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ChocoMom

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Everything posted by ChocoMom

  1. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    That would be a little Kono Sauvignon Blanc. I needed a little something after sitting through the elementary school's band concert yesterday.
  2. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    Nothing wildly fancy tonight...Beef -Barley soup and a baguette. There are so many soup bones in the freezer, I try to use a pack per week to open up a bit of freezer space for the upcoming meat chicken storage. I had canned some of my heirloom carrots last fall, so I added those. It hit the spot on a cold, rainy day.
  3. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    I blew my right knee out yesterday while tiling the shower. It slipped off the cushion I had over the threshold, and blew up like an airbag. Barely slept last night, and tried to stay off the knee today. But hubby and kiddos needed dinner, and my son is not back yet from stream fishing- so no rainbows.. Went with the next best (fast) thing...tuna casserole.
  4. @Kerry Beal....I pondered it a bit, and figured 3 pounds (net) for under $20, it would be worth a try. I did find on the manufacturer's website that there is no sugar added, so going with the Boiron formula, I can add 10% and go from there. Should have it next week. =) I shall report back.
  5. With the use of fruit purees in PdF's, I've either made my own or used the Borion purees. Recently, as I was perusing Ebay and Amazon for pricing on Borion, I think Amazon suggested another brand "Vinter's Harvest". Has anyone heard of it, or tried it, in a PdF? There seems to be an enormous variety of purees available. It is not frozen, but canned- which makes me wonder about the flavor and quality. I've not gotten a response from any Amazon buyers yet when I asked about the PdF application. I noticed that the manufacturers said its perfect for use in beer, wine and mead production. It is WAY more cost effective than Borion, but, I am concerned about puree being canned and the quality/flavor. If no one has tried it, I'll 'take one for the team', give it a whirl, and report back. In the meantime, thank you - in advance- for any feedback! Andrea EDIT....I just discovered I can zoom in on the can's label. On the cherry puree label, and it specifically said "For Beer and Winemaking". So perhaps, its application is limited. Phooey.
  6. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    @scubadoo97... If you don't mind sharing, could you share the correct preparation for oxtail? I have some in my freezer, and haven't a clue what to do with it. - Andrea
  7. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    @Okanagancook... I hid the ketchup and made them try dinner without it. My son tasted it, and announced "Mom turned into Gordon Ramsey! Awesome!" So we have butter pan fried Yukon gold wedges, broccoli and butter, and breaded, mushroom--onion-garlic-thyme stuffed haddock fillets, baked, then panfried to crisp them up. Not shown is the baguette that hubby loves having with dinner.
  8. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    The omnivores grabbed the plates before I could take a pic again, and this time it's a double damn, because I actually managed to make beautiful fondant potatoes with my seared steaks. They turned out beautiful, were snatched over to the table, promptly doused with ketchup, and scarfed down. I was baffled to see my 13 year old dipping her steak in creamy Italian dressing because she couldn't find ranch. I need to hide dressings. Who does that???!! Grr. Might as well make chicken nuggets and fries!
