… from the California KitchenMacbeth, Act IV, Scene I [Round About The Cauldron Go] The three witches, casting a spell and eating well, Round about the cauldron go; In the fresh vegetables throw. Cabbage, that’s under cold stone Days and nights hast thirty-one Swelter’d carrots sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a choice steak, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of potato, and toe of snip, Web of mushroom, and tongue of hog, Adder’s fork, and zucchini string, turkey’s leg, and chicken’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a heaven-broth boil and bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. How you doin’? There’s more to Halloween than spooky desserts, frightening candies and terrifing poems as demostrated by these adorable, buttery Mummy Dogs—they deserve a little praise, too. These are reminiscent of the old-fashioned pigs in a blanket but with a spooky, cheesy twist. Mummy Dogs are a snap to make and will win over all the kids and adults at your Halloween party. Simply purchase a tube of crescent roll sheets or rolled dough. Instead of separating the dough into triangles, carefully unroll it onto 1 medium sheet pan, pinching together the perforations gently. Once rolled, The Mummy Dogs must be baked right away to make sure you get clearly defined "bandages." Baked Mummy Dogs can be reheated in a 350°F oven until warmed through, 3 to 5 minutes. Prep time: 10 minutes Bake time: 12 to 14 minutes Yields: 8 servings Ingredients 1 8-ounce package crescent roll sheet (crescent roll dough or puff pastry sheet) 8 hot dogs 2 thick slices pepper jack cheese Nonstick spray ketchup and yellow mustard, for serving Directions
Chefs Secret: For extra flakiness, use puff pastry for the bandages. Just thaw the pastry sheet according to package instructions first and then follow the build outlined above. Quip of the Day: “Never, never, never make a woman mad! They can remember things that never happened.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Snacks #Halloween #MummyDogs #HotDogs #Macbeth #Mustard #CrescentRolls #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021
0 Comments
Like the Great Depression of the 20th century, this century’s first pandemic is going to make impressions on each of us that will be with us for the rest of our lives. … from the desk of Ed Engoron How you doin’? No, I mean it. How are you really doing? The last 18 to 20 months have been the most stressful times of our lives—lockdowns, shortage of hospital beds and protective equipment, deaths, separations from family and friends, schools shuttered, business closures and a myriad of confusing government policies, directives, and edicts. Looking back to the very beginning (no, I don’t mean when God created the heavens and earth) of the pandemic we all thought that our lock-down was going to be short-lived. Who could have believed it would be near a year and for many even longer? It is apparent now that Covid-19 and its disciples, Delta and Mu, are going to have a lasting effect on our daily lives. It is not unlike that which our parents and grandparents lived through during the Great Depression. From a narrow food point of view—that’s what we know and the space we work in—the pandemic upended Americans’ lives in significant ways. It changed how, where and what we eat, drink and snack, how we shop, how we entertain ourselves and how we communicate with our family, friends, bosses, and coworkers. It continues to shape how we build new homes and office buildings and what our workplaces will look like in the future. Looking back, we can roughly measure the phases of the pandemic by the shifting household behaviors we see within our own families. When this all got started and we were locked down, we got calls nearly every day from clients, family, friends, even complete strangers on how to prepare and cook a particular recipe. For a while I thought I was back on my ABC show Stump the Chef. That’s when we decided to write our daily Covid-19 Survival Recipe Guide (now published three times per week). In the meantime, we triaged our most affected clients, consulting with restaurant, hotels, resorts, theme parks, cruise ships and airlines. There was plenty wrong and plenty to do figuring out how to make the best of a really bad situation. No one had a clue how long all this craziness would last. While it was a most unsettling time for us all, some were excited to have some extra time at home as long as