Holiday Open House ~ December 1-31

[bellamarie]

Holiday Open House ~ December 1-20

LINKS Culinary Mysteries Authors & Their Recipes

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'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

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ginny, How cute little John is.  I have no idea how to post pics or I would have shared our day care baking.  I'm afraid they got more flour on the floor and their clothes than on the counter.  Oh but they had fun!

So yesterday was quite a day, my sweet grand daughter Hayden helped me measure, mix and drop cookie dough for chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter with hershey kisses and chocolate crinkle cookies.  She was so patient and I loved her exclamation as we baked, "I don't have to take a nap or have quiet time today!"


Eloise, How exciting, 20 of you to share the holiday and sleding outside!  Sounds like tons of fun!

Jackie, Goosebumps indeed, memories are so warm and comforting.  I have hundreds of cds filled with pics of all our family events and everyday happenings.  I run a slideshow on my compter throughout the day watching and reliving each of those times.  I had to actually buy an external hard drive to safe keep my pictures in the event something would go wrong and I would have to do a restore on my computer.  

Sally, Wow your Mom must have loved baking!  How wonderful of her to personalize a pie for each person.  My son looks forward to his apple at Thanksgiving when everyone else likes pumpkin. I can't help you with casseroles, I just don't make many.  I bet there is a site you can google for easy ones.  

[mrssherlock]

Sally:  Simply reading your mother's December agenda tires me out!  She made a super "mom" role model, didn't she?

[EvelynMC]

Ginny- Little John is really growing up.  You are having so much fun with him. He's a very good looking little boy!

Pedlin- I read "School of Essential Ingredients" by Erica Bauermeister last week.  It was a new book at the library that I was lucky enough to find.  It is a very good book and I would highly recommend it.

Evelyn

[bellamarie]

Sally,  I found a wonderful site you can find casserole dishes.  Ladies you are gonna LOVE this site.

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/

Enjoy!!

[salan]

bellamarie--what a beautifully presented web site.  Thank you for leading me to it.  I book marked it for future reference.  mrssherlock, my mother had a real sweet tooth and she always said that baking was her way of relaxing!  I got my love of reading from her, as well as (unfortunatly) her "sweet tooth".  I don't enjoy baking/cooking as much as I used to.  If I had a sous chef to chop, peel and clean-up I would cook more!!
Sally

[Babi]

SALLY, was that date loaf bread or the date candy roll? I thought my
mother was the only one to ever make a date roll candy.
 I made it for a few years after I grew up, and it was so rich and
delicious. Not many people seemed as fond of date roll as I was, tho',
so I stopped making it. I've never come across it anywhere else.
 Your mother must have loved making desserts, to take on that kitchen
marathon every Christmas. Lucky family!

[mrssherlock]

When I was a child our Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts always included stuffed dates.  Dates must have been exotic and costly, only for those special occasions when all the stops were pulled out. We always had Waldorf Salad, too.  Never hear of Waldorf Salad these days, do we?

[JoanK]

We always had stuffed dates, too, and I loved them!

I gave "Kafka's Soup" to my daughter and son-in-law for an early Christmas present, and they loved it. We all roared, reading excerpts. They won't be here on Christmas, and we plan to celebrate when they get back. But she gave me a small present to "hold me". I said I had a small present for them, should I give it now? She said she had nothing to read on the plane, hint, hint. So that did it!

They were supposed to fly to Washington, DC today. But as the evening wore on, it began to look like a worse and worse idea. With the airline's encouragement, they changed their tickets for Monday.

I'll find out in a few minutes when I talk with PatH whether that was a good idea.

