Raw pleasure: A girl, a dip and a bag of chips
I just did something I've seen my husband do countless times: I held open a bag of chips just so, pinching the bottom seam tightly, and poured the crumbs into my mouth. I would not let even the tiniest crumb of Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips escape my gullet.
Flavored with nothing but sea salt, these baked chips fulfilled my snack desires. They have the right amount of crunch, with no cholesterol or trans fats and a hearty 4 grams of fiber. Normally a hummus whore, I kept the tub of Tribe Organic Roasted Garlic in the refrigerator and enjoyed these chips au natural.
The next time I shopped at my local Dominick's, I picked up a bag of Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips and was grabbing for another tub of hummus when I spotted a new dip: Signature Café Cucumber Feta Dip. It took everything in me not to rip off the lid and dip right there, but I waited until I got home to get Naked, thinking about the pair more and more with every aisle I turned down.
The reality was even better than what I had anticipated.
I'm tempted to bring this duo to a Super Bowl party, but some things are just better enjoyed in private.
Group pleasures: Market Day has a team of appetizers ready to take the field for your game-day gathering. The Chicken Pico de Gallo Pizzas turned in the best performance with bits of spicy chicken covered in a melange of cheese and peppers.
They cook up in just minutes and will disappear even quicker. I suggest picking up a couple of boxes next time your school or church has a Market Day order, or stop by a Sara Lee-Market Day outlet.
If there are any left after Sunday, they also make a quick midweek meal.
Powder report: Cook's Illustrated put ready-made chili powders to the test and found, as is often the case, that a higher price tag doesn't necessarily mean a better product.
Manufacturers keep their chili powder recipes, including the kinds of chiles they use, close to the vest, so the editors weren't comparing apples to apples when they recently pitted Penzeys against Spice Islands and McCormick's, two of the top blends from the 2000 taste test.
They tasted the powders in a modified chili recipe, leaving out all other spices and seasonings so the chili powder could shine. As in the previous contest, tasters were underwhelmed overall by the chili powders. But again, Spice Islands bested the competition, with a "sweet," "smoky" flavor that was "much more potent than the other two."
Penzeys, available in Naperville and Oak Park stores or by mail order, finished last, with a "flat," "bland" flavor. McCormick's was deemed "rather mild," with a "hint of heat at the end."
Year of the Rat: The Chinese New Year of 4706, the Year of the Rat, will be ushered in at Harper College with a traditional lion dance, chopstick lessons, Chinese cooking demonstration and travelogue from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Student Center Lounge of Building A. The college is at Roselle and Algonquin roads in Palatine.
From 11:30 a.m. to noon in Room A238 of the Student Center, members of the Harper Anime club, a student group that "promotes and studies Asian pop culture, tradition and theology," will demonstrate proper chopstick use and etiquette.
Then, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Student Lounge, local cookbook author Ying Stoller will show the group how to make pot stickers and spring rolls. Free samples, while supplies last, will be available. Stoller, author of "Ying's Chinese Cookbook: Authentic, but Simple," grew up in northeast China and was influenced by her father's culinary skills in their family restaurant.