A taste of Joyce Lamont Long before there were locavores, there was Joyce Lamont. Inspired by economics, freshness and common sense, this star of WCCO Radio's airwaves helped homemakers make smart decisions about buying food that was in-season and well-priced. In her more than 50 years on 'CCO, Lamont shared a wealth of recipes, from Perfect Corn on the Cob (add lemon juice and sugar to the boiling water) to Lettuce Bread (chopped iceberg keeps it moist). These are among the 300 recipes in "Joyce Lamont's Favorite Minnesota Recipes and Radio Memories" by Linda Larsen, a local home economist. Garnished with photos and her recollections, it's clearly nostalgic, but still -- oooh, Bacon Spaghetti -- tasty and useful. It's published by Voyageur Press and costs $19.95.
Cuisine for a cause There's a reason we laugh at the jokes about bland banquet food -- we've all been there. No danger of that at Saturday's Serengeti Serenade to benefit VocalEssence's community engagement programs for African-American and Latino music. The menu, with guidance from Lynne Rossetto Kasper, includes roasted chicken with spicy ginger plum sauce, salad greens with toasted coconut and a ginger-cumin vinaigrette, curried corn mashed potatoes, and cardamom cinnamon baba au rhum with mango mousse. Each table at the Milwaukee Road Depot will have a cumin-yogurt sauce and two pungent spice blends for those who want to leave Minnesota even farther behind. The tickets are no longer available, but the inspiration is free.
YouTube contest The National Restaurant Association announces the "Hot Chef" Challenge, in which cooks submit short videos of themselves making their favorite recipes using one food and one alcohol item from the association's What's Hot & What's Not chef survey. The winner, chosen by fellow YouTube users, will demo his or her creation at the association's national convention May 17-20 in Chicago. Details are at www.restaurant.org/show/media/hotchef/
A Jones for candy The link between M&M's Mint Crisp Chocolate Candies and the new "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" escaped us. Yet Mars Snackfood USA made the candy for just this reason. Reading further, we learn that the candies "reflect the movie's sense of adventure, as well as the tone, colors and imagery of one of the greatest movie series ever." Mint. Crisp. Chocolate. As Indy once said, "I'm making this up as I go."
