Smithy

*bump* I'm sitting in front of our TV, trying to make sense of the arcane rules of American football and watching the Packers slaughter the Vikings. (Oh, the things we do for love.) This particular game began a little before 7:30 P.M. Central time: in the dark, in the rain. My thoughts turned to food, which might be the only redeeming feature of this game. "Would there still be a tailgate party?" I asked my darling. "Oh yes," he said, "possibly a little curtailed by the rain, but basically they'd have started the game earlier and they'd be more drunk than if the game had started in the afternoon." Any fans of spectator sports out there? Do you have tailgate parties? What are your favorite menus? Favorite memories of past parties?

That photo has good quality in terms of grey balance and clarity. What is the activity? Knife sharpening?

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with your haul!

I see the similarity. It looks as though the Lays marketers (packagers? artists?) stole^W borrowed heavily from the Pepperidge Farms package design. It doesn't trip my trigger quite so quickly as Heidi's, but what DOES trip my trigger is this: I'm willing to bet that these 'designer' chips have a huge markup compared to their less exotic cousins. The package is intended to justify the markup. Grr.

I love to see the way this topic is developing. I'm sure Kerry has a long list already of things she's going to freeze-dry, but I'd like to know what happens to pesto when you freeze dry it. I'm about to harvest my basil before the freeze hits here. My usual method is to whir it with garlic and olive oil, freeze in cubes and some larger batches, and them defrost as needed - sometimes to be mixed with ground nuts and cheese for pesto, sometimes for other purposes. I'd be curious to know whether it can be freeze-dried -- that sure would save on freezer space and transport weight.

That's a nice technique, gulfporter. Thanks for posting about it.

I'd expect a mandoline to produce sliced, not grated ginger. Is that what you mean?I generally use my Microplane™ grater, and I use it on frozen OR fresh ginger. I seem to have more success than rotuts noted in his first post if the ginger is frozen, but it works for fresh also in my experience. I think it depends on how fibrous the root is.

I too am distressed to hear the news, Andie, and I hope the outcome is good. Creamsicle cookies and mincemeat cookies both sound unusual and interesting (hint, hint). Aside from that I admire the immense variety of what you'd normally do! I used to do meringue shells loaded with chocolate chips, spritz cookies of multiple flavors (an excuse to use the cookie press) and chocolate sandies. Alas, I seem to have reached a stage where my friends and I all want to make and admire the stuff but none can eat more than 2 or 3 cookies. I need to find more recipients to justify the operation.

I'm impressed, Shelby. That's a heap of work, but what a payoff you'll have all winter!

I have the same question as Deryn: how many people, and in what context? Sophie may even be looking for cafe foods to be served to customers, with $10 turning a profit. My inexpensive meals - for family and friends, at home - tend to use meat as an accent rather than the focus. Pasta dishes (with pesto and chicken, for example) or stir-fries heavy with vegetables are two ways to keep the cost down and the quality up.

How long will we wait before you tell us? I'd guess "somewhere in Toronto!" but that's pretty vague. The Waterpark doesn't ring any bells for me.

I like the sound of the autumn burger, CatPoet, and admire your ingenuity. Thanks for sharing.

Franci, thank you for that extra information. We do a lot of brussels sprouts, but I have had only one way to cook them that tasted good to me. I think now I'll have two.

I haven't yet tried making my own tortillas. Advocates of making them oneself swear it's easy, but I bet there's a learning curve. (Isn't there always?) Questions: "White Lily" flour? Is that a break with tradition? I think of it as southern, yes, but from farther east and a rather damper climate. You mention shortening; I'd have guessed lard. Can either be used? How do you keep that beautiful stack of tortillas from drying out until eaten?

That kickstarter campaign is over and done, but I see it's commercially available now: SolSource Parabolic Solar Cooker

Please do go on, bobag87. This is very interesting, and as close as I'm likely to get to making tamales. ;-)

I don't remember the pudding one way or the other, but I found this card in Mom's recipe box while I was looking for the persimmon cookie recipe. (I haven't given up looking for that recipe. I *know* I had it last winter.) This recipe is as written on the card. Although I don't recall it, I do swear by Patti's cooking. Persimmon Pudding, from my cousin Patti Smith (makes 8 - 12 servings) * Enough pulp from halved rip persimmons to make 2 cups (about 5 persimmons) * 2 c. sugar * 2 eggs, beaten * 1-1/2 c. buttermilk * 1 tsp. baking soda * 1-1/2 c. flour * 1 tsp. baking powder * 1 tsp. cinnamon * pinch salt * 1/2 c. heavy cream * 4 Tbsp. butter, melted Set oven to 350F. Mix pulp and sugar in large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs. Stir buttermilk and soda together, then add to the pulp mixture and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together. Gradually add to the pulp, and stir until combined. Add heavy cream. Mix. Grease a 9x13" pan with some of the butter, then stir the remaining butter into the batter. Bake until dark brown, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 1 hour. Cool. *********** I may have to try making this later this winter, when I can lay my hands on persimmons.

