How you doin’? All the way back in the late 1940s a couple of entrepreneurs started making a unique grilled and sealed sandwich called a Toas-Tite. The Toas-Tite sandwich press was originally designed for campfire cooking and was ubiquitous in the 1950s.

It was (and still is) quite simple. Just lay a sandwich (with cheese in the middle and buttered bread on the outside) on one side of the circular metal mold, clamp down with the other side, using a sharp knife, trim the off the crust and heat for a minute or two on each side over a campfire or on a gas stove top.
 
As a kid my brother and I loved them as it gave us the freedom to make hot sandwiches to our own taste without messing up our mother’s kitchen. There wasn’t anything we couldn’t make—salami and cheese, ham and cheese, bacon and cheese and then we got into making Toas-Tites with eggs and then even cherry and apple hand pies with a tablespoon of sweetened cream cheese.
 
Joan and I created a sandwich program for am/pm convenience stores for ARCO gas stations and produced Mighty-Melts—a square-shaped spinoff of Toas-Tites. We even got a waffle iron company to run the production molds of these “machines.” By the way, in Sidney, Australia they called Jaffles.
 
When we were disposing of some of our seldom used equipment in the test kitchen, we reluctantly sold several of the originals Toast-Tite irons and even two of the long-handled campfire versions. We even sold off the original proto-type Mighty-Melt press.
 
I bring this up because my brother recently sent me a replica of the 1949 original that he found on Amazon. I was thrilled and a made a bunch of Toas-Tites over the BBQ grill over the weekend. Our guests loved them, and they were still as great as I remembered.
 
So why are these coming back on the market 80 years later? It seemed that two sisters, Sue and Jan, had one crazy idea. Growing up in the Northwest Chicago suburbs during the sixties, their Mom’s Toas-Tite grilled cheese pudgy pie, along with hot tomato soup, was as much a part of the winter experience as skating on the pond in their backyard.
 
Fast forward 30 years at a road side table, during an outing to the Covered Bridge Festival, Sue finds a Toas-Tite Pie Iron, just like the one she remembered. It was an instant flashback with smiles and OMGs followed by “I have to have it.” But one just wouldn’t do. Jan wanted one for herself, and what about getting one for each of the kids?
 
Upon searching the internet, Jan saw that they are not the only ones wondering what happened to the Toas-Tite? Why isn’t anyone making these anymore? Now the crazy part… Sue and Jan, along with their spouses, dipped into their retirement funds and spent most of 2010 and 2011 going through all the necessary steps to bring the Toas-Tites pie irons back to the market.
 
September 2011, the sisters relaunched the Toas-Tite Pie Iron at a street fair on Broadway, in New York City. So, for those who remember the original… they’re baaaack!  Now you can make these great mighty melt Toas-Tites for your kids and grandkids just like you used to enjoy them when you were a kid.
 
Prep time:  2 minutes
Grill time:  2 minutes
Yield:  1 Toas-Tite sandwich
 
Ingredients
 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 slices of bread (large size loaf)
2 slices of American cheese (I prefer Kraft singles)
2 slices of crisp bacon, cut in half
 
Directions

1. Lay out the 2 pieces of bread and lightly butter both sides.
2. Place a slice of cheese on each slice of bread.
3. Top the cheese with the bacon, and then top it with the bread.
4. Place the sandwich in the Toas-Tite; close it and latch it shut.
5. Using a sharp paring knife run it around the outside of the Toas-Tie press.
6. Place it over an open flame for about a minute or two on both sides to toast the bread to a golden brown.
7. Open the press, plate up the sandwich and serve with chips.

ChefSecret:  Like candy bars, loaves of bread have gotten smaller and may not be big enough to cover the Toas-Tite grill. Try rolling out the bread with a rolling pin or simply cut of a third piece of bread in half and fit it in—close the grill and start cooking. 

Quip of the Day:  “I love Toas-Tites. Let’s face it, life is better between two pieces of bread.”
-------------------------------------------
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. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. 
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. 

​#Entree #Lunch #Sandwiches #ToasTite #Bacon #Cheese #Egg #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
​
                                         ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2022

How you doin’? This is a delicious, fun crispy-cookie-style bar with the taste and texture of a Butterfinger bar. Butterfinger was invented by Otto Schnering in 1923 after he founded the Curtiss Candy Company in Chicago the year before.
 
The company held a public contest to choose the name of this candy. In an early marketing campaign, the company dropped Butterfinger and Baby Ruth candy bars from airplanes in cities across the United States as a publicity stunt that helped increase their popularity—it was raining chocolate and peanuts.
 
