By Compiled by JANET K. KEELER
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 2000
It may come as a surprise to know how many ingredients are in mayonnaise: egg yolks, vegetable oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, dry mustard and cayenne pepper. Store-bought mayonnaise is more stable than homemade because commercial equipment emulsifies the ingredients completely. The oil separates from the rest of the ingredients in homemade mayo. Because of concern about bacteria in raw eggs, newer recipes call for "egg product" to be substituted for egg yolks. Commercial mayonnaises are heated to kill any bacteria in the eggs. Classic mayonnaise is the basis for several salad dressings including thousand island, Louis, Russian and Chantilly.
"America is raising a generation of butterballs."
Michael Jacobson,
executive director of Center for Science in the Public Interest
89 shopping days left
If you're itching to start your holiday planning, Home Gourmet Kitchen Emporium in Dunedin is offering two classes to get you going. Cookbook author Betsy Oppenneer will teach holiday yeast breads from 9 a.m. to noon and handmade gifts from your kitchen from 2 to 5 p.m., both on Oct. 7. The $60 fee for the bread class includes Oppenneer's Breads from Betsy's Kitchen (Breadworks, 1998), and the gifts class is $50. Call (727) 736-6400 to reserve a spot. Home Gourmet is at 471 Main St.
Easier than ever
If adding water to a can of condensed Campbell's soup is too much cooking for you, a new line of ready-to-serve versions of its classic varieties is coming to your rescue. Look for the 18-ounce cans with the lift-tab openers in seven varieties, including chicken noodle, tomato and minestrone, at your grocery store. Cost is $1.29 each.
This Web site cooks
http://www.rubbermaid.com
There's hardly a company out there that doesn't have a Web site, but this one from Rubbermaid is as entertaining as it is informative. There is the expected hoopla about how great Rubbermaid products are. But there's more. Click on Sports Update, and TV broadcaster Al Michaels shares great moments in sports.
The best part is the survival stories, testimonials from Rubbermaid users. One tells of Loretta C., who totaled her car, but the cookies in the Rubbermaid container remained unscathed. Another relates the tale of a young child who put a Rubbermaid container in an oven heated to 425 degrees. It smelled a little funny, but it didn't melt.
Cooking class Ways to store fresh herbs:
Thyme and parsley. Store both in their original plastic bags and place in the crisper box.
Mint and cilantro. Protect by wrapping stems and leaves in damp paper towels, then storing in a plastic bag on a shelf in the refrigerator.
Basil. Thrives at room temperature. Place the stems in a glass of water, cover the leaves with a plastic bag and keep on the kitchen counter.
Idea with appeal
Ben Omessi's Original Easy Roll Garlic Peeler makes quick work of garlic peeling. Put garlic cloves inside the rubber tube and roll back and forth with the palm of your hand. The friction does strip off the peel, but our test showed that too much pressure can also crush the garlic. If you don't need whole cloves, another way is to place the clove on a cutting board and smash it with the flat side of a wide knofe. The pressure will loosen the peel. The tube peeler is available at housewares shops such as Bed Bath & Beyond and Lechters. Cost is about $7.
Fooled you
The words "low in fat" and "no cholesterol" that you see on bread labels are meaningless, Reader's Digest New Choices magazine says. Nearly all breads baked with yeast have less than one gram of fat per slice and are made with vegetable oil, which has no cholesterol, New Choices says. "Diet," "lite" and "reduced calories" may simply mean thinner slices, according to the magazine.
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