Sharon Dowell| Oklahoman
If you have a passion for brownies, you're not alone, according to a Betty Crocker Brownie Survey conducted recently.
Americans eat about 4 billion brownies a year, and the more ingredients, the better, it would seem.
In fact, 62 percent of brownie fans prefer them with "the works," including not only nuts but caramel, marshmallow, frosting, chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut, etc. Survey participants listed 30 different extras they enjoy in brownies.
Nuts tops the list of favorite added ingredients. Brownie munchers in the Midwest, Northeast and West prefer walnuts in their brownies, but brownies eaten in the South must have pecans, the survey revealed.
Southerners said a pan of brownies could be polished off in two hours or less at home. On a national scale, 41 percent said it takes one to two days to consume an entire pan of brownies at home.
Twenty-nine percent were honest enough to admit they consumed a pan of brownies in one day or less.
"The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Cookbook," inspired by the popularity of the movie Forrest Gump, will soon be joined by a second cookbook inspired by the Oscar-nominated movie.
"Forrest Gump: My Favorite Chocolate Recipes" is set to hit bookstores before the end of March. It will include 60 recipes as well as recollections of Gump's Mama, as written by Forrest Gump author Winston Groom.
The new book's recipes, including Caramel Turtle Truffle Tart and Forrest's Four-Chips Fudge, were tested in the Southern Living kitchens. The book, published by Oxmoor House, will be priced at $14.95.
When the Academy Awards are handed out Monday evening in Los Angeles, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck and 25 other chefs will serve 1,600 guests at the Governor's Ball.
As guests arrive, they'll be able to choose from these hors d'oeuvres: roasted new potatoes and caviar, three varieties of pizza, vegetable spring rolls with an apricot mustard glaze and crisp potato galette with smoked sturgeon and horseradish cream.
At the table, each guest will have an appetizer plate laden with smoked salmon, crostini with foie gras, asparagus with dijon mustard vinaigrette, seared tuna topped with ginger and wasabe cream, marinated and grilled shrimp, and Italian bread sticks.
The main course will include Lamb Chops With Cilantro Mint Vinaigrette accompanied by stir-fried vegetables and Roasted Salmon With Potato Puree and Tomato Basil Fondue.
Rounding out the menu will be Oscar Chocolate Coffee Crunch Cake with a raspberry sauce and fresh berries.
Each dessert will be topped with an edible Oscar.
Hunt-Wesson has introduced Wesson Stir Fry Oil, a blend of sesame, peanut and canola oils flavored with garlic, sesame and a touch of ginger, and packaged in a flip-top squeeze bottle. The 12-ounce bottles carry a suggested retail price of $2.29.BIOG:NAME:
Archive ID: 605383
