BRIEFLY/ ON THE SIDE

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Nov 19, 2003 | by TERESA J. FARNEY

Ethnic goodies

Give your taste buds a world tour: Serve them baked goods and other foods with an international flair. Russian, Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian and British goodies will be on sale from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Saints Constantine and Helen Orthodox Church, 2770 N. Chestnut St., across from American Furniture Warehouse. Church members make the baklava, rosettes, spanakopita, homemade soups and breads as a fund-raiser. Tours of the new Byzantine-style temple will be available, too.

Worthy gift

Buy Silver Key's new cookbook, "Kibitzing in the Kitchen," for yourself or a friend and you'll be doing a good thing for senior citizens in our community. Proceeds will help pay for housing, prescriptions, meals and transportation for dialysis and other medical services. Silver Key has a $200,000 deficit this year and is hoping money from cookbook sales will help. Cost is $12 (tax included) per book. Cookbooks are available at the Silver Key office at 2250 Bott Ave.

PBS TV stars

It's that time of year when Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver will host culinary stars from its lineup to help raise money for programming. Julia Collin from "America's Test Kitchen" will be featured on Dec. 6 and Rick Bayless from "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" will be there Dec. 13. Both programs start at 9 a.m., and viewers can meet Bayless at 1 p.m. Dec. 13 at the PBS studio, 1089 Bannock St.

Keep it safe

Fund-raisers, food and holiday celebrations go together, but don't let foodborne illness be part of the package.

To keep foods and food handling safe, Penn State University has developed a 108-page manual for nonprofit organizations.

To get "Cooking for Crowds: A Volunteer's Guide to Safe Food Handling," send $9 (includes shipping and handling) to the Department of Food Science, Penn State University, 119 Borland Lab, University Park, PA 16802. Or download it for free from www.cookingfor crowds.psu.edu.

A magic wand

The stuffing inside turkey presents a dicey situation. You want it to reach 165 degrees, high enough to kill harmful bacteria - but you might overcook the turkey in the process.

One solution is Practical Innovations' Roasting Wand. Insert the wand into the stuffed turkey, and the heat is directed to the stuffing. The company also says the wand speeds up turkey-cooking time.

It's available at Sur La Table in Denver, but you can order it by phone at 1-630-257-7476 or online at www.roastingwand.com. It retails for $19.95, plus shipping and handling, though the Web site was offering it for $17.95.