The mock apple pie with Ritz crackers was surprisingly good. We never could figure out why the recipe worked, but it fooled a lot of people. I think my father and I could tell the difference, but Mom (who made wonderful apple pies) claimed she couldn't. Or maybe I have it the other way around. I may try it again someday, for kicks. I think I may be more discriminating now than I was back then. I've never heard of City Chicken. What was it?

Brilliant. Absolutely sheer genius...and the photos in that post make me want to go buy a pizza NOW just for the pleasure of making pizza waffle pockets. Or whatever they decide to call it.

I wish I'd seen either or both of your latest posts before yesterday's dinner party, David. They look luscious. Yesterday we had friends over to celebrate Oktoberfest, with a series of Oktoberfest beers, Gewurtztraminer and a Mosel wine, and more-or-less German-themed food. The theme broke down at dessert, however; my dreams of an apple strudel went out the window with my time management. Apple pie it was, using my standby crust and recipe, inherited from my mother. I've found yet another 'wild' apple tree with miniature apples: no more than half the size of a Red Delicious, roughly the same shape, and probably the firm delicious piquancy that the original was supposed to have. These were begging to be put into a pie. I still have a store of applets. I also supplemented the lot with a couple of store-bought full-sized apples whose variety I've forgotten, unfortunately. It was good that I bought them, because I wouldn't have had time to go get more of the wild apples. The store-bought apples (not Galas, Pippins, Fujis, Honeycrisp, Delicious, Macintosh, Granny Smiths...what was that variety?) were good filler although too sweet and soft to be ideal pie apples. Here's the blend I used: The large size of conventional apples pays off in the preparation. I use the slicer on a box grater to process apples for pie after I've peeled them. It's quicker than slicing apples and finer than using the hand-crank corer/slicer thing I have. The applets required great care to prevent losing a fingertip or fingernail to the slicer, because their diameter was 1" at most. The pie was ready go quickly: there's something to be said for tried-and-true recipes. Streusel topping makes it especially easy. The pie came out after our guests had arrived, so I didn't get a picture of the entire finished product. There wasn't much left over. I figure that means they liked it.

I ran across the recipe for Mock Apple Pie using, of all things, Ritz crackers. My mother fooled a lot of people with that novelty. Now it's hard to imagine not having ready access to apples year-round. How times have changed in the USA. If that retro recipe sounds interesting, I'll post it.

I can't find it! I'll check with the rest of the family. I hope it isn't lost forever. While I was looking, I found my cousin's persimmon pudding recipe. Would that be of interest? No ice cream maker needed to make semifreddo. You could try that route.

Heh. Jaymes, we have the evidence of your memory here! I too remember tamale pie, with revulsion. Our family never 'did' Mexican food when I was growing up; only my father liked it. Our school cafeteria often served tamale pie as one of the hot meal rotations, and on those days I was delighted that Mom had packed a lunch for me. Sometime in high school I began to enjoy Mexican food, and now I enjoy it in all its immense variety. But NOT tamale pie.

Those are fun photos, dcarch. I have to take your word for it that those tomatoes are caramelized, however; I don't see any change in color. Is that a trick of the photo, or does dehydration change the browning reactions without affecting flavor appreciably?I just toss tomatoes in oil and roast them until they collapse and start to turn brown, and the puddle of escaped juice has dried somewhat. The skins don't bother me. I usually do this with whole cherry tomatoes. (Thinking back on it, I recall that the results weren't as good with large tomatoes even when I'd sliced them in half...getting them to NOT be watery took a long, long time.) This is one of my favorite condiments for pasta and for meat mixtures to go into stuffed roasted vegetables.

Kerry, the blackcurrant puree has a beautiful color. I can imagine that in some lovely confections, and look forward to seeing what you do with it. I'm very curious to see what you have to say about the sous vide prime rib and the ozmasome. Do you have specific plans and tests for those yet? Try to reconstitute them as they are, or use the broken bits for flavor in something else? Will this mean less volume packed in the car for the next trip to Manitoulin Island, or just make room for more stuff to be thrown in? :-D