judiu

Great looking stuff, here, Nishla! I'm an armchair tourist, so this is most enlightening for me. Many thanks!

If it were me, I'd dribble a bit of rum over the wafers in each layer before the pudding ever got to them. Not enough to mush them up, just enough to soften them SLIGHTLY. Put the wafers in the serving container, waft the rum over, maybe even using a spritz bottle, bananas, pudding, wafers, more rum, etc. HTH!

Thank heavens! I thought it was just ME! Virtually anything baked like that does me in; corn pudding is a painful memory of a curdled mess, even thought it was in a bain marie!

Probably my all time favorite-to-read cookbook was the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. I will hold a place in my memory for the story about an air-raid frightening the goose so badly that the cook had no choice but to give her some brandy, and serve her up for dinner!

GRRRRRR! Don't even think about it!

Janet, thank you so much. That list is amazing!

<snip> Tiny kitchen: Note the lack of hot-running water. Most kitchens don't have it, so dish soap is extra tough to float the grease off dishes without it. ←

dividend, I beleive you've already found us here on eGullet!

When I was quite young, my Mom's expression was "Whadaya want; an egg in your beer?" when I'd been given something, but was whining for something else to go with it.

I'd have to say that the difference is dependant on what the dry mustard is mixed with. I dispise yellow mustard, which is made with vinegar (the cheap stuff), but yet I depend on the dry Coleman's to bring out the cheese flavors in my mac and cheese. I believe grey poupon mustard is made with white wine, but I'm not certain. HTH!

I find that frozen corn tastes "flat" to me, so I generally saute it in butter with minced onions, a bit of garlic and a touch of sugar. I almost alwas find that a pinch of sugar will help any naturally sweet veg that's been frozen, and for those with a slightly bitter profile, like broccoli or cauliflower, I prefer a bit of lemon, fresh juice if I have it, or a dash of a seasoning like McCormicks Lemon & Herb.

Lovely! I am in Vancouver visiting my family and it's freezing. Thanks for the ray of sunshine. I remember doing a project on ancient Polynesia in grade 6, and I served poi and fake Hawaiian food at the end of my presentation (toothpicks with canned pineapple, honey ham, and a maraschino cherry skewered on them.) Guess which one everyone liked... ← AHA! Should have used Spam instead! (runs)

Don't know how I stumbled on to this thread but I have to put in my .02 worth; a peach collins, would, to me, call for a raspberry flavored vodka.

Daniel, where in the WORLD did you find that stand the ham is sitting in? It's brilliant! That lamb looks wonderful, I could probably eat half of it all by myself!

Suzy, I'm really looking forward to your blog. Thanks for taking on a daunting task at the busiest time of the year!

Oh, POOP!

And just where, pray tell, is this cave of wonders? Sounds like it might be close to me in Florida; the Pratt & Whitney plant is about 30 miles from me.

No kidding ! Mine love the asparagus bottoms, too (if it came off the chopping block, it must be meat ! dogthink) so no waste there ← In my case it was my Nana's cat, Ike. Nana didn't believe in trimming the asparagus, just washing it, so when you ate it from the top down, you'd get to a point where the last bite left a fuzz of silky fibres attached to the tough "butt end". Ike's idea of heaven on a plate was all the stringy leftovers! I saw him go thru about 10 pieces at one time. He was a GREAT cat!

I think it all has to do with flavor. Garlic powder has a vastly different taste than fresh minced garlic, which is different than fresh pressed garlic, and sliced garlic is a whole 'nuther animal all together. Etc! I normally HATE margarine of any sort, but one of my recipes just does NOT taste "right" made with anything else. It's all subjective, IMHO.

Take the brine from a jar of GOOD kosher pickles and use that. Doctor to taste with additional garlic, etc. YUM!

Sorry; Just checked my Marcella Says and can't find it there!

Oh, I miss, MISS, MISS New York at Christmas! It's been far too long since I've seen snow!

My condolances. Try orange slices in the fondue, or even canned peache slices, drained and dusted with nutmeg.

Ok. so what about Stromboli and Calzone? Aren't they just Italian versions of pastys? Supersized, in the case of stromboli, but still...

Thank you ALL for this thread; my Christmas isn't going to be much this year, and to share others is so great! Christmas around Europe, what a thrill for an armchair traveler!