Heart Institute Has Write Stuff

For its annual food plan, The Heart Institute of Spokane has had a change of heart.

In the past, the booklet of low-fat recipes in honor of February’s Heart Month was prepared by a company out of town and distributed by the institute.

But this year, the seventh annual edition features 27 recipes from Spokane heart doctors, along with lots of information about healthy eating and heart disease prevention.

The institute has wanted to do that for some time, but couldn’t get the printing costs to pencil out until this year, says spokeswoman Jerrie Heyamoto.

“It’s really nice to be able to localize it,” she says. “Every year, we’ll probably put a new slant on it, include even more information.”

Free copies of the 30-page booklet will be available starting Monday at Tidyman’s supermarkets and at several hospitals and medical clinics; for more information, call 625-3000.

Pigskin out

Fortunately, Heart Month doesn’t start until the day after Sunday’s Super Bowl, so there’s one last opportunity to scarf down some fatty treats while watching the tube.

To many of you, it appears, that means frozen pizza. According to the National Frozen Pizza Institute (hey, how prestigious can pepperoni get?), January is the top month for sales of the icy prefab pies, thanks largely to the big game.

For those with more lofty culinary aspirations, the Epicurious Food site on the World Wide Web (food.epicurious.com), which regularly features the best of Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines, is offering two dozen top chili recipes along with an assortment of other buffet foods and dips.

Test of thyme

It might take more than chili, but Better Homes and Gardens is offering $10,000 to the cook who comes up with a classic family recipe that most exemplifies 20th-century cuisine in the magazine’s “Century Standouts Recipe Contest.”

Original recipes can be entered in any of 12 categories, along with an accompanying essay about what makes the dish special. Entry deadline is April 1; for complete details, see the magazine’s February issue, on newsstands now.

Steel yourself

Finally, don’t forget that February is not only Heart Month but also National Canned Food Month, which gives you a perfect excuse to start stocking up on pork and beans without looking like some sort of wild-eyed survivalist.

And by the way, depending on what happens with this whole Y2K mess, we hear plans are in the works to designate 2000 in its entirety as National Canned Food Year.