Author Topic: Holiday Open House ~ December 1-31 (Read 52241 times)

PatH · « **Reply #120 on:** December 09, 2009, 03:07:42 PM »

Holiday Open House ~ December 1-20

LINKS

Culinary Mysteries

Authors & Their Recipes

---------

'Tis the season to be jolly and to talk about:
BOOKS AND FOOD

Who's your favorite cook?
Julia Child? Nigella Lawson? Emeril?

Or maybe they exist only in books:
Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Baer?
Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson?

Have you ever tried their recipes?

Come join us this holiday season,
share your thoughts.
What's good to read and good to eat?

Discussion Leaders: Pedln & JoanK

JoanK · « **Reply #121 on:** December 09, 2009, 03:10:19 PM »

PatH: we were putting in headings at the same time.

PatH · « **Reply #122 on:** December 09, 2009, 03:16:30 PM »

Oh, well, same heading.

CubFan · « **Reply #123 on:** December 09, 2009, 03:25:24 PM »

Greetings -

Jackie - I just read The Blue & Grey Christmas earlier this week. It was a good read.

I finished the Christmas stocking I was making and have been inhaling books ever since. I had such a reading dry spell while I was stitching. Also read Monica Ferris's latest Blackwork this week.

Now back to cards & letters.

Mary

mrssherlock · « **Reply #124 on:** December 09, 2009, 03:30:43 PM »

My sister and I are getting together next week to make fruit cakes from the recipe of our Alabama GM. She was a strict Baptist so this is not the kind you douse with brandy. It is a butter cake stuffed with brightly colored glace fruits, nuts and raisins. I'll be serving it at the party we will be having here later this month. We are planning a party, aren't we?

bellamarie · « **Reply #125 on:** December 09, 2009, 04:46:31 PM »

Babi, Yes, you are correct it is the left clicker on the mouse. DRAT! Leave it to me to try to help someone and make a mistake. After being the technology director in a private school for fifteen years and teaching High School teachers a workshop at the uninversity. LOLOL Did dyslexia set in on me overnight???

My hubby came in today with his first bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies from one of his lovely ladies on his mail route. YUMMY! I was exhausted from my day care kids today and low and behold, he pops in unexpectedly, with the goodies and coffee. Oh how I love this man!

Chocolate truffles...oh wow they sound delicious. Thanks Babi, for the recipe and for keeping an eye on me. Good Luck Sally.

Pedln, Enjoy that clam chowder. LOL Peeling potatoes and cutting celery...lolol I think I could do that too!

bellemere · « **Reply #126 on:** December 09, 2009, 08:22:39 PM »

I had a friend at work who came from England and used to enlighten me when I came across a strange English dish in my reading. I would call her on the phone: "Roz, what is cauliflower cheese?" (a dish eaten by many governesses) She said"Think macaroni and cheese with bits of cauliflower instead of pasta." Next it might be another call: "Roz, fairy cakes? " "Round Twinkiies" "Roz, baked beans on toast! Really?" "Dates from the war. Very popular for Sunday breadfast."
We both loved the books of Barbara Pym, and used to make up a "Barbara's Tour of London" where we would have tea with a curate, go to "jumble sales" and wear dresses of "pongee"
And does anyone remember Peg Bracken's Four Ingredient Cook Book? I lost mine but found one on a remainder table, and darned if it wasn't English! Mushrooms in coaches, cauliflower polonaise, partridge, and so on.

salan · « **Reply #127 on:** December 10, 2009, 06:24:10 AM »

Duh!! I just realized that bellemere and bellamarie are two different people. I am so glad. I was
beginning to think that bellemere/bellamarie was confused and contradictory, now I know that I was the confused one!!
Bellamarie, I plan to fix your clam chowder this week-end. Thanks for the recipe. It looks good and easy. I don't remember who sent in the recipe for the 4 ingredient fudge; but I plan to try it also. It also looks easy and quick.
Salanre

Babi · « **Reply #128 on:** December 10, 2009, 08:54:11 AM »

Not yet, JOAN. I don't have a double boiler, for one thing, but I'm
wondering if I could improvise.

Speaking of peeling potatoes, BELLA, Joanna Fluke's book also included
a potatoe recipe that sounded great. BUT...it called for 8 pounds of
potatoes! No way I'm peeling that many potatoes!

