Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites

Nearly 400 people came to the Annual Thanksgiving Feast offered at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, 535 E. Yanonali Street, to be seated and enjoy a meal prepared and served by over 40 dedicated volunteers.

This year the organization put aside the buffet style service of

the past, and gave people coming for Thanksgiving dinner a real restaurant style experience. Each guest was given all of their individual favorites with a smile from caring volunteer waiters. Patrick Pastoric, kitchen manager and his army of cooks prepared the tasty turkey dinners with all the trimmings. Waiters included caring individuals, Mission staff & board members, including Gerd Jordano, local Journalist Richard Mineards, whole families who volunteered to be of service and others.

The spirit of giving included all ages in the community. Olivia Geyling (pictured at top), daughter of Rescue Mission President Rolf

Geyling, and a group of her classmates decorated the centerpieces for the tables to match the festive decorations in the dining room. “We had so much fun doing this” said Olivia. The Boy Scouts of Santa Barbara generously donated and delivered the pumpkin pies for this year’s dinner.

The Rescue Mission provides shelter 365 days a year to the homeless, as well as offering addiction treatment programs that are nationally recognized. The Thanksgiving dinner began in 1965, and according to President Rolf Geyling “The Mission has been under more demand than ever due to the current economic pressures affecting people today. The number of meals has increased 20 percent, and more families are now taking advantage of the Mission offerings than ever.”

Their current feeding the homeless goal is to make it through the holidays by collecting 900 turkeys, as well as food items to meet the growing need. Every $1.50 donation made pays for one holiday meal. The Christmas dinner at the Mission in December is expected to exceed the numbers of Thanksgiving, and volunteers are already signing up to help. If you wish to make a donation, provide food or volunteer please call (805) 966-1316 or visit www.sbrm.org.

When was the last time you ate a soup? And the last time you cooked one? Soups are wonderful dishes and not difficult to make at all. The problem is that we often think things are more complicated than they really are. Although soups vary considerably in their ingredients their base is always the same.

The basis of any good soup is the broth or stock – and this needs a white wine for the acidity, port for the sweetness, and Noilly Pratt as the catalyst. 90% of all Noilly Pratt production is used in gastronomy and this for a good reason – it is really dry – not to be compared with Martini. Pour the alcohol into a large pan, cook it for 5 minutes, add the stock and then reduce it well. Why is it so important to cook the alcohol first and separately? Because when you put it in later the stock will taste slightly fermented. Now you can add all the rest of the ingredients: pumpkin or mushrooms, parsley or potatoes, depending on which kind of soup you wish to cook. The best base will produce the best results. Most people make a soup by cooking vegetables with water and are surprised when the results taste watery. This has to be the case if a product is added to water in order to give it a flavour. If I have a powerful base then all I need to do is refine it with the other ingredients I want to add. And now I will let you into the secret of a good soup stock. First of all you need an “old” chicken. Buy a “gallina” from the market, at 3 € as cheap as you will get. You can get a corn fed spring chicken, but this will naturally be more expensive. Cut the chicken into small pieces, including the feet and the neck, and put it all into a pot with 10 litres of water. Add: 1 carrot, 2 onions with skins (they give taste and colour) 5 – 6 bay leaves, 20 peppercorns, a quarter of a litre of dark soya sauce, celery, lovage, garlic, a small chilli pod and 2 tomatoes – they give the stock a rounded flavour, but no salt ( this comes later at the seasoning stage). It is important not to have too many vegetables because it is a hearty chicken stock that we want. Cook all the ingredients for 1½ – 2 hours on a low flame, not too much longer please, or the bones will get over boiled and spoil the taste. Take everything out and let the stock cool off, this way it stays nice and clear – and if you want to save on calories then spoon off the fat. If you started off with 10 litres of stock you should now have 5 left. Now you can add some lovely cep mushrooms, courgettes, lentils – vegetables have the advantage that they are a wonderful binding agent and make the addition of cream or butter unnecessary. Blend with a hand blender, season to taste and you have a fantastic soup base from which you can make every kind of soup.

