Jaymes

We were in New Jersey last summer, and stopped at a roadside stand and got some white sweet potatoes. I had never had white sweet potatoes before, so thought I had to try them. They were wonderful. I've looked for them since in every market I've been in, both in Missouri, and now in Texas, and haven't seen them. I can't help but wonder why something that seems so easy to ship is so regional. Anyone know? And does anyone know where I might be able to order some?

Some forty years ago, I had what I considered then, and still consider to be one of the best desserts ever. Went to the home of a friend and after a rich, filling meal, she served a green grape pie. It was cold and light and green and beautiful - whole seedless grapes in some sort of gel, but not much, in a pastry crust. It was kind of like a strawberry pie, but with a minimum of goop. She gave me the recipe and I made it several times, but her family and my family were both military, so we moved a lot. And then kids came along and one thing and another and the result was that I lost the recipe in one of the moves. I kept thinking I needed to get it from her but by the time I asked, another ten or so years had gone by, and she had misplaced her copy as well. With the advent of the internet, I've researched "green grape pie" but found nothing like this. I remember making a pastry crust, baking it, and then making a filing with white grape juice, some flavorings (but I can't remember what), and plain gelatin. Then you toss it carefully with the whole green grapes and pour into your baked and cooled pie crust and chill until set. I can't remember what I served dolloped over the top - probably some sort of combination of sweetened sour cream and cream cheese, or maybe sweetened whipped cream laced with rum. I'm sure either would be great. Oh my, it was so good. I think I've asked about it on eG, but got no response. I'm sure that since I remember the basics, I could come up with a version, but would love to have the original recipe. And also, if you want a good dessert with green grapes, you can try what my kids call a "fruit pizza." You press sugar cookie dough into a pizza pan and bake it. Allow it to cool completely. Beat together 8oz cream cheese, 1/3 C sugar (I use brown sugar because I like that flavor), dash vanilla, and smear it over the cooled cookie. Then arrange cut fresh fruit around the top in a circular pattern. You can use whatever you want - a mixture, or just one kind, in this case, grapes. Glaze with melted apple jelly or any other glaze of your choice. _______________

If you're ever fortunate enough to have a little shopping time in Oaxaca, bring home as much Mayordomo as you can manage. Although every area in Mexico seems to produce their own version of chocolate, many folks believe Mayordomo to be the best.

Just out of curiosity, did a google search with hot punch tea concentrate and got quite a few recipes that might suffice.

I'm at a loss here to see the problem. I use a lot of home grown herbs and I've never noticed it being a problem. When the weather is warm I wash them outside but the routine is the same. I fill a large stainless basin with cold water and holding the bunch by the bottoms of the stems, dunk them briskly up and down in the water several times, swish them back and forth a couple of times and shake off the excess water then cut off the very bottoms of the stems (where I was holding them) and roll them up in towels - you can use paper towels but I have stacks of "huck" towels left over from my catering days so I use them. All the dead, loose leaves and stems, bugs, etc., will float to the surface of the water and poured off during the plunging sessions and more water added if needed. I've found that even aphids and mites will be removed with this process where they will hang on with rinsing under running water. As I use no pesticides in my garden, there will be a certain amount of little bugs - those missed by the beneficial predatory bugs, but they don't like being under water. This is exactly what I do, too, Andie. After the swirling and washing, I wrap the herbs in a paper towel or dishtowel, and shake them a bit to get rid of excess water, and then, after cutting the stems, put whatever amount I'm not going to be using into a small vase, flower style. I find that the stems suck up the water and will last for days on my counter. They look pretty cute, too. Often they'll root in the water, and if I'm running low, I'll plant them. And again, I hold the herb bouquet over whatever I'm going to be putting them into and get the kitchen shears and snip snip snip. With many herbs, like thyme and rosemary, I've found that I can drop the whole stem into the pot and as it cooks, the leaves fall off, and I can remove the remaining stem in one piece.

You're obviously dealing on a way different level than I was, and I wish you the best of luck.

Don't know how old your son is, but I raised three kids and figured out fairly early on that making three lunches every morning was a royal pain. So when the second one hit first grade (the first was in third at that point), I decided they could make their own lunches. I realized that they had no problem doing it on weekends, so why not on weekday mornings? I made sure to have everything on hand - whole wheat bread, cold cuts, cheese, chips that I bought in huge bags and then put into smaller plastic bags, fruit, juice boxes, and junky treats like Little Debbie cookies, or cookies that I had made myself and put into bags. There were rules - only one treat bag, must take one fruit, etc. And I inspected everything before they left. Sometimes I would make something special, like putting hot chili into the thermos, and then sticking in a weiner, and then wrapping the hot dog bun separately, but most mornings, I was teaching them to do it themselves. It thrilled me as the years passed to see them packing nutritious lunches all by themselves, and to even watch the older ones helping the younger ones.