[salan]

Babi, my mother made the date loaf candy.  I don't remember what all was in it (dates, pecans & sugar, of course), but I have her recipe somewhere.  She would roll it up, then roll it in powdered sugar and wrap a cheese cloth around it.  She would unwrap the cheese cloth and slice it before serving.  She also made stuffed dates.  Most of us weren't that fond of dates, so she eventually quit making it. I recently bought a package of dates to munch on--discovered that I am not that fond of dates anymore.  I am thinking about using them to make date nut bread, but......
Sally

[pedln]

JoanK, delaying their flight was probably a wise decision for your daughter and SIL.  I hope things are improved for them by Monday.  I haven’t talked with my DC family yet about the storm, but am hoping my granddaughter got home  from Princeton before all the white stuff hit.

Stuffed dates – they do bring back memories.  It was always the children’s job to stuff them with nuts or peanut butter (MIL’s good idea) and roll them in powdered sugar.  I'm glad you mentioned them Sally, to remind me, to remind my Seattle daughter to get dates for her children to stuff.

Mippy, the mystery cozies are fun and I love the recipes.  The one below is from our local Senior Center Swap Book, but adapted (less fat) from one of Diane Mott Davidson’s books.

Banana Pecan Muffins

4 1/2 C flour
1 3/4 C sugar
5 teas. baking powder
1 3/4 teas. salt
1 3/4 C overripe mashed bananas
1/4 C oil
2 eggs
1 1/3 C skim milk
2 C pecans

Whisk together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients just until moistened.  Add nuts.
Spoon into greased muffin tins to 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min. until brown.

[pedln]

Eloise, you sent me to Google to find out what tourtières are.  They sound delicious.  What a feast your family will have.

Jackie, I love Waldorf salad.  You’ve given me a wonderful idea for supper tonight. Since I’m leaving town on Monday, I’m “eating down,” and a bit “out of a box” and have no green salad makings, but do have apples and celery.  Thank you.
 
There are times when I think that I miss being the chef in charge of my own kitchen at holiday time, but wonder if  that’s really true.  But, I’m a good cleaner-upper and  still reign over the production of “nuts and bolts” that my family expects and demands.  I'll be making a double or triple batch after I get to Seattle.

They also expect hard sauce, even if there’s no mince pie or plum pudding, but that’s a job for the older children, especially the tasting.  And it goes on whatever pies are being served.  And any leftover disappears Christmas night – only an empty dish with a few fingermarks is left in the fridge.

Evelyn, I’m glad to hear you liked the Baumeister book.  I want to read it too.

That was an interesting foodsite, Bellamarie, Mommy’s Kitchen.  Looking at meatloaf recipes – I never knew that if you mixed the meatloaf too much it would get tough.

[Aliki]

When I was a child our Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts always included stuffed dates.  Dates must have been exotic and costly, only for those special occasions when all the stops were pulled out. We always had Waldorf Salad, too.  Never hear of Waldorf Salad these days, do we?

One of the most delicious Waldorf Salads I've ever had was not called that but contained all of the main ingredients. It was a Chicken Salad but all the ingredients were mixed in with chunks of poached white meat chicken so it could be used as a main course.  They also suggested a little squeeze of lime juice and a drizzle of honey to add a different dimension.

Next I'll have to mention one of my favorite cook books (pb--so old it is now held together with a rubber band).

aliki

[serenesheila]

All of this talk of food has made me hungry!  I am another Waldorf salad lover.  We always had dates for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I hadn't thought of dates for ages.  I never had stuffed dates, though.

My son, and his wife, and my two grandchildren, are flying in from Ohio, on the 24th.  I am getting excited.  It has been a year since I saw them.  I do hope that the weather cooperates.  My daughter will be here, too.  We are having ham, side dishes, and 4 pies.  I really must be hungery, to be telling all of you, my menu for the big day.

I have enjoyed this discussion.  I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.  May the coming year be filled with many blessings, for you, and yours

Sheila

[Eloise]

The midnight mass in the little village in the Laurentian mountains where we lived in the 50s and early 60s was like something that came right out of fairy tale my children remembered. We all got ready at 11 pm to walk to the church about half a mile. Some of the times soft snow was falling and as there were very few cars running on the street we could actually hear the snow fall on the ground. At midnight the best tenor in town sang

Minuit Chrétien  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWq5OWYaXDw&feature=related

and we all walked back home for the Christmas Eve party that included our tourtière, apple pies and cakes and a special red candy only available at Christmas time.

