ruthcooks

I've only baked chiffon cakes in a tube pan. Like an angel food, the cake may be too delicate to support itself and that's why it falls.

Add toasted pecans and browned butter to the Brussels sprouts, it's no longer a ho-hum dish.

Who invites 300 people (or even 150, if they each eat two sandwiches) to a birthday party for a 6 year old? Right off the bat, this order was fishy.

My B.S. is in Advertising, and I actually worked in an ad agency for four years during the 60s. J. Walter Thompson was the epitome of agencies, in and out of New York. The alcohol problems were rampant, and I spent most of my time as a copywriter and as Director of Broadcast Traffic working with copywriters. As a small agency, we usually had either 3 or 4 copywriters on staff, and at one time all were alcoholics of the has-been type. The three, two women and one man, would go to lunch together every day and not come back for hours. When the man returned from lunch really drunk, I always knew it because I'd hear his phone hit the floor (to drunk to manage it) and the cry down the hall "ROOOOOOTH!" as he called for someone to order around. I always listened, but ignored whatever he said. (He taught me the meaning of the word "vitriolic" for he was truly a mean drunk. Probably not long for this world, he had the pop-eyed look of the starving thyroid because of not eating, only drinking. One of the women owned only one dress for the first four months she worked there. It was a coat dress and she alternated wearing the dress with and without the coat every single day. Her hard luck story was that she had gone through plastic surgery (facial) and when her husband saw her coming out of surgery he vomited all over her and walked out the hopital door, leaving her with no money and no clothes. Years later, as part of an advanced degree, I spent a year working in the psych ward at a hospital. The patients there were not nearly as crazy as the Ad Men and Women. And the copywriter alcoholics were not as crazy as the people who hired them. I quit that job and have never, ever, worked in advertising again. Is there no wonder I have no desire to watch this program?

When I'm out of celery I use celery salt, to add an extra flavor to soups or meats or vegetables. Much in the way some people (but not me) would use onion or garlic salt or powder.

I always objected to the texture of ricotta, until I ran it in the food processor. Works the same way for cottage cheese, especially when you add eggs, cream cheese, sour cream or what have you to the ricotta or cottage cheese. I saw that ziti recipe in CI today and thought of you, Randi. Even though I'm not hot on tomato-sauced pasta, this one is calling my name. Actually it's the heavy cream doing the calling, and the fact that I prefer baked pasta dishes. I love the Greek dish pastitsio, but don't use the spices in it. The eggy bechamel on top is the crown.

I'm curious...are any of you cutting back because you HAVE to..or out of fear or higher prices or why? It seems to me that grocery prices have stopped going up so much or have even come down. I had a full pantry, refrigerator and freezer on Jan. 1 and decided to go to the grocery store as little as possible and use what I had. Assuming I have no trips to the store between now and Feb. 1, my total grocery bill for January stands at $68 for one person. That's good, because my heating bill is creeping up around $300 now. So what have I given up? Practically nothing. I've learned that if I buy what I really like, I'll eat it. If I buy something cheaper which I don't like so much, it will sit there and rot or mold or somehow self-destruct before I'll eat it. For example, I love Brie but am not so keen on eating other cheeses although I cook with them, so I buy Brie and save money by not throwing out the other cheeses I didn't eat. Over the past six months, I have been trying to cut down on waste so now buy 1 or 2 pieces of each kind of fruit instead of a bunch of bananas or a bag of apples. I put meat in the freezer the minute I get home from the store, so it won't spoil while I'm procrastinating about cooking it tonight or tomorrow or the next day. When I buy hamburger for meat loaf or chili, I'll sneak out enough for a hamburger patty or two for "free" main dishes. The number of people I have cooked for in my life has looked like this: 5-6-2-3-4-3-2-1. So for the first time I have had to adapt to cooking just for me, and I tend to indulge myself. Can't see this working for a family but it works for me.

Serving ideas: 1. Plain melted or browned butter is all you need for a "sauce". Crumbs are nice, also, although I like it served with sauce or gravy from the main dish, if there is any. A must for paprikash. 2. For spinach spaetzle, add the spinach to the pot rather than the dough. Chiffonade of spinach or whole baby spinach leaves may be added to the cooking water for the last minute or two of cooking the spaetzle. 3. Combine cooked spaetzle with sauteed baby vegetables at the last minute. This is a nice vegetarian entree, although it needs some protein added. 4. Add to soup in place of other starches. It holds up perfectly and won't absorb more moisture or change texture in the freezer. Chill the spaetzle and keep refrigerated in a container or plastic bag. When ready to serve, reheat in butter as needed. You won't need the freezer, you'll eat it all before it even thinks of going bad. Making a larger quantity would just get another pot dirty, as the pot will only hold so much before the dough starts piling up in a big lump, and the dough usually starts to cook on the metal surface of the spaetzle maker before I am finished. If too much liquid is added to the dough, the spaetzle may get mushy and disintegrate in the water. I find the texture is much better combined with a fork, adding eggs first, and letting the dough rest in refrigerator. (Although I have been known to make it in the food processor.) Salt the cooking water well. Can you tell I like spaetzle?

When you serve it cold, top with whipped cream--a thin layer will do--and crumbs of the vanilla wafers to keep cover from sticking to cream. Meringue is never cooked to a safe temperature, even less so when the surface it covers is cold, not hot.

That's a great idea, Randi. She could call it Baked Fettucini Alfredo or Baked Fettucini Primavera.

