Verna's Heritage, a sweet calling for mother-daughter duo

The mother and daughter team of Shirley Almand and Wendy Ranny just began Verna's Heritage, a cottage industry business selling delicious raspberry bars, chewy cake, jams and other delectable goodies at the SouthShore Sunday Market in Ruskin.

Read about them and their decadent recipe for Strawberry Soup in this week's Table Scraps column on tbo.com.

Tea, scones AND cowboy hats

Destiny Church in Ruskin hosted 104 guests at its annual spring tea on Saturday. The day before I got a sneak peak at the delightful table settings for the event. Every one of them was a "wow!"

Salsa festival brings out the heat

I was a judge today at the first Family Salsa Festival salsa competition at the Good Samaritan Mission in Wimauma.

Despite a brief rain shower, the event itself was fun and brought out a variety of salsa, including black bean and corn, mango and smoked.

The perfect salsa involves blending the right amount of heat and sweetness.

And a little kick doesn't hurt.

I applaud all the participants and congratulate the winners who earned bragging rights:

Commercial/Professional - Cigar City Smoked Salsa

Best Decorated Booth - South County Career Center (Team #1)

Hottest Salsa - Tree Dog Salsa

Finest Fruits - South County Career Center (Team #1)

Best Bean Salsa - East Bay High School

Righteous Roasted Salsa - Cigar City Smoked Salsa

Top Tomato Salsa - The King's Bistro

Mind Blowing Mild Salsa - South County Career Center (Team #2)

A taste of life on the farm

When you hear the word "Swiss" what do you think of? Maybe watches and army knives? For me, not surprisingly it's food.

There are at least three Swiss foods that come to my mind right away, and you can probably guess what they are: Swiss chocolate, Swiss cheese and Swiss chard.

Granted I might not choose a leafy green over cheese, let alone chocolate, but when it comes to veggies it's right up there near the top of my list.

You can read about my recent visit to Hydro Harvest Farms - which included picking this beautiful Swiss chard - in this week's Table Scraps column on tbo.com.

Got leftover corned beef?

These are delicious! The poppy seeds, butter, and onion "marinade" turn this sandwich into buttery, finger-licking goodness. If you want, you can make them a day or two in advance before baking, and substitute any other combo of deli meats and cheeses.

Two thumbs up!

MARINATED CORNED BEEF & SWISS CHEESE SLIDERS

Marinade:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1/4 cup sweet onion, minced

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons hot or spicy mustard

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Sandwiches:

24 small dinner rolls

Horseradish mayonnaise

24 (about 1 pound) thin slices of deli corned beef

24 (about 3/4 pound) thin slices of Swiss cheese

Butter or line two 9- x 13-inch baking pans with non-stick foil.

To prepare marinade, saute minced sweet onion in butter over low heat until onion is soft and translucent. Add poppy seeds, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and brown sugar. Stir until brown sugar is melted into the sauce. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Set marinade aside to cool while you assemble the sandwiches.

Slice the buns in half. Spread bottoms of the buns with a thin layer of horseradish mayonnaise. Fold corned beef slices to fit the bottom of each bun. Repeat with Swiss cheese slices, folding to fit buns. Replace bun tops. Place corned beef and cheese buns into greased baking pans. Pour marinade evenly over buns in both pans. Cover tightly with foil. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the marinated buns covered for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Source: Adapted from www.homecooking.about.com