Jaymes

I did this for my dad after my mother died and he was living alone. He was up in Springfield MO, and I was down in Texas, but I'd drive up to visit him a couple times a year and, while I was there, fill his freezer with stuff I knew he'd like, and eat. I made a lot of his favorite soups - split pea, chili, tomato, etc. I'd pour them into quart-size freezer baggies, lay them flat in the freezer until they were frozen solid, then put them like "files" in a plastic box. Regarding the potatoes - solid pieces of cooked potatoes don't freeze well, to say the least. And beef stew chock full of potatoes is one of my dad's favorite things. So I'd make the stew without the potatoes, freeze them in the plastic bags, "file" them in the freezer. Then, I showed him how to put a bag of stew into a saucepan, or even bowl, dip out a little of the broth, put it into a microwave-safe mug, cut up a potato, and cook it separately in the microwave. Then he could add the freshly-cooked potatoes to the stew. I was afraid he wouldn't go to that trouble but I was dead wrong - he did it all the time. Other things he loved that freeze well that I would fix - fresh green beans cooked with bacon, onions, etc., assorted greens - collard, turnip, etc. (and I would freeze wedges of cornbread to go with them), meatballs & meatloaves (mentioned by others), big juicy hamburger patties that I had cooked outside on the grill, ribs and sauerkraut, enchiladas, lasagna - all frozen in individual portions, in plastic freezer bags. I also made sure he had lots of stuff in the freezer that he could fix easily - like Italian sausage, for example. And frozen French fries. He doesn't like French fries per se, but frozen French fries have been partially cooked, and they're perfect to chop and put in your scrambled eggs, a trick I've been doing for decades. I did initially try using Tupperware, assorted other kinds of containers and plates, but then he'd have to wash them, which he did as best he could, but his back, knees, legs, hurt, and standing over the sink washing dishes was not something he enjoyed. The plastic freezer bags can just be tossed, and that worked out much better for us. Plus, when frozen flat, they stacked and stored much more easily.

Well, I'd say they're more like 'recipe collections' than comprehensive cooking books. And there aren't hundreds and hundreds of recipes. She says they're from the many countries where she's worked, and India of course, but that they are reduced-fat versions that models eat. Although do have to add that, even after eating several of the dishes, I still don't look like she does.

And, I have, and have used, two of her cookbooks. So, gkas, you may well not like her. But that particular insult is unfounded.

And conversely, I can rarely get past the popcorn because of the smell.

I had a cousin that really loved it and made it all the time, year 'round. I remember a great many backyard steak cookouts where the menu was steak, salad, garlic bread and green bean casserole. She told me that one big reason why she made it so often was that it was the only green vegetable that her children would eat happily, no threats or bribery required.I will say that she always made it with fresh green beans, never canned. And she added water chestnuts, a nice crunch, which improved the texture considerably.

Folks must like it or it wouldn't be ubiquitous. I was at a holiday potluck last year and there were three of them sitting in the "vegetables" section - the only apparent difference among them being the way that the perpetrators chose to arrange the onion rings. Certainly not my personal favorite (and I've never made it) but, if it's the only green vegetable available, and it often is, I'll eat it.

Plus, when it's time to eat your sandwich, you can unwrap it and use the wax paper as a plate. Certainly can't do that with cling wrap.

Folks do still make and give out homemade treats but, the way it works now, people have one big bowl of commercially-produced individually-wrapped candy that they give to the tricker-treaters they do not know, and a separate bowl of homemade treats for children of family and friends. Including, of course, wax-paper-wrapped popcorn balls.

I suppose it seems like it should but it never has and I've been doing this for over 50 years. Started making my grandma's praline recipe when I was a kid. Wax paper is what she used so that's what I learned to use. If it does melt the wax, it's not in a way so's you notice.And many, many people use wax paper to line baking pans before filling them with cake batter and sticking them into hot ovens to bake, often for an hour or more. I'm not a scientist so I don't understand how it works but I know it surely does. And two more ways I frequently use wax paper are when pounding out chicken breasts; and crumbling up a wad of it to use when spreading butter into a cake pan. It doesn't absorb the butter/grease/fat/etc. like paper towels do. I do save the butter wrappers for that purpose, but sometimes don't have one. Also, I often buy ground meat - beef, pork, turkey - in bulk because it's cheaper, and then separate it into smaller portions, patties, and put wax paper between them before putting them into the freezer. These are just a few things off of the top of my head. I'm sure there are more. But the bottom line is that I use a lot of it and always have a roll handy in my kitchen.

I add it to whipped cream, along with brown sugar, as my required topping for Key Lime Pie.

