Recipe: Almond Torte
Here’s a delicious recipe to try I found in the Betty Crocker Italian Cooking cookbook. It is easy to make and tastes great.
Almond Torte
1-1/2 cups slivered almonds
2-1/2 ups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter softened
2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. sugar
Sliced strawberries if desired
Whipped cream topping if desired
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds in ungreased shallow pan. Bake uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown; cool. Finely chop, set aside. Grease round pan. Mix flour, 1 cup sugar, the baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in almonds, butter, almond extract, vanilla, and eggs until stiff dough forms. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place in pan. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with strawberries and whipped cream.
Enjoy!
Barb
Posted in Cooking in your kitchen on January 15th, 2009 by Barb | | 2 Comments
Get Your Kids in the Kitchen!
In the January 2009 issue of Kitchen & Bath Design News I found an article titled, “Designing the Kitchen With Children in Mind.” In the article, Mary Jo Peterson, CKD, CBD, CAPS, does a good job of outlining the important areas to keep in mind when designing a kitchen with children in the home, including safety, prep zones, restrictions, and other activities.
Safety
When considering safety, of course you will want to keep in mind the use of certain utensils & appliances, including knives, stove, microwave, etc. You can safeguard some of these possible risks by locking certain cabinets and drawers. Depending on the age and experience of the children, your specific needs may be different.
Prep Zones
The age and height of children will help to determine what prep zone is appropriate for your family. One thing to consider is having a lower counter area to accommodate the height of the children. Other considerations would be adding an under counter refrigerator, prep sink, and possibly a slide-out work area to utilize more space.
Restrictions
Because not all children should be allowed free range in the kitchen, those restricted areas should be established well in advance. Generous clearances are another thing to keep in mind when designing the kitchen space, as to help avoid potential injuries and accidents.
Other Activities
Another thing to contemplate when designing your kitchen is work space for homework and arts & crafts. The kitchen is often times a gathering area, and could provide for a computer workstation and supply storage.
I feel one of the greatest benefits of getting your children involved in the kitchen is the opportunity to expose them to various new and healthy foods. Children are often times hesitatant to try and experience new foods, especially vegetables. This is your opportunity to incorporate these foods with their help, and this time they just might like them!
Feel free to share…
Angie
Posted in Cooking in your kitchen on January 9th, 2009 by Angie | | 2 Comments
Natural Stone Council Works To Change Current “Green” Perceptions Of Granite Countertops
“Greening” the environment has become a popular term across all sectors of industry. It is however, no longer just a trend. In many industries, including the stone industry, it is becoming a requirement. So what, you may ask, is the stone industry doing to better position themselves as providing a “greener” product? The NSC, Natural Stone Council, is committed to doing research and providing promotional support to substantiate claims for natural stone as a green product.
According to “Q&A Regarding Stone and Sustainability“, an article found in the 2009 Stone Guide in Stone World Magazine, John Matte, Chairman of the NSC’s Sustainability Committee states, “The ultimate goal of the NSC’s sustainability efforts is to support the stone industry’s efforts to increase the preference for and consumption of genuine stone.” One way they are achieving this is by providing sound data and third-party verification supporting sustainability in comparison to other materials. Another way they are achieving this is by benchmarking the sustainability of natural stone by pointing out where improvements need to made industry-wide and communicating it within the industry.
For more information on what has been done so far by the NSC, or material fact sheets, etc., please check out their website at www.GenuineStone.com
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Granite, Industry News on January 7th, 2009 by Barb | | 0 Comments
New Year, New Look!
With a slow economy and fewer sales in 2008, like others in the industry, we were glad to put the year behind us and flip the calendar forward to 2009! While we experienced a steady slow-down to the end of 2008, this slower period allowed us some time to re-focus, and make some notable improvements to our business including…a new look for our website.
Even though we were pleased with the old site, with the ever-changing web technology, it had a few ”cob webs” to clean up. The new site is much easier to navigate through, and includes improved photo galleries for granite countertops, islands, bathrooms, bar tops, etc., and gives us a fresh new look. Please take a few minutes to check it out, as we are quite pleased with how it turned out, and hope you will be too!
Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!
Barb
Posted in Uncategorized on January 5th, 2009 by Barb | | 0 Comments
