So...whats for dinner?
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What a bunch of early birds here, LOL.
Finalizing my turkey shopping list making sure the ingredients I have have not expired, like my corn starch, luckily I had an unopened one that is good til next year. I will probably pick up the non perishables this weekend.
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Funny story about picky eaters. We never had kids so I knew nothing about them, as kids we weren't allowed to be picky. I had just met a woman who became one of my dearest friends at my DH's office party. She had mentioned her love of Chinese food so when I invited the family for dinner I made Chinese. Never thought to ask about the kids preferences. They were 4 and 5 years old at the time. It wasn't until we were finishing the final prep that she told me they wouldn't eat eggs and detested Chinese food. I just said then we won't tell them. The kids loved the flower soup" and my "hot salad".
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i too don't believe in allowing pickiness. We make all our kids eat any and every vegetable we serve and they do eat them.. (she's still picky tho - eating with reluctance or slowness). I guess she needs to eat more now being an active girlchild/woman of 5'2".
Luvrving.. the leeks were chopped pretty finely, sauteed and then liquid was added and he put a lid on the pan.
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Debbie- I'm so happy about your good news!!!
I just finished frosting 6 dozen italian cookies. As promised, here's the recipe.
Auntie Tina/Auntie Lynda Cookies
For the cookies
1/2 c margarine
1/4 c shortening
3/4 c sugar
4 eggs
3-4 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons anise or vanilla extract
Pre heat oven to 375
Melt the margarine and shortening together and let cool. Sift 3 cups of the flour with the baking powder and salt.
Beat the sugar, a little at a time, into the melted margarine/shortening. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat after each addition. Add the extract and beat. Add and beat the 3 cups of flour mixed with baking powder about 1/3 at a time.Check the consistency of the dough, before you add more flour. You're looking for a very, thick, slightly sticky dough. It should almost stick to your hands, when you try to roll it into a ball. The dough will kind of start to pull away from the bowl, too. You may need to use most or all of that last cup of flour.Sift it in about 1/3 at a time.
The easiest way to shape these is to use a cookie scoop. I use either a 1 or 1 1/2 inch one. Scoop the dough, like ice cream, onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Once you have scooped a sheet full, roll each one into a little ball. If your not using a cookie scoop, pinch off enough dough to roll into a walnut sized ball. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should NOT brown on top. They should almost be like little cakes. Stick a toothpick in. If it comes out clean, they are done. They will also be lightly browned on the bottom. Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes and move them to a cooling rack.
The Frosting
2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 tsp anise or vanilla extract
milk
colored sprinkles
Mix the sugar and extract, add milk a couple of tablespoons at a time until you get a frosting that's just a little too thin to spread. This is not an exact science. If you add too much milk, just add more sugar. I divide the frosting into little bowls and add a drop of a different food color to each or you can just leave it white.
Frosting is a wet hand/dry hand job. Spread out wax paper and put your cooling racks on top of it. Dip the tops of cookies into the frosting, then put on the rack, the frosting will slide down the sides of the cookie and the excess will drip onto the waxed paper. Sprinkle with colored sprinkles. Tradition calls for the little round sprinkles, but you can use whatever kind/shape you want. I usually dip 6-8 cookies and then shake on the sprinkles. If the frosting starts to dry, the sprinkles will just bounce off the cookies.
NOTES: I've also used a butter/shortening mixture to make these. The original recipe calls for magarine, though and I think it does make a slight difference in the texture.
I usually flavor the cookies with anise extract and flavor the frosting with vanilla. For true anise fans, use anise in both. If you don't like anise, use all vanilla.
I think they would be really good flavored with lemon extract and lemon frosting, but I've never tried it. It would be sacrilegious to make them like that to bring to a family function.
Enjoy
Now. I have another old family recipe, typed up and ready to store in google docs for future generations.
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AWESOME NEWS DEBBIE.
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Hauntie, I wonder what fats were originally used in your cookies. If the recipe is really a very old one I would have been curious what fats or oils were indigenous to the region of your family. Margarine and shortening are relatively recent inventions. I don't know what type of butter, if any, was available to my family but I do know they used mostly pork or fish for food and hence would have had lard. Just for fun I've tried lard in several old recipes with good success.
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Chabba - I don't know. The shortening/margarine combo was the way the recipe was given to me by my Auntie Tina. She was born in this country. If she were alive today, she'd be about 115 years old.
I do always use lard, when I make pie crust from scratch. That's the way my mother taught me.
