Beet Chips

(Guest Post By Book Loving Hippo)

The other day I was chatting with some friends about Kale Chips, I told her I had never tried them before. She made some and I tried them. They were so good. It got me to thinking- what other kinds of “chips” can I make? I went on a hunt on the internet and found beet chips. I love beets and figured why not try them?

The recipe I tried was from Shannon on Cooking God’s Way. They were heavenly!!!

Recipe:
3-4 Medium Sized Beets
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl mix together the oil, vinegar, Herbs de Provence, Sea Salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set the bowl aside.

Cut the tops and bottoms off of the beets and slice very thing (the thinner you make them the less time it will take to bake). Place the beets into the oil mixture. Stir so that all of the beets are covered.

Put the beets in a single layer on the baking sheets. Make sure that they are not touching each other. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating the pan once. After 30 minutes, check to ensure that they look dried out, otherwise continue baking.

Pull the beets out and let them cool. The will continue to crisp up as they cool.

Enjoy!

 

College Cooks

Title: College Cooks Cookbook
Author: T.C. Stephan
Publisher: Cool Eatz Publishing
Genre: Cookbook
Rating: 4 Hippos

Impressions:
The College Cooks cookbook is a great cookbook for anyone who is in college or even those who have long since graduated but still want simple and fast meals. They have everything from burgers to tilapia, and even include some healthy food options, something that is missing from a vast number of “college cookbooks”. I was also impressed that they included recipes for homemade dressings and sauces. It’s so much easier to just go to the store and pick up a ready made dressing or sauce, but homemade tastes so much better. The menus they included was an awesome idea- of course the first one was date night, I mean why else does anyone go to college?! I really enjoyed “Taylor’s tips” that were spread throughout the book- they were helpful and cute. The only thing I thought was missing in this cookbook was “cook once, eat twice” recipes or better freezer instructions for meals, or even an entire section on freezer appropriate meals (I know this was kind of covered at the beginning of the book, but a more specific directions would be good- who wants to flip to the front of the book to find out how long they can freeze their date night lasagna for?)- I mean no one has time while in college- we’re out partying, dating, drinking… oh and occasionally studying!

My overall impression of the book- it was a nice simple cookbook, something I will definitely look forward to using. I give this cookbook 4 Hippos!(Guest post by Book Loving Hippo)

Hot and Spicy Festival

The Hot and Spicy Festival was held at Habourfront Center on August 30- September 2, 2013. Even though I do not like spicy food, I did in fact enjoy this event. They had a number of tents with spicy products (and some non-spicy products) from various vendors. It was a lot of fun to walk around from vendor to vendor trying to different products that were available. I tasted a Guava Jam from a cute little vendor. It was absolutely delicious! We also tried a number of the seasonings offered by Fire in the Kitchen Spice Co. They had a selection of marinades and other seasonings. My goodness were they ever spicy!

The festival also had a "Taco Takedown" on Saturday. Chefs from six different restaurants were invited to participate in creating tacos. They were judged on the most original taco, the most authentic taco and the best overall taco. The judges were none other than individuals from the community. For $8 you got a taco from each chef and were asked the judge each of them. Some of the combinations were very interesting, such as the "octopus sautéed in a Sonora achiote & Serrano sauce with cabbage, red onions, & pineapple salsa. Although most of the tacos were spicy (it was the Hot and Spicy Festival after all) I enjoyed most of them. Our favorites were the taco from Pork Ninjas and the taco from El Catrin. We enjoyed the taco from Fonda Lola and the taco from Milagro, but not as much as the first two.



All six tacos for the Taco Takedown



The Taco Takedown Judging Card



The participating restaurants:
Pork Ninjas
Fonda Lola
Rebozos
Pachuco
Milagro
El Catrin



On the Sunday of the festival, instead of a Taco takedown they hosted a Doughnut showdown. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it, but I'm sure it was quite interesting to see.

 

Definitely attending this festival again next year- and arming myself with some milk to help with the heat!