Allura

For some weird reason, my aunt has decided to make only cold salads as side dishes for Christmas Eve dinner. I suspect it's because she doesn't have any space on her stove - this is otherwise a traditional Italian meal of fish. Spaghetti w/ clams, spaghetti with calamari, all sorts of fried, grilled, etc fish. So anyway, when asked what I should bring, I was told a "cold green bean salad". The catch, of course, is that I don't know how to cook. I can follow any recipe, but I can't develop them. Even simple things, I tend to go overboard with spicing. Add to this the fact that I don't particularly care for salads myself, and that makes it harder. Could anyone give me ideas, particularly ones that include measurements? Thanks!

Thanksgiving was at my mom's, for 11 people. Somewhat boring but still good, although I try to bring something "unusual" each year (mushrooms & the sweet potato cake this year). Mom might finally be ready to try real cranberry sauce next year - up till now, it's been can-shaped . So, we had: Flounder bisque Roasted turkey sausage dressing raisin dressing mashed potatoes mashed sweet potatoes w/ marshmellows broccolli w/ cheese sauce green bean casserole, but with fresh green beans, which makes it pretty good asparagus the afore-mentioned can-shaped cranberry sauce rolls wild mushrooms w/ chestnuts & thyme - rich, but a hit fruit - apples, oranges, pears, bananas, tangerines nuts - chestnuts, almonds, peanuts, walnuts - the walnuts prompted a show of machoism from the guys eggnog pumpkin pie pecan pie mincemeat pie apple crisp - which was forgotten in the oven (thankfully, just on "low) but that just meant more leftovers plain cheesecake pumpkin cheesecake rice pudding Spiced sweet potato cake w/ brown sugar icing Naps

Mom's side was from Italy, and Dad's from Austria-Hungary (no idea of the town, so not sure of the exact country these days *wry*). We had pumpkin pie, mincemeat pie, pecan pie, apple crisp, 2 kinds of cheesecake (plain & pumpkin), rice pudding, and sweet potato cake (my "unusual" contribution).

Occasionally, some of us girls will have a tea, or a craft day (emroidery, and crochet usually), and tea sandwiches are on the menu. Also, lots of dessert :) Anyway, usually cucmber & butter and roast beef w/ mustard (on whole grain) are ones we always make. The watercress ones aren't bad, but the girls that started up the tea idea decided that watercress was for folks who had servants that could deal with all the little leaves! This thread is great for ideas for the next one, though. Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I've been donating with the "coupons" they have in my local grocery store (they're $1, $3, or $5 and get tacked onto your food bill), but hadn't gotten off my butt to research anything about them. And, I usually don't get the December free turkey that the store gives out, b/c I don't have space for it. This is a good alternative.

I'm a whipped-cream evangelist. It's fun to see the look on people's faces when they taste a dollop of something that looks like CoolWhip, but tastes incredible. Yes, it's freaky. ← Last year at Thanksgiving I talked my mother into picking up a container of cream, but she still insisted on serving cool whip. "It's too much trouble." "Mom, where's the mixer?" Needless to say that I'm much too young *sarcasm* to be able to handle the mixer myself, and she ended up making it. The real whipped cream was much appreciated. This year's goal is butter instead of margarine, particuarly for the Christmas cookies....

I've never had French Press coffee, actually, although I recognized the pots. I understand that they were grinding the beans to order for those pots, but other then that, what's the difference between that, and, say, the drip pot I use at home? Oh, they also had Blue Mountain and AA Kenyan. I don't know much about coffee, but they were advertising them like they were special

About the only food shows I watch consistently is Iron Chef, I think, but that's mostly b/c I don't watch much tv at all. I do like the more 'serious' shows, esp ones that are more like the type of food we talk about, then the type I actually cook . I find that I watch mostly to learn techniques. I hate shows where everything is pre-diced, etc. Bizarrely enough, I like "UnWrapped". Mostly, though, it's because I started off as a Controls Engineer, and find it amusing from that point of view. They're so earnest about their "high tech" machines - which I can usually spot as being fairly ancient