The first bite of a Butterfinger bar is a unique experience. There’s no candy that quite captures the same flaky crunch of this peanut-y pleasure. After several different shifts in ownership, the taste and texture has remained pretty much the same.
 
The whole thing starts off with real, freshly roasted runner peanuts. These peanuts are then ground into a creamy peanut butter—the base for the Butterfinger filling, with additional ingredients to deliver that crispy, crunchy texture.  
 
To get that rich flakiness, the recipe calls for the addition of hybrid corn flakes to create the light, airy and perfect texture that compliments the smooth peanut butter. They’re stirred into the churning vat of peanut butter, making up the Butterfinger center!
 
While the peanut butter is being readied, another mixture is boiling away. It is a mixture of molasses, corn syrup, sugar and water which is heated 300⁰ F degrees, and then poured onto a cooling table to rapidly bring down the temperature. The sudden temperature changes cause the candy to crystallize, adding even more of a bite to the consistency of the filling. Then the whole thing is covered with chocolate.
 
Nestlé sold over twenty of their candy brands, including Butterfinger, to Italian chocolatier Ferrero, for $2.8 billion. The newly acquired brands were folded into the operations of the Ferraro Candy Company. Butterfinger has since been reformulated to improve the flavor and texture with a cleaner label.
 
Here is my version of a clean label Butterfinger-style confection.
 
Prep time:  15 minutes
Cook time:  20 minutes
Cool time:  20 to 25 minutes
Yield:  2 dozen servings
 
Ingredients 
Food release spray (I prefer Pam)
4 cups crispy cereal (corn flakes or crispy rice)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup white corn syrup (I prefer Karo)
1/3 cup molasses
1 (16 ounce) jar crunchy peanut butter
2 cups milk chocolate chips
 
Directions

1. Line a 9 x 13-inch pan with aluminum foil leaving a 2-inch overhang on either side.  The overhang will make it easier to remove the sheet of confection when it has set up.
2. Spray the foil with food release.
3. Using a rolling pin, slightly crush the crispy cereal; set aside.
4. Heat the sugar, syrup and molasses together in heavy pan until boiling, then cook to 300⁰ F; check the temperature with a candy thermometer.
5. Remove from the heat and carefully add the peanut butter, mixing until well blended.
6. Pour the mixture over the lightly crushed cereal, coating it well.
7. Transfer to the prepared 9 x 13-inch pan pressing into the corners.
8. Melt chocolate chips in a small saucepan.
9. Spread the melted chocolate chips over the crushed cereal mixture.
10. Chill for 20-25 minutes.
11. Cut into 24 bars.

ChefSecrets:  If you ever wondered, it’s the molasses that gives the Butterfinger the unique orange color.

Quip of the Day: “I tried juggling some candy bars but kept dropping them. I guess I have Butterfingers.”
-------------------------------------------
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, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America.

#Desserts #Snacks #ButterfingerBars #CrispyCereal #PeanutButter #NationalPeanutBoard #NPB #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                         ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022

How you doin’? Peanuts just might be the magical ingredient for a happy life. 
 
The peanut's origins have been traced to Peru. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish and then spread to Africa and Asia. It arrived in North America in the mid-18th century with African slaves.
 
Before the salted caramel craze, there was the peanut pie. Some say it's simply a poor man's version of pecan pie—I don’t, I think it stands on its own and I love it. Others say its salty-sweet punch was inspired by the flavor thrills of a now-vanishing gas station treat created by pouring a five-cent packet of salted peanuts into a bottle of ice-cold Coke. Either way, we say it's a crackerjack pie.
 
It's at its finest when made with roasted, Virginia peanuts, the super-sized Cadillac of peanuts grown in the sandy soils of Tidewater Virginia and North Carolina. The near century-old Virginia Diner, located a stone's throw from the country's first commercial peanut farm in Wakefield, serves up a swoon-worthy peanut pie topped with a tender peanut-brittle-like veneer. It's totally addictive.
 
One of the first variations on the original recipe peanut pie that I tasted was Peanut Butter Cream Pie served at Williamsburg's Shields Tavern. There's something about this pie that gives it a nostalgic quality, whether through childhood memories jogged by the peanut butter flavor, or via the old-time creamy filling I remember as a kid.
 
This pie recipe makes, what I would call, an upscale ice cream pie with a delightful crispy rice crust. This is one of those heritage recipes that you can easily add to your family’s must have list.
 
