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Food for Thought (and Discussion)

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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby Meltintalle » Nov 27, 2016 1:18 pm

Here is the recipe for the pumpkin/cheesecake/pecan pie I mentioned in Games and Blogs. I ran out of time to make it for Thanksgiving, but it still sounds really good. ;))

I did, however, try one for an eggnog pie, and that was pronounced a qualified success. (The crust refused to come out of the pan. :p )
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby ValiantArcher » Nov 27, 2016 6:52 pm

Ooh, thanks, Mel! :) No idea if I'll try it (at least any time soon), but the pumpkin/cheesecake/pecan pie concept makes more sense to me now. ;))

I made a couple of apple pies for Thanksgiving. They turned out pretty well, and it took less than an hour since the apples were pre-sliced. ;))
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby The Rose-Tree Dryad » Nov 29, 2016 1:37 pm

I'll have to try that method for boiled eggs soon, fantasia! Thanks!

Oh wow, Mel! That "chumpcan" pie is a thing of beauty! @-) *bookmarks for future reference* I can see why you switched over to plain pumpkin pie on a busy Thanksgiving Day, though; a recipe with several steps can become a bit stressful when you're running low on time. ;))

One of my favorite Thanksgiving treats is sweet potato casserole. We didn't get around to making it this year, but lately I've been adding pumpkin pie spice and butter to mashed sweet potatoes and that's a nice substitute.
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby mm1991 » Dec 22, 2016 7:29 pm

I tried making an eggnog cake with frosting. It was horrible! That really messed with me because usually - not to toot my own horn or anything - I'm a great baker. Hey, I blame the recipe! ;) Anyways, for my first attempt at making homemade frosting, it wasn't *that* bad!
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby ValiantArcher » Jan 11, 2017 5:31 pm

Does anyone have experience with sourdough, particularly the starter? I started it probably four months ago and it's been doing okay (not great), but I always have probably about 1/2 c. to 1 c. left of the starter after I take out the 1 c. weekly. At least I did until this week: it looked like about a 1/4 c. was left. :P I've been adding 1 c. of flour and 1/2 c. of water each week, and moving the starter between mixing bowls. Is there anything else I should be doing? :-\

I made a pan of baked oatmeal last night, which turned out pretty well, though it's a bit plain. It was a recipe with applesauce, which I used pearsauce for (including subbing it for the butter), and I added some golden raisins and walnuts I had on hand. I probably should've added some cinnamon and nutmeg to it, but I was afraid of adding too many things and getting a weird flavor combination. Oh well. ;))
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby The Rose-Tree Dryad » Jan 12, 2017 8:59 am

Eggnog cake sounds like it would be good in theory, mm1991; sorry it didn't turn out well. ;)) I've only ever made chocolate buttercream and cream cheese frosting, as well as some experimental frosting recipes that had things like whey protein in them and probably don't deserve the term "frosting". :P One of these days I want to give a cooked frosting like seven minute frosting a try!

Valia, I never actually got around to making sourdough starter myself (on the Paleo diet right now; hopefully not forever because I still want to try it! ;))), but I've read quite a bit about it and it would be my guess that your starter is struggling because it's winter time. The temperature of your house has probably dropped a little and it's not able to ferment as easily. If you put it in a warmer place (like on top of a slightly warm stove, or maybe near a light bulb), that ought to help get it going again.
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby johobbit » Jan 13, 2017 11:59 am

I don't post here much, but it's sure fun reading the comments, mainly because I adore food. ;))

I wanted to go back to boiling eggs for a minute ...

fantasia wrote:So for boiled eggs, I always use store bought as my in-laws eggs are far too fresh and won't peel.
Here's the fool-proof way my mom taught me and it works every time, provided I'm paying attention. ;)
Put your egg in a pot of room temperature water on the stove and crank up the temperature. Once it reaches a rolling boil, start a timer for 13 minutes. When your timer goes off drop your egg into ice water to cool.

True-true. It is unbelievably annoying and so time-consuming to try to peel farm-fresh eggs. :P Farmers say to give them 2 weeks, at least, before they are comfortably peel-able. So, if I'm doing mounds of deviled eggs for an event, I will purchase them in the grocery store, which, because they are older, peel just fine. 'Though we do prefer the taste of fresh eggs more, so I wish they could work for peeling.

