The Old Foodie

Would that be the half that prefer pie, and want their preference reinforced, or the half that prefer cake, to help them better understand and therefore fight the opposition? One puzzling thing I expect some help on is the mystery of why the unqualified word pie, to you 'over there' means a dessert option, whereas here in Oz (and I suspect in the UK too) it means a meat pie. Cake or Meat Pie kinda changes the discussion a bit, doesn't it?

I checked out your recipe and agree with your interpretation. Why go to this much trouble, I don't know, unless oven space was at a premium and this arrangement allowed two dishes to cook in one space? And I suppose gravy may have soaked up into the bottom of the potatos to compliment the "delicate brown crust" through the perforations, which otherwise serve no purpose? SB (always thought "pasty" had to have a pastry crust? ) ← Hmmm. But it would cook in one space anyway, with the potato on top of the meat?. The recipe (and picture) appear in several cookbooks of the time (plagiarism was rife and was occasionally scorned, but usually unpunished) and then suddenly seemed to disappear. Perhaps it will re-appear, just to compliment the wonderful modern steamer/masher thing. Who has the kitchen space for this sort of gadget anyway? I suspect at least part of the "invention" was the Victorians' love of a piece of tableware or kitchenware for everything, necessary or not. As for the pastry crust for a pasty - I agree. But then I dont think a "pot pie" is a REAL pie either. I may have just made some enemies with that statement. Come to Oz sometime and I'll make you a REAL pie. Janet

The person who thought it up probably had a Victorian ancestor who thought this up. You put your cottage pie meat etc in the bottom, and your mashed potato on top of the perforated plate. I think. Knowledge was "assumed". I guess you then lifted off the top via the handle and served the potato from it. I suppose it stopped the mash falling into the meat? Naturally, one's servants would do the washing up. I can post the recipe that goes with this, should any of you have one of these gadgets lurking in the back of a cupboard anywhere!

This sounds pretty good to me: Tuna, Persimmon, Meyer Lemon and Fennel Salad at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s1646113.htm [sorry, cant make the direct link work no matter what I do!] I have seen old recipes for persimmon pulp used in bread, as you would make pumkin bread. Can they be dried successfully? [edited to fix the link]

Thanks everyone! I am, needless to say, delighted. It has - in the end - all happened amazingly quickly. Naturally, my son, who nagged me to blog my stories until I could stand the nagging no longer, has claimed the credit. There is no doubt that the blog helped in a number of ways - I now write absolutely regularly whether I feel like it or not (although I almost always do feel like it), I write more efficiently in terms of number of words in a given time, and a blog is certainly a very accessible 'portfolio' for a potential publisher to read and assess. And last, but by no means least, is the enthusiasm and support from my eGullet friends which has helped with the confidence to go ahead. I hope one day to meet some of you in real time and space. Janet

The only recipe I use it in is a tiny tiny tiny amount in carrot soup. Not so much that guests say "did you put Vegemite in this?" - but it definitely adds umami. It is usual here to put a tiny amount in your baby/toddlers mashed veggies - adds Vitamin B and gets them used to the flavour! When my daughter was at pre-school, I used to go to a great deal of trouble to try to give her interesting lunches. One day - aged all of just-5 years, she handed me her lunchbox at the end of the day, and - said (exasperated tone) - "Cant I just have a Vegemite sandwich and an apple like everyone else?". And that is all she wanted for her entire primary school career.

A few years ago my son (who lived in Chile for 6 months) gave me "Latin Ladles" by Douglas Rodriguez, published by Ten Speed Press. It is subtitled "fabulous soups and stews from the king of Nuevo Latin cuisine". I love it. I have no idea how "authentic" it is - it looks pretty good here in Oz, but there are some fantastic recipes in it. Dont know if it is still in print though. Whatever book you choose Linda, do let us know. I am always in the market for good soup ideas.

