Kansas City Food Blog

​Ten years ago, you were much more likely to see Kansas City native Mike Elder -- a Chevrolet-certified auto mechanic -- working on an car engine than fussing with the details of a cake.

But that was ten years ago. Since then, it's cakes, not cars, that dominate Elder's life. You can see for yourself this Monday, August 31 at 9 p.m. on the TLC series The Ultimate Cake-Off. Mike and his mom -- who co-own Cakes by Cheri & Mike in Clinton, Missouri (although Elder says that "99 percent of our business comes from Kansas City") -- will compete with two other culinary contestants in a challenge to create an "edible masterpiece." The winner of the segment -- and Elder won't reveal who it is -- received $10,000.

How did Elder jump from automobiles to pastry? "Well, I was always the one drafted to help out my Mom when she started her baking business. She baked cakes in the basement of our house. My sisters weren't that interested," said Mike, who graduated from Hickman Mills High School in 1992 and moved to Clinton a decade later to work with both his mother and his father Larry, who owns an automobile restoration company. But Mike discovered a particular passion for pastry: sculptural cakes. His gift has made him kind of famous, in the Midwest anyway.

​William Shatner was once tasked with going back in time to rescue a humpback whale -- albeit to save the planet because those whales could communicate with a hostile alien race hellbent on destroying Earth. It's not like he would later tie global warming into a public service announcement for the Sierra Club to save the whales that live off screen. Wait a minute... 

Now, only 23 years after filming Star Trek IV, he's got a new idea on how to save the planet and the challenge seems significantly smaller. Shatner only wants to save salmon, at least according to a letter he's sent to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

He's asking the Prime Minister to consider removing salmon farms from the wild-migration routes of salmon in British Columbia, Canada. By pushing the farms inland, he argues, the industry could be reshaped into a sustainable endeavor.

It would appear to be another case of art inspiring life choices. Shatner apparently became aware of the current environmental debate while filming an episode of Boston Legal off northern Vancouver Island. 

Variety broke the news yesterday that Padma Lakshmi, model and host of the cooking reality show Top Chef, is on the way to starring in her own sitcom.

She apparently has signed a development deal with NBC for a half-hour show, in which she stars as "a woman working in the culinary world." The working title is thought to be Single Serving (According to Padma is rumored to be a close second option).

You know the name Padma Lakshmi for one of three reasons. You're a rabid fan of Top Chef, which earned her an Emmy nomination for best reality television show host this year (these Emmy statues are usually gold foil-wrapped chocolate).

Say what you want about Guy Fieri but the man knows how to draw viewers. This Sunday is the sixth-season premier of his reality show Guy's Big Bite.

The episode is titled "Pizza! Pizza" and features Kansas City's very own sculpture impresario Stretch, along with recipes from his restaurant Grinders. Maybe Stretch will also  talk about some of his guilty pleasures. Now that would make for a wild show.

The premier is Sunday at 10 a.m. on the Food Network, with a rebroadcast on Monday, May 4, at 2 p.m.

For a rehash of the energy these two create together, check out Eat Me Daily for a video of the tater-tot chili pizza Stretch made for Fieri on the show Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.

(Fieri picture via Flickr: Restless USA)

In honor of tomorrow's Academy Awards ceremony,

Danish Film Institute

Fat City has already paid tribute to the movies that have had Oscar-winning performances by stars playing waitresses or famous scenes in restaurants. But today's Los Angeles Times offers a great slideshow featuring some of the films -- not all of them Oscar-worthy, but most of them famous -- and television shows that that have featured chefs. The list includes Juliette Binoche in Chocolat, Jacqueline Bissett in Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe, Jackie Chan in Mr. Nice Guy, "Chef" in South Park, and Courtney Cox as chef Monica Geller in the long-running sitcom Friends.

It's a nostalgic trip through culinary history -- Hollywood-style.

 

 

 

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but back in the 1970s, when fondue was a really hot culinary novelty, everyone I knew owned at least one fondue pot. And if they didn't, the groovy couples at my college had dates at the cozy, intimate fondue restaurant that opened across the street from the most fab mall in Indianapolis: Glendale Shopping Center, which was so sensationally hip, it had a Magic Pan restaurant and a Houlihan's.

