ruthcooks

I dry herbs in the microwave. They taste fresher than purchased dry herbs. I keep them in mason jars with a crumpled up paper towel.

The person who introduced me to artichokes about 50 years ago described them as tasting like "iron". Some truth in that, I think. It seems that there may be a confusion between basic taste categories and tasting. You can identify "chicken" on your tongue, but that does not mean there is a basic taste called chicken.

My grandchildren are real breakfast fans. Here are their favorite foods: boy, 20, bacon; boy, 17, eggs; boy, 7, pancakes AND SYRUP; girl, 3, strawberries. This weekend, my son and family (the two younger children) came over for brunch. I had planned to try out some new recipes but since we had to move it up a day to avoid the Super Bowl, I changed the menu to reflect more last-minute cooking. The adults had Eggs Benedict and the kids had pancakes and bacon, plus there was a fruit tray with strawberries. Everyone was happy

From mid-October to mid-December of 2009, I was having severe pain due to inflammation, and had difficulty dressing, bathing, driving and cooking due, as it turned out, to inflammation. Finally, my doctor put me on a low dose of Prednisone which immediately took away all pain. There are lots of side effects to this, including sending my blood sugars into the stratosphere, and he told me that I could only stay on it for 3 to 6 months. Most people do not have a reoccurance of this pain when the course of treatment is over, but I don't usually react like most people. Since I have been feeling OK, I have undertaken to fill my freezer with ready to eat meals, a lot of soups since I like soup in the winter. Now the freezer is full, with about 35 meals plus all the other stuff I keep in there (like about 15 kinds of flour). Now I think I must have jumped the gun, as the stuff will never be in great condition if I go the full 6 months. So while everyone else is cleaning out, I have been filling up. Here's what's in my small upright: Freezer. January 27, 2010 (Ready to eat in caps) Top Shelf: Bacon 3 lbs. Catfish Filets Chicken Thighs Flat Iron Steak 2 Ground Pork 2 Hamburger Kielbasa Large bag of shrimp Pork Chops Pork stir fry Salami Sausage Patties 2 Scallops Shrimp for Cocktail 1 Smoked Salmon BEEF SOUP 1 CARROT-ONION SOUP 1 SHRIMP BISQUE 1 SLOPPY JOES SMOKED CHICKEN Second Shelf Berry Mix Blackberries Blueberries Brussels Sprouts Carrots for Pudding 2 Chopped onions Cranberries, lots Italian beans Lemon Juice Cubes Lima beans Mangoes Peaches Peas Strawberries CHILI 6 GREEN BEAN CASS. 2 MATZO BALL SOUP 10 TURKEY & GRAVY 3 TURKEY & OYSTERS 3 Third Shelf Apples, dried Apricots, dried Black Cocoa Butter 5 lbs. Candied Fruit Cheese Mex. Grated 3 Cheese, Parm. 1 Chocolate for baking Cookie Dough 2-15 Currants Dulce de Leche Egg Whites Nuts, Pecans Pie shells 3 Prunes Yeast CHINESE DINNERS 2 ECLAIRS Bottom Shelf Bread crumbs Croutons Ice packs Roll dough Sourdough loaves 3 Door Anise Seed Caraway Seed Clam juice Dill weed Flours Non-fat dry milk Nuts, misc. Nuts, walnuts Popcorn Poppy seed Sesame seed Smoked Paprika Refrigerator White bread I've decided to start using those dinners, replacing with a new one when I've eaten 4 or 5. So it's chili tonight, since it was 20 degrees this morning.

Having grown up on a farm, I can tell you "why chicken and dumplings?". Chickens were purchased as fluffy baby chicks, raised to weigh several pounds when the majority of them were killed, de-feathered and dressed, and frozen as frying chickens. The remainder, one rooster and the rest hens, were kept as a laying flock. When the layers gave out laying eggs, they were dressed as needed one at a time and put into the stewing pot. They required long, slow cooking as the old birds were tough. By the time they were tender, most of the taste was in the broth which was yellow-rich with fat. Homemade dumplings or noodles were served with gravy made from this rich broth, and were usually cooked right in the broth. My mother mostly prepared this on a Sunday, and my brother and I would each campaign for our favorites: he for noodles and me for dumplings, although I loved noodles almost as much. We also battled over the lay poke, a long tube in which the eggs are formed, and the baby immature eggs within it, which are all yolk, that Mom would boil in water for us when she was dressing the chicken. Mom bemoaned her noodles which were chewy and very thick, almost like spaetzle. Mine are always very tender, but I wish I had learned to make them her way as I loved those chewy ones. I often made chicken and dumplings for my family and my kids loved it. When my daughter was a teen/preteen, she kept one of those five year diaries in which she recorded little but "what we had for dinner". She showed me once that we had eaten chicken and dumplings on the very same day of September for three years running. My dumpling recipe comes from an old version of Joy of Cooking and wears this distinct honor: of all the recipes I've made, this is the only one whose page number (420) I remember. When the new Joy came out a few years ago I was disgusted to find that they hadn't even included the recipe. There is a second version in the old cookbook, adding parsley, which I sometimes made. Dumplings: 2 cups flour, 1 slightly rounded T. of baking powder, 1 t. salt, 2 eggs broken in a measuring cup, add milk to the one cup line. These are dropped into a large saucepan of boiling thin gravy, 6 cups stock thickened with 1/2 cup flour. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, much longer than the recipe calls for, and don't peek. Test with a paring knife. If parsley is desired, use up to 1/2 cup chopped, or substitute chives or 2 T. grated onion. I think the gravy that the dumplings are made in tastes a little floury, and there isn't enough anyway, so I make separate gravy.

