Jaymes

How about that traditional "sloppy" treat -- Sloppy Joes. I often serve them at casual get togethers like TV-game days. I serve them in a crockpot with some fixin's (onions, pickles, cheese, etc.) and a bag o' buns alongside. Guests help themselves. I either make my "usual" sweet & sour version, or a Mexican version -- Sloppy Jose's. SLOPPY JOES 1 T Worsty 1 T dried onion flakes 1/2 t garlic powder celery salt to taste 1/2 C catsup 1/4 t chili powder 1 T brown sugar 1 T vinegar 1 T yellow prepared mustard 6 oz cooked meat Mix all ingredients and simmer in saucepan til thickened. Serve hot or cold on buns (good picnic sandwiches), or in chafing dish with small rolls alongside. Now - for the "cooked meat" you can use anything. And I mean anything. Sometimes I cut up weiners. I've used leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. I very frequently use a couple cans of drained tuna. For the traditional ground beef, I brown the beef in the skillet, and saute the onions and fresh garlic, sometimes chopped bell peppers, just as you'd imagine, then simmer it all till thick. But it's just as good with dried onions and garlic powder. SLOPPY JOSE'S 1 lb ground beef 1 package Taco seasoning Prepare beef according to Taco seasoning instructions (you may need to add a can of tomato sauce or something, but just do whatever it says.) shredded lettuce chopped onions chopped tomatoes sliced jalapenos shredded cheese salsa (either home made, or Herdez brand, or, if you buy the whole "Taco shebang" kit thing with the shells, there will be some salsa in it) Large-size hamburger buns Prepare taco meat; spoon while still hot onto bottom of bun. Sprinkle meat with cheese so it melts a little. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salsa, jalapenos. Put bun top on and eat. It's kinda like a taco on a bun. If you've bought the 'taco kit' thing with the shells, break the shells apart and use them to stick into your queso dip.

You speak the truth One of the first "recipes" any good Texan learns. ← I honestly believe that's true. I think you could even round up a passel of five-year-olds in the Lone Star State and ask them how to make 'Queso,' and they'd all know: "My mommy opens up a can of Wo-Tel....." And to MarketStEl & Bejam....that's right....we're taking over the world!!!

You can buy the nog from some sort of premium dairy. I often do, depending on how much time I have. I add, depending of course on how much you have, but to about a half-gallon of nog, 1 cup bourbon, 1/2 C rum, 1/4 cup brandy. I come from a long line of "southern" cooks, and we always added bourbon to most everything. "And," my granny said, "you need some rum for the flavor, and brandy for the 'kick.'" Let this sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours to ripen. Then, just before serving, whip some heavy cream and/or egg whites (depending on your 'alarmist' factor), and gently fold it in. That will make your nog creamy and fluffy, and will definitely help the store-bought stuff. Another advantage of buying the nog and doctoring it up with whipped cream is that the commercially-prepared product is pasturized. If you're worried about the raw egg thing, and serving it to guests, that is probably the way to go. And you can just fold in the whipped cream right before serving to give it that homemade touch. For serving, I always make an "ice bowl." You can do this out of any large container. Boil the water first, so it'll freeze clear. Then put some mint or fake holly or something in it, and push a mixing bowl or something down in it. After it freezes, it makes a great bowl. Be sure to set your ice bowl on something that will hold the water as it melts. I have a clear glass mixing bowl that I use. One thing I've discovered is that because you want the nog cold, it seems to work better to use a small serving bowl, and refill it often with cold nog just out of the fridge.

I think of the wonderful candies that I associate with the south....don't know if they're really 'southern,' but so many of the ladies offered them with coffee for dessert when you visited over the holiday season. In addition to pralines, there was divinity and date loaf candy and fudge and penuche and peanut brittle and bourbon balls. Oh, and fruitcake of course. Soaked in bourbon or rum.

For Texans, it would be impossible to go to a Superbowl party, or for that matter, pretty much any other party, without seeing "Queso." That's short for "Chile con Queso." Furners (that's all y'all not from here) call it "Cheese Dip." The recipe, as any Texan can tell you, is to open one can of Original Ro-Tel Tomatoes with Chiles and dump it into a saucepan or glass microwaveable dish and chunk up a bunch of Velveeta and heat it until it's all melted and gooey and serve with tortilla chips.

I talked about it a little HERE... Beto had been there, too. It was really something....

And here's another earlier eGullet Meatloaf thread.... "Meatloaf - Talk to me" Great ideas in all these threads.

Wow. Rachel. Thanks! I lived in Panama for four years....on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides. I am really excited about this. I want to start by asking her if 'Las Americas' is still there, and if they still serve that delicious almond fish dish. I really loved my time in Panama. And I'm still looking for someone to mourn with me the passing of the Balboa Yacht Club. What a place that was. Sigh.

I'll second this. I've been making that recipe as my standard 'fancy dinner party' opener for decades. It never fails to impress. And it's our traditional Christmas Eve soup as well. It IS fabulous. I simply can't imagine anything better.

And maybe even twice, if you live long enough. At least that's what I'm hoping.

Snails. Used to love them and ordered them all the time until I had this conversation one evening with a dining companion: "How is your escargot?" "Good. Really good." "I can't eat them. When I look at them, all I can think about is that slimy trail they leave on sidewalks." And from then on, when I look at them, all I can think about is that slimy trail they leave on sidewalks.

This sounds like a real find. Thanks.