I never went to the fondue restaurant. Why would I? I gave cozy little fondue dinner parties in my very own apartment! They were cheap, which is why I loved them. You could feed six people easily for about 20 bucks by filling one little pot with melted gruyere and emmenthaler (and lots or kirsch to make it more potent) and serving it with chunks of bread and for dessert, a chocolate version served with fruit, pound cake (Sara Lee was the best, because it was dense enough not to fall apart in the bubbling brew) and marshmallows. If I could get my guests drunk enough on low-budget white wine.

Today, I'm not sure I would even go to a fondue party if someone invited me. Fondue is to dining what Twister was to board games. In fact, a couple of my fondue parties ended -- sometimes badly -- with a rousing game of Twister. Right foot red! Left hand blue!

If I have to endure a night of fondue, I suppose I'd rather go to the Melting Pot, although you don't watch the chocolate melting in one of that restaurant's fondue pots; one of the servers told me that the chocolate is pre-melted "and comes out of a bag." I don't know if that's still true and I don't care. The only time I ever think of fondue anymore -- other than noting that it's Chocolate Fondue Day on February 5 -- is when I see the collection of old fondue pots I have gathering dust in my basement. Sometimes I think, "I should clean those up and have a fondue party!"

Then I come to my senses and fon-don't.

By CHARLES FERRUZZA

I'll never forget the terrifying moment in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane when Bette Davis, as the lunatic former child star Baby Jane Hudson, serves a dead rat -- under a silver salver, no less -- to her invalid sister Blanche, played by former Kansas City resident Joan Crawford. I had nightmares about this meal for days.

Movies have long used food as a horror device.

BY OWEN MORRIS

So there I was talking with Dimitry at the Valero
Said I need a snack that's tasty but not much dinero
Dimitry says Owen there's only one way to go
and that's with the rap snacks by Lil' Romeo.

I said, Lil' Romeo -- He's famous for food how?
And by the way, there no Lil' -- It's just Romeo now
So come on Dimitry my man, I don't mess around with you
I just want some chips -- preferably barbecue.

Dimitry says Owen before you talk all that smack
You should be sure that you have tasted this snack
And my friend, there is no better yummy
than having Romeo's "Bar-b-quin' With My Honey."

Besides zesty barbecue flavor, you are in luck
for Romeo cares not for the riches and charges only a buck
So I hand Dimitry a dollar and he hands me the snack
I'm staring at Romeo and he's staring right back.

The chips don't disappoint, they have the right flavor
Lots of barbecue taste and a little honey to savor
The chips themselves though are quite thin and small
and some chips have too much barbecue and some none at all.

Still, they're a good deal at that price
So I went back to Dimitry and said those were real nice
But I want a rap snack that has some more pop
More sting, more bling, the official snack of hip-hop!

Dimitry handed me another bag but said buyer beware
To call Yung Joc's "Sweetn' Hot Cheese Curls" awful is being more than fair
Imagine a Cheeto but with a fake spicy heat
and then take it and bake it in a pound full of sweet.

Dimitry was right. Yung Joc's curls were crap
Their flavor was weird and about as fresh as this rap
Even at the hungry office, people passed them by
It's clear that a dollar for them was a dollar too high.

So what did I learn from my little taste test?
Yung Joc is a crock and Romeo the best.

BY OWEN MORRIS

First Friday was overshadowed this month due to some holiday called Independence Day. To make up for it, many art galleries -- and other businesses -- are open tonight for Second Friday.

The Cellar Rat, at 1701 Baltimore is having a 2nd chance @ First Friday Tasting tonight from 5-9 ($10 or free to members).

Speaking of Independence Day, the French have their own called Bastille Day. To celebrate Le Fou Frog, located at 400 E. 5th St., holds its twelfth annual Bastille Day Bash. This indoor/outdoor event starts at 5 p.m. and goes until 1 a.m. They've got bands, a DJ and enough food to make you scream "non plus!" There's a $5 cover charge and reservations are only required if you want to be really snooty and dine inside.

On Saturday, grab your daughter, son, nephew or random-neighbor kid and head out to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead, 138th and Switzer, for the fourth annual fishing tournament from 11-3. Poles (cane ones) and tackle (worms) are provided and while you can't eat your prize catches, there will be a non-fish breakfast available. Registration is limited to first 60 teams and is $10 per person.

Also Saturday, the Gomers' at 9900 Holmes and 201 North Hwy 291 in Lee's Summit host wine tastings from 12-3 and 12-5 respectively. These are free.