Tropicalsenior

It does look great but it really doesn't look like Tres leches cake.

Carlos's girlfriend was here for dinner tonight. So I made a seven layer lasagna yesterday and had it in the refrigerator ready to bake. I'm glad I had it ready because yesterday afternoon I came down with the mother of all colds. I guess that's my Christmas present. I found ricotta for the first time in about 4 years and went a little overboard on that but otherwise it was pretty good. Served it with green beans and bacon. Watermelon, green salad and homemade bread, no pictures.

Just don't tell that to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, or Peru. They all claim to have invented it and each one claims to have the best. I've tried them in all three countries and they're all soggy bogs.

Being in Costa Rica where they claim to have invented Tres leches cake I see a lot of it. Personally I can't stand it and I can see where it could be compared to a bog. I don't see much to recommend this cake. The only thing that I like about it is the gummy worms.

I have everything ready to make my tourtiere for Christmas but I came across this topic the other day, Mennonite bubbat. It is a type of fruit bread baked inside a turkey or a chicken. I'm intrigued and thinking of making it for New Year's Eve. I was wondering if any of you have ever heard of it or ever made it before and what advice you could give me.

@Darienne I used to make gumbo for my husband all the time and this is similar to the recipe that I used to use. This recipe gives you the option of using Cajun seasoning or it tells you what to use in place of it. I couldn't hope to find andouille sausage so I just used the spiciest sausage that I could find. The rest of the ingredients should be easy enough to find where you live. Filé powder is optional, however I did have that. Unfortunately, I can no longer make it because onions and green peppers are not optional and they are completely off the table for us now. If you feel up to going down a rabbit hole there is a very good topic on it here. This recipe with it's options will give you a chance to try it out to see if you like it before you invest in a lot of expensive stuff that you may never use again if you don't.

We had the first of the panettone for breakfast this morning. It was the chocolate caramel and it was delicious.

Once again there were no English muffins in the stores. So I made some. I followed this recipe but because I don't have a lid for my griddle I pop them into a 350° oven for 7 minutes. They were baked perfectly. The last two were a little bit wonky but I'm sure that they will taste just as good as the others.

It seems like it's been a bad year all around for panettone. We've been checking the bakery in our local supermarket for weeks and no panettone. Finally today we ask a cashier why they didn't have any and they have had it. It's been displayed with the Christmas ornaments. But they were out. So we went to the high priced store and they had some imported panettone. It's almost twice the price of our little grocery store panettone and not as good but at least we'll have some. The one on the left is tiramisu and the one on the right is caramel and chocolate. Maybe not as good but Beggars can't be choosers.

Well, Carlos is back so tonight was a thick ham and bean soup with no onions garlic or peppers. Not very photogenic so no pictures. But I'm happy because I didn't have to do the dishes.

Amazing and great to see. I have been wondering about you.

This is my second night of garlic freedom so I chose butter chicken with extra garlic. It was delicious but the naan was a dismal failure. It tasted good but it was heavy enough to sink a battleship. Well, at least a small row boat. Carlos will be back tomorrow night so it's back to being without garlic and onions and peppers but I will be glad to see him because he does the dishes every night.

I have some 6-in pie plates so I make two of them and I freeze one for New Years Eve. They are the perfect size for two people and leftovers for lunch. Or breakfast.

@Ann_T I just checked out your recipe to make sure that I had everything ready and I was hoping that you had posted your chili sauce with it. Last year I made a tomato chutney but Carlos didn't care for it so I would like to try your chili sauce if you have posted it. Thank you and thank you for the tourtiere recipe. It really is the best. And I want to thank you for the more than 15 years of enjoyment that I have had reading your site.

I would love to hear about this recipe. I usually use the recipe from @Ann_T. It is excellent.

As most of you know, my house is onion and garlic free because my housemate, Carlos, is deathly allergic to them. Well, he's gone to Guanacaste to visit his family for 3 days so it's time to indulge. Tonight was one of my favorites, garlic spaghetti with shrimp. I even made enough for breakfast tomorrow.

Ann, that bread looks so good. Would you be so kind as to share the recipe? Thank you.

How about individually packaged cinnamon rolls. Or slices of banana bread. Or king size muffins.

For today's bake I wanted just a soft sandwich bread. Think upscale Wonder Bread with a good flavor. This is an hour after baking. It has a nice thin crust and a nice tight crumb. Just exactly what I was hoping for.

We don't have much choice for mayonnaise in Costa Rica. The only three State side brands available are Kraft, Hellmans, and Great Value. Kraft is available in jars but more often in this squeeze bottle. Hellmann's only comes in the plastic packages. Great Value, which is the least desirable, is available in both. A while back when I was in the store I took a picture and counted the types available that are made in central America and there were 24 different types, all of them pretty dismal. As somebody said upthread, it's a shame they no longer use glass jars. They were so useful. I still have two of these left from about 20 years ago.

Sorry to be late answering this but it got moved and I couldn't find it. I bought mine at a grocery store here about 15 years ago. It was an Impulse Buy. I wasn't sure what it was but I knew I wanted it and it was the best Gadget that I have ever gotten. I've never seen anything like it since.

This is one kitchen gadget that I can not live without. The center hole grips and opens bottle tops. It's a perfect size for pop bottles and some condiments. But the little hook on the end is the real Jewel. It slips under pop tops and all you have to do is just roll them open. Yes, once in a while they break and I have to haul out my electric can opener and with my arthritic hands even that is a chore. I much prefer the pop tops cans.

I fixed this last night for dinner and it was quick and delicious. I used a couple pork loin chops. I have a feeling I'm going to be making this often. Thank you very much for the recipe.

I thought I would report back on the result of my Wholegrain Mustard. I don't like mustard that is terribly hot so I did make one change I only made half a batch so for the mustard seed I used three and a half tablespoons yellow mustard seeds and two tablespoons of black mustard seeds. It says to let it set for one or two days testing for heat before refrigerating. I tested after one day and it is plenty hot. It has a good texture but I think that I would reduce the water content by half next time. It seems to be quite thin.

The recipe is for a full batch. A half batch makes just a scant cup of mustard.