Four ingredients, BELLE? Sounds like a cookbook I could really
appreciate. 'Easy does it' is my favorite motto these days.

bellamarie · « **Reply #129 on:** December 10, 2009, 09:24:11 AM »

Sally, How funny, I can see how it could be confusing. When I first joined Senior Learn I had to keep mentioning the differences in our spelling. Enjoy that clam chowder I am considering making it for my hubby next week. I know how much he would love it.

bellemere, The "cauliflower cheese" sounds really yummy! It must be fun discovering their differences, yet so close to being the same recipes as ours. A four ingredient cookbook sounds like my kind of cooking, simple and fast.

pedln · « **Reply #130 on:** December 10, 2009, 10:41:44 AM »

Babi, I don’t have a double boiler either, but I do have a “thing” – a little metal stand that fits in a pot, about 3 or 4 inches from the bottom, then you can put a smaller pot or metal bowl on that. It sort of serves the same purpose. You might be able to just use a microwave. (Off topic – years ago I used to carmelize sugar when making flan, usually burning it; then when microwaves came along, found that it did the job so much better.) At any rate, those truffles do sound good.

I know I’ve copied some of Joanne Fluke’s recipes. Will have to make notes of recipe sources, from now on. Someone in my f2f group made her blueberry muffins, but made it in bread form instead. Maybe she didn’t have muffin tins. It was tasty.

Jackie, we discussed Mendicott’s Ladies of Covington here years ago. Such an enjoyable book. One of these days it will be nice to read some more of the series.

nlhome, bellemere, bellamarie, Sandy – all you folks in blizzard territory – how are you doing? I hope you can stay inside and keep warm.

You folks from my home state of Wisconsin (Racine) – you’re in Green Bay? and SW – Mt. Horeb? Dodgeville? I know Sandy’s up there not too far my my ancestors’ settling grounds in Waupaca County. Lutefisk and lefse country.

That cauliflower cheese does sound good. Probably healthier than macaroni. Bellemere, my former husband’s family was all from Boston, and even in Puerto Rico we would have baked beans on brown bread for Saturday night dinner. (I had some brown bread awhile back and it just tasted so full of fat I don’t think I ever want to eat another piece; I used to love it.)

Must get moving to prepare a new crockpot recipe for dinner tonight – Flemish Stew – uses bottom round and dark ale (but no stout says the recipe.) We shall see.

Mippy · « **Reply #131 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:48:55 AM »

Hey there, Pedln ~ never knew your home state was WI, which isn't too far from my home state, OH. When we lived/worked in Evanston IL for 4 years in the 1990s, we went up to Greenbay and Door County on weekends once in a while ... lutefish, white fish, other really good food ... nice place.

Bellmere ~ Peg Bracken sounds familiar. Was her material published in magazines way back the 1960s? I can't recall where I read her.

Do keep warm, everyone, while we in FL enjoy the sun and 80 degree weather!

bellamarie · « **Reply #132 on:** December 10, 2009, 12:05:26 PM »

Babi, "8 pounds of potatoes! No way I'm peeling that many potatoes!"

Oh my heavens! Who are they feeding, an army?

PatH · « **Reply #133 on:** December 10, 2009, 12:05:46 PM »

Peg Bracken wrote the "I hate to Cook" cookbook, "I hate to Housekeep", and others. One piece of advice was not to make a recipe too often because you stop respecting it and get sloppy, and it doesn't come out as well. One of her recipes was "Elevator Lady Spice Cookies". She gave the elevator lady a cookie, and the lady responded "My, I sure can make a better spice cookie than that", and gave her the recipe.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #134 on:** December 10, 2009, 02:04:30 PM »

Peel potatoes? No way. In the freezer section of all the stores i shop in are nice bags of peeled, quartered potatoes which go into the microwave for 8 minutes and then come out ready to be mashed. I use frozen chopped onion, frozen potatoes, cook turkey breast instead of the whole bird, make gravy from an envelope of gravy mix (Knorr), it's almost like not cooking. When I cook with whole potatoes it is something which uses them unpeeled and sliced thin on my mandoline, like Potatoes Anna.

JoanK · « **Reply #135 on:** December 10, 2009, 02:57:33 PM »

I used to have the "I Hate to Cook" cookbook (although I dont). But didn't know there was an "I Hate to Housekeep". Now THAT'S my book!!

I did have something called "The Psychiatrist's Wife Guide to Housework" (That's not quite right). It was supposed to simplefy housework, but if you followed her recommendations, you would spend three hours a day cleaning an apartment with no children. No thanks. But I did use her "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" emergency cleanup for a morning routine.