Another note on the cookies. You may want to make extra frosting. There's quite a bit of drippage, when you use the dipping method to frost. The original recipe for frosting was to add enough milk to make it thick enough to spread, which meant frosting each cookie by hand. I did it that way for years, until I discovered the dipping method. It works just as well and it's a hell of a lot faster.
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Debbie, wonderful news! I have been thinking of you, but didn't want to add to your anxiety by hounding you about it. I am very happy for you.
Laurie, glad to hear you're on the road to being better. I know those probiotics are expensive, I had to get them for my son last year. I don't think it's all yogurt that has the probiotics in them (or not the same amount any way). I think it's activa that claims it has the probiotics. Maybe the Greek yogurt too? I am not sure.
Michelle, hope you and DH enjoy the b-day weekend celebration. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Hauntie, thanks for the secret family recipe. If I bake some cookies this year, I will try them. I hope my son will come home for Christmas. He likes to bake, he would do it with me.
Apple, good job on making your kids eat everything. I wish I would have done hat, I think it is too late for me. Yesterday we had vegetarian chile, DD made herself some chicken rice. At least now, she is in charge of getting herself something if she doesn't want what I cook. No more cooking two meals for me!0 -
I decided to make the Beef Bourguignon today, figuring it would taste even better tomorrow. I'm so glad I did - this is a bit labor-intensive. It smells lovely and I'm sure it will be very yummy. I almost set the house on fire when I ignited the cognac...lol. It was a much bigger flare-up than I expected and it lasted longer than I thought it would. So if you decide to do this, be careful! It's in the oven now and I'll get it to the point where I add the final ingredients, then I'll stick it in the fridge until tomorrow afternoon.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beef-bourguignon-recipe/index.html
I was a fussy eater as a kid, and there are still some things I won't eat...like raw onions. I remember so many mealtime battles growing up that I swore I wouldn't make my kids eat anything they didn't like. They had to taste something once, then if they didn't like it that was ok. But I didn't prepare second meals for them, either. It was usually a cooked vegetable that they found offensive. When I made cooked carrots, I cut up some raw ones too. That was an easy way around some of it. Now that they are older, they are less fussy but there are two of them that will pick out the mushrooms in tomorrow's dinner.
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Michelle- I pretty much go with the same rule for my kids eating. I make them try everything, at least one bite every time. But I do not make second dinners either. I was prepared to make a second dinner last night as it was something I did not think they would like and there weren't "other things" to eat like chicken or rice etc but they both loved it. I honestly was surprised. We even all had some of it with our lunch today. My youngest loves it and like someone else mentioned, mine don't even like mashed potatoes. Go figure.
I am feeling a little better today I guess but not great, I am still soooo fatigued. I just ook a 2 1/2 hour nap with my youngest and could have kept sleeping. It freaks me out that I am so tired.
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Thank-you everyone!! ((((((hugs))))))
Hauntie- Those cookies sound good, I may just make them this week, I have all the ingredients, Thanks for sharing a great family recipe!
Joyce- Glad to see you back posting again! :-)))
Chabba-Funny story about the chinese food LOL!
Deb- I'm so glad you mentioned the corn starch, I ran out last month and forgot to replace it when I went shopping the other night.
Kay-Hope you get to see your so on christmas!
Michelle- Your beef bourguignon sounds fantastic. I'm not crazy about raw onions either, i usually saute mine until they are carmalized
Laurie-Glad you are feeling a little better, having 2 young boys probably keep you busy, no wonder you are so tired. Hope you get some good needed sleep soon
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GREAT NEWS, Debbie!!!
Waiting for those results is so stressful and it really does build with each day that passes! So glad that the Doc didn't keep you hanging over the weekend!
It sure is a strange world we have been thrust into where we are happy to hear we have osteoarthritis but, here we all are... lol!
Hope you celebrated like crazy last night!!0 -
Hauntie,
Thank you for posting the recipe!! I can see where that would have been a lot to type on an evening when you were tired!
Also glad to hear that you are preserving your recipes for the future... I started to do just that the year I was diagnosed and haven't gotten back to it! It's time, I did.
Thank you, again!0 -
Seaside-I did celebrate last night, LOL! and Thank-you :-)))
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Whatever you choose, choose from foods that make you stronger. Here's a place to find more info:
http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/cancer-prevention-and-treatment-may-be-the-same-thing/
A good way is to start with a healthy beverage.
Try chai tea. By itself, a warm boost of nutraceuticals that is a little spicy and perfect with a meal. Or add some cocoa powder and almond milk for a smooth ending. Yummy.