Hating to unload the dishwasher seems fairly universal. Not sure why it's so irksome. But it's akin to unloading and folding and putting away the clean clothes from the dryer. There's just something about it. I actually have noticed a recent trend among very upscale homes. They have at least two dishwashers. So one is always being loaded with dirty dishes, and one is always being emptied of clean dishes. I had a friend that had this two dishwasher system and she told me, laughingly, that if she could, she'd design a kitchen wherein all of the cabinets washed dishes. As for me, the not-unpleasant task I hate and avoid is making breakfast. No clue why. None of the other stuff mentioned here fazes me at all. Garlic peeling? You peel? I smash. Parsley chopping? Nobody makes me chop the parsley into fairy dust, so I just take my kitchen shears and hold the bunch over whatever the parsley is going into and snip snip snip. Onions? I keep my onions in the fridge, so I don't get a lot of onion juice wafting up to irritate the nose and eyes. If I'm chopping or slicing more than one or two, into the food processor. Cleaning the food processor is easy peasy - a quick rinse to remove the big chunks and then into the top shelf of the dishwasher. But preparing any sort of a breakfast at all for myself brings me to a halt. I'll do it for others, and enjoy it, but not for myself. I want what I want right now. I love fruit, but I have to have cut it up the night before and have it ready and waiting in a plastic tub, or I won't eat it. I love oatmeal, but even sticking a cup into the microwave for two minutes seems like a monumental chore first thing in the morning. I want my coffee, and something I can just grab and eat with no preparation required. No preparation whatsoever. Puzzling.

We were discussing this very thing - zest without pith - over in Limoncello, and the general consensus is that one absolutely must have a Messermeister Serrated Peeler to do the job.

Thanks for getting back with us. You know, I've made stew several times since this thread, and I never fail to think of it and you and wonder how you're doing. And I've reflected on the fact that I had a large family to raise and cook for, all the while on a tight budget, and beef stew made with whatever was the least-costly option available was a huge help in that effort. So I was positive your problem was not the "supermarket beef stew." If you think about it, supermarkets sell literally tons of the stuff, and not to highly-trained chefs, but to the mass market. It's highly unlikely they'd be able to do that so successfully for so many decades unless the average home cook could fairly easily produce a decent pot of beef stew with "beef stew meat." Pleased to read that indeed you managed to do just that. __________________

The only thing in this particular scenario that would have given me the slightest moment's hesitation is that you put it back into the oven. Which well might have still held enough residual heat that it would have been warmer than room temp. So all in all, probably just as well you tossed it. And thanks for getting back with us. When we hadn't heard anything for several days... Well... You know. _____________________

More info on Repeal Day.

Wow. Repeal Day. I had no idea this was going on.

You can do what I do... Since one assumes that "room temperature" on a cool November day is likelier cooler than on a hot August day, I'd figure that it's probably fine, with some high-octane boiling. So I'd begin the process by looking it over well, smelling it, feeling it. If it looks and smells and feels fine, then I'd boil the fool out of it. And then take a small taste myself. If it tastes fine, and a half-hour later, I'm feeling fine, I'd take a bigger taste. If I'm still feeling fine fifteen minutes later, I'd finish up making my soup and have no qualms whatsoever about serving it to the family. __________________

And wine... Remember? Much of America was pretty prudish. Wine was something only a few licentious rich folks regularly indulged in. It loosened people up considerably to watch Julia cooking with wine. Sometimes, she even put a little into the food.

A matter of timing. You had to be there.

Buy a huge lot and freeze them. As several have suggested, char the skins, then allow to steam in a plastic bag or wrapped up in a dishtowel (if you don't like the idea of plastic), then peel and seed and freeze. Works great! You'll find myriad of uses. It's even great to lay one on top of your hamburger patty the next time you're making burgers.

I find it hard to believe no one in Vietnam was able to invent a bowl of noodle soup until the French came along. However, I have a rule: "Never get involved in a land war or a discussion of who invented something in Asia; never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line." It is unarguably an excellent restorative. Indeed.

