La Farm Bakery owner Lionel Vatinet is hosting a longtime friend and fellow baker Dominique Homo who will be teaching two baking classes in Cary next week.

Both men are master bakers, originally from France. Both men coached the American team when it won its first gold medal in 1999 at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, an international baking competition.

Vatinet, who has settled in Cary where he and his wife started the successful La Farm Bakery, has invited his friend to teach two classes:

• From 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, Homo will teach how to make a traditional enriched dough like a Viennoise dough and pate brisee, used to make apple tarts or quiche.
• From 5:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 15, Homo will teach how to make pate sablee, a dough used to make fresh fruit tarts, and beer bread using Fullsteam’s Pale Ale. Sean Wilson, owner of the Durham brewery, also will offer a beer tasting and discuss his line-up of local beers.

Each class costs $75. To reserve a spot, call 919-657-0657.

Roast a chicken for supper and then turn the leftovers into two additional meals.

That's what our food writer Andrea Weigl is writing about in today's Living section.

It's a time saver, Weigl points out.

And a money saver!

Talk about stretching your grocery budget.

Check out her story HERE, which also includes some clever recipes for those "leftover" meals.

Do you have any favorite chicken leftover recipes from your kitchen? Please share them in the comments section below.

You only have a couple weeks left to register to compete in one of the N.C. State Fair's cooking contests. The deadline is Oct. 5.

The dozen contests include the N.C. Peanut Tailgating Recipe Contest and the House-Autry Mills "Southern Fried Classic" Recipe Contest to others promoting eggs, pork, pecans and beef.

Rules for each contest are online at www.ncstatefair.org/2012/Competitions/SpecialCooking.htm. Contestants's recipes must be postmarked by Oct. 5 or dropped off at the fairgrounds' entry office. Any questions: call 919-821-7400, ext. 4521.
 

If you think your wings recipe is a winner, today is the last day to sign up and compete in Ray Price Harley-Davidson's annual wings cook-off. To enter, go HERE.

The competition is next Saturday, July 14. If you just want to go eat wings, you can enjoy all-you-can-eat wings for a $5 donation.

The cooking starts at 9 a.m. Live music by Spaceship Days with Adam Lee Decker starts at 11 a.m. The wings will be served and judged at noon. Proceeds will be donated to Duke Children's Miracle Network. The event also will include a blood drive for Rex Blood Services.

The dealership is at 1126 S. Saunders St. For more information, call 919-832-2261 or go to rayprice-hd.com.

Raleigh cookbook author (and News & Observer Weekend Gourmet columnist) Fred Thompson will try to replicate his mama's beloved collard recipe on the Live Well Network's "My Family Recipe Rocks" show this Saturday.

Thompson wrote about "the collard belt" and his 86-year-old mother's collard recipe for the N&O in November, including the fact that until recently, she traveled from Greensboro to Smithfield each collard season to pick and cut her own greens from the same farmer's patch.

For the TV show, which is hosted by Joey Fatone, Thompson will prepare collards as he learned from his mama, and then see how his effort compares.

"My Family Recipe Rocks" airs at 9 p.m. Saturday night (Feb. 4) on Time Warner Cable channels 109, 112, 1109, 1112 and over the air channels 11.2 and 11.3.

The folks who make the cooking spray Pam are offering you a chance to try their new and improved spray for free.

According to the Pam website, the company will refund the cost of your can of "new and improved formula" Pam (up to $4) if you aren't convinced it's "better than the bargain brand."

Click here to go to the website and download your rebate form.

You must mail the form along with a cash register receipt showing you made your  purchase between Oct. 1, 2011 and April 27, 2012.

If you prefer Pam over the off-brand, I recommend mailing in your rebate form with a hand-written note complimenting the product but telling them you'd still like to participate in the rebate.

I've done this numerous times before and always received my rebates.

Easy, healthy, tasty, cheap and, most of all, worth trying again - what more can you ask of a recipe?

A new dish earned a place in my three-ring binder of favorite recipes on Tuesday as I look for ways to support my recently renewed effort to lose weight.

An intriguing movie "How to Cook Your Life" with Zen chef Edward Espe Brown came out a while back but it looks worth a watch. See the trailer here.

A quote from the movie, "Is food precious? Is food worth caring about? Are you precious? Are you worth caring about?" made me want to see more.

Culinary classes boost our food writer, Andrea Weigl's, bravery

Chef culture leans toward punk rock. That’s what happens when you keep the same hours as rock stars: Work late. Party into the wee hours. Sleep ... more