Dining Recommendations - House of Blues

Wow! What an experience! Just recently I celebrated my dear friend's birthday at the House of Blues Foundation Room...and great food like this is hard to come by. Wonderful from beginning to end, we lavished on an amuse bouche of gently cooked salmon on toast points garnished with a balsamic reduction - to die for! I love salmon! And then for dinner I enjoyed their BLT salad..New Zealand Bluenose Sea bass...and for dessert I had a three bean creme brulee...so yummy! It was all truly yummy and I felt privileged to be part of the celebration. By the way, the Foundation Room is really very elegant with a beautiful lounge setting and fireplaces..if the you ever get the chance to go...go! Sorry it's for members only. But be sure to check out the House of Blues downstairs...it's a fun place to be with great entertainment.

The Foodie's Fortune

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Recipe- Pumpkin Muffins

These simple pumpkin muffins are just what the title says- simple!

Mix together the following ingredients, evenly distribute the batter into a greased 12-cup muffin tin, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven...enjoy!

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

These muffins will stay moist and fresh for up to a week, but feel free to freeze them to keep them for even longer

Produce Lesson- Pumpkin

While there are plenty of pumpkin varieties available to us in grocery stores, farmerst markets and pumpkin patches, it it important to know which pumpkin does what. A category of “standard orange” pumpkins takes up the bulk of pumpkin varieties including the jack-o-lantern, lil’ pumpkemons (little but delicious), baby bear (great to serve soups in), aspen, and kakai (great tasting seeds, roast them!). These standard orange pumpkins grow anywhere from 2 to 25 lbs. But when it comes to the culinary world, there are four reigning pumpkins: buckskin, chelsey, Dickson field, and Kentucky field. Want a beautiful centerpiece? The Cinderella pumpkin truly lives up to it’s name, a large, beautiful, carriage-like pumpkin that looks like it hopped out of your t.v. and onto your dining room table. From small eatable pumpkins to large decorative ones, there’s a pumpkin variety out there for everyone!

Produce Lesson- Pumpkin

The word pumpkin originates from the Greek word pepon, which means “large melon”. Pumpkin is a squash like fruit that varies in size. They are grown for a vast variety of reasons including agricultural (for animal feed), for decoration purposes, and of course culinary reasons. Pumpkins are believed to have originated in North America, but are able to grow worldwide with the exception of Antarctica. The United States alone produces over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin per year! Pumpkin can be boiled, baked, steamed or even roasted, but puree of pumpkin is the most popular use for this fruit. Pumpkin seeds make for a delicious treat too!