ruthcooks

Here's a good combo of add ins: cooked shrimp, fresh corn kernels, 1/2 inch cubes of cream cheese, chopped scallions and parsley, and a sprinkling of Monterey Jack on top. Note: even off season supermarket corn works--it's that crunch you need.

When and if a camera ever enters my life, I shall post some pages from my restaurant diaries. My restaurant, Cherotree, was open only for Fri & Sat dinners, private parties and outside catering, and the menu changed almost every weekend. My notebook consisted of the menus--a copy of the handwritten one provided for each diner--stapled to the left side and comments on the right. The comments covered how many were served, the amounts cooked and eaten, sometimes little anecdotes or recipe sources of comments on how well the menus went together. I throw away old lists, but have one ready for shopping Sunday or Monday so here it is: lettuce McInt. apples cereal V-8 pot roast t.p. bread eggs yogurt milk H & H b. aspirin nail glue band aids Written alongside the edge are facts about cashing in 401K account, but those got transferred to another sheet of paper! I'm sure I'll come home with more produce and perhaps meat, as I look for what is appealing. I'd do better to stick to a list, as too much food is spoiled by buying too much that looks good.

The saturated fat in coconut oil has different characteristics than that of animal fat. Futhermore, it is the fat most like that found in mothers' milk. Be sure to get the cold pressed virgin oil, or you don't benefit from it. Even so, there are different tastes among the good ones. My present coconut oil, made by Nature's Way, tastes too coconutty for my taste but I am stuck with it--too expensive to throw away. Will change brands next time I buy.

If you have no superfine sugar, just put some regular sugar in your food processor or blender and process a short time. You can do this anytime superfine is called for, not just in pickles.

I always bought a new pair of rubber gloves for that step--really helps and is much more sanitary.

A great MH favorite of mine is from the Book of Great Chocolate Desserts: Abby Mandel's Boule de Neige (snowball). A dense chocolate mixture is baked in a small mixing bowl and covered with rosettes of whipped cream. This has been featured at many Christmas dinners at my house. Also from that book, I like the chocolate cupcakes which MH says is one of the two recipes she ususally makes for "cake sales". The glaze is especially nice, a runny ganache into which you swirl the cupcake tops multiple times. Not too sweet. My other MH books are in storage but I remember her Raspberry-Strawberry Bavarian. (May not be the exact name, but the dust cover shows one serving in a large stemmed balloon glass.) This makes about 16 large servings if I recall, an easy dessert for a large number of people, and very good.

Randi, my second restaurant featured something called Escalloped Chicken, which was very popular. This consists of three layers: bread stuffing/dressing, pieces of stewed chicken, and a baked-on sauce of sort-of-bechamel and a lot of eggs (using the chicken broth). It is baked in pans and cut into squares. Your chicken thighs would be perfect. We served the chicken with a cup of red pepper jelly, which complemented the fairly bland flavor. Some cranberry sauce might be a better choice for your guests. I have a recipe calling for 8-10 pounds raw chicken, serving 40, and using Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix (4 pkg.). If this sounds too similar to your Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to serve this another time.

So what were your savory foods?

← That pan is larger than the ones I use. My pans measure 9 3/4 x 7 1/2 x 3/4 high and are NOT fluted. The width of each tart is about 1 3/4 inch. I measured with water to determine capacity, which is less than two tablespoons per tart.

As many times as I have made this recipe, I had a difficult time finding it. Finally, from a scrap of notebook paper, here is: Marzipan Tartlets with Apricot Glaze