  9. Prior to going to college, I'd make everything I could from scratch. My grandmothers both taught me how to cook, bake and make confections. My Mom taught me frugality, picking fruits and veggies, canning and preserving. I did all that I could. Once I hit college, and my life became filled with school, work and activities - I succumbed to Campbell soup, Minute rice, canned fruit cocktail, Crystal light, coffee, and powdered milk. I longed for foods from scratch, but it was not possible in a college dorm, or an apartment - when I was nearly broke with no money for fresh foods. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to make pasta, too. I still want to get a pasta machine. I vividly remember by grandma's neighbor making all the pasta for her oldest daughter's high school graduation. Old school Italian - Bruna Porcari -she was the best!!! Never have I tasted pasta that delicious, and I wish I could do that some day!!! On rare occasions, maybe one time every couple of months, I'd spend an evening with one of my friends and we'd bake cookies from scratch. Neither of us had much free time, so we'd make cookies together, and call it good. After I found a more stable work environment and steady income, and ended 6 years of college, I found more time to bake and cook, and it was such a pleasure. I had missed it so much. After I got married, I went full throttle into working with chocolate. Built a second kitchen in our basement, and went from there. But now, having a home and a farm, plus two kitchens - I am blissfully content with making farm to table meals pretty regularly during the summer/fall. I cook from scratch as much as possible during the winter/spring, but need to buy produce and occasionally meat. The primary thing that gets in the way of cooking completely from scratch is our ridiculous schedules. Secondary reason... There are some things that the hubby and kids like having from the store....bread, buns, lunchmeat, hotdogs, chips, crackers, cheese, some cookies....basically junk food or processed meats. This past weekend was nothing short of insane. With the kids, grandkids, friends and relatives over- somewhere around 30 people, I made all the foods, vs ordering pizzas. The birthday cake was made from boxed mixes- because I find them to be more consistent than me baking from scratch. I did make the buttercream frosting though, and decorate the cake. We had friends over from church on Sunday, and while I did use the purple cabbage/jicama/pineapple coleslaw from the day before, I cooked fresh from scratch chicken breast, risotto, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. I bought the baguettes, and the puff pastry. I made raspberry turnovers with the pastry dough. Had it not been for me being wiped out, and extremely short on time, I would have made a different pastry with homemade dough. But this is the kind of schedule-mania I deal with sometimes. Either I have to plan better, or seek divine intervention for another 3 hours in the day, so I can make it all happen. Doing those two events, back to back, was a little taxing on my patience. (and my feet!) I need to finish tiling the shower now, so I can devote my attention to the kitchens- which is where I would much rather use my time and energy! Shoutout to @Anna N.... Thank you for starting this thread! It helped me to remember the joy I had as a kid, learning and cooking!
  10. In various places throughout EG, I've written about my dear Father in Law, aka Grandpa. We all know he does not come with a filter, but for the life of me, it is damn impossible to predict when he's going to drop one of his lines. Tonight, my daughter's 13th birthday party was one of those nights. Sitting at the adults table, I finally decided to grab a plate of food and rest me feet. Grandpa was talking with his brother's son about gall bladder issues, and his brother Carl. And out of the blue, Gramps went off. To his nephew...."Your Dad did himself in, ya know. He burnt the hell out of his rectum with dat damn chili of his! He made it so damned hot and spicy! My God, the hemorrhoids! He was crazy!" I nearly died. My face went right down into my plate of food, and I could not stop laughing. My side still hurts. Is it just my family, or does anyone else out there have a family member like this??????!!!!
  11. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    No pics tonight....the omnivores dove into the platters while I was still searching for my camera. But....6 hours of prep time interrupted by balloons flying, grandkids running through the house, and kids swiping food every time I turned my back....I thought the outcome was decent. Nachos.....chicken chili with black beans in a sharp cheddar dip (crock pot) Red cabbage/pear/jicama/pineapple slaw Snicker salad 20 roll-ups - 10 chicken, shredded cabbage, chive/onions, cream cheese, cukes. 10 with roast beef. 36 turkey pastrami/sharp cheddar with chive/onion spread. Ran out of cheddar, subbed in some smoke Gruyere. Wished I had used that cheese for all of them! Homemade mac& cheese. (Béchamel , sharp cheddar, gouda, gruyere, etc..garlic, pepper, and crumb topping.) and the mother of all birthday cakes. 6 layers, (3 tiers) each tier had a dark chocolate layer, and a yellow layer. Homemade butter cream icing. Decorated the whole thing - not my forte..but it looked cool enough for my new 13 year old and 25+ guests. =) Feet are killing me. And I have to clean the whole kitchen and prep for dinner tomorrow with friends.
