Kris

Ditto.

I did a chocolate fondue for NYE 2004.

Now this is something I would try.

Outback is an abomination when it comes to steak. I have mixed views on chain restaurants - some I hate, others I like. Ones I hate: Red Lobster Applebee's Outback Subway IHOP (they always seem dirty to me) Ones I like: Chipotle Chevy's I live in NYC where there are tons of independently owned restaurants, in a variety of price ranges. I'm a big fan of steakhouses and I've been to some of the more expensive ones like Peter Luger's, Ben Benson's and Old Homestead, where the steaks are highly rated. I guess that's why I'm so down on Outback. The steak is tasteless and overcooked there. But other chains are alright when I want something quick and don't feel like cooking. I would hate to live somewhere with chain restaurants as my only dining option. But on the other hand, it would be nice if I could take advantage of some of the more high end restaurants with some more frequency. The high cost of living in this city prevents my husband and I from doing so though.

I sprinkle a drop of water onto the oil...if it bubbles up fast and has a hollow sound to it, it's ready. Just duck to avoid the hot grease splatter. I use a mesh pan cover to avoid the splatter.

Fried chicken along with homemade potato salad, collard greens and whiting is my annual birthday dinner - courtesy of my dear Mom who lovingly cooks it for me every year (I'm a big 35 year old baby). I love fried chicken when it's cooked right - caramel brown, juicy (not greasy), with a crisp crust (not soggy) and seasoned just right. I don't fry chicken as well as my mom, but I've picked up a few tips along the way. I only fry wings, since I don't like fried thighs and drumsticks. And fried breasts are too daunting. :lol: I just made some fried chicken and waffles w/butter and maple syrup for dinner tonight. Yum! Anyway, I used a non-stick skillet even though I do have a cast iron skillet. I'm a bit fearful of using the cast iron one since the last one I had rusted. And I'm too lazy to drag it out from the bottom cabinet. I clean my chicken wings with water and vinegar, making sure to remove any feathers and blood spots. I burn the hairs off each piece as well. I only use two things to season chicken for fried chicken: Lawry's seasoned salt and freshly ground pepper from a pepper mill. I don't soak or brine the meat either. I once tried soaking the chicken for several hours in buttermilk and using Crisco for the frying grease. I've also tried using beaten egg prior to dipping it in flour. Both of those methods didn't work for me tastewise. It's better if the chicken is cleaned and seasoned a few hours in advance, to let the flavors sink in. But if time doesn't permit, that's okay too - just season the chicken well. Once I season, I fold the wing up until it's nicely tucked into a neat little triangle - I find that it cooks more evenly that way. I then put flour into a ziploc bag along with some more Lawry's seasoned salt and ground black pepper. I put the wings into the bag and shake the bag until each piece is thorougly coated. I fill the skillet with about an inch of canola oil and heat it under a medium flame. I don't use a thermometer but I know it's ready for the chicken when I toss a drop of water onto the hot oil and the oil bubbles up and has a "hollow sound." I then add the chicken to the skillet, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. I use a mesh cover to allow air to circulate (prevents chicken from getting soggy) but to prevent hot oil splatters. I turn the chicken about every 5 or 6 minutes, cooking for a total of 25-27 minutes or so. Once I remove them from the pan, they should be nicely browned with no burned spots. If the chicken browns too fast, that means the flame is too high. I drain the chicken on a plate covered with paper towels, let it cool for about 10 minutes and dig in!

Homemade pie crust is my nemesis. Making a non-sticky gingerbread cookie dough is also high on the list. I find it very difficult to work with. I make a crappy apple pie. Even with store bought pie crust. The bottom always ends up soggy. I'm also not that great with fried chicken cutlets. My mother makes them seasoned and crisped to perfection. I just can't get them right...either they come out underseasoned or a bit soggy on the bottom.

Oh my goodness...I didn't read the entire thread through before posting my query about the Ritz cracker "Mock Apple Pie." I guess this answers my question.

Ditto. And horror of horrors...I use margarine instead of butter for this particular recipe. Butter makes the treats way too crispy for my taste. Also, I've made that Knorr vegetable soup spinach dip. People seem to love it even though it's loaded with sodium and other crap. I've made pina coladas based on the recipe on the side of the Cream of coconut can (usually Coco Goya). One thing I've always been curious about...has anyone ever made the "Mock Apple Pie" recipe that used to be on the Ritz cracker box???

I'm making broiled porterhouse steaks, creamed spinach, garlic mashed potatoes, fried jumbo shrimp, chocolate dipped strawberries & creme brulee - with Moet et Chandon champagne to wash it all down! Hubby and I are staying home this year, so it's NYE pour deux. Happy New Year everyone.

I use large flour bins that I bought from www.bakerscatalogue.com

I messed up making candy cane cookies. The dough was way too sticky, I had a hard time rolling each piece into a tube shape and forget about fashioning the dough into candy canes. And the taste...yuck.

I don't like the smell of cumin, but it's a must in my chili. I like how the flavor and smell mellows out after cooking. Also I recently tried baking some chicken with cumin and lime - my husband went CRAZY for it. As I was sprinkling the cumin on the chicken it just smelled yucky. But the chicken was delicious!

