Food Quotations--Part 1

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I collect food quotes. Not prices, no! I collect funny, pithy, clever, interesting food quotations.

Food is so intertwined with life that food quotes are often a comment on the human condition. I have hundreds, and I will share more another time, but this is to prime your pump. Go out and collect food quotes for yourself. One terrific thing DH loves about this collection of mine is that it is out of his sight!

Every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts who decided to stand their ground.

Warning: The Internet may contain traces of nuts.

Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends.  Tom Waits

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments. Unknown

Food Quote: A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it. ~Danielle Steel

Food Quote: Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat. ~ Alex Levin

I just love Chinese food. My favourite dish is number 27.
– Clement Atlee, former British Prime Minister

A peasant must stand a long time on a hillside with his mouth open before a roast duck flies in. Chinese Proverb

Vegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.  ~Jim Davis

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.  ~Voltaire

A morning without coffee is like sleep. ~Author Unknown

There is a lot more juice in grapefruit than meets the eye.  ~Author Unknown

Fettucine Alfredo is dangerous for your health. ~Robert M. Parker, Jr.

We think fast food is equivalent to pornography, nutritionally speaking.  ~Steve Elbert

Slow as molasses in January. ~Proverb

High-tech tomatoes.  Mysterious milk.  Supersquash.  Are we supposed to eat this stuff?  Or is it going to eat us?  ~Annita Manning

Everything you see I owe to pasta. ~Sophia Loren

At the end of every diet, the path curves back toward the trough. —– Mason Cooley

We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. —-Adelle Davis

What is your favorite saying about food? Please leave it in the comment section below.

Cook Smarter Not Harder

I am a cooker. I love food--read about it, look at pix, write about it, watch Food Network shows, and create it. My Dear Husband (DH) says he’s always impressed with how fast I can put a meal on the table. Can I share some of my tips and recipes with you?

I write a monthly food column for The Pinewood News in Munds Park, AZ. I am going  to share here some of what I have been writing about for the paper. I call my column, “The Quick Cook”, because I focus on how to spend as little time as possible putting food on the table while making it LOOK as if you spent a lot of time. “Smoke and Mirrors” might have been a better column title, eh?

Alli, in Mission Impastable, is for sure a Quick Cook. If you’ve read the mystery (with recipes) you know what I mean. She doesn’t like to work hard, either

Quick Cook Tip #1

Always keep some basic mixes in the fridge for quick cooking.

Two mixes are always in my fridge, ready to use and to take an ordinary meal to beyond itself. Trust me. Anything made with either will make people think you worked harder than you did.

Savory Butter

1 cup butter

½ bell pepper, diced (one color, or a mix--red and green is nice for Christmas)

2 green onions, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Pulse the butter, peppers, onion, and garlic in a mini food processor until finely

chopped. After use, cover and refrigerate.

Using Savory Butter:

Use as a spread on grilled bread.

Spread over the gills of a Portobello mushroom and grill. Make a sandwich or cut into pieces for an appetizer.

Put a tablespoon on your cooked pork or steak before serving.

Savory Butter can also be used to sauté veggies or mushrooms to be a side dish or appetizer. Encourage folks to put a schmear on crackers.

Cream Cheese Spread

8 ounces cream cheese (low fat okay)

3 tablespoons prepared horseradish (not creamy)

Soften cream cheese at room temperature. Vigorously stir in horseradish. After use, cover and refrigerate.

Using Cream Cheese Spread:

Make wraps by spreading Cream Cheese Spread on a flour tortilla. Layer on baby spinach and thinly sliced meat. Place a string cheese stick on an edge and roll. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Eat like a wrap sandwich or slice for appetizers.

Cut slivers of veggies and fruits to dip into Cream Cheese Spread. This will surprise people! The sweeter the fruit, the more contrast there is.

Mix with cooked, hot hamburger and serve with crackers for an appetizer.

Mix with mushrooms and sauté in a skillet for a side to meat or as an appetizer.

I hope you enjoy these little spreads that I keep on hand. With them I can make fast appetizers when folks drop by, whip up a dinner side, or perk up the meat.

Where in the World is Sharon Arthur Moore?

Gosh, May just disappeared! DH and I were traveling for three weeks and then dealing with the implications of being gone so long with laundry and chores and meetings and so on. Then we had the big move to the cabin. Whew! I’m worn out!

Another exciting thing is that I was tapped by the Write on Sisters (writeonsisters.com) to be the regular Tuesday blogger for their site. I am thrilled and honored to join this talented group of women.

On the second Tuesday, I post about mysteries and on the fourth about romance. The other Tuesdays each month will be free-wheeling. Come join me over there and leave a comment at my post or any of the Sisters. Great topics!

Oh, and are you following my monthly foodie column in The Pinewood News? It is a small local paper published twice a month. In the second issue, I write “The Quick Cook.” Each column has cooking tips and recipes. Check out www.thepinewoodnews.com near the end of the month.

I promise a more substantive post next week. I just wanted to catch you up.