  12. Honestly, I don't know where to post this....gardening, food funnies or who knows.... So I start a lot of my outdoor veggie plants indoors around this time of year. I've got spinach, tomatoes, pumpkins, zukes, cukes, green beans, etc etc. all started in pots and containers around the house. Three of my grandkids are visiting, for my daughter's birthday party. They got here last night, party is today, and "Grammie" has been super busy doing a 6 layer cake, and making food for 30.... not exactly paying attention to what the 5 yo and 3 yo are up to. I take a "breather" this afternoon for about 5 minutes, and notice that there are Q-TIPS sticking out of EVERY. SINGLE. PLANT in the house. Upstairs, downstairs, living room, porch, etc.....Q-TIPS Everywhere. It just caught me off guard, struck a funny bone, and I confess...I laughed so hard I snorted. Lord knows what was going through their little minds, but it made me giggle.
  13. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    So, I almost never plate food at dinner for everyone. Its pointless because my son drowns everything in ketchup, and hubby destroys whatever I construct. But today, I was fooling around with Hollandaise sauce and asparagus, boneless ribeye, and some veggie/rice mix. My son said it looked kinda fancy. I was kidding, and I said "yeah, I've been watching Masterchef too much!". He replied, "well it looks really nice, but my Masterchef says 'I need ketchup'"...=+/
  14. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    @suzilightning Most of our family uses good ole Heinz ketchup. Some have tried it with gravy, but prefer ketchup. Restaurants up here give folks the option. Personally, I prefer it with an extra slab of butter melting all over the inside. I think ketchup distracts from the flavors too much, and gravy covers flavors too much. Butter makes it all just taste more delicious, IMHO.
  15. ChocoMom

    Dinner 2018

    Pasties are about as plain-looking as a dinner can possibly get. The finished product looks like a lump of baked dough. But, the insides are bursting with the flavors of beef, sausage, red potatoes, onions, carrots, rutabaga, and a little cabbage. Seasoned with salt, pepper, a pat of butter. I made 10 or 12, so they will last for a couple dinners and lunches. Half of one is plenty for a meal.
  16. Had to embark on a fairly big shopping trip for the first time coming back from vacation. We are not blessed with an incredible selection of grocery stores in this area, so I have to make do. Carrots Green onions Cabbage Ginger root Cucumbers Zucchini Yellow squash Eggplant Red potatoes - used up all the potatoes from last fall. Yellow potatoes Baked beans Ranch dressing Chicken breasts. (I finally ran out of chicken breasts from all the meat birds I butchered last fall.) Bread - sliced loaves for kid lunches and morning toast. Baguette for dinner. Hot dog buns Olive oil Avocado oil Butter.... wt# is up with the price of butter???!!!! Ice cream More ice cream Grape Juice White wine Cameron's Intense French coffee Walker's butter shortbreads HWC Vanilla creamer (for the kids. I hate that stuff.) Tortilla chips Potato chips Pretzels Dips Dog food Milk bones Vitamins I know I'm forgetting things, but, that's a good start. Notably absent from the list are things like canned soup, PB, lunch snacks, household items, etc. I order things like that from Boxed.com when I've got coupons. Most of the time, prices are well below our retailers, and they ship it to your door for free. I do not have the warm-fuzzies for Walmart, especially after Wednesday's shopping trip, so I am happy to shop online for what I'd otherwise have bought there.
  17. I've used Notter's lime ganache multiple times, and never has it set up firm. I think this might be by design. Using the marshmallow-lime combo in a molded piece would be divine!!! If you wanted some separation between the lime and marshmallow, you could insert the coated feuilletine between the two layers, maybe? Whatever you decide to do, I hope you report back with your results!!!