Total Prep time:  15 minutes
Chill time:  10 minutes (for the crust)
Freeze time:  5 hours or overnight
Yield: 8 servings (1 9-inch pie)
 
Ingredients 
For the pie crust
Food release spray (I prefer Pam)
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2-1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
 
For the pie filling
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
10 ounces sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup warm chocolate fudge sauce (more if you desire)
1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
 
Directions
To make the pie crust

1. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9-inch deep dish pie pan with food release.
2. In a heavy sauce pan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate chips.
3. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the rice cereal until coated.
4. Press into the bottom and sides of the prepared 9-inch pie plate.
5. Pop the finished crust in the freezer for 30 minutes.

To make the pie filling

1. In a large bowl, beat the whipping cream to stiff peaks; set aside.
2. In a separate large bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.
3. Gradually beat in the condensed milk and peanut butter until smooth.
4. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla.
5. Gently fold in the whipped cream.
6. Pour the filling into the frozen prepared crust.
7. Drizzle the fudge topping over pie.
8. Freeze the finished pie for 5 hours or until firm.
9. Keep the finished pie in the freezer until 30 minutes before serving to temper. It makes it easier to cut and more enjoyable to eat.
10. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts on the top before serving.
11. Store leftovers covered in the freezer as well.

ChefSecrets:  I use creamy peanut butter, but it is okay to use crunchy. You can substitute a store-bought chocolate wafer crust for the crispy rice crust if you prefer. The lemon juice brightens the flavor of the pie filling without added salt. 

Quip of the Day: “Why did Charles Schultz call his comic strip Peanuts?
The name Peanuts was chosen because it was a well-known term for children at the time, popularized by the television program “The Howdy Doody Show,” which debuted in 1947 and featured an audience section for children called the “Peanut Gallery.”
-------------------------------------------
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, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America.

#Desserts #FrozenPeanutButterPie #PeanutButter #Chocolate #CrispyCereal #NationalPeanutBoard #NPB # #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup
                                             ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022

​How you doin’?  Peanut Butter cookies have been an American favorite for years. Ever wonder who invented the peanut butter cookie? The Peanut Butter Cookie was invented in 1910, when George Washington Carver of Alabama's Tuskegee Institute published a peanut cookbook to promote peanut crops across the south.
 
In his cookbook entitled, How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption, Carver included several cookies recipes that called for chopped peanuts. Peanut butter was added to the cookies 20 years later along with the fork marks that are associated with this cookie. In 1932, the Schenectady Gazette published the first peanut butter cookie recipe that called for crisscrossed fork marks on the top. Today, a peanut butter cookie just wouldn't be quite right without this iconic decoration!
 
To set the record straight, the Aztecs invented peanut butter in the 14th century, but peanut butter cookies didn’t become an American favorite until the early 20th century.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Chill time: 30 minutes
Bake time:  12 to 15 minutes
Yield:  48 cookies+
 
Ingredients 
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1-1/4 cups smooth peanut butter,
1 cup vegetable shortening (I prefer Crisco)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 cup granola cereal (I prefer Quaker Simply Granola)
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350⁰ F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the peanut butter, shortening, butter and vanilla.
4. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until well combined.
6. Add the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time, beating until dough is firm.
7. Fold in the granola cereal.
8. Chill the dough for about 30 minutes.
9. Use a tablespoon to make 1-inch balls of dough and place them 3 inches apart on a parchment-lined sheet pan. 
10. Use a fork to press down on each cookie twice, making a distinctive crisscross pattern.
11. Bake on the center rack oven 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. 
12. Allow to cool on the pan 5 to 10 minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack.
13. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.

ChefSecret:  Save the unbaked dough for another day. Scoop and bake the premade dough and have fresh-baked cookies in less than 20 minutes.

Quip of the Day: “Have you ever noticed that all the instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from earth?”
-------------------------------------------
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, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. In this New Year, seek out the good in people and avoid conflict. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America.

#Baking #Cookies #Snacks #Peanuts #PeanutButter #PeanutButterGranola #NPB #NationalPeanutBoard #GeorgeWashingtonCarver #QuakerSimplyGranola #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

​                                             ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022

​How you doin’? Last year with all the Covid issues and the fact that we moved our offices and test kitchens, I never got a chance to set-up the Christmas tree. That didn’t happen this year; I put up my tree even before Thanksgiving and have been in a much better mood ever since!
 
A tree is a tree is a tree… it’s a basic icon of holiday cheer, but the Christmas bauble is very personal and comes with an obscure history.
 
