Cookbook Giveaway: Mealtime Magic

The downsizing of my cookbook collection continues, with another cookbook giveaway. This coming week I’m giving away “Mealtime Magic,” by Joey Green, published in 2007.  It’s a quirky book filled with over 250 recipes that use name-brand ingredients in unexpected ways. Coca-Cola glazed brisket, Cheerios-crusted chicken, Cheez Whiz in coleslaw, and Tabasco cookies are a fw of them.

There are directions for cooking shrimp in a clothes dryer, and salmon in a dishwasher. That might make for an interesting kids’ science project.

There’s even a mention of Utah’s Jell-O consumption, the 2002 Olympics Green Jell-O pin,  and a recipe for a lime Jell-O ambrosia salad.

There’s a lot of historic trivia about how different food companies got their start. Did you know that Dr. Pepper is the oldest major soft drink in the U.S.? It was invented in 1885 at a drug store in Waco, Texas.

In 1852 James Drummond Dole founded the first successful pineapple growing and canning operation in Hawaii.  It became the state’s second largest industry and made pineapple available in every grocery store in the country.

Ketchup evolved from a sauce made in Singapore called kechap.  In the 17th century, English and American sailors whose stopped in Singapore wanted to duplicate it when they got home.  in 1876, Henry J. Heinz introduced the first mass-produced bottled ketchup.

The Jif plant in Lexington, Kentucky is the largest peanut butter-producing facility in the world. A jar of peanut butter can be found in nine out of ten American homes.

If you’d like to read more trivia and try out the recipes yourself, just leave a comment on this blog post.  You’ll need to leave a name other than Anonymous so I can identify you.  I will draw out one name on Friday, March 14.  I will announce the winner on this blog. You’ll have to email your snail mail address to me so I can send you the book.