Tourtière pie

Minced pork, beef and veal in a pot on the stove top
onion, savory according to taste, salt and pepper,
Enough water to cover stirring constantly until it starts to boil, then when it's fully boiling
Let it simmer covered about 2 hours over low heat

If it's too watery thicken it with either potato, I prefer a half cup of oatmeal so it won't run when cutting pieces. Adjust condiments to taste during cooking. I started using less salt.

Pour filling between pastry shells and bake at 350 or 375 for one hour

My recipe looks somewhat like this.

http://blog.tourismealma.com/wp-content/tourtiere1.jpg

I still have some baking to do, but when the Christmas season is over, no more baking for a while.

Merry Christmas everybody,

Joyeux Noël et Bonne et Heureuse Année

[PatH]

Aliki, I'm hugely curious.  What cookbook?

That reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask.  Most of us probably started cooking on a day-to-day basis either when we got married or when we started living by ourselves.  What cookbook did you use to get going, and do you still cook anything from it?

In my case, it was the "Good Housekeeping Cookbook", ~1955, very different from later editions.  It was a good starter cookbook, because not only did it have a lot of basic instructions, but it was very inclusive.  You couldn't be faced with anything without finding some way of cooking it.  I don't cook much from it now, though I'm sure some of it's rules are ingrained, but I do use their recipes for meatloaf and brownies.

[JoanK]

Yes, it turns out my daughter's family was wise to postpone going East. This afternoon, PatH said there were 18 inches of snow, and still snowing.I hope that she won't kill me if I mention that I just got back from a pool party here in California? What a wide variety of habitats we live in, even those of us in the same country, much less those of us all over the world.

[CubFan]

Greetings -

I received my Betty Crocker cookbook as a wedding present in 1964.  It is a three ring binder type and it's the first place I look when I need to know something. I still use it for pie crust and fresh vegetables. My two grandsons (ages twenty and eight) use it every year to make cinnamon rolls. I started Nathan with cinnamon rolls when he was so little all he could do was spank the dough.  Now I watch as he teaches Jarod. They make enough over Thanksgiving break for all three households and everyone freezes them to eat for Christmas breakfast. Each of my girls also has a Betty Crocker cookbook but call periodically for a recipe out of mine because some recipes have been changed or edited out.

Mary

[bellamarie]

Oh my only less than a week before all the anticipation, shopping, baking and preparations will be complete and the celebration will finally begin.  I cherish the 5:30 mass we attend every Christmas Eve before everyone meets back at our house for the festivities.  Whatever your favorite recipe will be and what ever tradition you carry on and new memories to add to your already many, I would like to wish you all the Merriest Christmas and Happiest New Year!

To all the recipes you will prepare let me say the most important ingredient you will ever include is......
1 huge scoop of "LOVE"

The first two cookbooks I owned were given to me from my mother in law after I married in 1971. One is a 5 binder Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book Revised and Enlarged edition.  Can't find a date on in but it is tattered and aged yellow, it was her cookbook so I am imagining its quite old. The other one is Betty Crocker's Cookbook 1969.  I used the older one just the other day to make peanut butter cookies.  With the internet so accessible, I generally just google and go straight to a site that has what I am looking for.  I do want to purchase Debbie Macomber's cookbook in the near future.

My five grandkids came tonight for our annual Christmas cookie bake, pizza, sleepover.  Our fourteen yr grnddaughter brought a friend (Jenna) we have known since preschool.  Jenna used a rolling pin for the first time ever.  She was so excited she practically took over my kitchen.  Our 18 month old Zak, once again only wanted to keep eating the cookie dough.  So now everyone is all sleeping in their sleeping bags on the living room floor, the decorated cookies are on the counter waiting for them to take them home after they get a chance to play in the new fallen snow in the morning. This is our recipe for happiness, cookbook is optional!