  18. We do deer hunting every November, and I process it. I end up cutting the backstraps out and cooking those right away. The rest, I either do as roasts, or grind it and can it. Chickens and turkeys, I raise, kill and process. Ruffed Grouse- hubby and the kids go hunt every fall. Goose- my daughter did once, got two. It wasn't the tastiest stuff I ever had. Duck- That is next on my son's list. Fish - I used to fish a whole lot more than I do now, but hubby and kids do a fine job bringing home brookies, rainbows, perch, and lake trout. (I posted pics of the fishies on another thread .. ) None of us are fond of ice-fishing, so we'll have to wait until thing thaw a bit more up here.
  19. @Lisa Shock.... I love Jolt. It was my go-to drink during mid-terms and finals week all through college. Forever shall I be indebted to its inventors. That extra boost saved me. Otherwise, its Faygo. Not sure if that's just a Detroit thing, or what. I remember walking barefoot in the Rouge, down Genessee, around the corner to the drugstore getting Faygo with my big brother. Cola mainly, but there was the grape, redpop, orange, rock -n -rye, cream soda, etc.... for when I wanted something different.
  20. Back when we didn't have kids, hubby and I would go camping every chance we got. It didn't take much to feed us. After we had kids, and the fish we caught didn't end up being enough for all of us...we bought quite a supply of MRE's. I can't recall what brand, but hubby ordered some, and we'd take those camping. All you'd need was pot of water to boil the entree in. There was a huge variety- tortellini, chicken and dumplings, beef stew, chili, stroganoff, etc....Each pack came with some very hearty crackers, Tang, coffee, eating utensils, and some other odds and ins. They were quite tasty, and filled everyone up. Very handy for camping. They keep for an insanely long time, and we still had a couple cases in the basement when the house burned down.
  21. I have a few from Nuts.com, and am pleased with the flavor. The site carries a nice selection over 20 different powders) in small portions. I do suggest sifting some of the powders a bit, as I have come across seeds in the raspberry powder.
  22. @tikidoc Here it is, as best I can remember. 12-14 oz tempered 38% milk chocolate 4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp. - very soft. 4 oz -6 oz marshmallow fluff 6 oz Creamy Jif 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste Salt to taste. There's a little variation in the amounts of certain items because I was tweaking it as I went along, which is just how I do things ordinarily. I added in a little more chocolate at one point to melt the PB more. And then I added in a couple more oz of fluff to compensate for the weight of the chocolate I had just added before that. I beat the chocolate and butter with a spoon, added the PB so everything was smooth and sort of melty, then added the fluff, a little more chocolate, and a little more fluff. then the VB paste and salt. Pretzel rods, Vanilla wafers, and Oreos are great tools to use if consuming outside of chocolates.
  23. It still has its little air bubbles even though I just squeezed it through the piping bag....
  24. The PB Fluff is tempered milk chocolate, JIF creamy PB, unsalted butter, marshmallow fluff, vanilla bean paste and salt. If the butter is at room temp., it whips perfectly well with a spoon, the marshmallow fluff stays fluffy, and it pipes beautifully into the eggs,... or into one's mouth. I got to thinking later, it would make a marvelous filling for macaroons. I can take a pic of it if anyone would like that, so you can see how fluffy it is. I just adore the light texture and taste. I handed out samples today to various folks, and got a unanimous thumbs up.
  25. I will start by stating that I planned to do none of these. I wanted to escape on vacation to FL, and take a break after going gangbusters with sales the last two months. But, when the folks up at the retirement home start calling, I turn into a real softie, and I cannot for the life of me tell them "no". So....here we are. Gold leaf eggs. The pink and blue ones are filled with caramel; the orange and green are filled with PB Fluff. The next pic shows the Key lime and the chocolate mint. There's also a few filled with raspberry mead. And the last pic are the Tipsy Tortoises. Something told me to make extras, and I'm glad to have listened to my intuition. After the first order came in, I got another call on the way to church yesterday - from a long time customer who wanted a HUGE box of them. Plus a dozen of the eggs. And sea salt caramels (not pictured). And a big box of the meads. I am boxing up everything else, and taking it with me on our trip- to give as gifts to our relatives along the way.
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