Food for Thought (and Discussion)

[Horse_Lover]

I'm engaged to be married in one year (next March) and am planning my wedding. Neither of us are well off and neither are our families, so we are cutting costs any way we can without compromising the quality of the wedding. One of the ways we're reducing costs (plus giving me the chance to do something I've always dreamed of doing!) is that I will be designing my own wedding cake.

I envision a design with 4 layers, with garlands of frosting roses and petals swathing the top and side in a graceful, natural pattern, dropping to the base. I don't want to use all white, but I don't want intense colors, so I plan to use a pale pink and pale green for the flowers and white for everything else, including possibly white plastic pearls in a swirl along the edge. The base cake will have a gauzy bow in a silky, pale pink.

The only similar cake I've made was the three layer cake I made for my parents' 25th anniversary a few years ago, featured in the photo below. It was a hot evening, and the cake collapsed slightly, into the rather triangular shape you see. This time around I'll have a base to work with the will keep the weight of each layer from impacting the others.

The cake is BEAUTIFUL!! I totally wish I knew how to make roses!!

For some reason this quote made me think of this thread (and one poster to it in particular. )
There is no love sincerer than the love of food. ~George Bernard Shaw

That's a good quote!

[SnowAngel]

Congratulations, RamanduDaughter! What a pretty cake! Great job on the roses. I wish I could make roses. That sounds lovely.

SnowAngel, what kind of a cookie press do you have? We can't seem to find a good one. The disk that pushes the dough down keeps breaking off. I think we have other problems too but I'm not sure.

We have the Wilton Cookie Pro™ Ultra Cookie Press, but it's been discontinued. It's the only one we've had, so I don't know what to recommend. Sorry, wish I could help you more.

And last week, I made Shadowlander's "Slumguillon" recipe. It was great. Everyone loved it with the exception of Scarlet (she doesn't eat any kind of sausage, except for my homemade beef sausage ).

Scarlet didn't like it?! Ah well, can't win em' all. I'm glad you liked it! I hadn't thought to add ground mustard, but then again I'm culinarily (is that a word?) challenged...would that make it taste kinda...mustardy? Like French's yellow?

Scarlet's kind of weird sometimes. No, it adds a kind of spicy favor. If it had a mustard favor like French's yellow, then I would be the one of the last people to use it.

I recently made Raspberry-Blueberry Sorbet. It was delicious. We have a juicer/homogenizer so it's really easy to make. I just ran frozen berries through the juicer. I made a pie crust, rolled it out, and broke it into pieces(it's a fast alternative to shortbread). I served the sorbet at my younger siblings' tea party in a bowl with a piece of pie crust and sprinkle of sugar. It just need some whipped cream.

Have a church dinner next week (again) and it's my turn to make dessert to take. And I'm trying to decide which kind of cupcakes to make - I think I'm going to make green buttercream frosting (a nod to St. Patrick). I was thinking about strawberry-flavored, but think that should have pink frosting. Maybe I should just make vanilla cupcakes and color them green. What I really should make is Irish cream, but I do not have a whiskey-flavored extract.

SnowAngel

[Djaq]

*peeks into the thread*

Hello all!

I don't believe that I've posted in this thread since the forum switchover, but I love to cook! Not that I'm great at it, but with a recipe, you can't usually go wrong.
Anyway, today I made rice crispy treats for the first time. (I'm not saying that's a great accomplishment, but it was fun ) I used this recipe, if anyone's interested.
Picture:
(you can't really tell from that picture, but they're pink. ...and I made them for my nephews...yeah. We had some pink marshmallows left over from Valentine's Day, so I needed to use them. )

I think that flambeau and I are going to make Hamburger Helper for supper (which is ground beef, corn, pasta noodles, and cheese sauce. Yum!). It's a favorite and fun to make, so I'm looking forward to it.
We're having three of my nephews staying with us from tonight until Monday, so we've been trying to plan some menus that they will like.

SnowAngel, have you decided what kind of dessert you'll be making for the church dinner?

That's all for now.

~Djaq

[Pattertwigs Pal]

We have the Wilton Cookie Pro™ Ultra Cookie Press, but it's been discontinued. It's the only one we've had, so I don't know what to recommend. Sorry, wish I could help you more.

Don't worry about. I think we might actually have the same one. My mom says we have one that works. I must have given up on our cookie presses too soon. We are always looking for one with all metal parts.

I think that flambeau and I are going to make Hamburger Helper for supper

I made Hamburger Helper for our dinner tonight - only it was a Tomato Basil Penne one.

[Shadowlander]

Hamburger Helper? Chili-Mac for the win!

All Hail Chili-Mac!

[Glenstorm the Great]

^I don't like Hamburger Helper

We had a yummy sundried tomato pesto tonight. My younger sister made it. My sisters and I do most of the cooking in our house, but our mom usually tells us what to make

[Djaq]

How does everyone else make Hamburger Helper? I'm just curious because I don't really have a recipe for it and I know there are boxed versions you can get. The Hamburger Helper that I make is from scratch. Last night, I used ground sausage and ground beef in it because we didn't have quite enough beef and we had plenty of sausage (my Mom's idea). It turned out really good!