All you travelers please be safe.  

  

[Gumtree]

My first cookbook was The Golden Wattle Cookery Book which was the standard school cookery text - almost everyone I knew had it - I've still got mine. The recipes are fairly plain good fare but the methods and rules are engraved on my mind. I still make several things from it - but just automatically from memory.

 I also used the Country Women's Cookery Book - which tells all you want to know about running a  household - as well as recipes there are hints and tips on how to get rid of smells and stains or cure the hiccoughs etc etc. Some of the remedies are rather odd when looked at from today's point of view.

 Both of these books are icons of Australian cookery and for most of my life they were the only cookery books I owned - I think modern versions of both are still available. My originals are still on my shelf though I haven't opened them for years.

[salan]

PatH--My first cookbook was given to me by my older sister.  I received it for a wedding shower in l964.  It was called "Tried and True" and was filled with recipes from the Women's Society of the First Methodist Church in Gonzales, TX.  I used it so much that it began to fall apart.  Evidently, other cooks did also as it was reprinted in 2000.  My sister gave me a new copy.  Luckily, they did not change or edit the new edition.  In 1964 I also received "Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook".  It is a 5 ring binder with a red & white checked cover.  It is also falling apart, but I don't want to replace it with an updated version.  I now have a huge collection of cookbooks, but I still pull out those two and make some of my favorite recipes.
Pedln--I am curious.  What are "nuts and bolts"?
 Cubfan--I smiled at your family memory.  A good cookbook is truly a gift that keeps on giving, isn't it?
Eloise--I also googled the recipe for tourtiere pie.  It sounds delicious.
The library called yesterday and they are holding Debbie MacComber's "When Christmas Comes" for me.  I didn't know she had a cookbook.  I'll have to check it out.
Sally

[salan]

pedln--just looked up "nuts and bolts". Aha, I thought so!  It is what we always called "Texas Trash".  I haven't made it in years, but always loved it.  My Dad made it during Christmas.  He used mixed nuts, extra pecans; and would substitute some of the butter with bacon grease.  It was not hard to make, but time consuming and you needed a huge roasting pan to put it in.  My younger sister and I would always pick out our favorites (I didn't care for wheat chex, and she didn't like pretzels).
Sally

[Babi]

That's about all I use dates for now, SALLY. I like to make a date-nut
bread for the holidays, but I wind up eating most of it myself. May be
best if I skipped it.

  I had a great banana muffin recipe and loved it. Unfortunately, bananas
seem to have taken a dislike to me in recent years. I've had to avoid
them, to my great annoyance.

ELOISE, your tourtiere sounds like the original 'minced meat' pie.

[nlhome]

Sally, I too have an old version of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. When we married, my  mother-in-law gave me that cookbook plus 8 other smaller Better Homes & Gardens cookbooks, such as "So-Good Meals," "Cookies" etc. I though she was worried that her son wouldn't have good meals, but later I decided that my father-in-law liked to order items form magazines and she had these on hand.  In any case, that big cookbook is still used by both my husband and myself. That and an old Farm Journal Cookbook that has some wonderful recipes in it.

My daughter was here for a day, and we made 4 batches of "Chex Mix" for snacking and for giving away.

[Aliki]

Aliki, I'm hugely curious.  What cookbook?

PatH The book I was referring to was “Love and Knishes: How to Cook Like a Jewish Mother” (PB) by Sara Kasdan. It has been reprinted several times and the earliest publication date I can find is 1956 which would make sense as that’s the year I graduated from high school and was working part-time at Leary’s Book Store in downtown Philly, although I thought my copy was published even earlier. Unfortunately I was so worried about my book falling apart I covered it in plastic and now I can’t seem to find it! I used to celebrate everyone’s holidays when my children were small, so when Hannukah came, there we were eating potato latkes and spinning a dreidle.