CubFan · « **Reply #136 on:** December 10, 2009, 04:28:16 PM »

Greetings =

Pedlin - my six year old granddaughter emailed me yesterday (lives in DePere, adjacent to Green Bay) and told me that it is too blustery and we have no school. I'm in Oshkosh and the 10 inches we got was more than enough. Green Bay supposedly had 14 inches with an ice coating underneath. We didn't get ice coating because we received a few inches of snow two days earlier. The word I've heard most often around town in reference to this snow was "brutal". Now the temperatures have dropped. Winter in Wisconsin. The sun is shining and today yet the snow is pure white.

I stayed in and read Sue Henry's newest title, End of the Road, made Christmas cookies, and worked on Christmas cards.

Mary

JoanK · « **Reply #137 on:** December 10, 2009, 06:23:50 PM »

Have to get the Sue Henry. I like her.

My "Kafks's Soup" came today. It's worth the price for the Raymond Chandler alone. I laughed til I cried.

nlhome · « **Reply #138 on:** December 10, 2009, 07:34:51 PM »

Pedlin, yes, Dodgeville.

We had a lot of snow and wind, but nothing like Madison did. They had a lot more heavy snow, so trees went down and power was out. They ad a big snowball fight on the UW campus.

So yesterday I, too, like CubFan, read the Sue Henry book, wrote Christmas cards and so on. Back to work today, very cold and bright, and I would have walked to work if the wind chill hadn't been so low. Tomorrow should be cold also. It was 6 below this morning.

Yes, Wisconsin winter.

PatH · « **Reply #139 on:** December 10, 2009, 07:38:05 PM »

I can't leave a discussion of Christmas recipes without sharing one that a labmate gave me many years ago. These sugar coated nuts are dead easy to make, and deliciously addictive. They make good presents--not cheap, since good nuts aren't cheap, but good bang for your buck.

Kerin's sugar coated nuts

1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1 Tbs cinnamon
1/2 c water

Cook in a saucepan to 238 degrees, remove from heat, and stir in

1 lb nuts (pecans or walnuts, halves)

Mix quickly to coat, then spread out on wax paper to cool and dry, trying to get most of the nuts separated. Makes a good present, and it’s very easy. You have to spread fast, though.

bellamarie · « **Reply #140 on:** December 11, 2009, 08:36:45 AM »

JoanK, "The Psychiatrist's Wife Guide to Housework"

Now this is a hilarious title for a book. The trick to housework, is to NOT look at it as 'work', I enjoy cleaning and laundry, because it gives me such a good feeling knowing I am doing this for my family and my own sense of pride. Although it got even more enjoyable once all the kids were gone and I didn't have to pick up after them. My day care kids are not nearly as messy as my teens were. lol One perfect way to teach my kids to clean their own room as teens was to let them know I would search for the diary, letters and music inappropriate for our house. After destroying a dozen or so of my sons rap tapes, he decided he would clean his own room. And our home remained rap free! lol He's a Dad now and has a teen and understands how important it was for me, and now for him, to impose good values, and contibute to the upkeep and care of your home, even if it makes you unpopular. lol My granddaughter says, "Dad is callling a cleaning day today." I have to chuckle hearing he uses my exact words.

Babi · « **Reply #141 on:** December 11, 2009, 08:45:56 AM »

Hmmm, I do have a metal stand, PEDLN. I wonder if it would fit into one
of my pots? I thought of microwaving, but I'm not sure how chocolate
would react to nuking. Anybody tried that yet?

I remember the "I Hate to Cook" cookbook! Not that I hated to cook,
but the book was fun and time-saving recipes are always nice when you
have three small kids to keep an eye on.

All those frozen potatoes in the stores and I never noticed any peeled,
quartered ones, JACKIE. Mostly, Val and I wash a couple of potatoes and
stick them in the microwave. But for a crowd, already peeled potatoes
would be so much easier.

JoanK

Quote

I laughed til I cried.

Now there's a recommendation!

Aliki · « **Reply #142 on:** December 11, 2009, 09:47:20 AM »

Finally taking a wee break from Latin I find myself watching the other groups, especially Books and this one--my favorite two things--books AND food and I have a question I'd like to ask.

I enjoy British sitcoms and one I especially like is The Vicar of Dibley. In the Christmas episode two gentlemen invite the Vicar to dinner and serve her "turkey and 16 veg." My question is: does anyone know what the 16 veg might be. I'm sure one is brussels sprouts...but 15 more???

Help!! ...and Happy Holidays to all!!!

aliki (a.k.a. alliemae)

PatH · « **Reply #143 on:** December 11, 2009, 10:04:11 AM »

Wow, Aliki, what a challenge! I hope someone knows the answer. Cabbage is surely another, and potatoes. Imagine even trying to get a taste of each.