Not liking starchy legume and grain type meals nor peanut butter, I'd have to go with eggs as my choice of protein. You could do eggs 365 ways, I'm sure. Eggs are also good for extending meat and other salads. One of my favorites--an exception to my non-starchy rule--is rinsed and drained canned kidney beans combined with hard cooked chopped eggs, a bit of celery, onion, and pickle relish. I like a bit of mayo as a dressing, but V & O is good also. Use lots of egg in your fried rice, and I think bacon is a great seasoning. Spanish Rice and Jambalaya are also hearty rice dishes with not too much meat required. Cabbage is good and cheap, as a vegetable, casserole, soup or cole slaw. I often have a vegetable casserole as a main dish: white sauce (or cheese or cream or supreme) with a cooked vegetable, topped with buttered crumbs or cheese. Asparagus and green beans are my favorites, broccoli and cauliflower good, also canned tomatoes with brown sugar and croutons. Again, add eggs for protein, to all but the tomatoes. I hope you got one of those cheap turkeys over the holidays. I've been known to get around 40 servings from a 20 pound bird via re-heated leftovers, cold sandwiches, soup and a couple of casseroles of turkey tetrazzini. Occasionally, there's turkey in BBQ sauce or Hot Browns. Chicken thighs are a great buy. Fruits and vegetables are always a budget buster. Bags of oranges are good this time of year, and I think winter squashes are pretty cheap. French Onion soup and homemade bread come to mind. Baked potatoes with sauteed vegetables mixed in. Scalloped potatoes with bits of ham and cheese. Mac and cheese. Tuna. Not really creative stuff, but I'm thinking survival here. It's well past my bedtime, but I've made myself hungry. Will think more on this later. Regards and good luck.

Perhaps we need to define "ice cream cake". When I was growing up, my mother often made desserts twice a day. When she didn't, and we complained, she would always say "There's always canned peaches or ice cream." So to me, fruit and ice cream were things you ate instead of dessert, and to me it takes a mighty production to make either seem like a real dessert. This ice cream cake is sort of a reverse baked Alaska, but without the half-baked meringue: Prepare simple ice cream layer or layers as above, lining pan with a parchment "cradle" so ice cream can be removed from pan easily. Freeze. Prepare a simple and sturdy yellow cake (or other flavor) in same size pan. When cool, slice cake into two layers. (If you like more cake, prepare a two-layer cake.) Prepare whipped cream. When ready to serve, heat cake until very hot. Place ice cream between hot cake layers and quickly frost with whipped cream. Serve in its melty goodness. You can make additions or sauces, but the real attraction is the contrast in temperatures. The obvious disadvantage is that you have to have a bunch of people to eat it quickly while it is at it's best. (It makes a great birthday party dessert.) Alternatively you must assemble with cold cake and keep cake in freezer, not nearly as good. I'm thinking about making the components ahead of time and preparing them to order. Cupcakes, maybe?

From Tyler Florence, on AOL... To make a speedy and flavorful chicken broth, add a pound of ground chicken to your bones. The more surfaces, the more flavor, he says. I've got some cooking on the stove right now, only I am using turkey bones with the ground chicken.

Thanks to DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com 'Twas the month after Christmas, and all through the house Not a garment would fit me, not even a blouse. The cookies I'd nibble, the eggnog I'd taste At those holiday parties went straight to my waist. When I got on the scales there arose such a number! I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber) And thought of the marvelous meals I'd prepared; The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared, The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese And the way that I'd never said, "No thank you, please." When I put on my extra-large husband's old shirt And prepared once again to do battle with dirt-- I said to myself, as only I can, "You can't spend the winter disguised as a man!" So--away with the last of the sour cream dip! Go, fruitcake! Go, cookies! Go, cracker and chip! Each last bit of food that I like must be banished 'Till all the additional ounces have vanished. I won't have that ice cream, not even a lick; I'll chew only on a long celery stick. I won't have hot biscuits, or cornbread, or pie; I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry. I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore-- But isn't that what January is for? Unable to giggle, no longer a riot, Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

The most revolting pizza ever is a BLT with mayo spread all over it. Runner up is any kind of Mexican pizza. What ruins most pizza, IMO, is too much strong and spicy sauce. Best I've ever had was the first I ever had in the late 50's in Champaign-Urbana, where the cheese was a quarter inch thick and the sausage was blobs of uncooked country style sausage dotted over the top. The sausage cooked in the oven, and the grease from it spread all over the top. Sauce was minimal.

My choice for obscene: sliced roasted turkey, stuffing/dressing, lettuce, mayo and cranberry sauce on sourdough bread. But it's a tie with a simple sandwich: BLT in tomato season.

My recipe calls for buttermilk--and rum. Milk will caramelize much faster than cream, but I don't know why buttermilk in particular. The rum is added at the end, just about the time it gets away from you (too thick, too soon), and helps tame the beast. Next time I'm going to chop the pecans because it should be easier to equalize the amount in each piece.

Do you have a link for Old Foodie's citrus chocolate cake? I searched her website and the forum and can't find it. Thanks.

You aren't supposed to "cook" the frosting, you are just melting the butter. That's my take on it.

Check out the link Tavogels provided upthread--looks pretty good to me, but you won't be using any caramels. Possibly you could melt the caramels, using a bit of cream or water if necessary, and just pour over for the shortbread base.

The word is spelled percolator. I sometimes wonder what ever happened to them. Guess drip was just a better method.

Thanks, Doc! Will probably make this over the holidays.

D'ya suppose that Doc meant "dyed in the wool"? "Died in the wool" brings many gruesome images to mind.

Pomegranates were two for a dollar yesterday at the local Columbia TN Kroger.

The cocoa measurement is 1/4 C. + 3 T. OR 1/3 C. + 1 T. She gives it both ways. Otherwise, everything looks the same. Are you sure your cream of tartar is fresh? I've had that stuff ruin so many recipes for me, I don't even use it anymore. The nuts are supposed to be optional. 1/3 C. toasted and finely ground almonds. Good luck.