Darienne

Mantis shrimp? They're enormous. How do you eat them? Just Wikipedia'd them: " In captivity, some larger species are capable of breaking through aquarium glass with a single strike."

Cardamom. Love it!

This is simply a raspberry ganache which I have used for raspberry truffles for a long time now. Certainly not fancy, but we like it. I guess more cream could be added for a softer ganache. Sorry, it isn't tested for long time storage at all. Good luck. 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate 3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla

Ditto for me and I expect all the rest of us. (Well, I''m still not sure about fish heads, although you did a good job explaining them.)

Raspberry and orange.

Fish heads question: how much of this 'thing' do you eat? The entire, entire head? Eyes too? I guess I'm not ready for this dining experience. Ya got me at tripe... ps. I admit it. I'm a plebe.

Add my thanks to the others for this fascinating journey of yours through Chinese food. We live near a small provincial Ontario city and the Chinese food there is so bad..."all you can eat buffets" and nothing else. DH and I make our own Chinese dishes at home. No doubt, nothing authentic, but we like them. I still can't imagine eating some of the things you enjoy...

And if I could be embarrassed, I would be. Thanks so much, pbear, for your post. And now we've been married 54 1/2 years and I am even older than then. And evidently losing my steel-trap memory quite rapidly. Thanks again. And ditto here about eGullet being very important in making me the cook I have become as noted by scubadoo97.

The cookbook which greatly contributed to making me the cook I am today still sits in my bookcase devoted to cookbooks. It has no covers...but I seem to recall a darkish green cloth cover. It's missing the first 63 pages and I have no idea of how many pages at the back are gone, but the index is missing. My copy ends at p.724. It's been used and abused for over 50 years. It contains photos, but only a few in color. It's an ugly mess, stained and ripped, with burn marks, but I still make things out of it. I have no idea of its title, of who published it, of where I got it. I think at the time most, if not all, of it was available in chapter paperback series. I would never give it up.

I am not one of the 'so knowledgeable' persons, but here's my experience. Previously frozen heavy whipping cream can be used as an ingredient in cooking. I've used it in making ganaches. Previously frozen cream cheese can end up having its texture changed into a grainy sort of thing and I wouldn't use it in making a cheesecake at all.

Homemade seem cheap? Oh no. On the contrary, I find that our recipients are so touched that I would go to all that trouble on their behalf. If you made me some homemade zucchini bread, I would be over the moon.

What about adding a packet of fancy napkins. Or a Christmas plate (not too expensive.)

As far as giving is concerned...yesterday I went to the dentist and the receptionist did not even bother to 'hint'...she came right out and asked about my usual Christmas gift of chocolate-topped toffee which I give out at that time. She did laugh...but I knew she was serious. I always make the Enstrom-copycat toffee for folks who give us help throughout the year: mail ladies, veterinarian & staff, library, computer guys, car garage, friends and neighbors, pharmacist...let's see...doctor & office, guys at the transfer station (aka the Cavan Mall), chiropractor. I'm exhausted already... Forgot...if we end up being elsewhere...hope, hope...I've made toffee for the local Humane Society volunteers. Or the Multicultural organization. I loved being the "Candy Lady" one year.

Oh, mugs. We've been given baskets with two mugs in them. (And scarves for the dogs even.) And if your customers are of a mind, why not a Christmas ornament or two?

Some items occur to me: small jars of specialty jams and jellies. a stuff animal which is appropriate to your theme,candy canes. Oh beeswax candles. I'll think some more.

I'm no expert in the field but the first thing which occurred to me are Hatch chiles and pecans from the Los Cruces area.

My point exactly Jaymes. I've made this one and the amount of sugar works out just fine.

