Thanksgiving Is All About Heroes

That is, HERO recipes. Hero recipes are recipes that have driven consumption of a product for years. Baker’s “One Bowl Brownies” recipe has sold a lot of chocolate for Baker’s. The “New York Style Cheesecake” recipe has sold a lot of cream cheese for Philadelphia. The Velveeta and Ro-Tel Queso dip recipe has sold a lot of Velveeta for Kraft.

Every family has their traditional dishes. If those dishes are not served on the big day, it just seems that something is missing. It is amazing to me on how many of those recipes were developed by food manufacturers in the 1950’s and that they are still popular today.

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal this week about Dorcas Reilly who developed the recipe for Green Bean And Mushroom Casserole for Campbell’s Soup Company back in 1955. Today Campbell says that 40% of its cream-of-mushroom-soup goes into green bean casserole and that a huge ramp up in sales always occur in the month before Thanksgiving. Just think of how much money Dorcas’s creation made for Campbell’s. Having worked in the food industry with many “home economists” (Now they are called food scientists) I would bet that Dorcas was lucky to have gotten a few hundred dollars for her creation that has made hundreds of millions of dollars for Campbell’s. I know for a fact that the team that developed the “Baker’s One Bowl Brownie” for Kraft didn’t get squat because I was part of the team.

The WSJ article supposes that the recipe might not have been original to Dorcas. Give me a break; there is nothing really original when it comes to recipes. The article explains that a similar dish was served on The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that ran through New Jersey where poor Dorcas grew up. She probably got her inspiration from a train ride. Just think of how many cooks have become famous in the family for making green bean casserole.

My buddy Chip Colonna is famous in his family. The Kennys and Colonna’s have shared Thanksgivings for years and the Colonna kids insist on green bean casserole. Chip’s kids think he is a culinary genius. The truth is that he follow’s Dorcas’s recipe.

Another tradition of the Kenny/Colonna thanksgiving is New England Clam Chowder That we call “Speonk’s Clam Chowder” using my pet name for Chip’s daughter Meagan. The story goes that Chip’s dad used to make clam chowder that the kids loved. Dad figured out that Campbell’s Clam Chowder was better (and easier) than his home made version. That story led me to start making clam chowder for Thanksgiving. My recipe has evolved over the years and has become legendary in our family. I am not sure if it is legendary because it tastes great (which it does) or the fact that after a bowl of this filling chowder you can’t be hungry for the feast to come. Whatever the reason, Thanksgiving clam chowder, is a must for the Kenny/Colonna family.

Dorcas Reilly died last October at the age of 92. Her hero recipe built a brand for Campbell’s and have made culinary legends for many family cooks. But don’t tell my buddy Chip, as I always pass on his legendary green bean casserole

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

Fond Food Memories

Have you ever had a dish that surprisingly brought you back to a memory of your youth? I was once in Frankfurt Germany on business in the 1990’s. We arrived late at night and I hadn’t had dinner. I ordered a potato soup in my room and was amazed that it tasted just like the “Hot Dog Soup” that my next-door neighbor Eva Walters used to make in the 1960’s.

As kids we all loved the hot dogs, but what gave it the flavor and more importantly the fantastic texture were the potatoes. This soup reminded me of my youth and the fact that it was the potato that made the soup surprised me. This soup is also very easy to make and works great as a first course for a supper club dinner party. (See the recipe)

Our neighbors, the Walters, were German. Mr. Walter had been a U-Boat captain during the war. His submarine had got stranded on a sand bar and he spent most the war in a British prisoner of war camp. I will never forget spending a Christmas Eve with the Walters where when there was conversation about European travel and Mr. Walter went on at length about how we had to go to Norway because the people are so friendly there. That night walking home my dad said to me: “Of course he thinks that Norwegians are friendly, the last time he was there he had a sub machine gun around his neck”. Mr. Walter had been part of the German occupation stationed in Norway during the early part of the war.

Note: Pinterest pin From Fran Rita

As it turns out, my father who was Irish loved things German. Of course he loved my mother who was German, but he also loved German food, music and the language. His older brother was a Catholic priest and when my dad was young “Father Pat” was in a monastery in pre-war Germany. Dad learned German so he could converse with his brother. When I was a kid, my parents travelled to Germany and I heard constantly about how wonderful Germany was.