I brought the book to our Senior Center last year, right before I ‘retired’ it as it was falling apart in our hands, poor pages all yellowed and worn, and a dear friend copied out the latke recipe and now cooks them for our Senior group when we honor Hannukah. They are delicious with apple sauce, sour cream (or both!).

[bellamarie]

Gumtree,  Country Women's Cookery Book - which tells all you want to know about running a  household - as well as recipes there are hints and tips on how to get rid of smells and stains or cure the hiccoughs etc etc.

I would loved to have had a cookbook like this beginning my married life.  What a gem!

Sally,  Debbie MacComber's "When Christmas Comes" for me.  I didn't know she had a cookbook.  I'll have to check it out.

I just became familar with Debbie Macomber this fall, now I have been reading her Christmas books throughout this holiday season.  I was leafing through her cookbook at Borders a couple of weeks ago, but had already spent too much money and had to put it down til after the holidays.  It is very nice and simple recipes.

nlhome,  "I though she was worried that her son wouldn't have good meals, "

I had to giggle when I read this because I felt the same way when my mother in law passed her cookbook down to me.  Now I see it was a true gift of sharing and a huge help to me.  I only have a few cookbooks, and the two are falling apart.  Guess its time to invest in a few new ones.

All grandkids are gone home with their decorated cookies, now I am off to a luncheon with my sister and to see the movie "Blind Side."  Our annual Christmas get together, since her husband passed away 5 yrs ago. 

[Aliki]

That reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask.  Most of us probably started cooking on a day-to-day basis either when we got married or when we started living by ourselves.  What cookbook did you use to get going, and do you still cook anything from it?

In my case, it was the "Good Housekeeping Cookbook", ~1955

I remember my first cookbook as a newlywed but only the way it looked--can't remember whether it was the Ladies Home Journal Cookbook or the Good Housekeeping Cookbook--but I can still picture it. It had creamy white cover with a red binder and gold lettering and the thing I remember loving the most about it was that it even gave suggestions for constructing menus for holidays and other special occasions. I used to love sitting down with my pencil and notebook (always the student I guess) and going down the menu steps one at a time. Oh what pleasant memories!

[Aliki]

Bellamarie, "nlhome,  "I though she was worried that her son wouldn't have good meals, "

Oh I giggled myself when I read this post because I can't remember whether my mother-in-law or one of my sisters-in-law or even my mother gave the book I mentioned above to me when I got married and I thought the same thing, "Although my husband liked my cooking, there's only so much Italian food my husband could take!" (He was German-Austrian)

[JoanK]

You all are lucky. My mother-in-law would never share her recipes with me. Of course, she was a "little of this and a little of that" cook, which doesn't work too well for a new cook.

But I have never had potato latkes as good as the ones she made.

Last night I was one of the judges in a dessert contest. Between that and cookies that friends and family have given me, I think I've already passed my quota for Christmas goodies with five days to go before Christmas. Help!

[nlhome]

Reading this thread made me think back to my early cookingdays, because my mother-in-law wouldn't have had to worry. I was a 4-H kid from early days, and I took foods because we didn't have animals. I learned from some great farm wives who were our project leaders as well as from my Mom, and I still have those old 4-H cookbooks. Those were the basics, and I learned well.

[pedln]

Oh my, cookbooks.  I can’t remember if I had Joy of Cooking when first married or not. Some friends and I took a cooking class shortly before our weddings, and those recipes became a staple for me.  And also my mother’s PEO chapter cookbook.  I must have stuck with tried and true for a long time.  Nlhome, the Better Homes and Garden Salad book was used a lot by me,  and also the Farm Journal Pie Cookbook.  And when we moved to Puerto Rico, The Art of Caribbean Cookery. I used a lot of hand-me-down recipes, from my mother, my MIL, my step-MIL.