ANNIE · « **Reply #144 on:** December 11, 2009, 11:49:38 AM »

Well, Aliki, I googled 16 veg for recipies and didn't find it but did find this most tempting site for ordering 15 dried vegetables and decided that anyone in here might like to see and maybe order something like this for themselves or as a gift. I have never heard of the company but the pictures sure look good.

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Vegetable-Sampler4015-ZIP-Pouches41_p_1844.html

CubFan · « **Reply #145 on:** December 11, 2009, 04:29:33 PM »

Greetings -

I still have my I Hate to Cookbook. A couple of times a year I use it for the "Cockeyed Cake" recipe. I bet if I looked through it again now I'd find something new and different to try. They were easy recipes.

Mary

pedln · « **Reply #146 on:** December 11, 2009, 05:38:29 PM »

Hey, Aliki, welcome. It’s always nice to see another Latin student here. As for the veggies – peas and carrots, maybe.

Annie, what a neat site. Ideas are already running through my head. I just wish they’d gone into a little more detail about how to use the dried veggies. The soups I understand, and I want some of those packages -- black bean chili, mmmm yum. Those freeze dried fruits would be good in Nigella Lawson’s Breakfast Bars. You can let your imagination run wild with those.

Cubfan, that Cockeyed Cake. Is that the one where you put all the dry ingredients in one bowl, made a hole and poured in the liquids? Whacky cake, we called it.

Thanks for the sugar nuts recipe PatH. I remember when FairAnna brought some to our books get-together at Isle of Palms almost five years ago. They were the hit of season.

Just heard from Netflix that my next dvd will be Julie and Julia, on Monday. I’m really looking forward to that one. We know that there are lots of books, including lots of fiction, about food. How about foodie movies ? I can think of Chocolat and Like Water for Chocolat – and they’re both books, too. And there’s Babette’s Feast. And what foodie films do you recommend?

JoanK · « **Reply #147 on:** December 11, 2009, 05:42:07 PM »

I like The Vicar of Dibley too, but haven't seen that episode. I can't imagine the English with 16 vegetables: their diet always seemed to me short short of veggies (I doubt they grow well in that climate).

But definitely brussel sprouts. When Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Queen of England during the war, she was going to go to a state dinner given by the Queen. Her son Eliot, who had been to such, warned her that whatever else they served, there would be brussel sprouts!

Aliki · « **Reply #148 on:** December 11, 2009, 05:42:21 PM »

Quote from: ADOANNIE on December 11, 2009, 11:49:38 AM

Well, Aliki, I googled 16 veg for recipies and didn't find it but did find this most tempting site for ordering 15 dried vegetables and decided that anyone in here might like to see and maybe order something like this for themselves or as a gift. I have never heard of the company but the pictures sure look good.

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Vegetable-Sampler4015-ZIP-Pouches41_p_1844.html

ADOANNIE, it is indeed a great site!! Just think, lay in enough spuds, pastas and rice and you can be snowed in all winter with all of this variety! Thanks for the site. We have 3 chefs in our family...I'll pass it on to them also.

aliki

CubFan · « **Reply #149 on:** December 11, 2009, 06:33:15 PM »

Yes Pedlin - that's the cake. I've seen it elsewhere as Wacky Cake too.

Mary

pedln · « **Reply #150 on:** December 11, 2009, 08:18:24 PM »

Quote

"Well, that was rather blustery!" chirps a character after a simulated storm blows the characters across miles in mere seconds. Moving right along!

CubFan, never having used the word before, I was first surprised to find your young granddaughter using it, and now I've just seen it in a Washington Post article -- about the stage performance of "Around the World in 80 Days" in Baltimore. It's true, it pays to increase your vocabulary.

JoanK, one of my cousins was stationed in England during WWII. He later told his family they could NEVER fix brussel sprouts for him. Personally, I like them and loved the tiny ones in a vinegriette (?) sauce served by a Middle eastern restaurant in Brooklyn.

PatH · « **Reply #151 on:** December 11, 2009, 09:06:00 PM »

I love Brussels sprouts, and I'm sure I would have gobbled up those middle eastern ones.

bellamarie · « **Reply #152 on:** December 11, 2009, 10:22:32 PM »

Pedln, "And what foodie films do you recommend?