All versions of lasagna. It's just way too much work, and I am always disappointed. The only version I liked was one I made up, with shrimp, scallops and alfredo sauce, no tomato.

Christmas Brunch and Dinner at my son's house: Brunch: (his wife cooked) Quiche with Bacon Sausage Balls Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Dinner: (he cooked most) Standing Rib Roast Horseradish Sauce Yorkshire Pudding, Gravy Mashed Potatoes with Grilled Onions Glazed Carrots Greek Salad Dinner Rolls Pecan and Chocolate Chess Pies (I provided the salad and horseradish sauce.) No leftovers to bring home, so I'm having my own holiday dinner today: Roast Turkey Breast, Gravy Scalloped Oysters Green Beans Cranberry-Grape Relish Dinner Rolls Whipped Cream Fruit Dessert (Cooked pineapple-orange "pudding" with whipped cream folded in, orange supremes, pineapple chunks, green grapes, dates and bananas) Not too creative, but I've been in too much pain to cook for two months. I'm better now, but still this took me 3 days to complete. Looking forward to hot browns later this week.

Those of you who read ALL of the cookbook, do you actually read through the ingredients and the directions? I only read the title and the "blurb", whatever anecdotes or comments the author has chosen to share, usually at the beginning of the recipe. Then I glance over the ingredients. Only if I'm drawn to something do I actually read the directions. I'm much more inclined to read on if this is a food I especially like, and if it seems like a recipe or method I've never seen before. Certain words in the recipe title can make me immediately flee to the next page (hot/spicy, peanuts, Indian, Bobby Flay's), or immediately start reading (sweet/sour, orange, Christmas, Aunt So-and-So's Custard Johnny Cake). Excessive wordiness turns me off, also. Oh, and if there is no "blurb"? I don't buy the book.

I'm pretty sure Goo-Goos belong in the top three. Originally made in Nashville (the name stands for the Grand Ole Opry), GooGoos became available mostly in the South, and are now wherever you've got a Cracker Barrel Restaurant. Cracker Barrel also sells maple sugar candy and many other types of old-fashioned goodies. For the uninitiated, Goo-Goos are marshmallow and caramel patties with a coating of peanuts and chocolate. There are variations, but I prefer the original even though I'm not a peanut fan. I think it's because peanuts are more crunchy. Raspberry Lady Bugs is my No. 1 commercially made cookie, but far from a vending machine item, they are difficult to find and very expensive.

I gave up on stuffing long ago. I bake, scoop out every bit of potato and "fork" in the cream, butter, herbs, cheese, whatever, and place in casserole. The skins I cut into ribbons, dot with butter and season and place on baking sheet. Except for cooking, these preps can be done a day ahead. When ready, cook skins until brown and crisp in 375 degree oven and use as appetizers. Heat potato casserole. No messy skins flopping around on the plates. I find almost no one eats them and they look so unappetizing.

I make a similar dish which I call Summer Eggplant Parmesan. I broil the eggplant slices and layer with sliced garden tomatoes, sauteed peppers and onions with basil. Cover lightly and bake forever, add small amount of cheese at the last minute.

I was wishing and hoping the entire 7 years I lived in PA for a Wegman's to open near me. NOW it happens, after I've moved back to TN, about 7 miles from where I lived in PA. I'm taking some coolers next spring when I go back for the high school graduation of grandson #2.

