March Giveaway!

Hello blog buddies! I can't believe that I've now posted over 80 recipes. My blog is a lot more work than I ever anticipated but I'm having a great time doing it. Thank you all for the kind e-mails that you've sent me over the last few months. You might be surprised to hear that I've also been sent hate mail…and a few pictures of older ladies in various stages of undress. Grandma – tell your friends to stop sending me those!!!

Many of you faithfully read my blog. As a big thank you to all of my blog buddies, I'm doing a giveaway! I was approached by CSN Stores to help sponsor a giveaway. Over 200 online outlets make up the CSN Stores so you can find ANYTHING you could ever want. I'm actually in the market for some new counter stools and I found some great ones on their website. Take a few minutes and check out their great selection of Counter Stools.

When I was growing up, my mother had a Sunbeam Stand Mixer. It was a workhorse. That mixer lasted years before it gasped its last breath while mixing a batch of thick peppernut dough. When I was browsing around the CSN Stores, I noticed that they also had a bunch of kitchen stuff – including Sunbeam Stand Mixers like my mom had when I was growing up. Check this one out:

I'm feeling rather nostalgic so I thought I would give away a Sunbeam Stand Mixer! Here are the rules:

1) You have to live in the U.S. (for shipping reasons). Sorry international blog buddies! Don't worry – I'll have another giveaway soon that you can enter.

2) To enter, leave a comment at the bottom of this webpage and include the name of the counter stool you like best from Allbarstools.com. Just let me know which one you'd get for your own home! This will help me narrow down my choices.

3) In your comment, please be sure to leave your first name and last initial (such as "Aretha F."). After all, I have to know who's entering!

4) You may leave ONE comment only to enter this contest. Be honest now! Your entry must be received by 5:00 pm (CDT) on Wednesday, March 24.

5) The winner will be chosen at random. You have to then return to my blog on Thursday, March 25 to see if you won. I will then ask the winner to send me an e-mail with their complete name and mailing address for shipping.

Good luck – and thank you CSN Stores for helping to sponsor this wonderful giveaway!

Cooking Ventures Newsletter -- October 2009

Hello Blog Buddies!

It's hard to believe that my blog has been up and running almost three months already. I've posted over 50 recipes so far and my blog is now averaging about 250 page views per day and is viewed worldwide.  People email me almost daily to get cooking advice, request recipes, recommend improvements, send hate mail, and more. Feel free to email me anytime at cookingventures@gmail.com or add a comment to an individual recipe posting.

Speaking of comments, the software I use for my blog seems to have a glitch and it can be challenging sometimes to leave a comment.  I just made some technical changes to my blog this weekend.  Hopefully, this will solve (or reduce) the number of errors that people get when they attempt to leave a comment.

If you have not yet subscribed to my blog, you can do so by entering your email on the right side of the screen (or subscribing via RSS feed). I will never sell or give your contact information to a third party. I hate spam as much as you do!

Several people have emailed me asking for permission to give a friend or a relative my website address. No need – my blog is public domain and can be viewed by anyone. The more, the merrier! 

You will notice that I added a translation widget in the right column.  I have readers in 38 countries and I wanted to make it easier for them to read my blog.  I have also considered adding a metric converter in the right column.  I am very comfortable using the metric system so, instead of adding a converter, I may simply list both metric and U.S. measurements in each recipe so nobody would have to take the time to convert anything.  For those of you outside of the U.S, let me know what you think about that idea.  I'm trying to decide if it's worth the extra effort or not.

For the last several weeks, I have posted a recipe every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I track how many people view my blog everyday and I noticed that readership is lowest on the weekends, which I found surprising.  You would think that people would have more time to read blogs on weekends rather than during the week but apparently I'm wrong.   For this reason, I have not been posting recipes on the weekends.  Posting three recipes a week can be a challenge sometimes.  When I started my blog, I never intended to post recipes quite this often but I've had such a fun time doing it!  For the next few weeks, I'm going to post 2 or 3 recipes per week and see how that affects readership.  I'll let you know how this experiment goes in my next newsletter.

Thank you all for allowing me to share my recipes with you! Enjoying – and happy cooking!