The oil from jars of sundried tomatoes, artichokes etc for salad dressings. Although - surely no-one would throw this out. This thread reminds me of a tragic incident a few years ago when Christmas dinner was at my sister-in-laws. They are NOT "foodies" (or whatever appelation is not offensive to you). Another friend had given us a recipe for turkey marinated and cooked in milk, and ever since then we have all used it almost exclusively as it is fantastic and keeps the turkey moist. My husband, who happened to walk into the kitchen at the exact moment, saw his brother in law pouring all the milky, meaty, turkey-y cooking liquid DOWN THE SINK. He almost could not tell me about it for fear I would cry on Christmas Day. Whatever is left from this milky turkey essence after making the turkey gravy makes the most unbelievable soup. I could still weep even thinking about it. The in-laws did serve some sort of gravy with the turkey that year. I dont know what they used to make it with. I ate my turkey sans gravy that year. At least Christmas is at my place this year. I'm sure I will think of a lot more for this thread - I am a "flavour miser". I need to go and mourn that turkey juice for a while first.

I just posted my recipe for Apricots in Amaretto over at the <a href = "http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=13552&hl" > Artisanal Christmas Prezzies </a>forum - I probably should have posted it here!

Here is one of my standard offerings. Whatever else I make, I always make some of these Apricots in Amaretto. They are great for those last-minute gifts. You can use brandy, but the Amaretto is fantastic - dont be afraid to use more than the basic recipe says. They are great drained and used in cakes etc, or with ice-cream, or you can drain them well, pat them dry, and dip them in melted chocolate to have with coffee. APRICOTS IN AMARETTO. 500 gm dried apricots 90 gm caster sugar juice of one orange, strained 150 ml Amaretto. Combine the apricots, juice, sugar and 1 litre water in a pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain off the juice and boil about 15 minutes to reduce to a syrup. Pack the apricots in warm sterile jars, divide up the Amaretto and pour over (use more if you need to) then pour the syrup over. Seal. Better if left for a few weeks before using. Will keep “indefinitely”. Here is an idea for any ice-cream lovers in your gift-giving circle. One year for my brother-in-law (who loves ice-cream), I got up a basket and filled it with ice-cream related stuff - home-made butterscotch and chocolate sauces, cones, wafers, long spoons, other topping goodies and I forget what else. It was a big success. I've also done breakfast-in-bed trays (nice tray, napkin, mini-champagne, nice jams, fresh fruit, and some baked goodies).

Kristin, what a wonderful, thoughtful gift! Having the scrapbook can help her feel more confident in the kitchen and welcome, especially if you're including family recipes. You have to make sure your nephew is fed well, right? ← I agree, it is a wonderful idea, and far, far, better a present than any you could buy for her. Make sure you add some blank pages at the end to encourage her to add her own as she gets more confident!

I'd love that recipe, if you will part with it!

For those who want a more chocolate-y flavour - as well as adding more chopped chocolate, I'm sure it would work just fine to substitute some of the flour with extra cocoa - say 1/4 cup. Might try that myself next time around! You can never have a cake that is too chocolate-y.

Is a standard American cup measure 240 ml? In Australia it is 250ml. I think our tablespoon size is different too.

Are you sure? I thought a liter was precisely 1000cc the world around. ← OOOOPs! what I MEANT was, a pint is not a pint the world around (AND I used American spelling of "liter" too. what HAS got into me!)

Only problem is that a liter is not a liter the world around, nor a cup measure a cup measure, nor a tablespoon a tablespoon. The table seems to work well within the US measurement system. A problem arises with international swapping of recipes, such as on eGullet. The only way to go is for all recipe ingredients to be by weight, as a gram is indeed a gram everywhere in the world.

I hope you get those god-daughters to help you make it.

Maybe its not his embalmed look, maybe its his "assertive" behaviour that she finds sexy. It is clearly that this character trait is transmitted in the very milk that he is drinking (if they were correct in medieval times) as per Sam Salmon's observation on the personality of zebras. Although spitting, biting, and kicking are quite girly fighting tactics, aren't they?