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spam
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I just made the best sandwiches for lunch today- Couldn't decide which one's I wanted so I made several- They were on mini baguettes, :-)) First one I did was sharp cheddar with sweet pickles and mustard. Second one i did was. leftovoer store roasted chicken (breast) bacon, grilled onions and jack cheese warmed until the cheese melted/ third one was, Athenos garlic hummus, drizzled with evoo and avocado. Had a little macaroni salad to go with it. These were the best sandwiches, It sounds like a lot but remember they were little LOL!
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Debbie- your sandwiches sound wonderfu;! I would like one of each
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I went to 2 Farmers Markets today and bought some brownies from a vendor it's called "Deb's Cookies. She is out of Winchester, MA. www.debscookiesonline.com and a small Cranberry-Orange Bread from La Bella Dolce out of Westford. www.labelladolcebakery.com. There were lots of samples. I tasted the most wonderful Apple Wine with a small piece of cheddar cheese from a vendor out of Harvard, MA forgot the name. One Farmers Market was at Eric's Greenhouse in Westford and the other was at Agway in S. Chelmsford. Someone in Agway was also holding a kitten adoption they were adorable gray kittens.
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They looked like these cuties. 0 -
Debbie.....
How do I get an invite to your house for lunch? That all sounds so good!
Laurie,
Hope you are feeling a bit better! Wouldn't worry about being so tired.... Your body is working overtime to get rid of the various infections... That's hard work! Rest when you can although I know it's hard when you have little ones at home....
As far as yogurt vs pro-biotics... The doctor may have thought that whatever he prescribed had a high possibility of causing a problem that maybe the yogurt wouldn't have helped... My son had pneumonia several years ago and I know they don't mess around with it!0 -
Deborye,
Love the farmer's markets! Never know what you'll find just know it will be good!
Those kittens are ooooooohhhhhh so cute!0 -
deb- How cute!!
Seaside- Call me and I will give you directions ha! In fact you are invited for turkey day, I will have tons of turkey LOL!
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Hauntie - love the cookie story - sounds like something I would do....
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oh btw Hauntie.. i live in a church that makes cookies like that.. the ladies roll the dough (in saran wrap or waxed paper) into a tube shape and then cut it into the right size to roll into balls.
i really like this thread. The only thing bad about the 'make your kids eat everything premise' is that I have to eat beets and pretend i like them..
blech
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My DH just left to go elk hunting, I made him a big breakfast before he left, made french toast, sausage and scrambled eggs, I only got about 4 hours sleep, not used to being up at this time, the joke in my family is, the only time debbie sees the sun come up is if she stays up all night LOL!
Think I will go back to bed, probably in time for lunch ha!
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Debbie - too funny! I wish I could sleep in, but nope, I am usually up with the bird, or now, the ducks and geese...lol. I made my DH a sausage, egg and cheese bagel sandwich. We have lots to do before the family arrive for dinner later this afternoon. And I already made Tollhouse cookie bars this morning...go me!!!
Laurie - how are you doing this morning? Hope you are feeling much better.
Deb - cute kitties
Apple - I don't like beets, either. We have been to Jess'n Jim's in Martin City a few times and they serve them to everyone. Just can't get past the "taste like dirt" thought.
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I will agree with a big ol yuck on beets. I don't force or cook the "yucky veggies" like cauliflower. I still don't like cooked cauliflower.
I agree go Michelle! I hope you have a wonderful dinner with your family, you have a beautiful day for a get together. I can't believe how nice it is out! I am feeling a little better today so thankful for that. I have not liked this sicky feeling, I can't remember the last time I had this hard of a time! We are getting ready to head to the park and take advantage fo the good weather and let the kids run!
Debbie- LOL about going back to bed- I miss those days!
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Debbie Congrats on the good news! Have thinking about you an awaiting the news.
Funny on the cooking mishap stories...I think we have all been there. Made me laugh. My mom likes to tell the story of her putting the roast in the oven for dinner and when she went to get it out, It wasnt there...she had put it in the refridge. I think we had soup that night.
Had a small trace of snow on the ground Friday morning, and on Sat we did a boat ride on the canal and stopped at a cute little canalside restaurant for lunch. Had a fish fry....yummm my new favorite restaurant. this is the longest ever having the boat still in the water and nice enough weather to use it, had a bunch of friends with us and some bottles of wine and had a blast.
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Carrie - I told my DH that today would have been a good day for a boat ride! We were busy with projects and getting ready for the crowd that should be arriving any minute, but it was a good thought!
Debbie - I ate elk in Colorado. It was a restaurant so I would guess it was farm-raised, but it was very, very good. I remember it was served medium rare with some sort of berry reduction.
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