Always Time For New Recipes

While the rest of us have been busy wondering where we hid that halfprice wrapping paper we bought the day after Christmas last year, some of the area’s amateur chefs have been wrapping up awards in cooking contests.

Cindy Mooney of Colfax was one of eight runners-up in the national Newman’s Own/Good Housekeeping recipe contest with “Flank Steak, Et Tu?,” marinated in Newman’s Own Caesar Salad Dressing along with water, soy sauce, green onions, sesame oil, sugar and garlic.

All prizes in the contest are cash contributions to charities chosen by the winners - in Mooney’s case, $2,500 to the Colfax parent-teacher association.

For a 35-page booklet with all the winning recipes, including Mooney’s, send $2 for postage and handling to: Newman’s Own Prize Winning Recipes, P.O. Box 8010, Westport, CT 06880. (Among the losers you won’t see: “SpHUD Salad” and “Cool Hand Fluke.”)

And speaking of spuds, North Idaho residents took three of the top six places in the statewide “Idaho Originals Dinnertime Favorites” contest sponsored by the Idaho Potato Commission.

Julie Clark of Coeur d’Alene placed second with “Surprise Idaho Potato Pancakes,” while Dani Klontz of Moscow took third place with “As Good as Mashed Potatoes (But Fat Free),” flavored with garlic, Tabasco, horseradish and mustard. Honorable mention went to Joy Williams of Hayden Lake for her “Idaho Potato and Green Chili Soup.”

We’ll try to print those recipes in coming weeks, as space allows. Home cooking

If you’re looking to give a gift that not only tastes good, but makes you feel good, try shopping at Spokane’s Habitat for Humanity chapter.

For $12.95, you can pick up a 230-page cookbook of dessert recipes from Habitat volunteers nationwide, including two from Spokane.

Also available is a special pasta assortment from Buckeye Beans & Herbs - red hearts, green trees and white houses - for $5 a bag, with proceeds going to the Women’s House Project (a duplex for two single-parent families in the East Central neighborhood).

Stop by the Habitat office at 732 N. Napa, or call 534-2552.

I am the Wallbanger Not only is this in pretty bad taste, it sounds like it might taste pretty bad:

While hosting an exhibition of art by the late John Lennon, the Hotel Nikko in Beverly Hills, Calif., created a cocktail called “John Lennonade,” consisting of 1 ounce vodka, 1/2 ounce Midori liqueur and splashes of Triple Sec, Seven-Up and Sweet and Sour, topped with cognac - for a cool $7.25.

Strawberry daiquiris forever! , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: We’re always looking for fresh food news. Write to: The Fresh Sheet, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call 459-5446; fax 459-5098.