Sorry about the Oatmeal Bread. I made it again, and mine didn't rise either. I can only think that I got the recipe from somewhere other than Beard on Bread, you know, the way some cooks's recipes are reprinted from book to newspaper to whatever. The perhaps it was reprinted incorrectly in this book. I made the recipe many, many times, but it's been a few years now. Actually my small grandchildren loved the bread. I think they liked the fact that they could eat a full slice or two, and not have to settle for a piece. I'll check this bread further, but it may be a few days before I get to it. My apologies to those who tried this one.

Baroness, it's the Oatmeal Bread with Cooked Oatmeal from Beard on Bread. Add the liquid slowly so the congealed oatmeal does not fly all over your kitchen. Beard liked it with sweet butter, but it's salted butter for me every time.

Aloha Steve--Do not miss the Oatmeal Bread from "Beard on Breads". It's not the crunchy artisan type, but is delicious. My favorite bread book is for old fashioned bread (pub. 1966), as those crunchy breads hurt my mouth. It is call "A World of Breads" and is by Dolores Casello, who also wrote "A World of Baking" and another bread book. My favorites from the first book include some wonderful recipes like Jewish Braids, a brioche like dough I use for sandwiches, Swedish Limpa Rye, Vienna Christmas Fruit Bread (eggy, with baking powder), and my favorite Stollen. There are many recipes for sweet breads, international favorites and unusual treats like Italian Pepper Batter bread. If you ever see a copy, snatch it up. Note: the recipes are not long on directions.

Can you give a bit more detail on how the pectin would be incorporated; heat, when to add? I have heard of using soaked chia seeds to give body to no oil dressings. Really a no brainer: dump all ingredients in a Mason jar, shake well. No heating, but it's really important to close the jar lid well. I used this mainly when making a Salade Nicoise which called for a quart of dressing. Never used it for small quantities, so more than likely just used one "sleeve" of pectin and filled in the rest with water.

The best way to use part of an egg in a recipe (assuming that the recpe does not call for separating them) is to beat one egg, use what part of it you need, and refrigerate the reremainder for scrambled eggs within 24 hours or so.

Liquid Pectin thickens any no-oil dressing nicely, but I've never used it straight 1 for 1. I substitute half oil, one quarter water and one quarter pectin to lighten the fat load, not eliminate it entirely.

The first tuna melt I ever ate included grilled onions, which make the difference between blah and very good. Was this just a "twist" added by that individual kitchen, or have others eaten tuna melts this way?

The topping looks like an almond lace cookie, which, when warm, would drape the top.

I don't get all the comments about "throwing up". I've never eaten a food and had that reaction. A time or two I may have "spit out" some very horrible food, or had a nausea reaction to a smell, but actually vomiting seems sort of infantile. Perhaps it's a visceral reaction with which I am not afflicted. If I ever had a such an episode I would never touch that food again. There are foods I dislike and would rather not eat but there is usually a preparation or two featuring that food which I do like. The smell of peanut butter on hot toast is extremely offensive to me, and I would never eat plain peanuts. I usually avoid recipes using peanuts, yet I like peanut butter fudge, cupcakes and chocolate candy with peanuts in it. Some people think I'm very picky about my food, but it's more of "I like it how I like it" rather than "I don't eat that". So is the sophisticated palate dependent upon recognizing flavors, or upon having a broad spectrum of food likes? Or, of liking foods/flavors are not in favor with the majority of people?

Darienne, look up "Vega Ice creams by Cathe Olson" on Google and you'll come up with some web sites, especially her Twitter page which may lead you to some of her recipes. (Who's Vegan--not one of the dogs at your weekend?) HeeHee

When I make asparagus soup, I break off the woody parts and cut the remaining asparagus into 1/4 inch slices before cooking. that way, the fibers are so short that they puree nicely and don't make the soup stringy. I suppose I could put all the tough ends in a cheesecloth bag and cook along with the soup, removing before pureeing, but I use chicken stock instead of water to add flavor. To complete the pureed soup I add salt, pepper, a bit of sugar, grated onion and a cup of Mascarpone cheese. When I served this to my grandsons, the then 10 year old said "Grandma, I HAVE to have this recipe." And he didn't even eat asparagus.

Right about the popularity of deviled eggs, although I've noticed that indeed you can get creative with them. Folks will eat practically anything, including stuff they wouldn't otherwise touch, if it's mashed into a hard-cooked egg half. ← I know there are many variations of deviled eggs, but I love my mother's version so much I can't think of making anything else. Just in case I get one.

I noticed that all of your dishes were heavy on vegetables, and many of those chip and dip people are not especially fond of vegetables. In my experience, they most like to round out their meals with BEER. A long time ago, after similar disappointments, I decided to take deviled eggs to every pot luck. I've never brought a single egg-half home. No creativity, but a lot of satisfaction in knowing my food was eaten.