Bake-Off online voting underway
Among the tweaks to this year's Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is an online voting component to choose which of the semifinalists will become one of 100 finalists competing in Las Vegas in November for the $1 million grand prize. Four Minnesotans are among the 60 whose recipes have made it into the semifinal round of the Simple Sweets and Starters category. They are Vicki Mager, Bloomington, for her Seeds and Chocolate Pastry Wedges; Cathy Wiechert, Mound, for her Orange Cardamom Blueberry Crostata; Mike Salmonson, Hibbing, for his Orange Chocolate Date Cookies, and Sonya Goergen, Moorhead, for her Mini Italian Shepherd's Pies. From the voting, 34 will be named finalists. A similar number already have been chosen for Amazing Doable Dinners. Voting for Quick Rise and Shine Breakfasts is next.
To vote, go to Bakeoff.com, where you'll be asked to "join" Pillsbury online. Votes should be based on taste, appearance, creativity and consumer appeal. Voting closes at noon on June 27.
An immigrant named Lidia
PBS Distribution has released "Lidia Celebrates America: Freedom and Independence," a DVD that traces Lidia Bastianich's travels across the country, exploring several ethnicities and cultures. Bastianich also reveals a moving personal account of her own immigrant experience. The DVD is $24.99 through www.shoppbs.org, but the program will be broadcast at 8:30 a.m. July 6 on Twin Cities Public Television. Installments include a visit to Charlottesville, Va., where she'll tour the gardens at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson; a trip to Galveston, Texas, where she and actress Anna Deavere Smith explore slavery and the celebration of Juneteenth; a Bastille Day party with Jacques Pepin, and a celebration of Philippines Independence Day with comedian and actor Alec Mapa. The program concludes with opera singer Renee Fleming singing "America the Beautiful."
Pork touts price
Pork marketers are on the offensive this summer, touting data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that a Porterhouse pork chop is 61 percent less expensive than a Porterhouse beef steak. The same data found the New York pork chop is 65 percent less expensive than the New York beef strip steak. This info promotes an interactive trivia game, Pork Chop Drop, on PorkBeinspired.com. Players may answer pork-related trivia questions to find new recipes, coupons for fresh pork and the chance to win a $1,000 grand prize. We'll expect to hear from the beef lobby any day now.
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