And the Winner is...

DUCKY’S WINNING QUESTION

(Just a note before we start, we went ahead and answered everyone's questions, so this will be a long cozy read, so pour a drink or grab a cup of tea and prepare to be erudited.)

We go on road trips quite a lot and pack our own food to save money but crackers and summer sausage get stale (pun intended) after a few days, not to mention not so healthy. What are some suggestions for lunches that are healthy, require minimal refrigeration (i.e. coldness of a cooler or motel fridge), and can mix-and-match so it won't be boring as we'll eat the same thing several days in a row? NOTE: I don't do deli meat or cheese.Thanks and I like the blog a lot!

Ducky

PS. Even if you don't pick my question, can you do a future blog on road trip food?

Well, we did pick your question and will answer it now! BUT that doesn’t mean that we won’t someday do an extended disco street version post on “Food for the Road.” In the meantime, we did a bit of brainstorming to come up with some suggestions for you.

We figured the best way to share was to provide a list of sorts, but one for everyone and not just the non-deli folks, something that covers all of the food groups to help provide a more balanced road food diet.

GRAINS – crackers, rice cakes, sesame sticks, pretzels, rice crackers, cereals. Pita is pretty hardy and will hold up well for making quick, easy-to-fill sandwiches.

FRUITS – apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, and strawberries when in season are the best fresh fruits. There are also plenty of dried fruits available that make a sweet alternative to candy.

VEGGIES – baby carrots are great for nibbling, but a bag of shredded carrots will add a nice crunch to any pita sandwich. Celery slices, pepper strips, snap peas, and grape tomatoes also need minimal to no cooling.

PROTEINS – hummus, peanut butter, assorted nuts, beef jerky, and “canned” tuna or chicken. The latter two come in foil packets that you can mix on the spot with packets of mayo and/or relish and no refrigeration is needed beforehand.

DAIRY – for those who DO eat cheese, you can get string cheese or pre-cubed cheeses for bite-sized snacks and they keep well in a cooler or small hotel fridge.

COMBOS -- shredded carrots with hummus in a pita; mixed cut veggies with packet salad dressing in a pita; peanut butter and apple slices (you can get squeezable and individual peanut butter servings now too); trail mix with any combination of dried fruits, nuts, sesame sticks, pretzels, rice crackers, or cereals.

PACKING SUGGESTIONS – stick some bottles of water (wide mouth bottles are best) in the freezer and then use them in your cooler. Not only do they serve as a cooling source, but they double as drinking water throughout your trip. On the way home, if you still need to keep food cold but don’t have access to a freezer, buy some bagged ice to refill your bottles and there you go!

Wrapping food in newspaper will also help keep it cold because dry newspaper acts as an insulator (so this works best if there is no lose ice or water in your cooler). Keep food that doesn’t need to be kept cold in a separate storage container so don’t use up your cooling space.

Pre-chopping and portioning food beforehand, then storing in baggies, will make it easy to nosh while on the road. If you don’t want to do it yourself, there are tons of ready-to-buy, pre-portioned snacks out there, everything from fruits and veggies to crackers and cookies.

And next time you’re out for fast food, stock up on condiments like mayo, mustard, ketchup, salad dressings, salt and pepper and don't forget to pack a bag with utensils, plates, napkins, and plastic bags that can be used for car trash.

THE OTHER CULINARY QUERIES

There were a lot of good questions and we had fun coming up with answers for them all. If you ever have any question, don't forget you can write us at theculinarycreative@gmail.com. We'll be happy to answer anything whenever!

My cake decorating teacher says I must sift my powdered sugar before making buttercream icing or risk a nervous breakdown or something similarly tragic. Is she right? If so, are there any electric sifters on the market you recommend? My hand is getting really tired.

We’ve found that if we use a powerful mixer, like a Kitchen Aid, then we don’t need to sift at all. We go sift-less all the time and the world has not ended nor has the sky fallen. Alternatively, if you use powder sugar that is very fresh and don’t pack it down when you measure it, you should be fine.

To find the freshest powdered sugar on the grocer’s shelf, don’t be afraid to feel out the bags… the “fluffier” they feel, the fresher they tend to be. If you have a kitchen scale, we recommend using that to measure your powder sugar (we use a 60 sugar/40 fat ratio for making a simple icing).

If you feel guilty about not sifting, though, there are alternatives to the manual sifter. (1) Get a small wire colander and shake…the colander…with the powder sugar. For some examples see http://www.shopwiki.com/8%22+Wire+Mesh+Colander%2FStrainer. (2) If you like cool kitchen gadgets then check out a battery powered sifter, http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=BE0140&bhcd2=1254229026 (this is the first link that came up when we Googled, but it looks like there are quite a few options out there).

Hi Culinary Creative!

I am a simple girl at heart but I am sometimes tempted by all the cool kitchen gadgets out there. What are a few of your favorites?

