Union Gospel Mission serves a special meal

Tuesdays just got special. The Daily Diner Frogtown, the Union Gospel Mission's culinary training program and full-service diner, is offering a hot meal on Tuesdays through Dec. 23 for just $1.96 — its cost. The promotion is for dine-in only — no to-go orders — and features three choices of breakfast, lunch and dinner meals, with the breakfast options offered all day at the diner, 615 University Av. W. in St Paul. The effort aims to raise awareness of the work that Union Gospel Mission has provided since it was founded in 1902. The Christian ministry is dedicated to serving the homeless, poor and addicted in the Twin Cities, and toward that end, also will serve 30 gallons of soup and chili free of charge on the last Tuesday of the effort, Dec. 23. Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To learn more about the Daily Diner, visit www.dailydinerfrogtown.com.

Winter markets begin

The winter markets season is beginning as farmers markets move indoors. Mill City Farmers Market opens from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday inside the Mill City Museum with more than 40 vendors selling an array of fresh produce, locally milled grains and flours, preserves, artisan cheeses, pastured meats and more. It also will host a special holiday market on Nov. 23 with an eye toward provisioning a Thanksgiving meal. Future dates are Dec. 13, Jan. 10, Feb. 14, March 14 and April 11. In addition, various winter CSA boxes (community-supported agriculture) are available: Meat and cheese from Braucher's Sunshine Harvest Farm (www.sunshineharvest farm.com) and Shepherd's Way Farms (www.shepherdswayfarms.com), and produce shares from Prairie Hollow Farms (www.prairiehollow.com). For more details, visit www.millcity farmersmarket.org.

Attention chili lovers

The public is invited to sample chilis from around the world at Midtown Global Market's annual Global Chili Cook-Off this Saturday, all for a $3 donation to Perspectives, a local nonprofit benefiting homeless and at-risk families by providing transitional housing. Samples will be offered from noon to 2 p.m. at the market, 920 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, and diners then can vote on their favorite for the People's Choice award. All ingredients used in the chilis can be purchased at Midtown Global Market.

Down to the wire at the Bake-Off

The 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off took a new twist this year. After announcing the judges' four top picks (one from each category), the granddaddy of all cooking contests wants you to decide on the winner of the $1 million prize. Cast your vote online at www.bakeoff.com for one of these four recipes: Cuban-style Sandwich Pockets, Creamy Corn-filled Sweet Peppers, Peanutty Pie Crust Clusters, and Chocolate Doughnut Poppers. Voting ends on Dec. 2 at 9:59 CST; only one vote per person and you must be a Facebook member to vote. The public votes will be combined with the judges' scores to determine the grand prize winner. The winner will be announced on ABC's "The Chew" on Dec. 3, which airs at noon. Minnesota's five finalists — none of whom made it to this level — are Tamra Efta of Princeton, Sonya Goergen of Moorhead, Laura Stanke of Maple Grove and Jennifer Smith and Cathy Wiechert, both of Mound.

Silicone Santas and more

The Silicone Zone has several new items geared toward Christmas baking, including molds for cupcakes or other individual desserts shaped like gingerbread men, Santa Claus or Christmas trees. There's also a thin mold for making "chocochips," or small garnishes in the shapes of snowflakes, stocking caps, snowmen and more made by filling with melted chocolate and letting it set before popping them out to adorn a dessert. Look in bakeware departments of many department stores (or their websites) or check out the Silicone Zone store on Amazon, at www.amazon.com/siliconezone.

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