Today, we call them Christmas trees, but the decorative evergreen long pre-dates the celebration of Christmas. Evidence suggests that the practice of adorning the home with evergreen boughs during the winter solstice dates as far back as the ancient Egyptians (you may have seen a decorated tree when the workers topped-out the pyramids). The comforting presence and aroma of evergreens offered hope during winter’s coldest days and longest nights, serving a similar purpose in the various pagan winter solstice rituals of the Druids, Romans and Vikings.
 
Our current Christmas tree tradition is thought to have originated in 16th century Germany, where small evergreen trees were decorated with the likes of candles, apples, nuts and berries as “paradise trees” in religious entertainment offerings. Over time, devout Christians integrated these decorated trees into their homes during the holiday season. The tradition, which became a Christian ritual, began to spread across Europe.
 
German immigrants brought the Christmas tree to America in the 18th and 19th centuries, where it was promptly rejected by Puritanical religious groups for its historically pagan connotations. While it took a while to catch on, small communities of German-born settlers documented the continuation of this practice as early as the mid-1700s.
 
In the late 1840s, a published depiction of the favorable Queen Victoria celebrating Christmas with her German-born husband, Prince Albert, and their family around a decorated evergreen tree transformed the practice into a fashionable one that wealthy Americans soon rushed to adopt.
 
In short order, local businesses caught on to the ornament’s commercial potential. Personally, I have decorations for 3 large trees—one is my food tree, the second one is my travel tree and the third is a crystal tree. I have collected most of these decorations over the years. Now if you’re just starting out and don’t want to ship money to another country, you can make your own Christmas tree decorations right in your own kitchen with my Cinnamon Gingerbread Tree Ornament recipe. By using coconut oil instead of butter, you should get at least 3 years use before having to remake your baked decorations.
 
Prep time:  45 minutes
Chill time:  minimum 2 hours
Bake time:  12 to 15 minutes
Decoration time:  Allow at least a couple of hours to do it right
Yield:  24 average size decoration cookies

Ingredients
5 cups all-purpose flour
3-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
16 tablespoons coconut oil (see ChefSecret below)
2/3 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup molasses
 
Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
2. Place the coconut oil and brown sugar in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until well mixed.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating smooth after each egg is added. Scrape down the bowl and paddle.
4. Reduce the speed and add in about half of the flour mixture.
5. Add the molasses, then scrape the bowl and beater.
6. Add the remaining flour mixture, about 1 cup at a time, and beat after each addition until it has all been incorporated into the dough.
7. Place half the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and press it to about a 1/2-inch thickness.
8. Wrap the dough securely and repeat with the remaining dough.
9. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or for up to 3 days.
10. Preheat the oven to 350⁰ F.
11. Prepare two baking sheets and line with parchment or a Silpat.
12. Cut refrigerated dough in half and re-wrap the second half, place in fridge.
13. On a floured surface, roll the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick.
14. Use a floured cookie cutter to cut the cookies. As they are cut, place the cut cookies on the prepared pans with about 1 inch between them on all sides. Repeat with remaining dough.
15. Save, press together, and re-roll remaining pieces of dough (they don't need to be chilled before re-rolling).
16. Bake the cookies until they become dull and dry looking and feel slightly firm, about 12 to 15 minutes.
17. When they are removed from the oven, immediately use the rounded end of a skewer to place a hole in the top of cookie for the ribbon or string to thread through!
18. Decorate when cool or store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover.

ChefSecret:  Use this recipe for ornamental holiday decorations. For more flavorful gingerbread cookies to eat, replace the coconut oil with unsalted butter.
 
                                Edible Decorative Icing For Gingerbread Cookies
 
This easy royal icing recipe for sugar cookies is easy to make! No need for egg whites, meringue powder—there are just four simple ingredients required to whip-up with a hand or stand mixer.
 
Ingredients
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
water, for thinning, as needed
gel food coloring, if desired
 
Directions

1. Add confectioners’ sugar to a mixing bowl or to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment.
2. Start mixing on low and slowly add the milk, corn syrup and vanilla extract.
3. Continue to whip on medium until smooth.
4. If the royal icing is too thick, thin it out by adding a little water until it reaches the proper consistency.
5. If the icing is too thin, add additional confectioners’ sugar a teaspoonful at a time, until it reaches the proper consistency.
6. If you want to color to your royal icing, use gel food coloring.

 
Quip of the Day: “Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.”
-------------------------------------------
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, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. 

#Baking #GingerbreadOrnaments #ChristmasTreeOrnaments #CinnamonGingerbread #RoyalIcing #QueenVictoria #PrinceAlbert #2021HolidaysRecipeCollection #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                         ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021