Marzipan Tartlets with Apricot Glaze Serves 36 as Dessert. When I was catering lots of holiday parties, mostly buffets, I served a “Dessert Selection”. The selection consisted of about six kinds of tarts, truffles, cookies and other pastries to start. As the season passed and the selection diminished, I would occasionally bake two or three more goodies to fill in. This recipe was one of my favorites, especially because it could be prepared totally ahead. The original recipe—wherever it came from—was topped with a powdered sugar, orange or lemon juice and almond extract glaze. The apricot glaze I substitute is much more elegant and tasty. Tart dough is very difficult to press into the tiny tart pans, so I’ve doubled the batch to make 48 thicker, easier to manage shells. Freeze the extra dozen to fill with lemon curd, chocolate ganache or whatever strikes your fancy. Or, forget all the trouble and try using those tiny phyllo tart shells from the grocer’s freezer. No need to bake them before filling. tart pans with 12 tiny tarts each Tart dough (double batch): 2/3 c butter, softened 1/2 cup powdered sugar 2 egg yolks 1/4 tsp almond extract 2 c flour Dash salt Almond Filling: 1/3 c butter, softened 4 oz almond paste 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 1/2 tsp almond extract Glaze and decoration: 1 jar apricot jam, any size 1 T lemon juice, water, or apricot brandy 36 whole blanched almonds Tart dough: combine all ingredients in electric mixer bowl and beat until combined. On waxed paper, parchment or cling film, form the dough into a square. Chill for about an hour. Cut the dough into four equal square, then cut each square into 12 tiny squares. Roll each tiny square into a ball and press balls onto tart pan sides and bottoms. If dough gets too sticky, chill a few minutes. Bake tart shells at 375 degrees for 7 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, mix up filling. Almond Filling: Combine butter and marzipan in mixing bowl (same one, no washing) until smooth. If your almond paste is very thick, grate it into the bowl using the large holes of a box grater. Or, dump it into your food processor. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Portion filling into 36 of the warm tart shells, lower heat to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool. Glaze: Warm jam and liquid of choice in microwave or in small pan on the stove. If using a large jar of jam, you may have to add a bit more liquid. Put through sieve to remove lumps. Using a pastry brush, paint the tops of the tarts. Place a whole, blanched almond in the center of each tart. Allow to dry at room temperature, uncovered, until the jam is set. Remove from pans and use within a day or two, or freeze for up to several weeks. Note: if you have jam left over, simply store it in it’s original jar and use at will. As mentioned in “Dessert Minis for a Shower” thread HERE: Keywords: Dessert, Tart, Intermediate, Christmas ( RG2005 )

How about some tiny meringue cups to be filled? If a wedding shower, heart shaped. Or circles, or squares or barquettes. A puff of whipped cream and a berry or two for filling. Or lemon curd, like a miniature lemon angel pie (or lime or orange). I have a miniature tart recipe which is baked filled with marzipan filling, then an apricot jam glaze and an almond garnish are added. Very tasty and freezable totally completed.

I know you said "cold supper" but I always include one hot dish in case it's rainy and nasty outside. In this case, I think your salad selection is fine as it stands: something starchy, something sweet, something crunchy/savory. I'd suggest a soup which can be drunk from a cup or mug, as you probably don't have soup cups. This might be simply chicken broth(chicken stock base in water is actually pretty good if you have a nicely flavored one), or a puree of vegetable soup, with or without cream, or a cheddar soup. I have an EASY all purpose recipe for a clear tomato broth which includes beef broth and orange juice and basil. With all those flavors you can use canned liquids. My other preference for something hot would be a nice cheesy hot bread, or a quick bread I make with sauteed onions and poppyseeds on top. Assuming you weren't planning on them making sandwiches, of course If you really don't want to cook anything, how about some sliced tomatoes if you have access to good ones now.

I have a wooden spoon that my grandfather carved by hand many years ago. Nobody will ever have a plastic spoon carved by her grandfather. Don't know which utensil is most useless, but I have boxes of them to choose from.

There are four volumes of "Craig Claiborne's Favorites" which are columns from the NYT. Some are mostly recipes, but many contain a lot of editorial content. OOOOPS! Cross posting.

Just discovered this lovely chatty, breezy blog. I was a Midwesterner for the first 30 years of my life, and still am at heart. I love to dig in the dirt and watch things grow, but am not able to do much anymore so appreciate sharing vicariously your gardening/produce adventures.

The "bag boys" take the prize. Ranging from a girl teeny bopper to an old guy with white hair, they all get it wrong. Most recently, I scored with a closeout of casserole dishes for half price. I didn't notice that the teeny one did not individually wrap each one in a plastic bag, but triple bagged the lot! This was the bag I was carrying the day I tripped on the stairs and fell down. Also bagged that day were two cartons of eggs in different bags with canned goods, etc. Worst case is two teenagers working together, a girl cashier and a boy bagger or vice versa. They flirt and chat while you are unloading the cart, THEN they start to work reluctantly when you make your presence known. The old guy acts like he has given up on the world and doesn't care how he does anything.

I'll give... Why is this a problem? Garbage is garbage right? ← Because the stuff smells terrible! You want to take it straight out to the garbage can and not have it hanging around your kitchen smelling it up.