I still buy it. Much cheaper than parchment paper, or even foil. And perhaps there are "other things that can do the same job as well or better," but I don't have enough silpats to completely cover all my kitchen countertops, which is what I need to do when I'm turning out my caramel corn, or Creamy Southern Pecan Pralines. I think it's probably pretty-much like everything else - seems silly and unnecessary. Unless you need it. Which I do.

Christmas coming again and Shel's popcorn thread reminded me that it's also time to lay in my supply of popping corn.

Let me add my wishes for a speedy recovery, Andie, and hopes that you will soon be back to stirring, grinding, mincing with your previous vigor and aplomb. You are St. EGullet, after all. And we need you! I'd be happy to offer to bake and send some of those orange dreamsicle cookies if you promise me that you wouldn't expect me actually to do it.

The latest 'Fruitcake' thread reminded me that it's time to start thinking about all of my holiday baking, including the fruitcake cookies that are always such a hit in our family. And of course, need to get those rum balls sealed into their canister to begin ripening and mellowing. Those two cookies are not optional in our house, but haven't finalized the list yet. My father, 93, is the most popular fellow at the senior citizens' home where he lives (he calls it "Mortuary Manor") in part because I often send him treats to share with his table in the dining room (it's him and five women - his harem), so I want to be sure that this year's cookie selection doesn't disappoint. Also, several of his tablemates and friends are fighting "the sugar," so I try to cut back on that in all my baking. I really love those Trader Joe's Kona Shortbread Cookies and think he would, too, but they're very sweet. Went online and found a copycat recipe that I think I could make, using a lot less sugar. By any chance, have any of y'all ever tried to make anything like those cookies?

And why the "Chicken Ranch" in Texas accepted chickens as payment.

In addition to the waffle iron, you can also do this with your George Foreman Grill, or panino maker.

If I have learnt one thing from my "years of wisdom," it's that some secrets in my culinary closet are best left in there. And serving this to my kids might be one of them: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tamale-casserole/ But ya'know, now that I read this, and see the photo, and think back, you're right! Looks pretty tasty after all. God, I was a GREAT MOM!!! Oh, and PS - I was definitely young, but not callow. Never callow. And being young was a hell of a good time. Wouldn't mind going back to the days when my knees worked great and my beautiful, thick, bleached-blonde hair stayed well stuck into the top of my head. Instead of fluttering continually into the tamale pie.

How about the head-in-the-fridge style of eating leftover pizza?

I do. As a mother on a budget raising three growing kids, I always had some of those dreadful canned tamales in the pantry for nights when Daddy had to work late. Then it was tamale pie and a salad. It was perfect for those nights: quick, cheap, kids loved it, Dad wouldn't eat it. And we're basically Southwesterners - Dad originally a Texan and, while we were raising the kids, we lived all over the Southwest - Arizona, New Mexico, etc. So I figured that the chile flavor of that tamale pie was at least getting the kids accustomed to the chiles and salsas, etc., that we're all so fond of today. That tamale pie is pretty retro. But not sure I'd want to serve it to any guests today. Not even as a joke. In fact, I think the next time somebody asks me if I remember it, I'm going to deny the entire thing.

Not to mention some pretty fabulous upscale restaurants specializing in it.

You mean these, of course: https://www.etsy.com/listing/186779687/vintage-western-stoneware-monmouth?ref=market Yep, I'm pretty sure I still have mine. And that would be an absolutely unbeatable idea for an "unfashionable dinner party" in the US. And you'd have to do it up right - bowls and all. But surely folks in France never served "French Onion Soup" in those bowls. Did they? I'd be mightily disillusioned on so many levels to learn that they did.

Ah, thanks. I'll just wait and try it again later.

I'm interested in this, so tried to click on the link. Didn't work. Is it just me? Or are others having the same problem?

Regarding fondue - I recall a great many dinner parties that featured fondue, but not the cheese kind. It was chunks of good steak - ribeye or fillet or something - and a pot of boiling oil, along with special dinner plates that held a selection of sauces. One of my fondest memories of that time was a bite of steak that was amazingly tender - far tenderer than the other bites. Only later did I realize that, because I had drunk a great deal of wine, I had forgotten to cook that bite. Yum. Unintentional steak tartare.

I feel pretty sure this fad never made it to France, but it was quite the rage in the US for a while: Harvey Wallbanger Cake http://allrecipes.com/recipe/harvey-wallbanger-cake/ Oh, and PS - I really love Coquille St. Jacques. Interestingly enough, just ordered it last Friday night at a local restaurant that bills itself as offering "fine Continental cuisine." Only now, speaking of fads, the Coquille St. Jacques was "Deconstructed."