Here's my recipe, I've made it every month for years (double batch). It is infinitely variable. You can make a Christmas version by using pistachios and dried cranberries to keep the green and red colour theme.. GRANOLA 3 cups oats 1 cups barley or oat bran 1 cups soy flour 1 cups wholemeal flour ½ cup sesame seeds ½ cup shredded coconut ½ cup chopped nuts Mix well together: ½ cup honey ½ cup oil ½ - 1 cup juice (apricot, apple) Mix the honey/oil mix through the the oat mixture, squeezing it well together. Leave as lumpy as desired. Toast in low oven until brown, stirring occasionally, and crumbling it up if it needs it. Add: 1 cup toasted nuts (I love macadamias) 1 cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds 1 cup crunchy bran (the commercial kind, but it must be crunchy not branny)

I am sure this is very relevant. Historically different milks were attributed with different values and therapeutic qualities. Asses milk was supposedly the best substitute for mother's milk, and mothers milk itself had a lot of therapeutic uses. A couple of sixteenth century examples: Mothers milk as a treatment for impotence: Take Womans milcke, a rhennishe wine glassefulle, drincke it, & the loste senses will return agayne. For obstructed labour. For a woman her travayle to be easye, or to bringe forth her Childe with ease. Give unto her without her knowledge an other woman’s milcke to drincke. (An alternative remedy was to give her a draught of her husband’s urine to drink, which would have been "logical" at the time: one of his body fluids had put the child there, so another would help expel it. Or am I getting off topic here?) But most interestingly,as a cure for consumption, especially effective if taken straight from the container. In a story related in Thomas Cogan’s Haven of Health (1584) he relates how not only was the Earle of Cumberland cured of the consumption by this method, he finally went on and got himself an heir (the story does not say who mothered that child!) "Whereby it appeareth that Goates Mylke is principall in a consumption …. as Galen sayeth, because it is not so thinne as Camel’s mylke or Asses mylke, nor so fatte and thick as Cowe mylke or Sheepes mylke, yet common experience proveth that Womans mylke sucked from the brest is without comparison best of all in a consumption. Inherof a notable example was shewed of late yeres in the olde Earle of Cumberland, who being brough to utter weakness by a consuming fever, by meanes of a Womans sucke together with the good counsaile of learned Physicians, so recovered his strength, that before being destitute of heires male of his owne bodie, he gate that most worthie gentleman that nowe in inheritour both of his fathers vertues and honour." Samuel Pepys repeated a similar tale in 1667 – with comments about the transfer of characteristics from the provider (as fitted with the prevailing medical theories of the day) "On this occasion, Dr. Whistler told a pretty story related by Muffet, a good author, of Dr. Caius, that built Keys College; that, being very old, and living only at that time upon woman's milk, he, while he fed upon the milk of an angry, fretful woman, was so himself; and then, being advised to take it of a good-natured, patient woman, he did become so, beyond the common temper of his age. Thus much nutriment, they observed, might do. Their discourse was very fine; and if I should be put out of my office, I do take great content in the liberty I shall be at of frequenting these gentlemen's company" Funny how the recipients of this treatment are all well-to-do old men. Funny how the prescribing practitioners were all men. Any comments on the gender issue here, Carrot Top?

Do you want granola breakfast cereal to have with milk, or granola bars to eat in the hand?

Definitely mix it up. If you have a large jar with a good lid, just turn it upside down every couple of days. I never refrigerate my mixture, it just stays in the back of a cupboard. One year I made a batch early, forgot about it, made a second batch, and then used the first batch the following year.