Vince
cookingventures@gmail.com

And the winner is...

Thank you to everyone who submitted potential names for my Hong Kong Potato Roll Thingies. The responses were REALLY creative! We had a really difficult time deciding which recipe name to select. After consulting with my mother this morning, we decided to award the US$25 gift card from Bed Bath and Beyond to:

Name: Katie L.
From: British Columbia, Canada
Recipe Name Submitted: Dill-icious Potato Rolls

Katie, by the way, has a wonderful cooking blog herself! Check out: http://betchacanteatjustone.wordpress.com/

Congratulations Katie! Thank you all for entering the contest. I'll try to have more of these in the future!

Vince

Homemade Ketchup (Catsup)

My Venture into Classic American Condiments
Why on earth would anybody go to the effort of making their own ketchup when you can buy it already made from the store? Why would anybody make their own marinara sauce instead of buying it from the store? Or their own cookies? Or their own bread? People make things from scratch when they want to control the ingredients, make it healthier, make it cheaper, or make it better-tasting. Commercially made ketchup is made with a lot of high-fructose corn syrup and is cloyingly sweet. If you are worried about your family consuming too much corn syrup, give this recipe a try.

When I was growing up, my mother would make homemade ketchup using fresh tomatoes from our garden. It was heavenly! If you have a lot of extra tomatoes in your garden, use them to make some homemade ketchup! While I love mom's original recipe using fresh tomatoes, it is really a labor of love. In addition, the various varieties of fresh tomatoes that might be used in making the ketchup cause inconsistent results. In addition, you can only make ketchup during the summer when tomatoes are in season. After all, you would not want to spend the time and money in making homemade ketchup using those tasteless things that you have to buy during the winter. For this reason, I adapted mom's recipe to use canned, whole tomatoes. Upon reading this, my mother is probably rolling her eyes. The reason I decided to use canned tomatoes is because they are picked at their height of ripeness, are inexpensive, available year-round, and produce consistent results each and every time. In addition, using canned tomatoes significantly cuts the total prep and cook time since you do not have to blanch and peel eight pounds of tomatoes. For those of you who wish to use fresh tomatoes, check out this recipe from Karen in Colorado. Her recipe closely resembles my mother's.

The bad thing about making homemade ketchup is the amount it splatters while cooking. When I was growing up, we even had ketchup stains on the ceiling above the stove. I used to tell my friends that it was blood from a neighbor who knocked on the door when mom was trying to watch "Dallas" on TV. If you valued your life, you never interrupted my mother during Dallas.

This recipe is well worth the effort so make it today! Enjoy – and happy condimenting!

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Homemade Ketchup (Catsup)
(Printable Version)

2-28 oz cans whole tomatoes
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3 TBSP tomato paste
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Add half of the onion and one of the cans of whole tomatoes to a blender. Purée for at least 30 seconds or until the mixture is well liquefied. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a dutch oven and strain the tomato mixture into the pot. Use a spoon to help coax the purée through the strainer. Discard any solids that stubbornly refuse to go through the strainer. Repeat with the other half of the onion and remaining can of whole tomatoes.

Add the tomato paste and sugar to the pot and whisk to incorporate. Turn the heat to medium and allow the mixture to come to a vigorous simmer. Once the mixture is vigorously simmering, set your timer for 50 minutes and allow the tomato purée to reduce (uncovered!) -- stirring periodically but more often as the mixture gets thicker. I highly recommend that you use a splatter screen to rest over your pot while the tomatoes are simmering. As the mixture thickens, it may splatter and the screen will keep the ketchup in the pot where it is supposed to be.

After 50 minutes, add the vinegar, salt, and spices. Whisk to incorporate. Continue to simmer (with the splatter screen on) until the mixture thickens to the consistency of ketchup – about 25 to 35 minutes longer. I like mine on the thick side so I usually go the entire 35 minutes.

Once the ketchup has reached the desired consistency, transfer the ketchup to a container (preferably glass so it will not stain) and allow it to cool. When cool, cover and refrigerate. It will keep for about 2 to 3 weeks in the fridge. Like mustard, homemade ketchup will eventually separate so be sure to stir it before using.