How we abused my step MIL.  She was Puerto Rican and when my in-laws would visit us in the states it was always, “Oh please, Juany, make Bien Me Sabe for us.”  That’s a delicious sauce made to go on toasted pound cake, easily made today with canned coconut milk. But back then, there were no cans of CocoLopez in our grocery stores.  So she would grate, by hand, an entire coconut. And then, to get the necessary coconut milk, she would squeeze all the coconut, bit by bit, in a dish towel, catching the liquid in a cup.  It was not something done in a hurry, but oh so good.

She was a terrific cook, and entertained a lot. And brave.  She made flan in an angelfood cake pan, to serve as dessert for 20.

Are potato latkes like potato pancakes?  To serve with applesauce?

[JoanK]

PEDLIN: "Are potato latkes like potato pancakes?  To serve with applesauce?"

Yes, sort of. The potatoes are riced, not mashed, with a good "fry" on them. MacDonalds makes a breakfast potatoes that is close (I forget what they call them). But they don't give you applesauce. Rats.

You should eat them still warm and crisp. I always have the applesauce on the side and dip each bite in applesauce as I eat it. That way you not only get the contrast of flavors and textures between the latka and the applesauce, you get a contrast between cold and hot too. Mmmmmm.

They are traditional to Hannukah, but are actually eaten at any time. Especially by a latke -lover like me.

[straudetwo]

Pedln, we knew 'Latkes' as "Kartoffel Pfdannkuchen" = potato pancakes.  We, too,  ate them with apple sauce, or sometimes with warm blueberry compote. The preparation is a bit labor-intensive: it involves finely grating raw potatoes, then gathering it together in a linen towel and squeeze until the last drop of moisture is gone.  Finely grated onion, salt and pepper are  added.  Fried quickly on both sides,  Latkes are delicious, the crisper the better.

I confess I have never made them from scratch but, years lster, discovered a mix called "Panni".  I bought my first cookbook (by James Beard)  in Washington.  I had been married for six years but did not know how to cook.  Oh my. Of course I learned, out of sheer necessity.  But cooking and home management was a duty, never a calling.  And I've collected dozens of cookbooks since.

Pedln, I have not forgotten your question.  But I am not familiar with "Blattkuchen". The word Blatt' means leaf, and perhaps the 'Kuchen' is made in the form of a leaf.  I just don't know. There are enormous differences in regional German cooking. Saxony is in the east of Germany and was, in fact, under Communist rule  after WW II until the Iron Curtain fell in 1989.  I was born and grew up in the Rhineland.  

JoanK and Pedln,  thank you for making this lively, delectable Open House Get-Together possible.
Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and a Happy,  Healthy New Year.

[bellamarie]

Okay ladies, I just got this in my email today and must share this recipe.  Enjoy and laugh out loud!!


Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup or brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl,
check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality,
pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter
in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point
it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another
cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup
of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry
it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves
a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the
Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.

Go to bed and take two aspirin in the morning.

Happy Holidays ya all....           

[Babi]

 I remember seeing a similar 'recipe' years ago, BELLA, and got a good
laugh out of it.  It was fun reading it again.

 The closest I've come to eating Latkes is hash browns. They do sound
delicious.  In recent years I've avoided the hash browns because of the
high fat content. (I have to save up my fat calories, you see, because I
am addicted to cheddar cheese.  )

[pedln]

 

Okay, Bella, after that, we need one for real.  But that’s okay because since you have to baby it for five weeks, you won’t be able to taste it before Valentine’s Day.  But that’s appropriate, because believe me, it’s a labor of love.  From my DIL, who has kept me supplied with this indulgence –

Emily’s Limoncello

17 large lemons, preferably organic
Two 750-milliliter bottles grain alcohol
5 1/2 cups water
6 cups sugar

Wash and dry the lemons. With a paring knife, remove the ends. With a
vegetable peeler, remove only the yellow rind, leaving the pith intact.
(Squeeze juice from the lemons and reserve for another use.)  [This is really hard.; I found that I didn’t have the strength to do this; I’m only a squeezer, not a peeler]

Place the lemon peel in a 4-quart Mason jar with a rubber-seal lid. Add
the grain alcohol, making sure the lemon peel is completely covered.
Store in a cool, dark place, shaking the jar once each day to agitate
the lemon peel.

