The panel of judges has voted, and the three winners of the first annual Pitch cheeseball competition are officially elevated to cheeseball history. After careful consideration, Jacquelyn Brittain's sweet "Deconstructed Cookie Ball" was chosen as first-place winner, receiving a $50 gift certificate to Pryde's Old Westport, for a dessert-style holiday ball that can be served with fresh fruit and cookies.
Aaron Shrum's "Give 'Em Hell, Harry" cheeseball recipe — a recipe created and prepared by his grandfather during the Korean War for visiting commander-in-chief Harry S. Truman — getting second-place honors, receiving a $30 Pryde's gift certificate. The third-place honors in the contest went to Celeste Lindell's "Garlic Cheese Ball." Lindell received a $20 Pryde's gift certificate.
Special honors go to all of our other contestants, including Barb Beavers, Kathleen Leighton, Sandy Smith, and Brian Spoonemore.
Each of these cheeseballs makes a great addition to a party tray or as a culinary gift item. The winning recipes follow.
There will be prizes tonight for the culinary winners who enter the recipe competition at the "Get Your Grow On!" Community Picnic and Potluck, held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Pavilion at Loose Park, 51st Street and Wornall; the event is part of this weekend's Urban Farms & Gardens Tour.
"We haven't gotten as many recipes as we would like so far," says volunteer Bonnie Winston, who encourages local cooks to bring their favorite dish (it needs to serve at least five people), plus a printed recipe and, maybe, a serving spoon, to the Loose Park Pavilion no later than 6 p.m. There's also a $10 entry fee.
UPDATE: So you want the answers to this quiz? You'd like to know which five of the restaurants were totally phony? Well, we're going to tell you ... on the Fat City Facebook page!
The new hot boite in Prairie Village, Story, is the featured restaurant in this week's Pitch Cafe review. I have to admit that when I first heard the name of the venue, which is the creation of chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen and his wife, Susan, I thought it sounded just a shade precious. Why not Poem? Novella? Haiku? And then again, Story is short, sweet and easy-to-remember. What more could a restaurateur want?
Interestingly, I've heard a half-dozen incorrect variations on the name Tavern in the Village: that other new restaurant in the Prairie Village Shopping Center. Since it opened, people have told me that it's called the Village Green, the Village Tavern, Tavern on the Green, and my current favorite, Tavern on the Range.
Over the years, Kansas City has had its share of unusual and eccentric restaurant names and a couple of real clinkers. In the latter category, I'd nominate the ill-fated Segafredo Zanetti Espresso, the Machine Shed, and the Raisin Rack.
| It's all about happy endings, right? |
One of my tables was occupied by a particularly attractive couple who came into the dining room late, already well-lubricated and radiating hostility to each other. I was terrified that someone might get hit with the wine bottle, including me.
Should anyone be surprised that some enterprising entrepreneurs took the title of the popular 2002 Nia Vardalos movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and used it as a restaurant title? The owners of the Arizona-based My Big Fat Greek Restaurant chain -- the subject of this week's Cafe review -- did, and you have to give them credit: It's clever, and it works.
This isn't an isolated idea. There are many other restaurants named after famous movies, including the Canadian restaurant, above, named for a 1945 Warner Bros. film, Mildred Pierce, about a waitress turned restaurateur -- played by Kansas City's own Joan Crawford.
Until the mid-1990s, I spent almost every New Year's Eve -- starting as a teenager -- busing tables, waiting tables or bartending (or doing all three).
It can be a grueling night for a restaurant staffer, what with a dangerous holiday combination of booze, unrealistically high expectations ("You're having fun, aren't you? Why not?") and pricey packages. For the people working, all that can add up to a lucrative night. But not always.
| Image via Flickr: kapgar |
The correct questions to the "Groovy TV commercials" quiz are: 1) Puffa Puffa Rice 2) Bit-O-Honey 3) Life Savers 4) Cheerios 5) Mounds Bar and Almond Joy ______________________________________________________________
In the 1960s, as catchy pop filled the airwaves, those wise marketing gurus on Madison Avenue figured out that a great way to build brand recognition for a food product was to give it an infectiously memorable jingle. Played enough times on TV -- particularly on Saturday mornings for the youngsters, who would later pester their parents for sugary cereal products, soda pop and candy -- each jingle could become a mantra. You couldn't get the tune or the lyrics -- like this vintage Cracker Jack jingle -- out of your head! Today's contest tests your memory to see if any of those vintage jingles are still lurking around in there.
Banana stickers have evolved over my lifetime. Simple brand stamps with produce tags to be scanned by the cashier have evolved into pithy slogans. Despite all that, I'm not sure bananas will ever be an impulse buy.
Banana stickers are getting another makeover in July. Chiquita Banana is sponsoring a sticker design contest to remind people that the company is still, uh, bananas.
In a simpler, less complicated time, television sitcoms featured happy families where Dad had a good job, Mom stayed home (and frequently had a cook or cleaning lady to help) and the kids were well-groomed, well-behaved, popular in school and sports and, better yet, were sexy teenage heartthrobs, like Ozzie and Harriet's Ricky Nelson or the Donna Reed Show's Paul Peterson.The first commenter to correctly answer the five questions about famous TV moms, dads and housekeepers before midnight tomorrow -- Friday, June 25 -- will win a vintage, slightly worn copy of the 1961 cookbook What Cooks in Suburbia, which features recipes for the kind of dishes you would expect Donna Reed or Mary Tyler Moore to be whipping up in their spotless kitchens: Mock Cheesecake, Fresh Blueberry Roly-Poly and Nesselrode Pie. The questions follow...
| Better luck, next meal |
1) What Plaza restaurant has served chocolate mousse for dessert for more than two decades?
Answer: Chaz on the Plaza, the former Raphael Restaurant in the Raphael Hotel. It's not on the current dessert menu, but the manager insists that you can still have it.
2) What downtown restaurant is currently offering "Drunken Strawberries" for dessert?
Answer: Webster House Restaurant.
Milk & Honey has the best I've had in KC. http://milkandhoneykc.com/
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