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Kris

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Everything posted by Kris

  1. I've been cutting way back on fast food in recent months but one of my guilty pleasures is McDonald's sausage, egg & cheese mcmuffin. It's my hands down favorite breakfast of all the fast food joints.
  2. During the Halloween season, I purchased a large bag of assorted chocolate "minis" to keep in my candy jar at work. I discovered that I absolutely love the mini size. It's just perfect for a one bite treat - Snickers, Milky Way, Milky Way midnight, Three Muskateers & Twix.
  3. I finally mastered a roux based poultry gravy at age 36.
  4. I predicted this when the show was moved to the 7 p.m. timeslot. I told my husband that Emeril was slowly but surely being phased out (along with the real chefs like Mario Batali).
  5. I have the last of my 12 black cakes in the oven as I type this. At least I'll have 3 weeks to let them mellow out in the port/rum mixture this year.
  6. I've since added more "scratch" items to my repertoire: Brownies (won't go back to the boxed ones - I can taste the chemicals now) Pasta (tastes worlds better than the boxed stuff) piecrust
  7. Last year I ordered 5 lbs. of leaf lard from Dietrich's in Pennsylvania. I've been keeping it frozen. I primarily use it to make piecrust but decided to fry chicken with it. I just melted some in a large skillet until it was about 2" deep. I don't know how healthy it was to do so, but that was the most delicious chicken I'd ever fried. I didn't tell my husband what i'd done but when he tasted it he exclaimed, "Oh my God. This chicken is delicious! What did you do differently?"
  8. I'm making some tried and true desserts: Bourbon pecan pie - Since I tried pecan pie with bourbon last year, I'll never go back to making it without. The bourbon just adds a special little kick that also cuts the sweetness of the pie. It's a very nice addition. Apple pie Maybe a sweet potato pie as well. I haven't made one of those in a while.
  9. For the last several years, I've been making and selling black cakes at Christmas time. In March, I ground up pounds and pounds of fruit along with the rum and port wine mixture. Then I added them to a bucket where I've had a batch of fruit going since Christmas 2005. I make 7" size round black cakes, which weigh in at 2 1/2 lbs. each. It is my most popular Christmas season item and it seems that I can't get away without making it, since my co-workers, friends & family begin asking for it months ahead of time. I use commercial "burnt sugar" for the browning. Basically it's black colored liquid caramel in a jar. I can get 8 ounce jars easily at Waldbaum's supermarket in my neighborhood for $1.99. One year I tried making the burnt sugar from scratch and it was a bust. I don't like the burned taste that the homemade sugar gives the cake and the color just isn't dark enough for my taste. I see that for many of you, making this cake is a labor of love. It is a rather delicious cake that I'm glad to be able to make for myself and for friends and family who enjoy it. I find it puzzling that some of you state that you couldn't imagine putting a price on the cake and selling it. Since I have the demand for it, I'm able to sell these standard 7" sizes for $30 each. I'm not looking to make a killing off them, but I figure that my time and ingredients are worth something - especially since they're basically selling themselves these days (I have a loyal & steady group who want to buy them every year).
  10. I'm a year late in responding, but I'm born and raised in NYC (believe it or not). I do have some roots in the south (my paternal grandmother's parents were from Tennessee). By my way of thinking, Thanksgiving would NOT be Thanksgiving without baked macaroni & cheese, collard greens and some form of sweet potato. Years ago when I was a teen, my mom tried omitting the mac & cheese from our T-day meal since it was never a traditional dish in her family (her family has roots in the Caribbean - rice & peas was their staple side). However my sisters and I were having NONE OF THAT! We finally wore her down and she made our beloved mac & cheese. As for the baked beans, that was never a traditional Thanksgiving dish in my family, but in hubby's family it was. Last year when I hosted Thanksgiving, I actually ended up omitting it from the menu (with his blessing) because there was so many other dishes. And instead of mashed potatoes, I made a make-ahead mashed potato casserole which was a time saver for me. It was easily prepped the night before and baked in the oven on Thanksgiving day. Thanksgiving is always a very carb-heavy menu in my family. The butternut squash soup went over well with the family and they're requesting it again. Mom is cooking the main dinner this year, but all of our carb-heavy favorites will be present. I'll probably make a sweet potato cheesecake to add to the mix. Truth to be told, I think I enjoy the sides more than the actual bird on Thanksgiving.
  11. This is so true! Last year, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my family and MIL. I spent days making foods, pies and prepping in advance. On the "Big Day," I made the gravy last and ended up underestimating how much to make. I had tons of food, but the gravy was the ONLY thing I ran out of! And wouldn't you know it...folks were looking for more gravy for their second helpings and leftovers. A good gravy does cover a multitude of sins though. Instead of worrying about making fresh mashed potatoes at the last minute, I made a mashed potato casserole recipe that could be prepped the night before (thanks to chef/author Rick Rodgers). Pop it in the oven 35 minutes or so before dinnertime and voila! You have a tasty mashed potato dish that didn't require last minute effort.
  12. Since I like to eat, I cook. I have a hate/love relationship with cooking though. I don't like the nightly drudgery of cooking after a full day at work. That's so draining. Because of this, I don't cook every day. I'll cook a meal where we can eat leftovers for a few nights. By the time the middle of the week arrives, I'll do a quickie meal like pasta, meatloaf, a saute - something easy that I can get on the table fast. However when it comes to holidays, weekends and entertaining - that's when I come to life. On weekends, I'll make "Sunday dinner" type meals, experiment with new ingredients and recipes and make the "from scratch" type of things like stocks, soups & sauces that I can freeze for future meals. I do like feeding people and am happy when my husband enjoys the meals I prepare for us. When I cook a meal, I admittedly tailor it to items that I want to eat. This is because I'm a "mood" eater, whereas my husband pretty much eats whatever I cook. That's one of the reasons why it wouldn't even pay for my husband to do most of the cooking in our household. If I don't have a taste for something, I just won't eat it. My husband is a lot more flexible in that regard. In a sense, I do equate food with love. When I go away for a weekend to visit my parents (who live in a nearby state), I make sure hubby has a cooked meal. He feels happy when I do this and it shows him that I care about him in my absence. At one point, I'd slackened up on doing this and he made mention of it. Not that he demanded or expected it, but he missed it (and maybe in a way, he was feeling that I didn't care about him as much?). So now I make sure to have a prepared meal for him before I go away. My husband is not much of a cook at all, but every once in a while, he will do his best to prepare a meal for me. It may not be something I have a "taste" for at that moment, but I will eat it because I appreciate the time and effort he took to make it just for me.
  13. I know someone who is picky beyond belief. The only things she really eats are: breads/starches/pasta, pizza, potato salad, boneless chicken breast and cakes/sweets. She'll also eat some beef & turkey. But pretty much everything else is off limits. When I hosted a brunch for a mutual friend of ours who was having a baby, I wondered briefly if she'd eat anything. But it turns out her plate was piled high with the things she did eat like belgian waffles, turkey sausage and french toast. And I was surprised that she even had quiche on her plate. Sometimes, people don't realize they like something until they try it. My father, one of my sisters and her fiance don't eat pork. Therefore in the summertime, I make my "famous" (famous in my family) beans with turkey bacon, just to accommodate them. Of course they don't taste nearly as good as the ones with regular bacon, but everyone seems to enjoy them. Last year when I hosted Thanksgiving dinner, I made two different types of collard greens - a batch simmered with pork ham hocks and another batch with smoked turkey necks. Everyone was happy.
  14. Kris

    Thanksgiving soups

    I've ditched the pumpkin cream soup in favor of butternut squash soup. Last Thanksgiving, I made it for the first time and it was delicious. The recipe calls for the addition of 1/2 cup of heavy cream at the end, but I personally don't need it. The texture is creamy enough without it. My sister has already requested that I make it this year. So I will happily oblige.
  15. I'm having a Christmas party this year, so I'm making an assortment of Christmas cookies to give out as favors to my guests. I had personalized window boxes printed and will box up the cookies in them. Not terribly original, but for some reason homemade Christmas cookies always seem to be appreciated. I made about 8 different varieties in 2005 and some went over better than others. So I'll stick to those popular ones (spritz, gingerbread, lace, pecan tassies) and add a few new varieties to the mix (thumbprint & peanut butter blossoms).
  16. 1. My biggest pet peeve is when my groceries scan higher than the price on the shelf/sticker. Related to this is peeve, is when your store discount card is scanned and it doesn't deduct the sale discounts from your order. Other pet peeves are: 2. Rude and unhelpful staff. 3. People who have more than the specified number of items for the express lane. 4. When I have a big order and someone stands behind me with one or two items just HOPING that I'll let them get ahead. That's what the express lane is for buddy. 5. Lousy and overpriced produce - this seems to be a trend in my local supermarkets. So I mainly buy produce from fruit and vegetable markets. 6. Checkers who don't know how to pack your grocieries. When I was a teenager, I was a supermarket cashier and there was definitely a skill in packing the customer's groceries properly. This was 20 years ago, back when paper bags were still in use. Not only that, we actually had to put the bags in the customer's cart. Nowadays, these supermarket checkers don't even bother to put the bag in your cart. 7. When advertised sale items are out of stock.
  17. Here I am nearly a year later and I JUST made the sofrito recipe today. And it was quite accidental...I was in a local supermarket's produce section and what do I see? Culantro (recao)! I couldn't believe it. I thought my eyes were deceiving me. So I hurriedly put some into my cart along with cubanelle peppers, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and decided that today's the day for sofrito. I couldn't find the ajices dulces though. The peppers I saw in the supermarket looked identical to ajicitos, but they were very spicy/hot (I tasted them in store just to make sure). So I didn't get them. At any rate, I made the sofrito this morning, froze it into ice cube trays and it smells wonderful! I can't wait to try it the next time I cook some rice.
  18. Kris

    Isn't egg salad great?

    I love egg salad. But I won't eat it from a deli, restaurant or other outside establishment. It must be homemade by ME. I like it very simple - 2 hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped while warm mixed with a little salt, freshly ground pepper and mayo. That's it. YUMMY! I had an egg salad sandwich for dinner last night. It was heavenly since I hadn't eaten one in so long.
  19. I'd like to try Carmela's ricotta pie one day. LOL
  20. Kris, I've not had the tomme de Crayeuse - can you describe it a bit? ← It's salty, earthy with a buttery texture. It's a semi-soft cheese with a grey, mottled rind that smells like a damp cellar. But don't be put off by the rind, the cheese itself is delicious.
  21. I've been on a cheese kick over the last year and have made it my business to try really good cheeses from different parts of the world. Some of my favorites are: English farmhouse cheddars (Quicke's, Montgomery & Keens - the one I choose varies with my mood) Epoisses (classic French washed rind "stinky" cheese) Brunet (soft Goat milk cheese from Italy) Pyrenees Brebis & Ossau Vielle - sheep's milk cheeses from France Tomme Crayeuse (France) Mahon (Spain) *edited to fix the name of the Tomme Crayeuse.
  22. Add me to the young raw milk cheese bandwagon... If I ever have occasion to visit France, I WILL be heading over to the nearest fromagerie to experience raw milk epoisses and brie de meaux (for starters). Also, I'd like to try raw milk, unhomogenized milk and unpasteurized heavy cream. I know that these things can be found in the U.S., but they're not easy to find. And in a lot of places in the U.S., the sale of raw milk is illegal.
  23. When growing up, breakfast consisted of typical American style breakfast foods like cold cereals & milk, eggs, farina. These days, I still eat typical "breakfast foods" like eggs. But really, anything is fair game, depending on my mood. Today, I had fried chicken and blueberry waffles for breakfast. The other day, I had a turkey & cheese sandwich for breakfast. A few weeks ago, I was on a salmon croquette & grits kick. It really depends on my mood. One thing though...I must have a protein included in my breakfast. A high-carb breakfast leaves me ravenous by 10, 10:30 a.m. and that's not cool. That's why I rarely eat cold cereal for breakfast anymore. It's just not substantial enough.
  24. I love cod cakes. However a favorite recipe of my husband's is the Jamaican national dish - Ackee & Saltfish (Codfish). Basically it's dried cod soaked and boiled to get rid of the excess salt. Then you flake & saute the cod with tomato, hot pepper (authentic recipes call for scotch bonnet, but I can't take the heat. So I use a jalapeno), scallions, thyme, chopped onion, garlic. Then add a can of drained ackee (you can find canned ackees in West Indian neighborhoods), add a little salt & pepper and you're done. Ackee is a fruit native to Jamaica, but it is not sweet tasting. The pulp resembles scrambled eggs in appearance and texture. But on its own, I find ackee fairly bland tasting.
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