annabelle

Are you looking to achieve something like Biscoff spread? I think you are headed in the right direction for a spread. Have you tried using butter as your fat, rather than oil?

I think I'd replace some of the liquid, say a tablespoon or so, with kirschwasser, rather than add whole pieces of fruit. That way you'll still have the flavor of cherries without a change in texture. This would be my preference as I don't like foreign bodies in my brownies; nuts, raisins or cherries.

Now we're talking. Indian tacos on fry bread. These are a popular fund-raiser with schools here.

I learned the same way to cut fat into flour with two knives, but now also use a pastry blender. I never used a mixer for anything when I lived at home. My grandmother taught me to bake and she did everything by hand and insisted I learn that way. I'm glad she did, too.

I have several sets of pots and pans: cast iron, All-Clad and heavy cast aluminum with copper cores that I have had for 35+ years. I always add salt to water before I put it on to boil and have no pits or stains in any of my pots or pans. I cook every day, some times multiple times in a day as well as doing a lot of canning in the late summer and fall. Years of heavy use and experience have shown that it's pretty damned hard to damage a decent pot or pan.

Not to beat the pot pie thing to death, but the noodles are available for sale at the supermarkets in Berks county, PA. I have several Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks and they have dozens of pot pie recipes. Some will give a recipe for noodles, the newer recipes refer to a specific brand. I also had a problem with the potato dish called "filling" (which it certainly is). It looks deceptively like mashed potatoes, but also contains bread and celery. It must be one of those things you grow up on and remember fondly. It certainly isn't an acquired taste.

Quick breads and one bowl cakes may be made by hand in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. Quick breads are usually made on the muffin principle: add all the wet ingredients at once to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Stir only until moistened, about 20-30 strokes, then turn into the prepared pan and bake immediately. For yeasted breads, make a sponge (look it up) and let it rise overnight in the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients in your recipe and knead, cover, let rise, punch down, turn let rise again, punch down and form into loaves, rolls, braids, whathaveyou. Let rise, bake.

We're awesome like that, Shelby.

Soggy with the tears of the diner who was expecting real pizza.

I use a safety razor to slash loaves. It's easy to grip and sharp as, well a razor.

When I make pizza at home, I make it on a half sheet, so it's more of a square cut than a pie. The problem I have with Chicago style pizza is that the crust is soggy due to there being too many toppings and too much sauce. I like to make pizza on homemade focaccia that I bake about half way and then cover with sauce and toppings (usually pepperoni and cheese). The cracker-like crusts are too thin, so the focaccia works well and reheats well.

Sylvia, I was once invited to dinner in Indiana where the hostess serve "chili" with elbow macaroni in it and a fruit salad with colored miniature marshmallows tucked into a miracle whip dressing. The chili was more like sloppy joe filling than Texas chili. That salad still gives me nightmares.

Teagal, you're so right about the gravy being the state beverage of Missouri. Chicken 'n' dumplings isn't specific to Missouri. It's just po' people's food and damned tasty. You'll find it anywhere in the Southern states. The one that threw me (well, one of many) in Dutch country PA, was Pot Pie. I figured "Cool. I love pot pie." Little did I know I would get a bowl of soup with large square noodles in it.

It is for biscuits. One cannot have breakfast without biscuits and gravy. I can't say too much about Nebraska since my dad was born there. Of course he did pack up and leave as soon as he graduated high school. So, yeah. It sucks.

If you should make a roadtrip, rotuts, anywhere on old Route 66 you'll find a diner that serves CFS. If not a diner, try one of the truck stops. Huiray, the cooks around here make gravies for everything. I mean everything. It's not a matter of being provincial that makes us serve the CFS with white gravy, it is as rotuts said, the way that dish is served.

Chicken Fried Steak is a cube steak that is battered and fried. It is served with mashed potatoes, white peppered gravy, and slow-cooked green beans along with a soft dinner roll and butter and honey. One drink sweetened iced tea with lemon with this. It is fantastic and is indeed the state dish. CI is written by a bunch of Yankees who wouldn't know a proper chicken fried steak if it bit them in the ass. I'll add that they also don't know what they're talking about with regards to biscuits. Biscuits are made with shortening or lard, not butter. Butter goes on 'em. Not in 'em. (gfweb, I'll mail you a packet of white gravy mix. There is a sausage version as well.)

When we moved from California to Pittsburgh, PA and were looking for a home, we stopped to eat lunch and I ordered a Steak Salad. Imagine my surprise when my salad arrived with a handful of French fries on top! I learned to ask if fries were in any way included in any order.

I have to agree. I've never warmed up to Chicago style pizza, and now experts agree!

Oklahoma's state food (really) is the Chicken Fried Steak. Recipes abound. I grew up in Santa Maria, CA, home of the Santa Maria Style BBQ: A tri-tip piece of beef cooked over a pit of mesquite, served with pinto beans and cornbread. This is a popular fundraiser for the Elks Lodge and the FFA.

My youngest loves Lebanon bologna and chipped beef. I learned about them in Dutch country.

Congratulations, Steve! Well deserved, indeed!

I had (until I used it up) a small metal mesh colander that fit inside a pot and hung by the handles. Lids didn't fit tight on it, but that wasn't an issue for me. It was easy to pick up and set in the sink. My problem with the collapsing steamers is that they tip, come apart and in general are a PITA. Now, I have a Cuisinart steamer basket that sits on top of the lip of a pot and fits the lids to one of my sets of cookware. It can double as a colander for easily bruised fruits, such as strawberries, for rinsing as well.

Better get two of those stainless steel guys. The fins tend to work loose.

That sounds like a great cheat, Celeste. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

It sounds like a great place to grow up. Surely you had chicken and dumplings on Sundays, not the puffy dumplings but slickers, as my granny called them. I love that stuff and can't replicate it to save my life.