NATIONAL WHITE CHOCOLATE DAY
Sunday, September 23 is ‘National White Chocolate Day’. Even though there are probably many, many Chocolate Lovers in this country and around the World, White Chocolate is probably not considered to even be in the Chocolate Category.
Even though White Chocolate is made from ingredients derived from Chocolate, it cannot actually be considered ‘Chocolate’. It is a combination of Cocoa Butter, Milk Solids, Milk Fat and Sugar. What White Chocolate is missing as compared to ‘real’ Chocolate are the Cocoa solids which are separated out during the processing of the Cocoa Bean. In Dark and Milk Chocolates the Milk Solids are recombined with the other ingredients. Therefore, ‘White Chocolate’ is lighter in color (actually a creamy ivory color) and has a much milder taste than Chocolate. If you are a real Chocolate Lover, you probably won’t like White Chocolate but for those of us who prefer the lighter and milder taste, White Chocolate is the perfect thing.
White Chocolate is used in baking and candy making and in creamy desserts. Some of my favorite items made with White Chocolate are:
White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Raspberry Sauce.
White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Blondie Brownies
White Chocolate Covered Strawberries white-chocolate-covered-strawberries/
White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting white-chocolate-butter-cream-frosting/
White Chocolate Rice Krispy Candies white-chocolate-rice-krispy-candies/
White Chocolate Cheesecake makes an elegant dessert, especially with the Berry Sauce served with it. White Chocolate Chip Cookies are a nice variation on Chocolate Chip Cookies as are the Blondie Brownies.
White Chocolate Covered Strawberries are delicious, especially in the Spring when Strawberries are at their best. It is also nice to dip the Strawberries in dark Chocolate on one side and the White Chocolate on the other side or to just stripe the dipped berries with the opposing color. Whichever way you do it, the Berries will be delicious.
White Chocolate Buttercream frosting provides a nice contrast to a Dark Chocolate Cake.
And White Chocolate Rice Krispy Squares takes everyone’s favorite treat one step ahead.
White Chocolate Rice Krispy Squares
Categories: Baking, Cooking for Everyone, Dessert Ideas, Food as Gifts, Main, National Food Days Tags: Blondies, Cheesecake, Chocolate, Cookies, Dark Chocolate, Desserts, Strawberries, White Chocolate
LEMON JUICE DAY – August 29th – 2012
August 29th is ‘Lemon Juice Day’. How many ways can you think of to use Lemon Juice? Can you live without Lemon Juice? Some people do, but I couldn’t. There are so many ways to use Lemon Juice and it is such a necessity to keep so many foods from oxidizing and turning that ugly dark color that makes food unappetizing to eat.
Lemon Juice is an ‘Anti-oxidant’ – a product that protects the surface of other foods from the oxygen in the atmosphere. Oxygen reacts with foods like Bananas, Apples and Avocadoes and turns them an ugly dark color and makes the food lose their palatability.
Lemon Juice is also an excellent and necessary ingredient in many baked goods, entrees and beverages.
Entrees that require or are enhanced by the addition of Lemon Juice are:
Veal or Chicken Piccata chicken-picatta/
Grilled Shrimp grilled-shrimp/
Beef, Chicken or Lamb Kabobs
Condiments that use Lemon Juice are:
Seafood Cocktail Sauce seafood-cocktail-sauce/
Salsa (Lemon or Lime Juice)
Guacamole (Lemon or Lime Juice)
Baked goods that use Lemon Juice are:
Lemon Meringue Pie lemon-meringue-pie/
Lemon Meringue Cookies
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Lemon Pound Cake
Lemon Cream
Lemon Mousse
Beverages that use Lemon Juice are:
Lemon Ade sparkling-lemonade/
Watermelon Lemonade
Strawberry Lemonade
Iced Tea
Lemon Juice is also a great flavor enhancement for fruit such as Melons, Berries and Tropical Fruit such as Mangoes and Papaya. If you have a lemon tree that provides you with an abundance of lemons, squeeze them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays for easy use whenever you need them.
Categories: Baking, Beverages, Condiments, Dessert Ideas, Dinner Ideas, Main, National Food Days Tags: Beverages, Cookies, Desserts, Entrees, Lemon Juice, Lemons