Fast-forward to the 1990’s and I spent a lot of time in Germany on business with Kraft Foods. I once called home to my mom complaining about the Germans. Contrary to what my father had said, the Germans were no fun. In business, it was their way or the highway. It was almost as if they had lost the war, but they were going to make Americans pay for their loss. My mom, ever the cool head, let me vent and then asked: “Where in Germany are you?” I told her Bremen and Hamburg. “Ahah” she said: “That explains it, you are in the north, our family is from the south. People are a lot friendlier in the south”. It is funny, but my friends in Memphis, love this story.

As we head into the colder months of the year, soup is a wonderful first course for your supper club dinner party. Try out this recipe for Potato, Leek and Broccoli Soup with Hot Dogs. Your guests will love it, even without any sub-machine guns.

Photo Credit: Rose & Ivy

4 Ways To Lose Weight And Get In Shape (That Aren’t Exercise)

The following is a guest article by Cheryl Conklin. I am a foodie and after 35 years in the food industry, a food expert. But, I struggle with the management of my own weight. What Cheryl writes is spot on with what I have learned and believe. Enjoy the article

We’ll get this out of the way right now: exercise is extremely important. Regular exercise is one of the most reliable ways to improve your health, and this should not be minimized. However, its impact on weight loss is generally overestimated. Most of weight loss comes down to diet, which means that strenuous workouts, while useful for cardiovascular health, should not be your key focus. Here are a few ways to lose weight and get in shape that aren’t focused on fitness.

Think Long Term

The prevalence of “quick fix” diets in our culture has led to a skewed perspective on how changing your food habits work. Fad diets tend to prioritize rapid weight loss above all else, and many of them do achieve this in the short term. But, when you look at the long-term results, they simply don’t work.

This is because drastic, impractical, and restrictive changes to your diet are not sustainable. A diet only works while you are doing it, and be honest: do you really think you’re going to live off a handful of foods for the rest of your life? This goes for any evidence-backed dramatic diet, such as Keto and Paleo Diets – while it is possible to lose and keep off weight through them, they are a big commitment. Unless you really think you can stick to them, you are better off learning to incorporate healthy eating into your lifestyle.

Get Informed On Gut Health

Your gut is filled with a vast variety of good bacteria, which help keep your digestive system running smoothly. They are also believed to have a big impact on various other areas of your health, including weight loss.

While a lot of it comes down to your natural gut flora, you can actually influence what goes on in there through diet and supplements. For instance, a prebiotic fiber called XOS– commonly found in foods like milk and rice bran – can boost your gut microbiome and help you digest your food better.

Adjust Your Vocabulary

This is a simple thing, but it can have a huge impact on the way you approach food. The way you talk about your diet habits invariably influences how you feel about them, and the vocabulary we have created around certain foods can be extremely toxic. This listby Medium outlines the words and phrases you should be letting go of, including “guilty” and “calorie limit.”

Learn To Eat Mindfully

You’ve probably heard of mindfulness within the context of meditation, but it can actually be applied to various areas of your life. This includes the way you eat. At its core, mindful eatingis about taking a thoughtful and considered approach to your diet habits. This means learning to pick up hunger cues so you don’t over- or undereat, thinking about nutritional value, taking the time to savor your food, and creating regular habits around your meals.

According to the Guardian, the weight loss effects of mindful eating have been provenby a recent study. You probably don’t realize how much food you consume mindlessly, so this can be an extremely useful exercise in figuring out where you are going wrong in your eating habits. It’s also extremely positive, as it helps you eat better and eat less by focusing on enjoying food more, rather than less.

What all of these tips have in common is that they are about adjusting your perspective on diet. The conversation and culture around weight loss has been unproductive – and sometimes, even dangerous – for many years, and it is important that people understand that. Weight loss is a great way to get healthier and to feel better about yourself, but it needs to be done in a responsible way. By combining this attitude with regular exercise, you can achieve your long-term goals in a way that enriches your life rather than making it harder.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay