Save the Date: Good Taste! Pittsburgh Coming to Area

This year’s cooking and wine extravaganza is being held at the Pittsburgh Marriott North in Cranberry.

Calling all Pine-Richland area foodies and wine lovers—this one’s for you. Good Taste! Pittsburgh, the area’s annual cooking extravaganza, is taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 20 at the Pittsburgh Marriott North on Route 228 in Cranberry. The all-day event includes cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs, wine tasting, food samplings, food activities for children and the latest trends in kitchenware and cooking. Lindsey Smith, author and creator of Junk Foods and Junk Moods, Caroline Wright, writer of Twenty Dollar, Twenty Minute Meals, Chef Kevin Watson of Savoy Restaurant and Chef Keith Fuller of Root 174 will entertain attendees with cooking demonstrations and samplings. In addition, guests will enjoy …

• Photos (1)

Food Network's Mario Batali to Make Appearance at Pine Market District

The appearance by the award-winning chef and author will feature cooking demonstrations.

Food Network's Mario Batali will host a Mother’s Day Ladies Day Out culinary adventure at noon Saturday at the Pine Market District. His appearance will feature cooking demonstrations, recipes and sampling from his simple Italian food cookbooks. The Pine Market District is located at 155 Towne Centre Drive, which is in the Village at Pine shopping center on Route 19 in Pine Township.  Batali has hosted Ciao America, Molto Mario and Iron Chef America on Food Network. He also has written nine cookbooks. "Mario Batali believes that olive oil is as precious as gold, shorts are acceptable attire for every season and food, like most things, is best when left to its own simple beauty," according to his bio on the Food Network website. In addition…

• Videos (2)

Simply From Scratch

Hearty Meals Don't Have to be Complicated

Try these simple recipes for Beans, Greens and Sausage or Quick Onion Pot Roast.

Columnist Kelly Burgess is taking time off to enjoy the holidays, so we thought we would rerun her very first column, which debuted on Christmas Eve of last year. Theories abound for why Americans are becoming obese at alarming rates — eating junk food, lack of exercise, too much sugar, and overeating are a few that come immediately to mind. My theory? People aren't cooking enough. And no, I'm not talking about nuking frozen meals, which usually have a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. I'm talking about cooking from scratch. Or at least near-scratch. This column is going to be devoted to preparing easy, healthy meals from scratch, but with the understanding that "from scratch" doesn't mean what it did when our grandmothers were …

• Photos (1)

Simply From Scratch

Life Skills Class has it "Growing" On

High school program provides fresh herbs year 'round

I recently got a winter treat when I spent the afternoon with the kids in the life skills class at Pine-Richland High School. I love to garden, so to be able to get into a greenhouse on a freezing cold day and put my hands in the dirt was heavenly. I went from suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) to feeling very, very happy. But it wasn't just the planting that picked me up. This group was a blast to hang out with. Mark Schweers, their teacher, is also their driver/ scheduler/ organizer/ cheerleader/ friend/ extra parent and goes about all those tasks with an indefatigable vigor. After a few hours I was exhausted, but he still had the energy to stop at the 7-Eleven on the way back to the school so everyone could get a drink. …

• Photos (5)

Simply From Scratch

Think Winter-Fresh Foods

Even winter has its seasonal gems.

Thanks to the snow and school cancellations, the column I was supposed to write this week on an herb-growing operation through the life skills class at Pine-Richland High School has to be put off for a week. Instead, I'm continuing the theme of last week's column, Think Fresh When You Cook, which was about fresh, seasonal cooking. Doing that is sort of a no-brainer in the spring and summer, but it's not as obvious to distinguish what is "in season" in the winter. After all, when we walk into a supermarket there are summer fruits and vegetables available year 'round. Not that I want to discourage anyone from eating anything they have  a taste for, but the problem with these "fresh" produce items is that sometimes they aren't so fresh. …

• Photos (2)

Simply From Scratch

Think Fresh When You Cook

Community Supported Agriculture is basically a subscription to fresh produce.

A few weeks ago a friend shared some items from her "CSA" that she knew she wouldn't be able to use up before she and her husband went out of town. I was glad to take them, because it just happened to coincide with the holidays when our kids were out of school and looking for home cooking in large quantities. For those who are not familiar with a CSA, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture and is basically a subscription to fresh produce that is picked up either weekly or bi-weekly. The growers also occasionally toss in other items, such as fruit or nut butters, ciders and other treats that may be specialties of their farms.  CSAs are an amazing way to have a continuous, healthy, fresh and seasonal supply of fruits and vegetables …

• Photos (1)

Simply From Scratch

Simply From Scratch

Healthy Meals Don't Have To Be Complicated

Theories abound for why Americans are becoming obese at alarming rates - eating junk food, lack of exercise, too much sugar, and overeating are a few that come immediately to mind. My theory?  People aren't cooking enough. And no, I'm not talking about nuking frozen meals, which usually have a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. I'm talking about cooking from scratch. Or at least near-scratch. This column is going to be devoted to preparing easy, healthy meals from scratch, but with the understanding that "from scratch" doesn't mean what it did when our grandmothers were cooking. Now there are so many helpers like canned, jarred, frozen and pre-cut and washed basics, that the process couldn't be easier. It's just as fast as ordering…