Mostly, my irritations spring from being a guest in situations where food is served to me. If I'm not eating there, I don't care what you do in your kitchen. Clearing the table and placing the dirty dishes and leftover food in serving dishes will-nilly on kitchen counters. Keep them separate, ya hear? Removing food from pans or serving dishes without using a rubber scraper. Re-using the frying oil too many times, so the fumes put you under. Cooking foods in the wrong order, so the damn chicken breasts are even more tough and tasteless from sitting in the heat so long. Not cooking enough food so as to put their spouse or kids on a diet. A MIL specialty. Instructing me on how to prepare things I wouldn't have in my kitchen, such as how to bash a head of iceberg lettuce on the counter to remove the core. Placing "stuff" on display all over the kitchen counters instead of putting them in cupboards and cabinets--especially when there's plenty of room--leaving not an inch of counter space to work on. Smoking while cooking.

I used to prepare mock cocktails for the kids when we had company, consisting of a light colored soft drink or orange juice with grenadine added. My daughter referred to these drinks as "children's booze".

In my cherry pickin' days, sour cherries were not considered ripe unless they came off the stems as you picked them. Cherry Puree. Choose the ripest sour cherries. Gently steam pitted cherries, covered, until soft. You don't want to cook them. Puree, remove foam and discard. Measure puree and stir in about 1/4 cup sugar per cup of puree until dissolved. Freeze in one and two cup portions. Thicken for pie fillings, make sour cherry sorbet, stir a cup into a cheesecake pie recipe, make dessert sauces. Wonderful stuff. You won't have to add much more sugar when you use it, about 1/4 cup for 2 cups of puree is usually enough.

Here's a link for Summer Succotash on my website (the website is woefully non-updated but the recipes are still great!). Using baby green beans instead of limas, fresh corn, cream and chives, it's a delicate, fresh version.

My two everyday salads are usually main course, perhaps with an addition of a cup of soup or a small sandwich. I detest preparing salad ingredients, so will fix a lot at a time and eat salad for about 5 days in a row. Then I won't have it again for a couple weeks. #1 is romaine or Boston lettuce, onion (green onion, chives, pickled white), fresh fruit (grapes, orange, tangerine, apple), dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, raisins), nuts (pine, walnuts, pecans, almonds) and cheese (blue or feta). #2 is the same lettuce and onion with hard cooked egg, bacon, tomato and homemade croutons. Occasionally I'll throw in herbs when I have them, perhaps a bit of celery. If I have roast pork, chicken, turkey, ham, I may use one of them. Dressing is usually a homemade V & oil variation, a sweeter version with #1 salads.

From a former landlord: Disclaimer: my rental units were low to medium priced and these comments apply in that case. If you have a big fancy house with a high rental, you may have to remodel to command that price. The best scenario for a landlord is to own absolutely none of the appliances. It may be harder to rent, but you won't be plagued by repairs and replacement costs. If there are applianes included, make sure your rental agreement says that they will not be replaced if no longer usable. I once replaced a sheet vinyl floor in a rental unit only to watch a careless tenant ruin it by sliding a big refrigerator over the brnad new floor and tearing the vinyl. There are many tenants who will tear up anything, so I wouldn't go to much expense. I have never found peel and stick tiles to be difficult to install. They will stay down if you get the flooring absolutely spotless before laying them. And it's a very cheap fix. I'd go for painting the cabinets, tile floor and new Formica countertops for a new kitchen feel. If you must change the hardware, paint the old hardware instead of replacing. My own preference is no hardware--I'm short and the drawer pulls always catch on my pockets. Plus, they always get sticky, dirty if you really cook. You might rent the house first, offering to fix up the kitchen. Say, "What would you like to see happen in this kitchen?" and maybe you'll get by easy. Also, you may be able to complete the work after they move in and not lose any down time.

My own mashed potato casserole, inspired by a college cooking class: green onions, parsley and more sour cream than you'd ever dream. My most requested recipe. Baby new potatoes, freshly dug, braised in a skillet with anything you desire--like bacon, onions, baby green beans, snow peas, chives, butter. Potato salad. Either the kind with old fashioned boiled dressing, or with potatoes soaked in chicken broth and vinegar, drained and dressed with mayo and sour cream. Lots of onion always. Hon. mention: Danish caramelized potatoes (boiled and then baked in syrup) What the heck: I could eat plain mashed potatoes with butter every day of my life and never tire of them.