You know, I'd heard this on here a few times, and couldn't quite figure out how it happened. Apparently, I have a really "non-standard" mandoline design. I wandered into a Macy's at one point and asked if they had any, without knowing what it actually looked like. The one I bought is built into a "lid" that sits on a matching bowl with little feet on it so it doesn't slide. It's also got a huge handle for holding food that I use at least at the halfway point . So far, so good. Then I saw my mother-in-law's mandoline, and understood all the injured fingers...I'm afraid of hers! Oh, and I should add my own "never again". Peel my fingernail instead of whatever food I'm peeling. Although, I'm sure it'll happen again

I stayed overnight at my folk's house, in Freehold, last night. My mother & I will go out to eat given the least opportunity, and breakfast this morning was one of them. Usually our breakfast choice is the standard chain of Perkins, but there's a relatively new place in Manalapan called The Turning Point. Actually, it's a mini-chain, too, having locations in Little Silver and Holmdel, and opening one in Long Branch. The Manalapan branch is in the Wegman's shopping center, on Rt 9S. It's a casual place, a sort of upmarket coffee shop. They only serve breakfast, brunch, and lunch. The restaurant is cute, with a lot of wood, and it's separated into 3 smaller rooms, although the largest was pretty loud when we got there. When we sat down, the table already had a pitcher of water (on a stand), which was very welcome by me. I drink a *lot* of water. We ordered pretty straightforward stuff - eggs benedict ($8.75), a belgian waffle ($4.50) to split, and coffee. They did have French Press pots of specialty coffee, including Kona, which I love, but I doubted I'd drink an entire pot ($8), so it wasn't worth it to me. Mom only drinks decaf (trust me, it's better for everyone ). Anyway, the eggs were poached just right (soft & runny yolk, but cooked white), with shaved ham (better then canadian bacon, I thought), plum tomato slices (I passed), and english muffins, with a glaze of fairly light hollandaise sauce. The plates came with good home fries with onion & pepper in them (yay!), and a small dish of a few bites of fruit (grapes, pineapple, melon). The waffle was wonderful, although that might have been the quasi-low carbing I do . Seriously, though, it was very tender, but crisp, exactly what I want in a belgian waffle. Also, a pleasant bit of extra service - they split it ahead of time, and gave us each our own plate, each with another small bowl of fruit, in addition to butter & syrup. The coffee was pretty good, but I would have liked that kona.... I saw some other plates come out, and they all looked good. Apparently my sister had been there another time, and had a chicken pesto sandwich that she like. Never heard any details, though. They also have a full coffee/tea bar, including several varieties of flavored beans, and loose teas. The Little silver location apparently has crepes. Overall, I think we have a new breakfast spot. I know we weren't very adventourous, but eggs benny is sort of our "standard" for a breakfast place.

I just wanted to say thanks for the help. We just finished lunch, and everything was yummy . The green beans & carrots were soft, but still had some crunch (and flavor!) to them, and the chicken was falling off the bone, but not "mushy". I think I'm converted to using the oven. Thanks again!

That's what was so disappointing about the last stew I made in the crockpot. It smelled wonderful while I was browning it, but lost it somewhere during the actual cooking process. I tend to cook double batches, so we have leftovers for dinner. So I'd need something more like the 5qt oven. It's currently $140 at amazon, so I think it's going on the wishlist for now; I'll come back and use the link if I get it from amazon, though. Thanks for the reminder. I think I'm off to read the Le Crueset thread now Edit: typo

Le Crueset are enamel coated metal, right? I've just got a (cheezy) covered metal roasting pan, but it ought to do the trick, I guess. Of course, this would give me an excuse to pick up Le Crueset Of course, I have the added challenge of trying to time things so that DH can get off to work at 3pm - I cook a big lunch and eat leftovers for dinner, instead of the other way around. But the next crockpot recipe is just a cut up chicken with veggies & chicken broth, so that should be a fairly easy one. I know how long baking chicken takes, so I've got a decent idea for making it a slow cook. And I think it will taste better in the oven. Thanks for the help; I'll let you know how it turns out.

