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County Faretasty fresh (MCT) — Strolling the Santa Monica farmers mar- ket on a recent Saturday, thinking about dinner. Five pounds of that thumb-thick jumbo asparagus from Zuckerman Farms? Of course. I already had carrots and favas from my garden. I'd ordered a leg of lamb. But what's for dessert? Almond torte maybe? Lemon curd tart? But all that late-season citrus — Oro Blancos, grapefruits, blood oranges, tangerines — I just couldn't resist them. So maybe I'd do a fruit salad with a spiced syrup? Or just tangerine sections sweetened a little with rosemary honey? Then, suddenly, my mind was made up for me: I tast- ed a wedge of Page man- darin from Armando Gar- cia's stand. The flavor was almost explosive: sweet, spicy, perfect all by itself. Honey? Syrup? Forget it, the juice was almost syrupy just as it was. There's noth- ing I could do to make this thing any better. Still, even I'm not Chez Panisse-y enough to serve just a bowl of fruit and call it dessert. That's where cookies come in. Fancy cookies pair well with fresh fruits Exploring taste: Author helps you savor food with savvy & "Taste What You're Missing: The Passionate Eater's Guide to Why Good Food Tastes Good" By Barb Stuckey; Free Press, $26 MCT photo Snickerdoodles and almond macaroons go well with fruit for dessert. doodle. Its flavor is a little more complex than the macaroon — a combination of browned wheat, the slight bitterness of cream of tartar and sweet spicy cinnamon sugar. Just as we're heading into the heart of the fruit season, a simple cookie can be a cook's best friend. Right now we've got late- season citrus like those mandarins, terrific sweet strawberries, and the first apricots and cherries, then before you know it, peaches and nectarines. There's nothing that complements a great piece of fruit like a cookie. I've got two old favorites that I fall back on regularly. The first is an almond mac- aroon. It's about as simple as a cookie can get — just five ingredients: almonds, sugar, salt, egg whites and a whiff of vanilla. Grind the almonds, sugar, salt and vanilla to a fine powder; beat the egg whites to soft peaks and pulse them into the almond mixture. Roll between wet palms (they're sticky as heck) and bake. The cookies come out of the oven crisp on the outside yet moist and chewy on the inside, with a flavor that is deeply and purely almond. A perfect match for citrus or stone fruit. My other go-to cookie is an old-fashioned snicker- and I have a love-hate rela- tionship with it. I can't tell you how many times I've labored all day over a big dinner party menu only to have everyone walk out telling me how great these danged cookies are. The recipe is my mom's, worse would be if they just talked about the fruit. ___ I guess the only thing SNICKERDOODLES Total time: 40 minutes, plus chilling time cookies Servings: About 4 dozen Note: To make cinna- mon sugar, mix 1 table- spoon ground cinnamon (or to taste) with a quarter cup of granulated sugar. 1 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 2 3/4 cups flour tar 2 teaspoons cream of tar- degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the pad- dle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly between each addition. 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt Cinnamon sugar 1. Heat the oven to 350 2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cream of (MCT) — Many craft beer drinkers hold their nose when it comes to canned beer. Rick Vernon doesn't understand that atti- tude. As the owner of the West Point Market in Akron, Ohio, he has watched as more brew- ers put their well-respected craft beers in cans. definitive American pale ale -- now comes in a can. So does Brooklyn Lager, New Bel- gium Fat Tire, Breckenridge Avalanche Ale and a host of others. Even Ohio brewers Fat Head's and Jackie Sierra Nevada Pale Ale -- considered the O's have announced plans to can when they open new production breweries this year. "They've really kicked it up a notch as far as what they are putting in cans," Vernon said. tartar, baking soda and salt. Add to the shortening mix- ture, beating well. Gather the dough in a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. 3. Tear off walnut-size pieces of dough and roll each into a ball. Dust with cinnamon sugar and place on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are light brown and firm on top, 10 to 15 minutes; the tops will be deeply cracked, and the cen- ters will still be somewhat soft. soft peaks. Add them to the food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times to mix in. The mixture should form a grainy batter. 