Cat Cora Invite!!

Iron Chef Cat Cora

Today Jodi and I got a super cool email that we wanted to share with all of our friends and foodie groupies!!  Here’s what the email said:

Hi Jodi and Patricia,

I just discovered Two Girls Cooking, and I was so excited to see your recipe for sweet and sour chicken. I love to cook, but often find myself ordering in, so I was thrilled to find this recipe. A few weeks ago I made chicken curry to take a stab at typical take-out Indian food, so I’m excited to now try take-out Chinese at home! Thanks!!

Anyway, I work with Macy’s, and since I know from experience what a cool blog Two Girls Cooking is, I wanted to be sure to let you know about an upcoming event happening in Edina June 5th. Cat Cora will be hosting a free cooking demo at Macy’s Southdale. She will cook up a few recipes from her new book Classics with a Twist, and then she will be available to sign her book and greet fans. It sounded like something that might be right up your alley. Here’s more of the nitty gritty of the event…

WHAT:
Cat Cora, Macy’s Culinary Council Chef, will host a cooking demonstration and book signing at Macy’s Southdale at Southdale Center in Edina. She will be featuring recipes from her new cookbook Cat Cora’s Classics with a Twist.

WHO:
Both on and off-screen, Chef Cat Cora has continued to make a lasting impression on the culinary community. In 2005, Cat made television history on Food Network’s Iron Chef America as the first and only female Iron Chef, and in November 2006 Bon Appétit magazine bestowed her with their Teacher of the Year Award. That month, she was also honored with another great culinary distinction when she was named Executive Chef of the magazine. In December 2008, Cat launched CCQ (Cat Cora’s Que) at Macy’s new Signature Kitchen restaurant in California’s South Coast Plaza location. Inspired by her own unique barbeque traditions, Cat designed CCQ as a fast casual concept that defines her passion for global BBQ, offering various sauces and flavors. She also opened Kouzzina (Greek for “kitchen”) at Walt Disney World’s BoardWalk Resort, in the fall of 2009. Kouzzina offers a menu of Mediterranean-style cuisine that pays tribute to the Cat’s Greek roots. She has also authored three cookbooks, Cat Cora’s Kitchen and Cooking From The Hip: Fast, Easy, Phenomenal Meals and Cat Cora’s Classics With a Twist, which is set to be released in June.
Cat will be on hand following the cooking demonstration to greet fans and autograph her latest cookbook Cat Cora’s Classics with a Twist, which will be available to purchase at the event.

RSVP:
The event is free. Seating is limited. Please call 1.800.329.8667 to reserve a space. For more information, please visit www.macys.com/culinarycouncil.

WHEN:
Saturday, June 5
2 PM

MORE INFO: http://pitch.pe/66232

We would be so thrilled if you two would be able to make it out to the event. If you will be able to come, just let me know, and I will set you guys up with a press pass and VIP treatment.  🙂

Also, if you think this is something your readers might be interested in, please feel free to pass the word along to them. Hope to hear from you soon, and again, thanks for the sweet and sour chicken recipe!!

All the best,

Sarah

How exciting is this?!

So if you’re interested in going, please send an RSVP.   If you’re going to be traveling to the MN area and are interested, RSVP as well.

This is such an honor!

Jodi/Patricia

Two Girls Cooking

Chef Cat Cora

Strawberry Banana Muffins

With only two of us in the house, I often end up with an extra banana or two that just didn’t get eaten before it got overripe. So rather than make the same banana bread over and over I try to do something different with them each time. Last week I chose these Strawberry Banana muffins from Joy of Baking since I needed to use up some strawberries too. These tasted just like banana bread, but with chunks of strawberries. I really enjoyed having one for breakfast each morning in place of my usual english muffin.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup fresh strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Position rack in center of oven.  Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter or a vegetable spray. 

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.
In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.
Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.


If you like the strawberry banana flavor combination as much as I do, give these a try. They were very easy to make, and hit the spot!
– Jodi