Cusina

Monkey muffins! Cute, tasty and alliterative. My kids would love those.

I did wrap the little PB cookie things separately (6 per small plate) and labeled them very clearly as "Peanut Butter Blossoms". Just in case. I definitely don't want to trigger any allergies. Thanks for all the responses! You guys are full of good ideas.

Will someone please illuminate me? What is the correct phonetic pronounciation of andouille? My cheesehead butcher, well, I think he butchered it (on-duel). I've always thought it to be An-doo-ee. Is this right?

Bought my andouille from the butcher yesterday (I have the best sausage butcher within walking distance, very lucky.) and a bunch of chicken thighs. I'm goin' in! I'd love to use the jarred roux, but I doubt if it will be in the stores here. I'll report with casualties and results tomorrow. I live for danger. Edited for spelling.

The only strange thing that comes to mind is my need to have mayonaise on my grilled cheese sandwiches. We do have salt and pepper grinders on the table. I cook with less figuring you can always add more. There is always a variety of hot sauces and mustards around too as I tend to underzing things so the kids will eat them (hopefully). They seem to like things much blander than we who have spent more than 30 years killing off taste buds do. I seem to have more issues with temperature than with seasoning. My husband is forever getting up to reheat his soup or coffee or mashed potatoes or whatever. I just must like things cooler at the start than he does. Bruce, I wonder if they started adding MSG to the burrito? I hate it when something you've grown to love takes a nose dive like that. My sympathies.

heh, I'll bet a fair number of those pre-school mommies could use a little rum soaked something! However, I think I'm better off avoiding the front page of my small town newspaper and skipping the alcohol soaked baked goods. Starbucks look alikes are a good idea... think I have the recipe for those cranberry bliss bars around here somewhere. Thanks for that idea. I ended up using the chocolate peanut butter idea. Mini-muffin cup peanut butter cookies, with a mini peanut butter cup heart pressed into the top of each one after it had cooled for a minute or two. They're cute and obviously "normal", I hope. CompassRose hit it on the head. It's not the baking that is the issue, it's coming up with something that would tempt your average YMCA visitor to pick up and take home. Hopefully they'll sell well.

Thanks for all the ideas. Rachel, yes, the standard is chocolate chip cookies and rice krispy bars and there are always lots there. I feel like some variety would be a good thing. Perhaps highchef is right too, I'm bored with the usual and was curious what the eGullet style bake sale table would hold. I like the cupcakes in ice cream molds idea... but worry that they will be too fragile for the sale. Hmm. Maybe peanut butter cup cookies in mini muffin pans.

My cat loves the stuff too. We have to be very vigilant about keeping it put away. I especially love it on fresh baugette, popovers, as mentioned... and pancakes. Yum. And I live in land of butterburgers. A nice hunk of yellow creamyness on top of your hamburger can't be beat. The only time I don't like butter is on bologna sandwiches. uch. Something slimy about those two textures together. I can remember being served wonder bread with bologna and butter at friends' houses when I was a kid. Just not my thing I guess.

Please do post that recipe Danielle. Even if I don't use it today, I'll give it a try in the future. Chocolate peanut butter is a good idea. Maybe these would work? link! I wish there were a picture. I'm not sure how visually appealing they would be.

The old fashioned bake sale is a vanishing thing, I know, gone the way of home-made halloween treats. However, I have one to contribute to today for my son's pre-school. I seem to have some sort of mental blockage. Usually I can come up with something, but I'm out of ideas. I read through this amazing brownie thread and there are some excellent recipes in there, but I'm hesitating. $10 worth of ingredients seems like far too much as I know they will sell them for much less than that. And I can't bring myself to use crappy chocolate and crisco. Hershy heresy. Any ideas? What do you make if asked to contribute something to sell? I'll resort to rice krispy treats topped with ganache (and valentine sprinkles) if all else fails, but I thought you all might have better ideas. It would be nice if the recipe were simple enough to have my pre-schooler help with the making too.

I wonder if part of the removal issue is dehydration as well as caffeine withdrawl? That can cause headaches too.

Wash your greens well too. Though maybe that goes without saying. I, personally, like a little sweetness to my salad dressing. This is our house favorite. I make a jar and keep in the fridge. Maybe you'll like it too. You can adjust the sugar to taste. I find that the rice vinegar is a little "smoother" than some of the others available. * Exported from MasterCook * house vinagrette Recipe By : Serving Size : 20 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 3/4 cup Rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 1 Tablespoon Sugar 2 cloves garlic -- minced fine 1/2 teaspoon oregano 2 teaspoons basil -- minced 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups canola or olive oil Mix all ingredients, shake before serving My basic salad usually includes two handfuls of greens a fruit, dried or fresh, "crunchy bits" of some sort (like chopped nuts or roasted pumpkin seeds) and a small amount of good pungent cheese. Think balance.