I often take gazpacho to picnics, potlucks, etc. It's easy, if you're not serving too many people. Take your chilled gazpacho in a large thermos, and then take some paper or plastic cups and spoons to serve it in. Also, Chufi, I don't know if you have access to canned green chiles where you are, but there is a cheese and chile and egg dish that is very popular in the US southwest that would be perfect. It has the added advantage of being something that your friends/colleagues are probably completely unfamiliar with. It's called "Chile Relleno Squares." You combine eggs, cheese, green chiles (and canned work just as well as fresh) and flour or Bisquick. You bake it, and then allow it to cool a bit and cut into squares. You can either serve it hot, with forks, as a side dish or vegetarian main, or you can serve it cold as finger food. If you google "Chile Relleno Squares," you will find a lot of recipes. But here's a typical one: Chile Relleno Squares 3 C shredded Jack cheese 1 1/2 C shredded mild cheddar 2 4-oz cans green chiles, chopped (I buy whole chiles and chop them myself) 2 eggs, slightly beaten 2 Tbs whole milk or cream 1 T Bisquick or all-purpose flour Combine the cheeses. Place half into a greased 8" baking pan. Spread chopped chiles over. Then cover with rest of cheese. Combine beaten eggs with flour and cream and pour over all. Bake uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes, or until dish is "set" and browning on top. Allow to cool at least slightly. Cut into squares. Can serve either warm or cold. ______________________

I'm no food historian, but I've been told that pho was actually "invented" by the French, and became popular in Vietnam during the French occupation, the days of Indochine. That explains the pronunciation of "fuh." It's really from the French "Pot au Feu." Interesting bit of food trivia, I think.

Wow. You'd really have to get up early to keep up with that tradition. I have to hustle to get everything on the table by 3. Of course, it sounds like you have assistance with the chores, so that would help. In my family, I did it all. In fact, I remember once overhearing my husband tell somebody that Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday because "you don't have to do anything. You don't have to buy presents for anyone or hang up any lights or take the kids around the neighborhood or anything at all. You just sleep late, then eat and watch football. It's perfect." Perhaps I should mention that he's my former husband. _________________

Yikes. I have to say, that's the earliest I've ever heard of. Don't know how you do it. What time do you have to start?

Our favorite holiday onion recipe isn't really 'glazed.' But it's good. Here it is: CREAMED ONIONS 30 or so small onions -- not tiny pearl onions, but the small stewing ones - I guess about the size of a pingpong ball 1/3 C butter 3 T all-purpose flour 1 1/2 C whole milk 1 C shredded processed cheese Tabasco or other hot sauce, to taste paprika, parsley 1/2 C chopped peanuts for garnish Peel onions and cook until just barely tender in boiling salted water. Drain well and set aside. In cooking pan, melt butter. Add flour and cook until flour begins to brown slightly and bubble, and is no longer 'raw.' Stir in milk and cook slowly, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Add cheese and continue stirring until mixture is thoroughly combined, smooth, and a little thicker than you want the eventual dish (the onions, although drained, will still contain some liquid). Add onions and stir, being careful not to break down onions any more than you have to. Add hot sauce to taste, if desired. Heat through and pour into warmed serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, parsley and paprika and serve immediately.

It's pretty much accepted common knowledge that agrarian culture lends itself to a large lunch, i.e., "dinner," around noon or even a bit earlier. As far as I'm concerned, this conversation is more about a traditional holiday dinner; i.e., Christmas or Thanksgiving, and I'd include Easter as well, which nobody, as far as I can tell, eats at 11:30 or noon, the typical hour for the traditional largest farm meal. As you yourself indicate, your article says nothing about that, so I'm not sure that's the explanation regarding the habit of having a holiday meal around 2-4pm. And certainly doesn't explain your hard and fast rule that because you do not and have not "worked on a farm," you're not about to eat your holiday dinner before the proper dinner time of 7 o'clock. But ah well... As the kids say, whatever. ___________________________

Just to set the record straight, and speaking just for myself, I have no trouble whatsoever "understanding" why some folks prefer to eat their holiday meal in the evening. Sigh. It wasn't written to convey belittlement or express a literal failure to comprehend, but rather figuratively in the same sense one might say, "I don't understand oatmeal without salt in it." Although I don't think it's particularly difficult to figure that out. Since it's not "particularly difficult," others are probably more capable than I "to figure that out." It seems to me, however, that all of your posts on this issue are inexplicably condescending. You seem to be saying that only Flyover Rubes eat their holiday meals in the middle of the afternoon. However, I suppose I am mistaken about that as well. It would be interesting to do an investigation into the origins of the custom of having one's big holiday meal around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, though, rather than merely relying on your "it's only farm people" speculation. Although you could be correct, I know, for example, that when I was living in Asia (Hong Kong and the Philippines), my family always tried to have Christmas dinner early so that the servants could go home and spend the rest of the day with their families. _______________________________