders Today!
Check out Our full menu bethlehemdeli.com

Need a gift for someone ? Get them a Gift Certificate from BlackForest Deli.
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/blackforestdeli or become our fan on Facebook: BlackForest Deli & Catering You can get our daily updates, specials, and a chance to win a FREE lunch! We deliver - Try our food - you wont regret it!

Soups of the Week: chicken noodle / russian borsch / minestrone / halupki

HALUPKIS ARE BACK - PLACE YOUR ORDERS QUICK as they go way too fast - 2 for $6

• MOB Special is back - as this was our very popular sandwich a few months ago, its back as a triple decker with turkey, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and honey mustard - $7
• Reuben Wrap - a mix of fresh corned beef and pastrami with saurkraut, swiss cheese and russian dressing - warm of course - YUM - $6.50
• R u hungry sub? - roast beef, ham, turkey, coleslaw, russian dressing and lettuce - $6
• Salad of the Week - mixed greens, crunchy apples, mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, tomatoes, nuts, cucumbers topped with our homemade tuna salad - $7
• Hot Sand Of the week : Homemade Meatball Parmesan - $5
• Panini of the week: thinly sliced roast beef, horseradish spread, hot peppers, tomatoes,
• onions, spinach grilled to a crunch - $6
• Veggie Sand of the week - Egg Salad Sand - with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers - $5
• Yummy Sides : macaroni / coleslaw / potato salad / deli pickles / yogurt w/fruit / brownie

-------------------------------------------------------

We’re excited to announce a new product – Sustainable Business GIFT BASKETS!

Promote the “Eat Fresh, Buy Local” concept - just in time for the gift-giving season. Our baskets feature Back Door Bakeshop goodies, Tallarico’s chocolates, Counter Culture coffee from Wired Cafe, and more.

Available in three sizes: petite $18, mid-size $25 and colossal $55!

And a reminder: whether you’re entertaining at home, visiting family and friends, or whooping it up at the workplace, you’re gonna be looking for something sweet to go with that fabulous meal. You know we’ve got you covered!

A quick call or email is all it takes to order apple and pumpkin pies, chocolate cake, carrot cake and all the amazing goodies you’ve come to expect. Party trays feature cookies, dessert breads, lemon squares, magic squares, cappuccino brownies and the stars of it all - espresso shortbread! We can gift wrap any tray - a fabulous end-of-year giving idea!

The full updated menu is available on our Web site – www.backdoorbakeshop.com
Follow us on Twitter: @backdoorbakeshp or become a fan on Facebook: Back Door Bakeshop
To order, call 610-625-0987, or send us an email: info@backdoorbakeshop.com

Cookbooks You Don't Want to Miss

Da Cajn Critter

What would you do if your home was taken away and you were displaced, with no real place to go and nothing but time to fill your days with? If you were Pamela Lyles, you'd pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make the most of it. Pamela and her family lost their home to Hurrican Katrina and were relocated to Houston, Texas where Pamela started writing down in earnest the recipes she had been storing up for years. She took a life-altering situation and made the most out of it and Da Cajn Critter is the delicious result.

With a slower paced look at life and food, Da Cajn Critter is more than just recipes, its a guide book to planning, shopping and cooking in the most efficient and family pleasing ways possible. Real NOLA and family Recipes like Aunt Bea's Cheese Cookies, Creole Pork Chops and Spicy Rice, Shrimp Po' Boys and Brownie with Double Chocolate Icing will keep you coming back for more and more. Don't miss grabbing your copy at Da Cajin Critter website.

Dollars to Donuts

Route 66, the American icon and home to Rock Cafe, owned by Dawn Welch is the backdrop for Dollars to Donuts, the companion cookbook to one seriously fabulous diner. Did you catch her spot on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives? No? Go have a look and I'll wait for you.

Awesome, no? All those recipes along with tips galore on how to save money while feeding you family well are tucked between the covers of this book and you'll want to grab a copy for yourself just as fast as you can. Not only is this insanely delicious food, but Dawn Welch was named Oklahoma's Woman of the Year for 2009!

True to its Eat Big on a Dime and Save Time, 150 recipes like Paella with Spicy Sausage and Pot-Roasted Chicken with Saffron, Chickpeas, and Lemon, and decadent desserts like Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Pie are just what the family ordered. Find a copy of Dollars to Donuts at Amazon.com.

The Baking Answer Book

Ever bring a cake out of the over that could have been used as a frisbee? Ever wondered why? How about a fruit crisp topping that never gets crisp, but stays soggy and pale? What if there were a book that addressed these and many other vexing problems the everyday baker faces?

The Baking Answer Book is that book. Filled with questions and answers from the common to the more obscure, this is a book you will turn to again and again for help with your daily baking needs. From ingredients to equipment to specific baked goods, this book covers it all in an easy to understand way that even the most novice baker can follow.

Not only are there tips for every scenario, there are delicious recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, cobblers, yeast breads and pastries. Find your copy of The Baking Answer book at Amazon.com.