The cheesy couples are all over at Ixtapa. To me, anyway, Zihua is more the sort of "poking through markets and discovering small out-of-the-way restaurants" kind of place. I think of it as being like PV before PV became "PV." When I manage to sneak away from my groups over in Ixtapa, Zihua is where I run to get away from them. But I would suggest you try out both Casa Que Canta and Villa del Sol. You've seen Casa Que Canta, so you know how beautiful it is. And Villa del Sol was built and run by a German couple, so the grounds are impeccable. They have two restaurants there and I've been to each, for lunch and dinner, and remember them as excellent, although it's been a couple of years. Here are some photos, although sadly, no sunset and no cheesy couple: La Cantina Bar & Grill at Villa del Sol

Fifi - yum. Did they use cabrito? Not that I often have cabrito leftovers around the house. But I'm curious.

Mexico is justifiably famous for their soups and stews. I'd have to say they're my favorites.

I've been to Zihua/Ixtapa quite a number of times, but always on business, either escorting large groups, or doing site inspections in preparation for escorting large groups. So, sadly, when you're with a group of 90 or more folks, you have to stay somewhere big -- the Westin and El Presidente in Ixtapa always gave me the best rates. So I've never stayed in Zihua. And the times I've eaten at Casa Que Canta, it's been at private parties, so am not familiar with the menu. I can say that the food was fabulous. Ditto Villa del Sol.

Five days...where are you staying? I can't think of anything in Ixtapa that's worth driving over there for. How about La Casa Que Canta. Last time I was there, they did take non-hotel-guest limited reservations for dinner. Hard to imagine a more romantic setting.

One of my summer faves is a Cold Cherry Soup, which I serve in cantaloupe halves. Here's a recipe: Cold Cherry Soup 3 large, or 4 small cantaloupes 4 cups water 1 orange, cut into quarters 4 cloves 1 stick cinnamon 1/2 cup sugar 3-1/4 cups cherry pie filling, very cold 1 cup dry sherry 1 pt. whipping cream, whipped Half the cantaloupes. Scoop out the seeds and enough of the pulp to make a one-serving sized bowl. Set the pulp aside for another use. Slice a very small sliver from the bottom of the "bowl" just enough that it will sit upright. Be careful not to slice off too much, or the eater will poke a hole in the bottom as they eat, and that makes a mess. Wrap the cantaloupe bowls in foil or plastic wrap and chill until ready for use. Prepare the soup.... In a saucepan, bring the water, orange, cloves, cinnamon and sugar to a boil. Cook 5 minutes, then strain; cool in refrigerator for several hours. Before serving, add cherry pie filling, dry sherry and mix well. Carefully fold in whipped cream. Ladle into cantaloupe bowls and serve. Can garnish with one cherry, or mint leaves. 6-8 servings.

Do you have the recipe? Please o' Please ← With her permission I will post exactly what Jaymes told me. The theme of the gathering was Strange and Unusual Foods. I believe I posted that that included the deep frying and consuming of oreos, pickles, pickled peppers and peanut butter/cheese/dill pickle and chipolte mayo tea sandwiches. So no, this was not a gourmet attempt. However, we did have a few unusual and fine dishes to eat -- and I (as well as many others) considered the Senegalaise soup to be among those. I was just as surprised by the recipe as Jaymes was embarrassed by it but I swear you would never know that Campbell's touched your palate. We are both now interested to find the real thing, so if anyone has a clue. . . Suzilightening, it turns out, does indeed have a clue.... She PM'd me this link: Cold Senegalese Soup. She said that they served it in a restaurant where she once worked, although they served it hot. And she adds that they always did garnish it with toasted coconut.

Since I'm posting this in early December, it's not exactly 'cold soup season' (in North America anyway), but wanted to add this link for cold Senegalese Soup, so that it'd be easy to find when next summer rolls around. In response to a posting on the dinner thread about a quicky blender version of this soup, Suzilightening wrote to tell me of a soup that they served at a restaurant where she once worked. Here's the link: Cold Senegalese Soup She adds that they always served it garnished with toasted coconut, although does say that they served it hot. It looks just wonderful -- cold or hot -- and I'm eager to try it. Thanks, Suzi!!!

I, too, immediately thought of squash casserole when I read the title of the thread. Going way back in my memory, to the early 50's, I don't recall regularly seeing any other casserole on southern sideboards. I think more of green beans cooked low and slow, with onions and herbs and a nice big piece of fatback bubbling in the middle; peas simmered just until done; and mom getting a large pot of water boiling on the stove, and then hollering at us kids, "Go pick some corn and run it right back here, the water's ready." But casseroles? I don't remember any other than the ubiquitous squash. And sweet potato casseroles, of course, which everybody's mother served.

I like "Buttercream." No dreams. To me, Buttercream says it all. That one word alone conjures up plenty of dreams. Buttercream. One word. A fun word. Easy to say. Easy to remember. And not too girly or cutesy. Even big burly men could say it without wincing. And although you probably shouldn't add the "Bakery" into your formal name or logo, it's implied. Folks would naturally call it Buttercream Bakery. Memorable.

This is brilliance. Look at it as a time to learn.

When I think of sweet potatoes/yams, I definitely think 'southern,' as in south of the Mason/Dixon line, and I mean all the way south -- Southern US, Caribbean, Mexican, and on down into Central and the north parts of South America. Often see them on sticks, like shish-ke-bobs, and candied and preserved. You can buy them from vendors in Mexico, preserved and rolled in crystalized sugar. When I make our traditional sweet potatos for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I take some bourbon and combine it with either some orange marmelade, or frozen OJ concentrate and drizzle that over. I love sweet potatoes in all their many incarnations.

Susan (how does it happen that so many of my favorite people are named Susan?), What a fabulous thing for you. There is simply nothing in this life nor, I suspect, in the next, quite as fun and fabulous as getting away with the "girls." And while, just as you said, going out to eat definitely has its place, hanging out in the kitchen trying, sampling, offering up knowledge, taking and giving and sharing, along with LOTS of giggling, is better. Good fer' you!