December 2005 “Cooking Tips” Winner —
Josephine Pallotta

Sometimes a recipe calls for only a teaspoon or so of fresh lemon juice. It seems like a waste to juice an entire lemon so here is what you can do…roll the lemon on the counter or microwave for a few seconds to get the juices flowing. Insert a wooden skewer through the peel and squeeze out what you need. The lemon remains intact and can be used later for other things.

Josephine Pallotta

Prize:

• Cooking tips:
  Cocoa Amore – Chocolate Amaretto
  Coffee Masters

December 2005 “Cooking Disasters” Winner —
Kelly Scheidegger

My greatest cooking disaster to date happened very early on in our marriage … Like five days after saying “I do.”

After all the hustle and bustle of the wedding festivities and a few days away for relaxation, I was in a mode to clean out my husband’s “bachelor pad”. A neat-nick at heart, I was in my element cleaning corners and sorting stacks he hadn’t touched in years. A peek at the heavily stained oven, and I knew it was going to be an “Easy Off” day as well.

The day drew on and my cleaning was coming to an end, so next on the list was to wow my dear husband with a nice dinner. Conveniently enough, I uncovered some frozen cod in his freezer that was sure to satisfy his love for seafood. Despite the fact that I’m not a fan of any fish or seafood, I was thrilled to not have to run to the store and earn points from the husband in the process. He was amazed to come home from work and see all my accomplishments. A nice dinner, a little more relaxation and a few hours into our sleep we unfortunately had one very, very sick man on our hands.

Long story short... in all the busyness of the day, I forgot to wipe out the Easy Off from our oven after it had time to process the required two hours. Though my husband was quite sick, he thankfully did not require medical attention. A minimum of 2-3 times a year we have to retell the story to more friends – Joking all the while that it was merely part of my grandiose plan to marry him, and then five days later prepare Easy Off laden cod! I am happy to report we have had 5 wonderful years of marriage … But HE is in charge of cooking future seafood items.

Kelly Scheidegger

Prize:

• Cooking Disasters:
  Chocolate Chardonnay Raspberry Fudge Dessert Topping
  Cuisine Perel

Previous Winners

Click here to see our previous "Cooking Tips" and "Cooking Disasters" contest winners!