Soups are like banks – if you don’t invest you don’t get anything back! Life is too short to eat wishy-washy soups. Important is to have a big enough pot – the stock practically cooks itself. If you cook more than you need then you can freeze some and always have a stock of good stock! You will soon become a soup fan; not only are they healthy and filling, but they also warm the cockles of your heart!

Ingredients

I tried the Savory Herb Rub Rosted Turkey this Thanksgiving, using McCormick spices and a Tuscan Olive Oil by Olive Tap (see below). What a sensational new experience for our family . . It was outstanding. The recipe can be found at www.mccormick.com along with a great new assortment of holiday recipes.

Let celebrity chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger take you on a culinary journey, visiting their all-time favorite holiday dishes at this fun and festive cooking class. Learn how to fill your table with succulent roasted turkey, beef, or pork while still managing to put the spotlight on sensational side dishes and divine holiday treats sure to please any crowd. Join us on Saturday, December 3, 2011 for a demonstration-style cooking class at Border Grill Downtown LA, including a multi-course lunch, signature cocktails, and a recipe booklet--all for only $75. Space is limited for this exclusive cooking class so call 213. 486.5171 and make your reservations today!

Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger are co-chef/owners of the popular, critically acclaimed Border Grill restaurants, serving modern Mexican food in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, as well as in Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California. The Border Grill Truck, their latest endeavor, is a gourmet taco truck sensation on the cutting edge of the street food scene in Los Angeles. Pioneers of world cuisine since the creation of City Café and CITY Restaurant in Los Angeles in the 1980’s, Mary Sue and Susan are also well known as Food Network's dynamic "Too Hot Tamales", and most recently from Bravo's "Top Chef Masters".

Mary Sue and Susan are preeminent ambassadors of authentic Mexican cuisine, setting the standard for gourmet Mexican fare for over two decades and authoring five cookbooks, including Cooking with Too Hot Tamales, Mesa Mexicana, and City Cuisine. Active members of the community, Mary Sue and Susan play leading roles in many charities, notably Share Our Strength and the Scleroderma Research Foundation.

In addition, they are passionate about the environment and lead the culinary industry with eco-friendly policies at the Border Grill restaurants and Truck, including serving only sustainable seafood as part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.

Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen: If You're Hungry, Volunteer

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi is giving back in a big way with a new passion project benefiting The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation. The singer's new restaurant, The Soul Kitchen, aims to feed and empower those who are less fortunate.

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Jovi explains, "People are going to bed hungry. This is New Jersey in America... that shouldn't be happening."

The philanthropist gave an inside tour of the new eatery to "Extra's" AJ Calloway, and explained, "We developed this system where there are no prices on our menus. There's a minimum suggested donation, and then anything above that covers the guy's meal next to you."

The Soul Kitchen is not a soup kitchen, but a place for people in need of a meal to volunteer in lieu of payment. "[This is] what they can do in order to come into the restaurant... is volunteer."

Bon Jovi is not only heads the foundation -- he also offers up his time and hard work at the restaurant, located in Red Bank, NJ. "I'm really good at washing dishes. That's my job. I don't cook... you don't want to eat my food. But your dishes, I guarantee you, are clean!"

Calloway insisted on teaching Jon how to cook. Bon Jovi came back with, "Can you be a celebrity chef and come in here and volunteer?" AJ replied, "Oh, man, I would love to!"

The New Jersey native reminded AJ of the promise, saying, "Got that on camera!"

To find out how you can help Bon Jovi's delicious cause, click here.

HOLIDAY GIFTS FROM OLIVE TAP:
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Olive Oils flavored with garlic, lemon, basil, Porcini mushrooms, oranges, Persian limes, Tuscan herbs, Chipotle and hot peppers.
Traditional and flavored premium Balsamic Vinegars of Modena, Red Wine, Champagne and Sherry Vinegars.
Gift Baskets, spices, seasonings, herbs, culinary sauces and more!
The Olive Tap^®
240 Robert Parker Coffin Road
Long Grove, Illinois 60047
Telephone: (888) 642-5472 (Toll-Free)

Ingredients

Directions

Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen: If You're Hungry, Volunteer