Lorie Hutson

Dear Cook's Notebook: About a year or so ago, I used a recipe that was printed in The Spokesman titled, "Red Raspberry Champagne Granita." I made this cocktail for a dinner party, and my guests loved it. The get-together was held around the beginning of 2005, and I think the recipe was published in your paper either in the beginning of 2005 or toward the end of 2004. Marta Bunch, Mead

Spinach Look for: Glossy, crisp leaves and reject any that are slimy, wilting, bruised or yellowing. Look for thin tender stalks.

I suspect there will be more than a few beer-can chickens on the grill this weekend as we fete our fathers for all their years of hard work tending the fire. If you haven't discovered this much-celebrated approach to roasting and grilling chicken, Spokane son and father team Cary and Don Black can help.

"Grilling" by the Culinary Institute of America starts with the basics, if you need it. There's a handy introduction with a photographic cheat sheet of grilling utensils, photographs of the best charcoal fires and charts with grilling times and temperatures and the best types of wood for grilling.

Don't toss the bright yellow bag you found inside today's paper. Take it to your pantry and pull out anything you can spare for a hungry family in the Inland Northwest for The Spokesman-Review's annual food drive.

When those glorious red stalks are waiting, you can't have too many recipes. Readers are still pulling rhubarb from their gardens and picking it up at farmers' markets, because I've had a few calls for the Rhubarb Marmalade and Rhubarb Crisp recipes that ran last month.

Have a taste of Washington, or two, or three… I have two tips for people who are interested in going to Taste Washington at the Davenport Hotel on June 11:

Radishes Look for: Radishes that are firm to the touch without cracks, splits or soft spots. If greens are attached, they should be green and fresh looking.

Kevin Rogers was buying grapes for a batch of homebrew wines when it happened: He was bitten by the wine porcupine. Now, Rogers' home in the mountains near Post Falls, where he makes tiny batches of Bordeaux-style wines, is overrun by the wine-loving little creatures. The spiky porcupines partying on the TimberRock Wine labels offer a bit of whimsy for Rogers' serious hobby. (The animals were drawn by Troy, Mont., artist Alan McNiel.)

"Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Every Day"

Taste of Home editors have revamped one of their popular magazines. Fans of Quick Cooking should now look for Simple & Delicious on the magazine stands. The magazine is geared toward people who want to make home cooked meals but don't have a lot of time to spend fussing in the kitchen. Many of the recipes are ready in 30 minutes or less.

The gorgeous deep raspberry-colored flesh was the first clue that it wasn't an average orange. The Spokesman-Review reader food panel members were entranced by the Cara Cara oranges we served them recently. They gave the orange four-and-a-half stars for flavor.

Lentils aren't just for soups anymore. Creative cooks can make this little lens-shaped legume taste great in just about any dish. And they prove it year after year in the Legendary Lentil Cook-off at the National Lentil Festival in Pullman. (Last year's chocolate marshmallow lentil bars come to mind.)

Steamed vegetables don't get any easier than this. OK, Mom could still be smothering them with melted cheese and spooning them into your mouth. But if you've graduated to making your own dinner, Birds Eye's new Steamfresh vegetables are the next best thing.

Chess pies are a Southern favorite, but no one is sure where they got their name. In Ken Haedrich's "Pie" cookbook (2004, Harvard Common Press), he quotes from John Egerton's 1987 book "Southern Food." "Chess pie by that name doesn't show up in American cookbooks until the twentieth century, at least not with any regularity, not even in the South," Egerton wrote. Of the many stories about the name, he speculates that two seem more plausible than the rest. "Chess pie may have been called a chest pie at first, meaning that it held up well in the pie chest," he said.

For anyone who has ever thought they should give up beef to meet their heart health and calorie-cutting goals, this is the cookbook for you. "The Healthy Beef Cookbook: Steaks, Salads, Stir Fry and More – Over 130 Luscious Lean Beef Recipes for Every Occasion," is the result of the teamwork between the beef industry and registered dietitians.

Impress the mom in your life with your local wine savvy this weekend by taking her to the Spokane Winery Association's Spring Barrel Tasting. Better yet, give her a day (or two) off so she can head out with her friends and sample the latest releases from the 10 wineries in the Spokane area. The fun includes sips of new release wines, a taste of wines that will be released soon and samples of wines still in the barrel or tank. The wineries serve appetizers to complement the wines and some offer specials on wine prices.

The promise of spring always fuels my food dreams. The smell of fresh soil in the warm rays of sun is all it takes to inspire daydreams about strawberries, tender greens and garden tomatoes.

The BBQ Queens hit the grilling scene last year with a tome devoted to the ins and outs of cooking on the grill. Now, the authors of "The BBQ Queens' Big Book of Barbecue" are back with a book to help you get that chargrilled taste to the table fast.

She was Dream Dinners' dream customer. Now, she owns the place. Samantha Gilstrap recently bought Dream Dinners, a meal preparation store in Spokane Valley. At Dream Dinners, and other similar stores, customers sign up for dinners they'd like to make from a monthly menu. Then they attend a session at the store to assemble the meals and take the uncooked entrees (with instructions for cooking) home to their freezers. Twelve dinners (which serve four to six people) cost approximately $200.

Devin Alexander is a great admirer of fast food. In her new cookbook, "Fast Food Fix" she says, "I love the way fast food tastes and I admire the folks who've spent countless hours creating the irresistible flavor combinations that we Americans can't wait to find in drive-thrus."

With a new drink from V8, you could have your recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables all wrapped up by lunch. The juice maker's latest concoction, V-Fusion, promises a serving of vegetables and a serving of fruit in each 8-ounce glass. The drinks are 100 percent juice and have no added sugar.

Early spring chills won't stand a chance against this recipe from "Christina's Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Northwest Island Kitchen." Christina Orchid, who has received much praise in the 25 years since she opened her namesake restaurant on Orcas Island, gives away many of the secrets of her restaurant dishes and her pantry in this cookbook. Her Braised Short Ribs with Spicy Sweet Potatoes will erase any lingering winter worries.