The first movie I thought of was No Reservations 2007 Starring: Catherine Zeta Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin
I also remember the wonderful spread in Under the Tuscan Sun Starring: Diane Lane

I went to Google and here are a couple more: Babette's Feast (1988) Starring: Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) Starring: Sihung Lung, Yu-Wen Wang

I have not seen either of these two but it says don't watch on an empty stomach!

allimae,

Quote

I enjoy British sitcoms and one I especially like is The Vicar of Dibley. In the Christmas episode two gentlemen invite the Vicar to dinner and serve her "turkey and 16 veg." My question is: does anyone know what the 16 veg might be. I'm sure one is brussels sprouts...but 15 more??? [/color] [/b]

I found a site that has every episode of The Vicar of Dibley, in The Christmas Lunch Incident it shows the plate with the vegetables on it. Take a look and see if you can name them.

http://retroflix.livejournal.com/22701.html

PatH · « **Reply #153 on:** December 11, 2009, 11:20:51 PM »

Foodie films: let's not forget Ratatouille. OK, it's a cartoon, but it's a good story, and it deals very realistically with the French restaurant scene. (It was well liked in France for that reason.) The hero is a rat who has the ability to be a gourmet chef, but runs into problems, including health regulations. It has a happy ending.

PatH · « **Reply #154 on:** December 11, 2009, 11:30:09 PM »

The 16 vegs: the picture isn't clear, but here's what I can make out: potatoes, cherry tomatoes,brussels sprouts (of course), broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower, snap peas, a carrot sliver, some white slices I can't figure out, plus a blob I think must be dressing. That's 9.

Gumtree · « **Reply #155 on:** December 12, 2009, 12:52:29 AM »

16 vegies: Yes I got about as far as that too PatH - hard to distinguish any others.
Some difficult to see on the far side could include Turnip, parsnip, swedes, onion, beetroot.

Pedln Blustery is a word in common usage here - we use it to refer to strong and gusty wind conditions. Also used in the sense of a person trying to convince others by lots of loud bragging or threatening talk - we say he's just full of bluster or blustery or blustering.

Mippy · « **Reply #156 on:** December 12, 2009, 07:06:18 AM »

Hi, Gumtree ~ Good to hear from you! How does your Christmas season in warm weather differ from U.K./U.S. with our (traditional) snowy season? Are there some different or special foods for your season?

Pedln ~ Thanks for mentioning Babette's Feast, which we actually saw in a movie theater (very rare for us) and loved! Great film !

Speaking of holiday food movies, remember the Thanksgiving food disaster ... undercooked turkey ... in Accidental Tourist? William Hurt was great in that movie.

Babi · « **Reply #157 on:** December 12, 2009, 09:24:43 AM »

I started a list, but Pat and Gum did a much better job of identifying
the veggies. The beetroot must have been one of those dark blobs I didn't recognize. Is a Swede the same thing as a potato?

CubFan · « **Reply #158 on:** December 12, 2009, 10:21:59 AM »

Greetings -

Pedlin, I think she probably got "blustery" from Winnie the Pooh. You never know what words little ones are going to pick up and add to their vocabulary. Words can be such fun and we should never "dumb down" their learning materials. On the other hand, some adults could be more selective in their language around children. I also wish parents would keep reading to children beyond the kindergarten/1st grade. Just because they are starting to reading themselves doesn't mean they don't enjoy being read to which expands their horizons for years to come.

Enough of my soap box.

Have a good day everyone.

Mary

Gumtree · « **Reply #159 on:** December 12, 2009, 01:04:39 PM »

Babi: A swede is a rutabagas.

Mippy: Hope you're enjoying our break as much as I am

Christmas here is always hot - sometimes very hot - so although we have much the same sorts of celebratory foods as in your country most folk these days serve a cold luncheon but of course the menu varies with the people and their cultural background.

Many Aussies opt for a barbeque round the pool or cook their turkey outdoors in the Weber ovens during the morning- but it is often too hot to be outside in the middle of the day.

In my family we generally have a seafood entree - might be King prawns and/or crayfish (rock lobster), We always have turkey, ham, with assorted salads and other accompaniments for the main and often follow that with an elaborate dessert (chocolate roulade is a favourite ) and fruit platters - afternoon tea is when we do the Christmas cake, fruit mince pies and other sweet goodies - this is followed by a huge cheeseboard which my son organises (we all like cheese but he considers himself the cheese aficionado) so there's always something special there. All this takes all afternoon and half the evening to get through - needless to say we don't do dinner - but anyone who is starving can find plenty of pickings. Generally we take a dip in the pool now and again to cool off and for many years we've had a golf-putting tournament on the lawns which I often win - surprising since I don't play golf -

Almost every year we have one or more last minute guests - it might be a neighbour or friend who would otherwise be alone for the day or my offspring might bring along an 'orphan' - a friend who can't be home with his/her family. They all seem to fit in and always enhance our enjoyment of the day.

Sorry this is soooo loooong - but you did ask.

News:

Author Topic: Holiday Open House ~ December 1-31 (Read 52241 times)