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The fine folks over at Mr. Food.com have another great book giveaway for you!  They will be giving away FIVE copies of this book, “What’s New Cupcake?” by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.  This book contains many creative ideas for professional looking cupcakes, without requiring the knowledge and education of a professional pastry chef.  These ideas use candy and other easy-to-find grocery store items to make great looking cupcakes.

For example, check out these Corn on the Cob Cupcakes.  This recipe was featured on Mr. Food’s nationally syndicated TV cooking segment, the video to which is available at this link.  Don’t they look SO like real corn on the cob?  Forget the Lipofuze and other weight loss stuff for once, and have some fun!

To enter to win a copy of this book, all you have to do is go to the contest page and fill out the form.  You can gain extra entries by blogging about the contest, Tweeting about it, or linking to MrFood.com on your sidebar or blogroll.  The deadline to enter is July 11, 2010 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time.  Good luck!

I’m telling you…for someone who doesn’t have cable at home, I sure do enough shopping on QVC.  Usually I watch the shows online for the Bare Escentuals Today’s Special Values.  There were such shows on a couple of weeks ago, I ordered a few items, and I went to the Q site to check the order status.

And that’s when I saw this really cool casserole getup.  It was the TSV sometime last week.   I immediately wanted it because it’s a multi-tasker.  I’d seen vertical roaster getups that did only that, no removable insert, only good if you’re making beer can chicken or otherwise roasting a bird vertically.  But this one is great because  it does have a removable insert, so you can use the pan as a regular casserole.  Since I’ve been in need of a nice stoneware lidded casserole, and the price was right, I went ahead and ordered it…in red, just like you see here.

It arrived the other day, but I have yet to use it.  I’ll post a full review and a recipe once I have tried it.  But it’s a good-sized, good quality cooking vessel.  The insert is non-stick is that means it would be easy to clean.  Unlike other stoneware, this can be used on the stovetop, in the oven, and even on the grill…some of the recipes that come with this call for putting this on the grill for stuff like beer-can chicken.  But it also gives oven instructions for those who do not have an outdoor grill.  The vessel is also fridge, freezer, and dishwasher safe, although I would not take it directly from the fridge or freezer and putting it on any hot surface, not until it reached room temperature.  To do so may cause the stoneware to crack.

Anyhoo, I need to stay off the Q website for a while.  Next thing you know, I might see some good deals on something like plasma mounts, and order, when I don’t even have a plasma TV! I will try to be good!

I’ve talked here before about Mr. Food.  Long before Rachael Ray was doing her 30 Minute Meals (warning – link has auto-play sound and video) thing, there was Art Ginsburg, better known as Mr. Food.  His syndicated cooking segment has been broadcast nationwide, mostly during local TV news programs, for over 30 years now.

I first got into Mr. Food in the early 90′s, when I saw him on QVC.  Money was very tight back then, and his books were the ones I most often reached for.  The recipes are very easy to make, tasty, and consist only of ingredients that are very easy to find in most supermarkets.  No having to go to fancy gourmet shops, and none of his ingredients are very expensive.

Mr. Food Cooks Like Mama is one of his older books, and is sadly out of print.  However, if you click the link, you will be taken to the Amazon page for the book, where many sellers are offering it, both new and used.  This and his other older books are well worth seeking out.  His newer books that are still in print are available at Amazon, as well as at MrFood.com.  He also still appears on QVC.

Here is a recipe that I made for tonight’s dinner from this book.  Just seven ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen.  If you don’t have the “seasoned salt” called for, just use regular salt instead.  If your pork chops are larger (what I had weighed twice as much as what the recipe calls for), double the sauce ingredients and maybe cook the chops for a few minutes longer.  But whatever you do, use a large enough pan.  Don’t crowd the pan, or else the chops will steam, and not brown. I also like to turn the chops halfway through the simmering process.

Dijon-Honey Pork Chops

1¼ – 1½ pounds pork loin chops, about ¾-inch thick
Seasoned salt for sprinkling
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup orange juice
1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Sprinkle both sides of chops liberally with seasoned salt. In a large skillet, heat oil; brown chops for about 2 minutes per side. In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients, pour mixture over chops. Cover skillet, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until done.

I served this with rice pilaf and lima beans, spooning the tasty sauce over the pork and the rice.  YUMMIE.

Look what Mr. Food is giving away this week!  It’s a digital thermometer from AcuRite, that comes complete with a pager so that you can leave the kitchen and do other stuff, take the pager with you, and it will beep when your food is done.  It’s great for the barbecue, but is also useful when cooking a large roast, such as your Thanksgiving turkey. I know that on Thanksgiving, I’m so busy, that my mattress beckons, and a short nap is good. But I want an alarm to go off, so I don’t burn the turkey!

You stick the probe into the meat, set the thermometer to time, temperature, whatever, and leave the digital part outside of the oven.  You don’t have to keep opening the oven to check food for doneness, as you would with a regular instant read thermometer.  Something like this is truly a must-have for any serious cook.

This item has a retail value of $39.95.  But you can win one for free, if you go ahead and enter the contest.  The contest page is HERE.  You can also earn extra entries by Tweeting and blogging about the contest, as well as linking to Mr. Food on your website or blog.  I’d love to put a permanent link to Mr. Food in my sidebar, but my WordPress is screwed up and won’t let me edit my files.  Maybe I’ll just put it on one of of other blogs where I don’t have this problem for now.  Hopefully, I can get this WP problem resolved soon!

You have until June 9, 2010 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time to enter, so do it now, before you forget!

Remember the turkey breast dish that I made a couple of weeks ago?  The original recipe called for a boneless breast, but since I could not find one, I bought a bone-in one and boned it out myself/  I used the bones to make the slow-cooker turkey stock.  Anyhoo, I had plenty of leftover turkey meat, as well as some of the fresh green beans that i served with it.  So I made soup!

The *recipe* I used is very loosely based on Alton Brown’s Bird To The Last Drop, mostly in that I used Old Bay seasoning and thyme to season it, as he does.  But I didn’t have a turkey carcass, as I’d already used what bones I had for the slow-cooker stock.  I also prefer noodles to rice in my soups.

So basically, what I did was dump the stock into a large pot.  The stock was very highly concentrated to the point that it was thick and gelatinous.  I had cooked it down like that on purpose, to save space in the fridge/freezer.  After it was done cooking in the slow cooker, I strained it into a pot on the stove and boiled it down that way.

So naturally, I had to add water, enough to make about four quarts of broth.  Brought it to a boil and threw in a bag of egg noodles.  When the noodles were nearly cooked, in went the leftover green beans and a package of mixed frozen veggies, along with the Old Bay seasoning and thyme.  When it came back to a boil, in went the leftover diced turkey.  Bring back to a boil, and simmer until it’s all nice and hot.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Nomnomnom…

Exact amounts are not important, use what you have.  The way I did it, it made a LOT.  But remember, NOTHING was wasted, not even the turkey breast bones.  And it’s good for the soul, especially on a rainy icky day like today…much better than medical treatments for depression!

Enjoy!