Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050073
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Almena Hughes
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Nancy Chang, a professionally trained chef with 20 years of teaching experience, will again offer her series on authentic Chinese cooking. Series I - meeting Mondays from 7 p.m.-9 p.m. or Thursdays from 10 a.m.-noon and beginning Monday and Oct. 13, respectively - will cover the proper ways of using a wok, cleaver and steamer in preparing perfect rice, shrimp in lobster sauce, string beans Su Chow style, steamed pork, walnut chicken in bird's nest, Chinese celery with bean threads, rice flour coconut cake, moo shu pork, Mandarin pancake, chow mein Shanghai style and fish in sweet and sour sauce. Series II - meeting 7 p.m.-9 p.m. beginning Nov. 8 and 10 a.m.-noon starting Nov. 10 - will cover popular Chinese dishes including pepper steak, stir-fried vegetables, fried won-tons, won-ton soup, eight treasure rice pudding, egg rolls, barbecued spare ribs, fried rice and chicken stir-fried with vegetables.
Each limited-enrollment, four-lesson course includes either lunch or light dinner. Special charm is added by Chang's firsthand tidbits about Chinese culture. To register, call 774-8432.
Nancy Maurelli, who gives frequent cooking demonstrations at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op, the Lifestream Center and other locations, will during October and November from 6:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. teach cooking at Cave Spring High School for the Roanoke County Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education Department. Maurelli's class on cooking with fresh herbs is filled, a school spokeswoman said. But there are still openings for her Oriental Sampler, Oct. 13; Fat Buster 101, Oct. 25; Soup, Stews and Chowders, Nov. 8; and Holiday Gifts from the Kitchen, Nov. 15.
Not a Nancy, but on Dec. 1 from 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. offering a class on cooking for holiday entertaining at Northside Jr. High is Lucy Garman. For information or to register for Maurelli's or Garman's classes, call 387-6444 or 387-6449.
Some of the Valley's best cooking will be up for graze at Saturday's annual Affair in the Square at Center in the Square. Sherry Davidson, unofficial food coordinator for the fund-raising event hosted by Davidsons, said it's no small feat for the 25 participating restaurants and caterers to feed, gratis, the approximately 1,500 attendees expected. She said it always amazes her that, "They're just all so gracious and willing to do whatever is needed."
Some new edibles to sample will include an espresso bar; Tex-Mex burgers and barbecue as part of a country-western theme; seafood salad and mini crab cakes or smoked salmon; and a new selection of sweets joining the traditional offerings on the coffee/dessert bar. Tickets, at $30 per person, entitle you to free feasting and entertainment on all five floors of the event. Buy them at Davidsons or the Mill Mountain Theatre box office, or call 343-2441 or 342-5740.
Celebrities' cooking was the theme of "Celebrity Chefs' Cookbook," a collection of recipes from 184 entertainment, sports and political figures, two years ago compiled and self-published by Ruby Jean Caldwell of Salem to raise money for needy children. Caldwell, now in the process of forming a charitable foundation to aid the nation's impoverished as well as starting a new cookbook, said she still has approximately 2,000 of the attractive hard-cover, spiral-bound celebrity books. Recipes run the full foods gamut and include black-and-white photos and brief biographies of the stars who submitted them. The books sell for $19.95 plus $3 shipping and handling. Order from Caldwell at P.O. Box 583, Salem, Va. 24153.
Congratulations to Karen Harris of Roanoke for cooking up a grape jelly good enough to win a first-place ribbon at the recent State Fair of Virginia in Richmond.
Cooking with garlic - in dishes from Italian to ice cream - will be the norm Saturday and Sunday at the fourth annual Virginia Garlic Festival, five miles north of Amherst on U.S. 29. There'll be garlic to plant, for health, in braids, a garlic cook-off, a garlic-eating contest, a garlic queen, plus Virginia wines, music, entertainment, crafts, vendors and children's events. Tickets are $6 for adults; $3 for children under 12. Call (804) 946-2606.
Cooking with sweet Vidalia onions this winter will be possible by placing a mail order reservation by Oct. 15. Bland Farms will also include with orders a complimentary cook booklet of the Bland family's favorite onion recipes. Call (800) 843-2542.
Cooking with Campbell Soup Company's products and redeeming their labels could earn your favorite school athletic equipment, personal computers and software, even a minivan under Campbell's national Labels for Education program. The company expects to award $4.5 million of equipment to schools, daycare centers, public libraries, U. S. military installations and other qualifying groups. Call (800) 424-5331.
Cooking with tofu without the fat is now possible with Mori-Nu Lite Silken Tofu, said to be the world's first low-fat tofu with one percent fat and 60 percent less calories than other tofu brands. Look for it at health-food outlets and test it in this low-fat pie.
MORI-NU LOW FAT PUMPKIN PIE
by CNB