And this is what my mom taught me, lol, quite similar to your family's way, fantasia: put your eggs in a pot of room temperature water on the stove and turn the dial on high. Bring to a boil. Turn OFF the dial, but keep the pot on the element. Remove after 11 minutes and put in cold water to cool. I find if I somehow forget about them and they stay cooking too long, that pretty yellow yolk begins to turn a dusty grey. :P

I love popping a warm freshly-hard-boiled egg into my mouth. (Not in one bite, though. :P) In fact, I have some on the stove cooking now. :D

I've been making soups this winter and freezing them or giving some away. Boy, are they tasty: hamburger soup, veggie-beef soup, turkey-noodle soup (from the carcass of our Christmas bird), broccoli-potato soup. And the latter is especially scrumptious with croutons tossed in just before eating. Mmmmm!

Trouble is with the turkey soup, our son (who loves spice-spice-spice) threw as few too many hot peppers in the soup #:-s ;)) , so while it's a tasty dish, it is rather spicy. I'm going to add some sour cream to try and neutralize the taste a bit.
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby ValiantArcher » Jan 13, 2017 8:19 pm

Rose, thanks! However, ummm, so the recipe I've been following has you keep the starter in the fridge, so... ;)) Am I not supposed to? Or do you think it possibly has to do with the fact that I switched from a glass bowl to a metal one?

Hurrah for the soups, Jo! :D Those all sound delicious. Are they simple recipes, or pretty complicated?
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby johobbit » Jan 14, 2017 7:01 am

I like things non-complicated, so the soups are, yeah, simple. ;)) A couple of them have many ingredients, which, of course, take a fair bit of time to chop up, but as for the process, it's easy ... and with the end product being so satisfying to the tastebuds. :)

We're having an extended family Christmas gathering today. My dad is the best mashed potato 'chef' I know. His secret? Very simple: lots of butter and 1/2 & 1/2 cream (rather than milk). No calories whatsoever. ;) And since he's turning 90 tomorrow, I'm bringing one of his favourite treats: Cheerio Squares—the same as Rice Krispie Squares, only with Cheerios. Obviously. ;)) Yummy! I'm off processed sugar now (my choice) and these will be mighty hard to resist. :-s :P
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby ValiantArcher » Jan 14, 2017 9:47 am

...do you have recipes to share, Jo? ;))
Yum for the potatoes! :D Butter and Half & half, my mom would love that. ;)) My grandfather made the best mashed potatoes; I took over for family gatherings after he died. Mine go up and down, but adding sour cream and/or whipping (instead of mashing) the potatoes have had some pretty good results.
And Cheerio/Rice Krispie squares are delicious. :D

Edit: Jo, do your Cheerio treats have peanut butter in them? Because I made some tonight that did (they were delicious). ;))
I also made mashed potatoes; no half & half or sour cream available, but they turned out pretty well.
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby The Rose-Tree Dryad » Jan 14, 2017 10:49 pm

From what I've read, Valia, it's totally fine for less frequent bakers to store their starter in the fridge over the week, although you want to give it one to two hours at room temperature after feeding it before you refrigerate it again. Cultures for Health has a good article on various methods of feeding sourdough starter. (Scroll down to see the one for their recommendations on feeding refrigerated starter on a weekly basis.) In general, I've read that it's not a good idea for fermenting foods to come into contact with metal (short exposure to a metal utensil is okay), but I've never been able to figure out exactly why, other than the fact that it might harm the metal itself because it's acidic. I might have to do some googling and get back to you on that! ;))

(EDIT: So I googled because I'm a compulsive googler ( :P), and apparently prolonged contact with metal can kill the yeasts in the sourdough. So it's possible that transferring it to a metal bowl could have given it some trouble. A little time on your kitchen counter top and a couple of feedings ought to nurse it back to health, though!)