^I don't like Hamburger Helper

What kind of Hamburger Helper are you thinking of? Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that you don't like it.

I think that I'm going to make granola a bit later today. I'm just waiting for my Mom to come back from the store with some of the ingredients that I need.
I made cupcakes earlier, but they're not decorated (yet?).

What is everyone having for supper? (do I sound nosy? Well, this is a cooking thread, so it fits, right? ) I think that we're getting Subway subs...so no cooking.

~Djaq

[Glenstorm the Great]

What kind of Hamburger Helper are you thinking of? Anyway, I'm sorry to hear you don't like it.

I was thinking of the boxed kind. But I don't like the made-from-scratch kind either. It's like goulash right? With cooked tomatoes and hamburger meat and such? *shudders* I HATE cooked tomatoes

Tonight for supper we're having leftover cabbage soup. My parents are going out for dinner so we're just gonna eat leftovers .

Oh I need to make granola too. My mom's been bugging me about it for days

[Pattertwigs Pal]

How does everyone else make Hamburger Helper?
I'm just curious because I don't really have a recipe for it and I know there are boxed versions you can get. The Hamburger Helper that I make is from scratch.

When I think of Hamburger Helper, I think of the boxed kind so that is what I made last night. I try to keep down the number of times I make things out of a box. I prefer making things from scratch when I have the time. I do make other recipes with hamburger that I don't use a box for. When we buy hamburger, we cook it all up at once and freeze it for use in recipes. (We make it into 12 oz packages and use that instead of a pound in recipes). That way we don't have to worry about the hamburger going bad before we use it and we can just grab a bag when we need it.

What is everyone having for supper? (do I sound nosy? Well, this is a cooking thread, so it fits, right? )

I don't think you sound nosy. I'm trying a new recipe for Pasta Primavera tonight.

[Shadowlander]

Tonight the wife and I are eating chicken salad sammiches with a side of salt and vinegar potato chips.

[stargazer]

Sounds delicious, Shadowlander! I'll be over in an hour or so.

With the return of spring comes the return of one of my favorite modes of preparing food - cooking over an open wood fire. Yum! It's hard to beat that kind of flavor.

The season's inaugural fire came earlier this week, and I cooked up some Johnsonville brats. Mmmmm.

[Glenstorm the Great]

^aah I love cooking over a campfire! We had a taste of that this past winter b/c our friends have a fireplace at their house so we made hot dogs in their fire...yum!

[Djaq]

I was thinking of the boxed kind. But I don't like the made-from-scratch kind either. It's like goulash right? With cooked tomatoes and hamburger meat and such? *shudders* I HATE cooked tomatoes

The kind I make is not like that at all! (I don't like tomatoes ) Mine is very plain. Ground beef, cheese sauce, corn, and pasta noodles (usually bow ties) is all that I use. Sound better?

Oh I need to make granola too. My mom's been bugging me about it for days

Haha! I had never made it before and my family hasn't had it recently, but I found a recipe and really wanted to try it.

When I think of Hamburger Helper, I think of the boxed kind so that is what I made last night. I try to keep down the number of times I make things out of a box. I prefer making things from scratch when I have the time. I do make other recipes with hamburger that I don't use a box for. When we buy hamburger, we cook it all up at once and freeze it for use in recipes. (We make it into 12 oz packages and use that instead of a pound in recipes). That way we don't have to worry about the hamburger going bad before we use it and we can just grab a bag when we need it.

Okay.
We do that with our meat too! It's very helpful for if you need meat for a recipe and have it cooked beforehand.

I don't think you sound nosy. I'm trying a new recipe for Pasta Primavera tonight.

Oh, good! I don't think I've heard of that. What is it?

Tonight the wife and I are eating chicken salad sammiches with a side of salt and vinegar potato chips.

Ooh, I love chicken salad sammiches (or sandwiches )! Were they good (if I even need to ask)?

That sounds really tasty, stargazer! And, I love brats!

Oh, and update on the granola: It turned out good!

~Djaq

[Shadowlander]

With the return of spring comes the return of one of my favorite modes of preparing food - cooking over an open wood fire. Yum! It's hard to beat that kind of flavor.

Amen brother! That wood smell smoke infused with the scent of roasting meat....*drools* There's nothing in the world like it!

Ooh, I love chicken salad sammiches (or sandwiches )! Were they good (if I even need to ask)?

They were pretty good. I dice up some celery and green onions (scallions I think they're called too) and mix it in. Toast some white bread, smack down some chicken salad, and top lightly with salt and pepper, serve with chips. Awesomeness for the mouth.

[Glenstorm the Great]

The kind I make is not like that at all! (I don't like tomatoes ) Mine is very plain. Ground beef, cheese sauce, corn, and pasta noodles (usually bow ties) is all that I use. Sound better?

aah yes, much better. Very tasty-sounding actually *yum*

Haha! I had never made it before and my family hasn't had it recently, but I found a recipe and really wanted to try it.

I like making it, it's fun. But the recipe my mom likes isn't my favorite...

[IloveFauns]

is this the hamburger helper, meal you are talking about http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=e ... a=N&tab=wi

if so it looks gross.