On the 13th day, bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the
sugar and remove from the heat, stirring until it is dissolved. Cover
and let cool to room temperature.

Place a colander on top of the saucepan and strain in the contents of
the Mason jar. Discard the lemon peel. Stir to combine the liquids,
about 1 minute. Transfer back to the Mason jar. Store for 3 weeks in a
cool, dark place, shaking to agitate the liquid twice a day.

After 3 weeks, transfer the limoncello to smaller bottles that can be
sealed with rubber stoppers. Store bottles in freezer. Serve directly
from the freezer.

This is truly a treat to be shared with only those who appreciate it.  ½ ounce is the perfect finale to a very large meal.  I keep it in the freezer (it doesn't freeze) and it keeps forever.

[Aliki]

Sally,  I found a wonderful site you can find casserole dishes.  Ladies you are gonna LOVE this site.

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/

Enjoy!!

bellamarie--my daughter in Fla and her husband are both working parents and both like to cook. I'm sending this link to them posthaste!! What a beautiful link. Thank you!

[Aliki]

Okay ladies, I just got this in my email today and must share this recipe.  Enjoy and laugh out loud!!


Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies

1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila[/color]

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl,
check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality,
pour one level cup and drink.



Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.


Go to bed and take two aspirin in the morning.

Happy Holidays ya all....           

Oh my goodness...I laughed and laughed and I'm still laughing.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a 'good grief'  ha ha ha ha ha

[Aliki]

The midnight mass in the little village in the Laurentian mountains where we lived in the 50s and early 60s was like something that came right out of fairy tale my children remembered. We all got ready at 11 pm to walk to the church about half a mile. Some of the times soft snow was falling and as there were very few cars running on the street we could actually hear the snow fall on the ground. At midnight the best tenor in town sang

Minuit Chrétien  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWq5OWYaXDw&feature=related

and we all walked back home for the Christmas Eve party that included our tourtière, apple pies and cakes and a special red candy only available at Christmas time.

Joyeux Noël et Bonne et Heureuse Année

Eloise, this description reminded me of one of those lovely crystalized pop-up cards of several layers we used to see at Christmas time, especially when I worked at the German home and the residents would receive cards from their families still in Germany and Austria.  Magical!

[pedln]

Traude and JoanK, thanks for defining potato latkes.  They do sound much like potato pancakes.  Like Traude, I’ve never made them.  One of my aunts would come once or twice a year and make them for my mother and aunt and uncle, grating, etc.  Like a durn fool kid, I wouldn’t touch them, but love them now.  DIL had some on my last visit there, frozen, from Costco or the commisary.  I used to see a mix, but haven’t seen it in the stores for a long long time.

I’m leaving for St Louis (today) and Seattle (tomorrow), and no doubt stirring the cereal mix on Wednesday.

 This has been such a fun site to participate in, thanks to all of you, and as you may have noticed, we're keeping it open longer.  What great book suggestions and wonderful recipes and links.  And best of all, hearing about your special times and getting to know all of you a little better.  May these holidays be special and memorable for you too, no matter how you celebrate them.

[JoanK]

Have a wonderful trip, Pedlin. Are you taking the lemoncello with you?

I'll keep the site open until after Christmas: we're having too much fun to quit.

Straudetwo: that sounds exactly how my MIL used to make the latkes. And you eat them as soon as they are done, while still hot.

Bellamarie: fantastic!! No one has ever reported how the recipe came out, because they had too bad a hangover.