K2 – I have a couple I can’t live without. First, if there was ever a house fire, my priority list goes (1) cats, (2) photos, and (3) baking scale. I love my baking scale because measuring by weight is the most consistent way to do it, manufactured measuring cups are not necessarily all the same. Second, my Eggsact Eggtimer – you pop this baby in the pot of boiling water with your eggs and it has an indicator to tell you when they are done to the degree you want them to be done. And finally, my whisks…I have six. Especially when making sauces, they are the best way to blend anything.

Wendi – I often look through the gadget aisle and have been really tempted, but have a hard time buying something that’s only for a single function, so I usually keep walking (as hard as it is sometimes). So my favorite gadgets are (1) my Kitchen Aid stand mixer… I love it… its blue, and pretty, and multifunctional. It’s good for everything from mixing up bread dough to making fluffy potatoes to whipping up smooth cake frosting. (2) My oven thermometer, I LOVE this thing. Just because your dial says you’re at 350˚ doesn’t always mean it is. This has saved many a cookie! (3) My Silpat. I love baking on this, cookies don’t stick, and it cleans up very quickly, and easily!!!

I’m almost finished reading Julie & Julia. Julia Childs, and the French for that matter, loved butter. Maybe they still do. What are The Culinary Creative’s favorite uses of butter in excessive proportions?

BAKING! Croissants, danishes, and shortdough cookies call for what some (us) might call excessive proportions of butter, but butter is where the best flavor comes from. Make a muffin using shortening instead of butter and you will literally taste the difference. Butter is fat and fat has flavor which is why fatty foods tend to be so tempting. And, although not excessive, adding that little extra fat into savory foods (fish, creamy sauces), also adds that little bump of yum!!!

We have two questions for the culinary creative team.

My question is this – I have a great recipe for Thanksgiving dressing which includes cornbread, sausage and pecans. The recipe also calls for sherry. I don’t really have any other recipes to use up my sherry after Thanksgiving and the dressing recipe is just a once a year sort of thing. What are some good recipes that include sherry and highlight its flavor?

Why that sounds like a truly fabulous Thanksgiving dressing. As for your sherry, we would suggest checking out Asian recipes because many include the use of sherry. K2’s favorite is Japanese Soup (recipe not available because K2 can’t currently find her cookbook, but will try to track it down). There’s also a pretty cool website that we came across that has a ton of recipes, http://fooddownunder.com/. Go to the bottom and type in “sherry,” you’ll find yourself using up the extra in no time.

My husband’s question -- how long should ground beef be aged before using it in chili?

As a now-wise, former culinary student once found out (the hard way), beef should NEVER be aged before being used in chili…not without disastrous results. But as experience is the best teacher, it was a lesson well-learned and worthy of sharing -- if it smells bad, DON'T use it.

Hey!

What's the difference between baking soda and baking powder and is there a difference in the brands you find in the supermarket?

Okay, this is going to get techy because it’s really a techy question.

Baking soda is a chemical, sodium bicarbonate, and when moisture and an acid are present, the soda releases carbon dioxide gas which leavens your product. Soda is used in recipes where the product is baked at once, otherwise the gases escape and the leavening power is lost.

Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda plus an acid, and also contains starch which prevents lumping and brings the leavening power down to a standard level. Since it doesn’t depend on the presence of an acid in a recipe, baking powder is more versatile.

So if you’re baking a cake, the recipe will call for both baking soda and baking powder because you want your cake to have some lift to it, makes it fluffy and light, whereas for cookies you would only use a baking powder because you’re not necessarily looking for a big lift. Since there isn’t any baking soda in it (which requires immediate baking), you can store cookie dough in the refrigerator or freezer to use days later, can’t do that with cake batter.

As far as brands go, we’ve never noticed a difference between them and always use the store brand for general baking purposes.

Quesadilla makers? Really? Please explain why they exist.

There are two reasons why quesadilla makers exist … (1) because there are people out there who need every kitchen gadget known to man and MUST have one of these, simply because they exist, and (2) because some people feel so uncomfortable in the kitchen, that they don’t realize that they can simply take two tortillas, some filling, put it in a pan, simply flip over, then cut. We feel badly for these people. If you are one of these people… lets talk… or just buy yourself a quesadilla maker, http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Fe-QM2SFR-Quesadilla-Maker/dp/B00006BSX0.

I’m planning a large family reunion of sorts next summer and want to serve cheesecake after dinner. Dinner will be informal and outside under a tent. The cheesecakes will be served indoors. Is there a way I can make several cheesecakes ahead of time and then freeze or refrigerate them before serving them at the event? What do you recommend?

The beauty of cheesecake is that it does freeze very well and is actually easier to cut when its semi-frozen (as long as you use a warm knife). We think you can easily bake the cheesecakes several days in advance, wrap and freeze them, and then depending on the size, would take them out about an hour to 2 hours before you plan to serve them (though keep them somewhere cool, like not on top of the stove or oven).

And for our final culinary question submission, check out TCC's Fun Food Facts!

Thanks again all. This was a blast. Will be doing more in the months to come so stay tuned and have a great night!