A very happy birthday to your father, Jo! :ymparty: Mmm, those Cheerio Squares sound so good. I don't think I've ever had any of those before, but I do love Rice Crispy Treats. :D I had an epiphany about that the other day: "You can take the Rice Crispy Treat principle and apply it to ANY kind of cereal!" :-o :)) I think I've seen recipes for marshmallows made with honey and gelatin, but I'm not sure how well that would work in that kind of application, and it's definitely not as easy as opening a package of Jet-Puffed. ;))

Lately I've been making easy "taco salads" by adding taco seasoning to ground chicken and tossing it with some chopped cabbage, raw onion and whatever salsa I have on hand. (A garnish of sour cream would be nice, too, but I'm not eating dairy right now. Harrumph. :P) It's really tasty and very easy, and it's nice to make ahead for the next couple of day's lunches, too. I tried a version with green tomatillo salsa today and I think that's my favorite so far. :)
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby ValiantArcher » Jan 15, 2017 8:01 pm

Thanks for your compulsive googling, Rose. ;)) Your post was helpful! I'll try transferring back to a glass bowl and letting it sit out a little bit before refrigerating it again. Did you happen to find anything about why they say to put it in a tight jar? :-\ I don't have any jars large enough for starter, so I just cover the bowl with saran wrap with a few holes poked in it.

We make all sorts of variations of Rice Krispie treats depending on what cereals we have around and open. ;)) A particularly fun one is Reese's Puffs treats...

I suppose the cabbage is raw in your salad, Rose? We'll have taco salads occasionally, but it's typically all the usual taco fixings (e.g. ground venison, kidney beans, cheese, and taco chips if we have them) on a lettuce mix. I'm not sure how I feel about raw onion on the salad without something to "wilt" it a bit. ;))
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby fantasia » Jan 16, 2017 7:51 pm

I'm not as hard-core of a Food Network fan as I used to be as I felt their political leanings were shining through :P but I still follow their Facebook page, and they had an article a few weeks ago on "Desserts for Two."

http://www.foodtv.com/5c800

Well the concept is fun in and of itself, but I thought the cakes they had on there were absolutely BRILLIANT! I mean seriously, what a simple idea of making one round cake, cutting it into 8 pieces, stacking and frosting them, and having two pieces of cake.
We're going to try the carrot cake tomorrow, but instead of four triangles per piece, I think we'll just do two triangles per person as there are four of us. ;)
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby The Rose-Tree Dryad » Jan 17, 2017 9:54 am

You're welcome, Valia! With most fermenting things, you'll want to keep them tightly covered with a cloth and a rubber band to keep bugs away (they're attracted to the gases that are released by the fermentation process), and in the refrigerator where there's no threat of curious bugs, I think it's recommended to keep it tightly covered just to prevent it from drying out. I would think that it should be all right to just cover it with saran wrap, although you may not need to poke holes in it since it's pretty dormant in the fridge. For most of my cultured adventures (fermented, not refined ;))), I use quart-sized, wide mouth Mason jars. They work well!

Mmm, Reese's Puff treats! I've been wondering about Trix treats, and Froot Loop treats, and Cocoa Puff treats... :D Just when I've sworn off grains for an indefinite period of time. :| :)) Oh well; my inner kid can dream. ;))

Lol, I only use a tiny bit of raw onion in my salads. You've really got to watch that stuff; it's potent. :P And yes, the cabbage is raw. I'd honestly prefer lettuce, but cabbage tends to be a lot lower with pesticide residues when you aren't buying organic, so I opt for that most of the time. It's still very good!

I love that idea, fantasia! I've done something similar. I don't know why, but it's so much more satisfying to have a multi-layer cake slice as opposed to several little flat pieces, or even a couple of cupcakes. I suppose we really do eat with our eyes. ;)) Let us know how the recipe turns out!
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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby fantasia » Feb 09, 2017 8:28 am

I discovered the next up and coming thing (I'm sure) to take America by storm and spread diabetes throughout the population. :))

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Re: Food for Thought (and Discussion)

Postby johobbit » Feb 09, 2017 2:22 pm

Oh my, I can't believe that no one thought of this before. It's brilliant. And fattening. :)) *adores raw cookie dough* But, wow, I think I'd start with a small coneful—one could feel rather wired after a large consumption. :P ;))

I love making hearty meals on winter days. It's been snowing much of today, and there's just something about a simmering pot of chili, a bubbling slow cooker full of broccoli/potato soup, or a richly-laden stew baking in the oven that makes me very happy.
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