Butter and Babies

As a kid, do you remember holding a dandelion under chin?

We talked about it on the show last week. (It was Dandelion Day on Tuesday, April 5th). If there was a yellowish reflection, that meant you liked butter, right? I don't know the origin of that practice but I think I ALWAYS had the yellow color reflected under my chin! I loved butter and still do. On today's show I shared some interesting facts about butter.

Have you wondered which is better salted or unsalted?

• Unsalted is best because the amount of salt can vary from brand to brand.Salted butter contains more water, which can interfere with gluten development
• Salt masks butters naturally sweet, delicate flavors and can be overwhelming

Where should you store butter?

• Place in back of fridge where it’s coldest. Don't use the compartment in the door.
• Butter will keep for 2 1/2 weeks in the refrigerator and up to 4 months in the freezer.
• Place in ziplock bag (before freezing) so that it won’t pick up other odor

Why is it important to use the proper temperature in a recipe?

• Chilled butter-should be cold and unyeilding
• Cold butter melts during baking leaving behind small pockets of air that create flaky layers in recipes like pie dough and croissants.
• Room Temperature-should easily bend without breaking
• Softened butter is flexible enough to be whipped but firm enough to retain the incorporated air-vital to making cakes with a tender crumb.
• Melted and Cooled-should be fluid and slightly warm
• Butter is roughly 16% water; when melted, water breaks from the emulsion and helps create gluten for chewier cookies.

On Monday, I spoke with Lesley Bolton regarding her new book, "THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BABY NAMES: THE MOST NAMES, THE MOST UNIQUE NAMES, MOST IDEA GENERATING LISTS (600+), AND THE MOST HELP TO FIND THE PERFECT NAME."

It really is the most complete baby name book that I have ever seen! Lesley said that it's very important to select the right name. You need to think about your child and most people select a first name that has meaning-not necessarily what the name actually means, but why it has meaning to the Mom and Dad. You also need to consider how the first name sounds (on it's own) and also when paired with the last name. The trend right now is for more traditional, classical names and the Social Security office will release the top 10 for 2011 this May. So stay tuned....

Showers, Snails and Special Memories

We're having a heat wave today, however the weather on Saturday was wonderful.

I enjoyed spending time with my oldest daugther at a baby shower for one of her high school friends. Sarah lives in Michigan, so I don't get to see her that often. It was a wonderful day to sit outside, and catch up on the busy lives of her friends (and their moms). The mom-to-be received some wonderful gifts (she knows it's going to be a girl). What a fun relaxing way to spend a Saturday afternoon....

One of my favorite baby items- the hooded terry towels. Babies outgrow them way too fast!

We played a couple of games and I learned that most babies are born on Tuesdays, in the month of September (all those January snowstorms) and the month that records the least number of births is November!

Today's Quote:
"Babies are God's way of showing us that the world should go on."

Today is National Escargot Day.
I shared an Easy Garlic Escargot recipe on the show today.
Do you have a "snail" story? The only time I tasted escargot was in 8th grade "Home Ec" class. We had to plan and prepare a meal for our teachers. I do remember that spaghetti and meatballs, French bread, and a green salad were on the menu as well as escargot. I think we roasted or baked them. I have no idea why we chose "snails" as our appetizer but I do recall that I thought they were pretty good-if a little "slippery".

Yesterday was National Taffy Day.

My Mom has a recipe for homemade taffy that we used to make on snowy winter days, usually after a morning of skating at the local ice rink, or building forts outside in the snow. She would mix together all the ingredients, bring the syrup to a boil, drop a bit into a cup of cold water and if it formed a ball we'd be ready to grease our hands with butter and pully the candy until it turned white. I was always amazed at how my Mom knew when the taffy was just the "right" temperature. We shaped it into ropes, cut it into pieces and then wrapped the pieces in waxed paper. That is if we didn't eat it all first! Six hungry helpers made for not too many leftovers!

In today's book nook segment we talked with hematologist/oncologist Dr. Christopher Flowers about Cancer Survivor Day coming up on June 7th. -More about that later.