4. Wet your hands (this chewing, swallowing. Author Barb Stuckey, who leads the market- ing, food trend tracking and consumer research functions at Mattson, a Foster City-based food and beverages develop- ment company, exam- ines taste from all the angles — physical, emotional, creative and even the illusory. Stuck- ey offers simple-to-do exercises using basic food products to train yourself to be a better taster. (MCT) — What it is: Taste is more than just biting, Praises and quibbles: A 400-page book on taste can sound fun or keeps the dough from stick- ing). Tear off walnut-sized pieces of the dough and roll each between your palms into a ball. 4. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 min- utes, then transfer to a cool- ing rack to finish. Store in an airtight container. Each cookie: 91 calories; 1 gram protein; 12 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 8 mg cholesterol; 6 grams sugar; 54 mg sodium. ___ ROONS Total time: 1 hour Servings: About 3 dozen cookies ALMOND MACA- 5. Place the cookies about 2 to 3 inches apart on the baking sheets and bake until they are golden, about 25 minutes. Halfway through, rotate the sheets to get even browning. Remove from the oven and cool. Each cookie: 119 calo- ries; 3 grams protein; 14 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 choles- terol; 12 grams sugar; 22 mg sodium. 8049 Hwy 99E, Los Molinos, CA We Accept EBT 1 pound blanched almonds, either whole or slivered extract 3 egg whites 1. Heat the oven to 300 2 cups sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla degrees. Grease 3 baking sheets. BLACK CANYON ANGUS BEEF WE FEATURE Spareribs Small Size Pork Fresh, 2. Grind the almonds, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the vanilla extract and pulse to mix in. 3. Beat the egg whites to More craft brewers selling their beer in cans estimates 179 craft breweries are offering beer in cans today. And the number is growing rapidly as myths about cans — no, there isn't a metallic taste — disappear and more craft beer drinkers embrace them. There are even whole beer festivals devot- ed to cans, including the Ameri-CAN Canned Craft Beer Festival in Arizona. And this year, the Canny Awards, which honor brewers for the best can designs, were handed out at the Craft Brewers Conference. Sixpoint Brewery won for Diesel. Gottfried Krueger Brewing Co. of We appreciate your business - and we show it! HOURS: 7AM - 9 PM DAILY "Your Family Supermarket" SPECIALLY CUT MEATS AT NO EXTRA CHARGE Prices good June 6 - June 12, 2012 Bone-In Beef Rib Steaks Drumsticks or Thighs $199 lb. Watermelons Personal Size, Pureheart Seedless $599 lb. Blueberries Fresh $129 lb. Crisp Head Meat Specials Fresh Wrapped Fillet Mignon Boneless, Bacon ominous depending on your point of view. Yes, there are some geeky moments of science here where your head might seem ready to start spinning. Stick to it, the moment will pass quickly. Stuckey has a knack for serving up infor- mation in digestible bites liberally larded with a lively sense of fun and common sense. She tackles each of the five sens- es used in eating and the various tastes we experience. Her section on umami, the elusive and often misunderstood fifth taste that evokes a sense of rich savoriness, is one of the clearest explanations I've ever seen. Why you'll like it: Taste is elusive, especially in the most concrete sense of that word. How many of us just mindlessly chow down on something, be it a ripe apple, stale popcorn or a just-right sirloin steak, and never give it another thought? How many of us can't remember what we had for dinner last night? Or lunch today? Stuckey thinks about what's she's eating while she's eating it, breaking down the various components of taste and checking for balance and a proper start, middle and finish. One of her chapters, aptly, is titled "Fifteen Ways to Get More from Every Bite." Try following even a hand- ful of these pointers and your enjoyment of food will increase markedly. 384-1563 STAMPS ACCEPT FOOD WE REQUIRED FOR EVERYDAY LOW PRICING OR SALE ITEMS NO CARDS Trimmed, Beef Tri-Tip Roasts Wednesday, June 6, 2012 – Daily News 5A 12oz. $499 Produce Specials Lettuce Yellow or Green Squash ea. $499 lb. Red or Black Plums Juciy 2 for $500 The Brewers Association, a Boulder, Colo., trade group representing craft brewers, Newark, N.J., is credited with bringing the first canned beer, Krueger's Special Beer, to the market in January 1935. Industry experts say it's less expensive to package cans. 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