Strawberry Bread with More Fruit - Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Fillings

I've been baking for many, many years now - I was at least 10 when I started making sugar cookies and I'm not quite sure how old I was when I started making apple pies, but I know it was more than 25 years ago. I've used all sorts of fillings for pie, mostly homemade, but there are times I've relied on canned pie fillings.

I've not been disappointed, really, but it's not the same as the real deal. There's always more 'gunk' than fruit and sometimes the fruit itself just isn't very appetizing. Lucky Leaf recently revamped their fillings to be less 'gunky' and more fruity, and I think they've succeeded.

I was sent two cans of filling - one apple and one strawberry - along with a cookbook for recipe ideas. I couldn't find a better use for the apple pie filling than the apple and ginger tart in the cookbook, so I made that and it was gone so quickly that I never got a chance to take a photo.

The strawberry filling was a bit of a challenge for me. I find it hard to know what to do with strawberries when they aren't in season, so I had to think a bit. I took a recipe I already had for Strawberry Bread and altered it slightly to use the pie filling instead of the usual frozen strawberries.

This time the kids were at school so I had a chance to get a photo or two, but once they were home, the bread was gone instantly. In other words, there really is a lot of fruit in those cans and it's not lacking in flavor or overprocessed.

Strawberry Bread
(the unaltered version is linked above)
Printable Recipe

1 can Lucky Leaf Premium Strawberry Pie Filling
4 eggs
1 c cooking oil
1 1/2 c sugar
3 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c chopped nuts

Stir first 4 ingredients together well then add dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in nuts and pour into 2 9x5 inch greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

*I top ours with cinnamon sugar.

You can find Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Fillings at your local grocer, and for a FREE copy of the cookbook, you can find it here: http://luckyleaf.com/RecipeBook.aspx

Peppermint Bark

I inquired of my Twitter followers the other day what they might like to have a recipe for and @lisahanockjasie asked for peppermint bark. I'd never done it before that, but I can tell you it's so very easy that there's no need to ever buy it.

You need very few ingredients and even less time to get this one done. I made one with white coating and one with chocolate and the kids liked both equally well. Be careful when melting chocolate or coating - you need absolutely dry equipment to start with and add the room temperature extract only after the chocolate or coating is already melted and still quite hot.

The candy can be added after the extract or, as I did - after the chocolate is spread onto parchment. Adding the extra drizzle of the opposite flavor helped adhere the candy to the bark, as well.


Crushing candy canes can be a challenge. I used a hammer to gently crush mine. I originally tried the food processor, but wound up with inconsistently crushed candies - some were powder and some too large. I laid them on a baking sheet and gently hammered them until they were the size I needed.

Peppermint Bark
Makes 2 sheets (approx. 15x15) of candy
Printable Recipe

12 ounces chocolate chips or chocolate candy melts
12 ounces white chocolate chips or white candy coating
1 teaspoon peppermint extract or several drops peppermint oil
4 candy canes, crushed

1. Set aside 1/4 cup of both types of candy melts.
2. Melt each color of chocolate separately either in the microwave or in a double boiler. If using a double boiler the water in the bottom pot should NOT be boiling, but simmering. Even steam from the bottom pot can cause the chocolate to seize.
3. Once the chocolate is melted, add a teaspoon of peppermint oil to each color and stir thoroughly but very gently. Once the extract or oil has been successfully added (it doesn't seize the chocolate) stir it a bit more vigorously until it cools a bit. This will help to temper the chocolate and it will set up better than if you simply melt and pour.
4. Pour the chocolate onto the parchment and spread to desired thickness.
5. Top with chopped candies.
6. Melt reserved chips or coating and drizzle alternate colors over each. Drizzle white over chocolate and chocolate over white.
7. Let cool and dry completely before cutting with a very sharp knife or breaking into pieces.

National Brownie Day

Did you know there is a National Brownie Day? Well, there is and today is it. Grab yourself a brownie and feel no guilt. I love an excuse to have chocolate and I wholeheartledly embrace this celebration!

Embrace it with me and leave a comment with contact information here for a chance to win a $30 gift set from Cheryl&Co.. That's right - thirty dollars to spend on thick, rich brownies or decadently iced cookies or any number of delectable treats offered up by Cheryl&Co. If you need more convincing, visit the website and if you don't rush right back to comment, then there's no help for you.

In the meantime, this recipe is a favorite at our house - rich and gooey brownies the kids can never get enough of.

Decadent Brownies
Makes one 9x13 pan
Printable Recipe

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs - slightly beaten
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put butter into 9x13 pan and place in oven until butter is melted.
Pour butter into a large bowl and add sugar. Stir until well blended. Add vanilla and eggs and stir well. Add cocoa powder and blend until smooth.
Sift in flour and stir gently until combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set but not stiff - don't overbake!

**Contest ends 12/15/2009 at 11:59 PM