"Comfort/slummin' foods I ate as a youth" Toasted English muffins with Pizza quick sauce. No cheese on top Kraft Mac & Cheese with sliced Louis Rich turkey hotdogs Heinz Vegetarian beans with sliced Louis Rich turkey hotdogs and pancake syrup Louis Rich turkey bologna fried and served on Branola bread Comfort foods as an adult Homemade Baked mac & cheese Mashed potatoes Creamed spinach Homemade hamburgers Slummin' foods as an adult: Chef Boyardee ravioli (I'm almost ashamed to admit this. But it happens so infrequently that I'll fess up) Homemade corned beef hash made with canned corned beef - must be served with a fried egg and ketchup on top Fast food (mainly from Wendy's, KFC or sometimes even McDonalds)

Just curious...I checked out the site and see that that sell 3 varieties of this Trappist cheese. Which is the one that your partner's sister typically got for you? How does it taste? I didn't get any food gifts this year. I was hoping to get a gift basket from Zingerman's or Wolfermans's. But alas, it didn't happen. I did get two placesettings of Lenox Holiday china though. I'm trying to build a placesetting of 8, so I have two more to go!

This year I made 9 varieties of Christmas cookies, froze them in ziploc bags until ready to use and made trays for giving. They went over very well.

I've made a "cranberry mousse" in years past which calls for raspberry or strawberry Jell-O, jellied cranberry sauce, orange juice and some freshly whipped cream folded into the mixture. You pour it into a 6 cup gelatin mold and freeze - walla! It was pretty good though. And creamy. I think the whipped cream helps it out a lot.

I've read this entire thread with much amusement.... To be honest, I hadn't even heard of GBC until about 4 years ago. It was the topic of a thread on another online message board and I clicked on it curiously since I had no idea what it was. Well I was pretty revolted by the idea of it. First of all, I hate canned string beans. And canned stringbeans in combination with salty, goopy Campbell's cream of mushroom soup just doesn't appeal to me at all. And then it has the nerve to be topped off with those crunchy fried onions??? *ugh* None of my extended family and friends serve it at their holiday meals either. I don't know any black folks who eat it, cook it or serve it. Conversely speaking though, it's not a holiday meal, family gathering, hell - even a baby shower without baked macaroni & cheese as a side dish.

I have an extra freezer. I also rely a lot on putting leftovers into Ziploc storage bags. They take up a lot less room than the pots and pans that the food is originally cooked in.

I gotta say, having worked in the business for over 2 years, that there have been "too many times to count" that I've wanted to explode whan a guest wants their salmon "cooked through", their tenderloin "well done" or the worst of all,, in my opinion, "can I get the seared ahi cooked all the way through??". Having said that, while I am happy to recommend "proper cooking temps" for all of the above, especially the tunna, if a guest wants to destroy a beautiful piece of fish, it is their choice. And while my kitchen may on occasion raise an eyebrow, if a guest wants their salmon cooked through, they get it cooked through. If I was in a restaurant when the above scenario happened, I would lead a boycott against that pompous, arrogant, SOB chef. A guest at our restaurant (fine dining) can get anything they want anyWAY they want. It's all about the guest, not the egomaniac of an Executive Chef. ← Ditto. I don't give a crap about how some arrogant chef thinks my meal should be cooked. If I got that type of lip, I would promptly get up and walk out of the restaurant. And if he called me a "miserable c**t" his ears would ring after I got through with him. Anyway, my main grievance for 2005 is the fact that that horrible show Semi-Homemade "Cooking" is still on the air. Some more food grievances: 1. This will really be for 2006 because I haven't gotten there yet, but next year I'm moving to the state of Delaware to buy a house. It seems that that state is lacking in fine dining and upscale food shops (e.g. Citarella, Jefferson Market type stores). If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. 2. Why is Starbucks so ubiquitous? Their coffee sucks. 3. It's really tricky to try and find a neighborhood butcher these days...

I recommend the Kuhn Rikon Clear Barrel Cookie Press and Decorating Set (Trigger). This is the one I bought last month and I used it to make lemon and chocolate spritz cookies in several shapes (daisies, christmas trees, wreaths and flower). It works like a charm and the trigger is easy to use. Another plus is that you can see when your dough is getting low and needs replenishment. I loved making spritz cookies with it!

I'm not really into baking cookies; I'm more of a cake person. But for some reason, I wanted to bake Christmas cookies...so I did! More than I have ever baked in my entire life. I made: Lemon Spritz Chocolate spritz Cherry Coconut Chews Chocolate Florentine Rainbow cookies Gingerbread Men Pecan Tassies Rum Balls Raspberry Linzer And I'll probably make Peanut Butter Blossoms this weekend. The cookies are in ziploc bags in my freezer. With some of them like the gingerbread, they require decorating with royal icing. With the rainbow cookies and florentines, I need to melt chocolate and ice them once defrosted. I'm planning to put them on trays and bring some to my job, some to my aunt's house for Christmas Eve and some to my parents on Christmas day. I'll also give a tray to my mother in law.

Yes, I've used it before and I didn't like it. Makes things taste bitter. I ended up throwing the two bags I bought away.

I've made lots and lots of Christmas cookies that I intend to use for assorted mini cookie trays. I'll give those out to the kids during Christmas eve dinner. I made: Chocolate Florentines Rainbow cookies Gingerbread Men Lemon & Chocolate spritz Cherry Coconut Rum Balls Raspberry Linzer Pecan Tassies I also dipped pretzel rods in chocolate and white chocolate coating and decorated them with assorted Christmas-y non pareils, sprinkles and sugars. I packaged them up in cello bags. They look very festive. I'll give those out to the co-workers with whom I'm participating in the "Secret Santa" gift exchange. Maybe I'll bring in some cookies for them too.

Everyone has their own version of Coquito, but some of the ingredients are pretty basic for most recipes: Condensed milk Evaporated milk Cream of coconut (e.g. Coco Goya or Coco Lopez that you use to make Pina Coladas) Nutmeg or cinnamon Vanilla Sometimes an egg or two RUM!!!!! To the best of my knowledge, no regular milk or half & half is used. I know that old-timers will actually crack open fresh coconuts and use the milk from that. But not too many people who make coquito do that anymore.