Fresh Sheet

Secret no more

When I met Deborah Chan at Kitchen Engine’s anniversary sale in September, I didn’t know she used to be a correspondent for this newspaper.

We got to talking about how I hoped to make caramels this Christmas, and she said she had a killer recipe for English toffee. I invited myself over.

Chan had kept her method secret for nearly 30 years. Now that she’s no longer writing her Front Porch column, she’s finally ready to share her highly prized recipe with readers.

I still haven’t gotten around to making caramels and probably won’t before the end of the year. But watching Chan make her signature English toffee – crunchy, rich, buttery, glorious – was a privilege. I’m hoping I can replicate her recipe in my own kitchen sometime soon.

Food adviser needed

The Spokane Regional Health District is seeking new members for its Food Advisory Committee.

The 13-member volunteer board is a cooperative effort between the district’s Food Safety Program and the local food industry. It aids in developing educational materials and classes, and provides input on district policies, procedures, regulations and fees.

Representatives are needed from the food service industry, institutions of higher education, consumers and school district food programs. Terms run for two years.

Meetings take place the first Wednesday of February, June and November. There’s also a special member selection meeting in January.

Applications are due Dec. 31. For an application, call (509) 324-1560, ext. 2, or visit srhd.org.

Spam sushi

Spokane food blogger Greg Kauwe recently got a shoutout on the Spam Facebook page for his sushi recipe featuring the canned meat product.

The Dec. 12 post called it the “most mouth watering recipe we’ve seen in a long time” and included a link to the recipe on Kauwe’s blog: http://nomnerd.com/2014/10/spam/.

In his Oct. 6 post about the product, he wrote: “I’ve been eating this stuff ever since I could remember.  Being born and raised in Hawaii, eating Spam seemed more like birthright than obligation. I remember moving to the contiguous United States a while ago and seemed surprised that more people didn’t like it (at) all.”

He tweets under two Twitter handles: @nomnerd and @SpokaneEats.