Jaymes

Wow. That stuff looks... interesting. I'll have to check that out, or maybe I shouldn't. Seems like you had to be there. Not at all. You didn't have to 'be there.' It's still really good, and convenient, because you can keep it forever in your pantry. It's good when you're cooking your baked beans to put some of that brown bread on top and let it steam. It becomes kinda like a bread pudding. It's often even displayed on grocery shelves right alongside the canned baked beans. But I, too, like it just with cream cheese. And when I make my famous German meal...sour meat, red cabbage, potato salad, green beans...I serve that bread if I haven't had time to make some. Tradition, I guess.

I prefer the cans of whole green chiles. The chopped and diced versions have too many peels. And you can chop the whole ones into smaller or large dice. Or just tear them into large pieces. I always have at least a dozen cans of those on hand. And evaporated milk. And that brown raisin bread that comes in cans.

I'm interested. Very interested. Because of copyright laws, you can post ingredient lists and recipes, but you must change the wording. (That's according to what I've read in other posts by the moderators, anyway.)

Boy does that ever look good. Have you tried it?

What is it that they say about the 70's.... "If you remember them, you weren't there." And I recall a time when I always had lots of brownies in the freezer. Thought I was so terribly clever.

Many of my cookbooks and recipes are packed up right now, so can't give you the one I use for rice pudding. However, I think it's just like this one from Goya. Coconut Rice Pudding And here's a silly 'cake mix' one that's easy, if you're just trying to use up the stuff. Pina Colada Cake Make 2 boxes yellow cake mix, according to pkg directions, in a sheet pan. While it's baking, combine 1 can Eagle Brand milk, and equal amount Cream of Coconut. Poke a lot of holes in hot cake and spread with coconut milk mixture. Seal tightly and allow to cool. Frost cooled cake with whipped cream topping and dust with coconut. Instead of part or all of the water called for in the cake mix, I sometimes use Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. When you serve it, you can garnish with some slices of fresh pineapple.

By golly, Bux. You're right again. How do you DO it?

You do need to realize that this is undoubtedly very sweet. It's not like the canned coconut milk that you buy for Asian soups and curries. It's like the difference between evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. So, think of it that way. I have a wonderful sweet rice pudding recipe that calls for it. And of course, it's an essential ingredient in Pina Coladas.

Perfect timing for either a tossed green salad with melon balls and Italian dressing. Or the grapefruit, avocado, red onion slices with Italian dressing.

do you mean bitter green/vinagrette salads, or what? i could see it working in a sweet spinach salad with the right dressing, but mayo-base would be completely out. You've got to try it before you 'get' it. I don't put them in a sweet salad, such as spinach, with the 'right' dressing. Actually, I've never tried that, but don't think it'd be as good. It's best in a plain tossed green salad, with the usual suspects -- mixed greens, onions, croutons. And it works equally brilliantly with both vinaigrette and mayo-based dressings. I know it sounds odd, but it's really good. And like I said, it's my standard dinner party salad, and everybody always is surprised. "Is this cantaloupe in here???" You've just got to try it. Just don't put tomatoes as well.

Actually, I'm wondering if you're only talking green salads here. Because of course, there are LOTS of good and interesting salads.... Rice salad Cornbread Salad Bean salads Wild Rice & Black-Eyed Peas Taboule Pasta salads cold meat marinated salads of Germany and Thailand, among many others. Often, when I'm having a dinner party and in the mood for some sort of really interesting salad, I'll go stand at the prepared food section of a good deli and get something and toss that with the mixed greens. It really almost never fails to be good.

I often put melon balls into my tossed green salads. Do it in place of tomatoes. It's not only really, really good, it's pretty, and surprising. So you get extra bang for your buck. Oh -- also, love avocado, grapefruit and red onion salad. Just toss the slices with a good Italian or red wine vinegar, or other vinaigrette. Serve on a bed of lettuce.

Pina Colada Cake?

Prawns au Sherry....as served at Gaddi's in Hong Kong.

So, let me see if I understand what you're saying... "It's easier to judge the whole country if you don't judge the whole country."?

Ranchismo, I've been making flan a loooooong time. There are lots of different recipes and methods. Mainly, I make various flans the old-fashioned way. No condensed milk. In a pan in a hot water bath. But Caroline, our gal in Mexico, had a wonderful thread a while back on making flan in a pressure cooker. According to her, and I certainly take her word for it as she is living there, the vast majority of flans made now in Mexico are the condensed milk versions and they're made in pressure cookers. When I first started making flans, some 40 years ago, my Mexican friends called that recipe with the condensed milk, "Gringo Flan." Obviously things have changed. Caroline's terrific thread on flan is here: Flan Magico

I quit trying to do this some time ago. I now pierce a pumpkin or winter squash with an ice pick to prevent explosion and nuke the darn thing until it is soft enough to cut without industrial tools. Great idea, fifi! I'd been one of the ones with the embedded knife and wacking hammer. Your idea is much better.

I think that's true for the majority (although nowhere nearly so high as 95%) of Americans. For mealtime to be other than 'just a pit stop,' it has to be a leisurely appreciation of the moment, the destination itself, rather than being merely a means to an end, a necessary pause to take on fuel. And I don't think 'leisurely' has ever really been a part of our national character. We weren't initially settled by the leisurely crowd, and even today, I think our inclination is to 'grab a bite' and then get on with it...whatever 'it' is. Those folks that got onto Route 66, in an effort to take the Mother Road to California, were trying to improve their lives. And they were in a hurry to get there. They weren't interested in lingering along the way, savoring this meal or that. And I think that's an apt analogy. Obviously this is nothing but pure speculation on my part, but I'll go even further by saying that of all the places in the US where I've lived and traveled, I think that the 'best' food, and most identifiable as a 'regional cuisine' (if not a national one), is the American deep south. And also, that seems to me to be the US region best at doing 'leisurely.' The only other US region that comes to my mind is the southwest, where the Mexican influence is strong -- another culture that seems to do 'leisurely' better than we do.

This is really a great idea. Thanks. I'm going to be whizzing up some today.

So, Joiei....did you go? Did you find any good eating? How was the trip?

Well then, sounds like things are ripe for beginning one. Do you belong to any clubs that do fundraising? Perhaps Rotary, or a school PTA or something? Clubs are always looking for good and new ideas. Suggest a chili cookoff.....

WARNING: all of my anti-vegan prejudices are about to be exposed. It was a riot.... When this family's Cajun pals all came over, they were treated to a truly horrific vegan feast AND a video about inhumane animal practices. And what did the Cajun mom get the Vegan family with the $50,000? I saw in the ads for the show that... "You won't believe what $10,000 of it was for!!!" So what was it? Are you like me... Are you hoping it was ten-thousand bucks worth of pork chops?

Did anyone see Louisiana Cajun Mom trades with California Activist Vegan Mom? Would love to know how THAT turned out.

Oyster stew. And a chunk of good bread.

So both the SF Chronicle and the NYT food sections have features about hot cereals? I think it's utterly amazing how often a thread on eG coincides with an article on the same topic in this newspaper or that.