I'd give it a go, as a dessert, probably split in two or three with coffee. The tough thing would be choosing it over a pan au chocolat though. I really enjoy those and don't find them often around here.

A dollop of creme fraiche and some shaved bittersweet chocolate on a brownie is nice. ← Now, THIS would have been the good comeback right here.... "Oh, well, no I think not cool whip, but do you have a little creme fraiche and some valrhona? That would be perfection!" and then wait for the blank stare. I'll bet she'd be talking about you and your odd request for weeks longer than this thread will run. I like that definition of wit... eliminating the 30 minute lag... very funny. I'm not that quick either. I'm completely certain I would also have been horrified but unable to say no too.

Well, mine is probably the most humble answer but, vanilla cream top yogurt. All by itself first thing in the morning. Boy, it was good.

Great question... funny you should ask it at this point. I enjoy all three but I'm in a transition. Previously it was definitely: Planning, cooking, eating. However, I recently read Dr. Clowers "Fat Fallacy" book (awful title for such a good book) and it has forced me to reconsider. A large portion of his theory is that eating should be about tasting and savoring the meal as well as enjoying the company you are in, even if you are by yourself. So, I now find myself having switched this around. I really am starting to enjoy eating more, and the planning stages are requiring far less energy for me as I'm eating more of what I have a taste for, rather than what I think would be "right" or impressive. Also, I'm avoiding processed foods, which, somewhat counterintuitively, makes things a whole lot simpler. My trips to the grocery, which used to be longer affairs which involved more thought, are now fairly quick. You can skip a whole lot of the store if you avoid the processed stuff. All around it has made the mealtime production a lot more of a natural thing. So now, I think I'm an eating, cooking, planning person. At least most of the time. And I feel like it's been a good change for me.

Oatmeal is my real favorite. But of the packaged varieties. Peanut Butter Bumpers. Mmmm Mmm

Dean, what a great story! Bwahahaha. My worst was just the other night, easiest thing in the world. Sectioned grapefruit with cinnamon sugar on top, broiled for a minute or two. My son (age 5) took one bite and made the "yuck" face. Thinking he was just being picky I scolded him for it and said "See, it's delicious!" and took a bite myself. Then promptly made the yuck face too. Salt and cinnamon on top of grapefruit tastes absolutely horrible. Sometimes you need to believe your kids. Very sad, I ruined two lovely texas ruby grapefruits.

I think you are correct, thanks for transcribing the fine print for me. I was thinking about this... I kind of did it on a whim assuming I won't win as a fun diversion. Is there a strategy to it? What makes a "winning" recipe?

I think I did relinquish my publishing rights in submitting my recipe, which is why I didn't post it here. That did give me a little pause, but I decided to go ahead anyways. I think my next book deal/food TV contract is a LONG way off. And thanks for posting those thread links. I knew there had been others but wasn't very successful in searching.

This is a first for me. I entered Velvet Cauliflower Soup with Gruyère (thank you to SLKinseys thanksgiving feast for the inspiration) to the Cooking Light Ultimate Reader's Recipes contest. link! It was an interesting experience. Selecting a recipe was difficult as you have to include their sponsors. My first choice recipe was for a fruit dish (mulled cider compote), but most of the sponsors are savory items and the dish doesn't have a dairy component. I also found, once I chose a dish, that the way my recipe was written didn't cover all the bases they wanted in the rules. I had to add a lot of details that I normally would leave out or to the discretion of the reader. Anyone else done the contest thing? Anyone win? I remember a thread a while back about a chicken recipe contest... anything come of that?

I find some cheeses just don't melt right. My mom claims it's something to do with the enzymes they use... who knows. If you can, try a European cheddar next time. Somehow, their cheeses are much better melters than most. Make a basic fondue, heat broth or wine until small bubbles form, toss in flour dredged cheese, stirring until melted and smooth. Then add in your puree of vegetables and cream. And while you are at it, make some of SLkinseys cauliflower soup. Whoo boy, to die for. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=55282&st=120# For a simple meal, I just do the cauliflower base. Big hit around here.

Yum, cake. Definitely like it, love it even. Homemade is best, but I'll try a small slice of just about anything. I think it's one of those positive association things for me. Cake = celebration = happy. I don't have it very often though, it really is a treat.

Wonderful blog! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your trip to report back to us. I've hung on every word and picture. Safe travels to you both as you make your way back home.

This was wonderful vicarious living... thanks for the great stories and pictures. Chris, congratulations on your eGoddess status. It's a special honor if you are the first ever male in the category. I'd love to see more recipes tried in parallel this way. Will this be a regular thing?