How do I convert a recipe given for a crockpot to an oven? Is this even reasonable to do? I'm currently receiving the "low carb menu mailer", from Saving Dinner which is pretty decent (and sometimes really good), and, frankly easy & keeping me on my (doctor required) diet. I have a VERY hard time deciding among choices, so menu planners work much better then cookbooks. The catch is that she uses a crockpot recipe once a week, and I just am not happy about how they come out. The flavors all seem sort of washed out, instead of concentrated. I just made one that was a take on beef burgandy - beef cubes, red wine, onions, carrots, mustard, thyme, and a bit of tomato - it should have been really yummy, and it smelled great when I was sauteing it all first, but all that flavor was gone by the time it came out of the crockpot. So I'm wondering what I do to convert a "cook on low for 7-8 hours" recipe. Yeah, I'm a truly novice cook. Thanks!

I have a friend who follows the "Sugarbusters's" diet, and she uses fructose exclusively. Her standard conversion is 2/3C fructose for 1C sugar. I haven't noticed a difference at all when she uses it. OTOH, she also uses all or part whole wheat flour in baked goods. That's a whole other story.....

Where's El Meson? (my parents live in Freehold, and they like Mexican...)

I just made a very easy icebox cake using marscapone for a Labor Day cook out. Espresso & Marscapone Icebox Cake

For chocolate, I go for a chunk of Valhrona 70% dark. For ice cream, Dove makes mini chocolate covered ice cream bars (dk with chocolate, dk with cherry, or milk with vanilla). They're 6 or 8g of carb each. I eat 1 or 2. I'd prefer a small amount of something "real" to a larger amount of "low carb product". YMMV, esp since I'm not following a specific diet.

La Crema Gelato is really good, but a bit pricey for the serving size. Worth it, though. I grew up on Holstein's in Bloomfield, but I don't know how it is these days. They used to make a chocolate chocolate chip that had *slabs* of chocolate in it. And, they made their own hot fudge and whipped cream. Really good ice cream isn't worth it if it has canned whipped cream & commercial hot fudge.

My absolute favorite "breakfast" food growing up was corn fritters. The recipe was out of a Bisquick cookbook my mom had. I suspect it's pancake batter with creamed corn, then deep fried in balls - pour syrup on top. They weigh a ton, but I'd kill for them. Of course, my mom detests frying (messes up her stove....), and I'm...umm...scared of deep frying (I know, I know, but I *always* get splattered just sauteing stuff, and I don't have the space to store a fryer), so I haven't had them in years. But I still dream about them.

If you don't mind, could I ask you what the prices were like?

For Thanksgiving this year we went to B. Smith's at Union Station, Washington DC. Frankly, I don't expect much from holiday meal. They were great, though. There's two things that stand out service-wise. My mother-in-law has diabetes, and isn't the best at controlling it. Her blood sugar levels crashed as soon as we got there. I asked the hostess (who I know it's not her job!) if she could possibly get my MIL a glass of orange juice ASAP. We had it by the time we were settled in our chairs. Like I said, not her job, so I was very happy. Later, my stomach was upset, requiring an (extended) visit to the facilities after eating, but before dessert. Despite the desserts being pre-ordered, the waiter waited till I came back to serve everyone. Considering I'm the last one to finish at the best of times, I very much appreciated it! A little thing, but requiring a clue on the part of the waiter.

My mother was put on a "modified low carb" diet specifically for high cholosterol. Basically, no pasta, potatoes, bread, sugar. Whole grain versions allowed in smallish amounts. I think it's helping.

I'm reading....although I got completely sidetracked reading the info on cohousing. Very similiar to what a group of friends and I had talked about.

On the healthiness argument, my mother's cholesterol came back high for the first time in *years*. In the past it's been so low they've had to double check it, Anyway, as a result of this, the doctor has put her on a low carb diet, what she calls "modified Atkins". Basically skip the pasta, rice, bread. She's doing quite well on it. Better than me, actually, although I'm working on that. Dessert is still a huge downfall for me, but if all that's in the house is fruit & 70% Valhrona.....