I have a question: recipes from casserole book, Bake Until Bubbly by Clifford A. Wright. All apples are Granny Smith. #1 (which I've made and it's wonderful) - Cranberry-Apple-Walnut Crisp calls for: 2 cups cranberries and 4 cups apples with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup orange juice with a sugary crisp topping calling for 1 cup of sugar which I personally found too sweet. #2 - Apple Cobbler call for 6 apples with 1 cup sugar with a topping with only 2 T of sugar in the biscuity-type topping. #3 - Apple Pandowdy calls for 6 apples and 1/2 cup sugar with a biscuity-type topping with no sugar. Why such changes in the amount of sugar? The first recipe with 2 cups of cranberries taste just fine with so little sugar...is it simply the topping? and the second recipe...would it not be sickeningly sweet? And the third calls for half the sugar of the second with no sugar in the topping. Would it not taste lacking in sweetness? Granted I can make them all but I am mystified by the unequal amounts of sugar called for. (As noted many times before, my cooking skills are very lately acquired and so I can't just 'know' about these things.) Any comments?

Sounds delicious Lindag. But pray tell me, is there much of anything that does not taste better with a couple of ounces of "booze"?

Enjoyed reading your post, huiray. Thinking about it: how many of us had grandmothers who were great cooks. I never ate at my forbidding Father's Step-Mother's. My Mother's Mother, my Bubbi, was a wonderful woman who loved to cook and her food was delicious. Remember great foods. Oh, for some real pumpernickel in a bowl with cottage cheese and real sour cream sitting on my Poppa's lap eating it. My Mother hated to cook and until about 8 years ago I hated to cook also although I did my best by my kids, unlike my Mother, who simply didn't (IMO). And my DH did more than his share of the cooking for years. DH's Mother was French Canadian and she loved to cook and was a terrific cook, although used sugar with too free a hand I thought...coming from a house of no sugar and less yummy anyway. Ed does not remember any unpleasantness at his table. We both lived in Ottawa during our childhoods (later childhood for me) and adolescence and no one ate out much. There must have been about 5 restaurants in the entire city with a few diners. And no street foods of any kind. This reflects greatly on our age group - 70s. The social scene in Ottawa changed greatly in the 60s and thereafter. Just musing...

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/129528-apple-crisp/?hl=crisp This is a link to Dejah's (Post #17) wonderful topping made with loads of cheddar cheese...and we all know that Canadian cheddar beats all! ...which I used to top an apple (plus all the other bits of fresh cranberries, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, etc) dessert last night for "Dessert as Dinner", a favorite home treat. The topping was fabulous and to think that I had never heard of it before. It will be a new item to be featured to surprise and delight others. Thank you Dejah.

The childhood eating memories are amazing, wonderful, terrifying. My earliest memory (probably about 4 years old?) was of an English woman, taking care of me over a meal, forcing me to eat a partially soft-boiled egg, telling me of the starving children, etc. She was paid back in full and to this day I am very wary of every egg I am served that I don't cook. And I remember the Canadian war coupons, blue heavy cardboard, with a center hole. (If I can remember correctly??) My Mother and Father were vegetarians but the pediatrician refused to care for me unless my Mother fed me meat. Almost every meal was a T-bone or Porterhouse steak for me broiled to shoe leather. Never willingly have I eaten steak. Or sausages burnt to tough casings with gritty bits inside. Yuck. (sorry) Ditto for sausages. My Mother hated cooking and TV dinners became the meal du jour as soon as they were available in Canada. Believe it or not, I was not a fussy or willful child.

Sound quick and good, Elsie. I'd add the black beans and sub shredded pork for the ground beef. I always have a large bag of shredded pork in the freezer. We also have frozen homemade tomato sauce. Might also cut down on the amount of cheese to keep DH happy. Thanks for this one.

I actually had one bag of cranberries in the freezer already waiting for Thanksgiving. We live outside the nearest city and rely on being able to freeze stuff, both raw and cooked, for our meals. However, with the exception of RLB's Cranberry Galette, I had never cooked anything with cranberries except for sauce. Now that this pudding turned out to be such a popular success, I shall certainly keep some cranberries on tap. I'm always looking for dessert recipes that I can't ruin in some way...like burning them, having them fall on me, needing ingredients which cannot be kept on hand easily, or just too complicated and time consuming for those times when I am tired and just don't feel up to the work. (I am one of the oldest eGullet members as far as I know.)