EPISODE #14 - MONDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2009
LABOR DAY SPECIAL!

Welcome to spring and welcome back to Fusion.  We are happy to return to KOIN Local 6 for the fall of 2009.  We have also added KWVT in Salem as a broadcast partner too.  We have had a good summer off and we are ready to bring you more stories to help make your home a showcase!   We welcome Chef David Musial as a co-host and look forward to having more of his recipes to taste!  We are also excited to kick off the fall season with this special edition of Fusion partnered with our sister show Garden Time.  It is a perfect match, Home and Garden, and one that will give you lots of good information in just one hour every week!  So sit back and enjoy this special Labor Day episode and we will see you next Saturday at 8:00am on KOIN.

           

Small Changes – Big Impact

Celebrating the outdoors is not hard and you can make each Bar B Q memorable with just a few small changes to your basic patio dishes.  Lora from Al’s Garden Center (503-726-1162) walked us through a couple of quick set-ups and showed us how easy it is to make a big impact on your guests.  First she started with a basic set of white dishes and glasses.  Then by adding some little details, she was able to convert the table into a celebration of the 4th of July.  This totally said ‘summer’, even though the weather may disagree!  Next we moved to fragrance.  The next set-up showcased fresh flowers and bright colors.  It definitely was a ‘garden party’.  It even included sprigs of lavender.  Lora also included candles to bring more fragrance to the table.  Finally we moved to color.  Lora used green as the color of choice.  When you do color you need to think about size, structures and shapes.   Those examples will help to keep the color from blending together.  If you are looking for ideas to jazz up your summer garden parties, stop by the gift department at the Al’s in Woodburn and Sherwood.

Pull it All Together

If you are looking at redoing a room you may be overwhelmed with the project and you may not know where to start. Amy Troute from ‘design for home’ (503-805-0811) put up a display to help us get over the hump of design inertia. She told us about some of the things she recommends to get her client started. The first tip is to take stock of the room you are working in and evaluate the area. How are you going to use the space? What is the main purpose or use of the room, what kind of furniture do you want to use? Next, figure out the style you want the room to be. Find what you like in magazines and cut out pictures. This ‘borrowing’ of ideas will help you and your designer make style decisions down the road. You may also look for your own inspiration. If there is a piece that you ‘must have’ in the room, design around that or use it to your benefit. Then use the colors or motif of that piece to help you design the rest of the room. Finally, pay attention to the lighting in the room. Look to light areas according to their use. Use stronger light in areas where you work or play and more subdued lighting in areas where you are going to relax. Dimmers are always good for creating a mood. Remember that when you decorate you want to make the space your own. Look to create a style, maybe take a chance and don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Easy Tomato Sauce

Creating a good sauce can make all the difference in your recipes.  A good sauce can mask a dish or it can bring out a fuller flavor for whatever you are cooking.  Chef David Musial joined us from the demonstration kitchens at Standard TV and Appliance in Beaverton (503-619-0500) to show us how to make a good basic tomato sauce.  This sauce can stand on its own or you can use as a base to make a variety of different sauces.  This one combines carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, and onions to make a fantastic sauce!  You can find the recipe here.

Grind Your Own Spices

One of the quickest ways to ‘punch’ up your recipes is with fresh spices and you can create your own tasty spice combinations by ‘cooking’ and grinding your own spices.  We met with Chef Vaidya from the Oregon Culinary Institute (1-888-OCI-CHEF) who showed Chef David how easy it is to do.  Chef Vaidya picked out 7 different spices for us to look at.  We saw some different spices like clove, cinnamon, bay leaf and nutmeg. Spices can be anything that adds flavor to a recipe and can come from different parts of plants in nature.  It can be a leaf, seeds or even bark from a plant.  Chef Vaidya showed us how to use a stove-top pan to heat the spices.  The heat releases the volatile oils from the spice and creates a more intense flavor.  After heating he ground the spices in a mortar and pestle. This also helps release the flavor and mixes the spices into different combinations.  You can store these spice mixes up to 6 months.  If you are interested in taking some cooking classes and learning more, check out the Oregon Culinary website.

Pantry Organizing
If your pantry and cupboards are a mess it may hard to find what you want and waste a lot time too. Robin gave us some tips for organizing that will help you find food and may save you money too. Tip number 1: Keep similar foods grouped together with their labels facing forward. Now you can find food at a glance and not wonder if you are missing an ingredient. Tip number 2: Inventory your foods and rotate them. By inventorying your foods you can be more efficient when you shop and that means you can save money by not buying food you don’t need. Also, by rotating your food you can make sure that you are serving the freshest food to your family. Try these tips so you can bring a little order to your kitchen.

Basic Sauces – Barbeque Sauce

A couple of weeks ago we met with Chef David Musial who showed us how to make a good basic tomato sauce. This week we use that ‘base’ sauce to make a ‘kicker’ of a barbeque sauce. The tomato sauce that we made was pretty good and with just a couple of other ingredients we found that we can make a good all-purpose sauce. David used items like brown sugar, ketchup, dried chili and even a little beer. In just a few minutes we had a very delicious sauce that could be used for ribs or brisket. Print out your own copy of the recipe and try it for yourself.

Morlan Mirror Product

If you have a mirror that is looking beat up and chipped around the edges, we found a great product to fix that at George Morlan (503-224-7000).  The Mirrorscapes product from Moen (the faucet people) allows you to add a decorative edge around those chipped mirrors without a lot of time or money.  Dave Charvet showed us how easy it is to attach the grooves and then snap on the new edging around the mirror to give it that fancy and elegant look.  It takes a couple of minutes and you have a brand new look for your bathroom or bedroom.

 

 

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March 06, 2010.