they still got paid. Essential businesses were looking for work arounds and we all discovered Zoom meetings. Those less secure in their financial situations were just plain scared waiting to hear what kind of assistance city, state and federal governments were going come up with. As we started to figure it out—at least in the immediate term—we began settling into daily life at home. In Los Angeles, a daily one-way commute can be as long as 1-1/2 hours. We asked ourselves, is working from home all that bad? Not really, if you could spend more time with your partner and kids—and maybe even get that dog that you had been talking about for a few years. Finally, when we realized the pandemic had no end in sight, we started to establish new routines for everything including cooking. We discovered Instant Pots and Sous-Vide cooking. We rediscovered frozen vegetables and pizza. We experimented with baking and took the time to teach our kids how to cook (for the first time in nearly 40 years). Right around 5 or 6 months in to the pandemic, experimental cooking was replaced with cooking fatigue—“I can’t make one more meal or wash another pot.” But everyone still needed to be fed and this created a rush for grocery and restaurant meal deliveries, microwaveable dinners, and lots of comforting snacks. Grocery freezer sections, which had been lagging for years, experienced a sudden resurgence as food processors increased their offerings and the quality of their frozen foods to meet the new pandemic demand. All of this was exacerbated by politicians and so-called health experts who were constantly changing direction as to what was required and where we could go. It became and is still confusing. We haven’t discussed politics on this blog in the past and don’t plan to in the future, but I will say that the confusion and missteps can be blamed on both sides—enough blame and shame to go around no matter what side of the political spectrum you lean toward. I concluded the smartest politician are ones with duct tape stretched across their mouths. But I digress… This collective upending of our lives led to more scrutiny of the foods we eat (where is it made, is it organic, read the nutritionals, study the ingredient declarations, what are the additives?) and the reliance of tech-assisted devices and omnichannel consumer shopping and eating behavior—more than just supermarkets and restaurants… the internet presented a whole world of new choices. Anything goes any time of day—Hamburgers for breakfast, cereal for dinner, 5 meals a day instead of 3. Increased meals and snacks and decreased exercise routines resulted in the expansion of our waistlines. The “Covid 19” weight gain led to increased purchases of personal exercise equipment and class subscriptions and even “magic mirrors” with virtual coaches and drill sergeants. Pre-pandemic the heart of the house was the entertainment center—TVs, smart phones, tablets, and gaming. Today, in many homes, the heart of the home shifted to the kitchen. The kitchen has become more important during the pandemic, not just for cooking but for entertainment as well. People with a fair amount of discretionary income have reworked their kitchens making room for new appliances, countertops, cabinets and floor and wall coverings. With everyone home at mealtime, families once again bonded over meals and many even enjoyed cooking together. In which closet did we put that slow cooker Aunt Sarah sent us when we got married? Before the pandemic the average meal provider felt comfortable making about 5 things; now there is a rush to experiment. An early 2021 survey reported that 38% of households had purchased a small kitchen appliance, such as an air fryer, Instant Pot, Crock Pot or Sous-Vide cooking device. With these new techy cooking devices, the fear of meal failure all but disappeared which was once one of the key impediments to trying new recipes. These techy devices enhance smaller kitchens and help make meals in a flash. Others accounting for top dollar growth, included electric indoor grills/griddles (+68%), toaster ovens (+58%) and waffle irons/sandwich makers (+50%). For the more adventurous home chefs looking to make “made-from-scratch” a little easier, appliances such as electric pasta makers and fondue sets fit the bill, with 111% and 77% dollar sales growth, respectively. At the same time, Instant Pot, and air fryers, maintained momentum all throughout 2020 and well into 2021. What does all this mean long term?