This could just as easily go into the Wine forum, but for those of you who are interested, there are some nineteenth century brewing, wine-making and related books online and FREE at <a href= "http://books.google.com/">Google Books</a>. Here are a few I have found so far: Key to Gray's ale brewer's assistant By James Gray; 1848 The British Wine-maker, and Domestic Brewer: A Complete, Practical, and Easy Treatise on the Art... By W. H. Roberts, of Edinburgh W H Roberts; 1835 The Complete Practical Brewer; Or Plain, Accurate, and Thorough Instructions in the Art of... By Marcus Lafayette Byrn; 1852 The vintner's, brewer's, spirit merchant's, and licensed victualler's guide; by a practical man By Vintner; 1826 Clarke's Complete Cellarman: The Publican and Innkeeper's Practical Guide, and Wine and Spirit... By William Clarke, 1830 If you go to Advanced Search and put "wine" or "beer" into the subject line you get a lot more. Have fun, Janet

Blogging might be done for a variety of reasons by different people, don't you think. . with no one singular reason for all or any combination of reasons for the individual. One blogger might want to keep their name "out there" so that people could see their work easily. Another might be seriously trying to hook up or create something business-wise.The next one might be wishing to do (in a more formal way with the notion of "deadlines" somehow added to the task) the daily practice that good writing demands. Someone else might mostly be trying to get feedback from readers as to what works and what doesn't work quite as well. And then there could be people, who just as with those who cook each day, who might blog just for the love of sharing what they love themselves. I might put you in that last category, Janet, if anyone were to ask me to try to guess. ....................................................... (Though I did read a fascinating article in a nationally-distributed magazine a short while ago on how bloggers can make money, *real* money. Actually written by an eG member, too.) ← You got it pretty right there, Karen, although there are elements of a couple of the other reasons too, I guess. But I do also love words and writing, and wanted to see if I could write in a way that would be appealing and readable to "the general reader" (I know I can do a good job of curriculum material for medical students, which is an entirely different thing!). It seemed like a good challenge to combine both interests. The discipline of writing 400-500 words every weekday on a food history topic started out as just that - a writing discipline. There is only so much improvement you can make when you agonise so long over every sentence that you only write seven sentences a week! Initially I was sending my little stories out to friends and family by email, but so many people sent them on to foodies that they knew, that I started to get feedback from complete strangers. From the beginning my son nagged me to blog them - and I kept avoiding it (being technically fairly hopeless) but in the end I gave in to give it a try to prove that I couldn't even set up a blog, therefore he would get off my back. As you now know, that little strategy didn't work, and once I started it it took on a life of its own. I have to say that I love it - it has made me a lot of friends that I have never met (such as you, I hope, Karen!), it has brought me to e-Gullet, I have learned a lot more food history (and bought a lot more books), I am technically less inept (although only marginally so),and I hope I have improved my writing - I have certainly improved my writing efficiency. I have also most assuredly had a lot of fun, perhaps because, like shrcb, I think of it as story-telling. Perhaps that makes it less threatening? If you love words and writing, why would you NOT blog? I can fully understand those writers who say they wont write unless they get paid, but there are an awful lot of good reasons why this doesn't or couldn't or wouldn't apply to every writer, all of the time. I can understand why a professional writer might also want to blog - for the sheer joy of writing what one wants, when one wants, without editorial or content constraints. All of the experts seem to say - "If you want to write - write!", and that most "writers" (meaning wannabees I guess) do too much talking and thinking about writing, and not actually doing it. They say if you want to write, write something every day. I have to say that I think this is fantastic advice. Blogging is a great way to do this - and enables feedback, which is also enormously valuable. The regularity of blogging (assuming you publicly commit to it) forces the discipline, and makes the "terror of the white page", or the bland computer screen fade. (Groan! I just realised I am giving writing advice here, which from an enthusiastic amateur is pretty funny. I await scathing feedback from "real" writers out there!). Meanwhile, the next batch of Old Foodie stories are fidgeting to be written, so I must cease procrastinating with this post and get on with them ....

Samuel Johnson said it more archly: "None but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." ← So where do we all think our blogging fits in with the not-writing-except-for-money theory?