Over the last 18 months, we’ve learned a lot more about the foods we eat, how to shop for them and how to cook new things. We turned inside—toward the family—learning to trust and help one another. More than anything else, we learned a lot about ourselves and how versatile and resilient we are. As Americans we can get survive just about anything. And that’s a good thing because the next chapter has yet to be written. With looming supply chain shortages and logistics challenges, together with increasing inflation and economic fall-out as government supports expire, we’re in for a bumpy ride. Watch this space for more analysis and insights. #HumanBehavior #GreatDepression #EdEngoron #FutureTrends #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 …from the California KitchenHow you doin’? Anybody who knows anything about my food likes and dislikes knows that doughnuts are top on my LIKES list. I specifically love Apple Fritters… a form of doughnuts without the hole. They taste great, last two days and are usually the biggest doughnut in the case. The doughnut business is a dollar business—you lose money by dollars—you make money by pennies, nickels and dimes—so, controlling food costs and waste are as important as bringing customers in the door. Verne Winchell, who launched a nationwide doughnut franchise business from one drive-through restaurant he opened in 1948 in Temple City, was credited for “inventing” Apple Fritters and God bless him for his efforts. Winchell became the chief executive and president of Denny’s Inc., which bought Winchell’s Donut Houses in 1968. He took over Denny’s when it was in deep trouble and was able to slowly nurse it back to health. Winchell was a serial entrepreneur and by the time he started his doughnut empire he already owned Winchell Music (a jukebox business) and Winchell Motors (a used car dealership). In the 1950’s a friend told Winchell there were high margins on doughnuts. He took a $27,000 stake in the business and turned a piece of commercial property he already owned into his first Winchell’s doughnut shop. He invested an additional $300 for a used shallow fish fryer (thoroughly cleaned, I hope), a couple of stainless steel worktables, a dough roller and a bakery funnel. The shop did well and was followed by the opening of several more stores. His doughnut shops took off and Winchell expanded his operation throughout California. Winchell’s keys to success include careful management, good merchandising and advertising, proper locations, quality products and the reduction in waste. He introduced the Apple Fritter to use the scraps of all the different doughs and piled them high around canned apple pie filling, frying them like regular doughnuts and glazing them over with leftover doughnut glaze. Over the years, Winchell acquired racehorses, too. One named Donut King (also his own nickname) was the first horse Winchell bought at auction. The horse was among the favorites for the 1954 Kentucky Derby but was injured the week of the race and didn’t run. Prep time: 15 minutes Fry time: about 4-5 minutes each Additional time: 10 minutes Yield: 16 small size apple fritters / or 8 large fritters Ingredients 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice cuts 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 large egg 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup sparkling apple cider 2 cups vegetable oil for frying For the glaze 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, or more as needed 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon sparkling apple cider, or as needed to make glaze Directions To make the apples
ChefSecret: If you are looking to save a little time, replace the cooking apple procedure with canned Comstock brand apple pie filling. Quip of the Day: “Anybody who can do at 65 years of age what they were doing at 25, wasn’t do much at 25.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 …from the Happy Hour BarHow you doin’? While you were sleeping Monday night Fall fell. Yes, 2021 fall is here. There's something about fall that most everyone loves. The leaves start to turn beautiful colors and fall from the trees. There's a cool crisp breeze in the air and there's nothing more comforting than to throw on a warm sweatshirt and sit by an open fire—preferably with an appropriate fall cocktail in hand. And though we love a timeless, seasonless, classic cocktail, the changing of the seasons just feels more appropriately matched with a glass full of flavors like apple, pear, pumpkin and spices. Whether you fancy a classic hot toddy or a tequila tipple, here are three incredible recipes for autumn cocktails that will have you covered for a few happy hours of the best season of the year. Bar time: All cocktails below take less than a few minutes to assemble Apple Cider Mimosas Ingredients 2 tablespoon granulated sugar 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 bottle sparkling wine or champagne 1 cup apple cider Directions
Kentucky Mulled Cider Ingredients 1-1/4 ounces Maker's Mark Bourbon 4-ounces hot apple cider to top Dash of allspice Cinnamon stick Lemon slice garnish Directions
Caramel Apple Mule Ingredients 1-1/2 ounces vodka 1/2-ounce caramel syrup 1 ounce apple cider Ginger beer, to top Directions
ChefSecret: Apples, pears and pumpkin flavors are perfect foils for fall cocktails. Quip of the Day: “I just realized that I’ve expanded my skills. I can now forget what I’m doing while I’m actually doing it.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Cocktail #FallAppleCocktails #Apples #AppleCiderMimosa #KentuckyMulledCider #CaramelAppleMule #Cheers# QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 |
For over 4 decades collaboration and vision have been the cornerstones of our approach to developing innovative solutions. We fuel innovation, uncover opportunities, discover trends and embrace sustainability, turning imaginative ideas into profitable realities. Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|