Maleficent_fan’s Profile
Recent Comments
Salad Master cookware
I only know that there no way I am paying what they charge for that stuff!
They wanted $75.00 for a small pan, and $110.00 for a large air-insulated bowl! Holy cow!
It's fairly nice, I suppose, but my set from Macys (for about $300.00) does just fine and still looks beautiful,and I haven't ruined a meal yet!
I have friends who sold it, they came and did one of the demo's at my house, and honestly, I couldn't tell the difference when they did the steel wool/water test on the pans....they both tasted like water, not metal! They insisted that my Macy's dishes were crap - but I disagree!
Wonton recipes: suggestions?
How about sausage Wontons? They are yummy! Do you have a mini-muffin pan? (The pampered chef kind)
Pre-heat oven to 350
1 package Jimmy Dean Sausage cooked, then mix in
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and
1/2 cup prepared Ranch Dressing and
1/4 cup chopped green onions.
Put the wrapper in each mini-muffin cup and press it in to make a cup, and then fill with a scoop of the sausage mixture. Pop 'em in the oven and bake till the edges of the wonton's are brown, and then pop them out onto a plate covered with a napkin (to soak up any grease), and enjoy!
They are so good, and really tasty! This is a recipe that I got from my sister-in-law: we don't measure the ingredients, we just eyeball it, and adjust for taste and texture....the measurements are really just a guide!
What is the best cookbook ever?
Okay jcrisco - I am so jealous you live so close! I've been to DisneyWorld three times (once on a business trip, but still park-hopped). Never on a cruise, though hope to some day! I'll look for the Delicious Disney book..actually I have friends going in November and they are cruising, so I'll put my order in with them if I don't get it sooner!
Gotta say that my fav appetizer from my 1st Disney cookbook is the Jamacian Hot Wings! Have you tried them? Oh, and the fantasia cheesecake, and the milky-way cake... oh, and the decadence cake, not a stitch of flour init...cocoa powder, butter, eggs, sugar and bourbon...probably one more thing, but it was to die for!
See more comments by Maleficent_fan »
Recent Posts
See more posts by Maleficent_fan »
Recent Favorites
Maleficent_fan hasn't favorited a post yet.
Recent Polls
Maleficent_fan hasn't answered any polls yet.
Recent Quizzes
Maleficent_fan hasn't taken any quizzes yet.
Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Celebrating birthdays!
I've made home-made ice cream cakes before, and they are so much better than the store bought! They are pretty simple too. I always bake cakes for my friends and family for the parties that I throw. Not necessarily from scratch, (sometimes) but I always use mayo instead of eggs in the cakes! Happened by accident one year (about 3 hours before the party, I realized no eggs in sight!) my good friend just said to add a tablespoon of mayo for each egg that was called for, and it would be fine. I tell ya - best most moist cake ever!
I think my favorite scratch cake was the Milky Way Cake from my Disney cookbook.....so fantastic, but not good for hot weather - the melted chocolate "frosting" is real messy when it's hot out!
Salad Master cookware
I only know that there no way I am paying what they charge for that stuff!
They wanted $75.00 for a small pan, and $110.00 for a large air-insulated bowl! Holy cow!
It's fairly nice, I suppose, but my set from Macys (for about $300.00) does just fine and still looks beautiful,and I haven't ruined a meal yet!
I have friends who sold it, they came and did one of the demo's at my house, and honestly, I couldn't tell the difference when they did the steel wool/water test on the pans....they both tasted like water, not metal! They insisted that my Macy's dishes were crap - but I disagree!
Wonton recipes: suggestions?
How about sausage Wontons? They are yummy! Do you have a mini-muffin pan? (The pampered chef kind)
Pre-heat oven to 350
1 package Jimmy Dean Sausage cooked, then mix in
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and
1/2 cup prepared Ranch Dressing and
1/4 cup chopped green onions.
Put the wrapper in each mini-muffin cup and press it in to make a cup, and then fill with a scoop of the sausage mixture. Pop 'em in the oven and bake till the edges of the wonton's are brown, and then pop them out onto a plate covered with a napkin (to soak up any grease), and enjoy!
They are so good, and really tasty! This is a recipe that I got from my sister-in-law: we don't measure the ingredients, we just eyeball it, and adjust for taste and texture....the measurements are really just a guide!
What is the best cookbook ever?
Okay jcrisco - I am so jealous you live so close! I've been to DisneyWorld three times (once on a business trip, but still park-hopped). Never on a cruise, though hope to some day! I'll look for the Delicious Disney book..actually I have friends going in November and they are cruising, so I'll put my order in with them if I don't get it sooner!
Gotta say that my fav appetizer from my 1st Disney cookbook is the Jamacian Hot Wings! Have you tried them? Oh, and the fantasia cheesecake, and the milky-way cake... oh, and the decadence cake, not a stitch of flour init...cocoa powder, butter, eggs, sugar and bourbon...probably one more thing, but it was to die for!
Unclogged: Mario Batali's Super Bowl Menu
Maureen - yeah, I meant the posts! I thought of pretzels, but not real sure how to get them to stick together in the right way. I might use jicama and hold it together w/toothpics....if it turns out I'll post a picture of it!
Pregnancy Cravings?
My first pregnancy I had to have spicy! I made spicy bbq sauce and put it on everything! I ate jars of pepproncini! Also, I had mad cravings for plums - well you can imagine that that didn't end up well, but I couldn't get enough!
Second one - bologna on white bread with the crappy fake sliced cheese and mayo. That was all I could stomach for 5 months! After the sickness ended, I just ate everything in sight, because of the months of bologna and fake cheese!
Unclogged: Mario Batali's Super Bowl Menu
Everything sounds great - what's the address? HaHa!
Actually, the party we are going to is all hors'deurves. I'm bringing a layered dip with chips! I'm making it in a 9x13 pan, and the top layer will be guac - of course - and I'll pipe sour cream on to make a football field. Just haven't quite figured out what to make the field goals out of yet....any ideas?
Utensil excess?
Well, I'm not a utensil person, but I am a bowl person. Everytime I shop in Ross, or a department store or cooking store, I gravitate to the bowls. I just love the sets, or the older porcelain ones that are like giant measuring cups. It's weird, and my family and friends laugh, but I always end up with a cool bowl set for my birthday or Xmas. I use each and every one that I have too! My funnest ones are out on the counter - on display. I don't know why I'm drawn to them so much, but I am!
"Proper" techniques I just don't use...
Well, I use my food processor as much as I can when cooking for large crowds, but just everyday meals....I just do it manually. Garlic? take the clove unpeeled, and bash it with the flat side of my big chopping knife - pick out the peel easily, then a few chops and it's done! Onions I peel, then slice, stack and just chop. One thing I am guilty of is not really measuring when following recipes. I tend to use my hand to measure the spices - my gramma did it that way, and it works well. When it's a brand new dish and I'm making it for company, then I will follow the recipe, but adjust after tasting. Usually, more of something is always needed!
Another thing I like is the Pampered Chef chopper! Especially when I am mad or just had a long day....I beat on the top of the chopper to get those onions or cilantro chopped nicely, and work out my aggressions!
What is the best cookbook ever?
I love the Disney Resort Cookbooks....okay, I am a Disney Freak (can't tell by my username.......right?) Anyway, they have fab recipes that I've made over and over again, and they are always great for parties, etc.
Have Cointreau. Now What?
My sister-in-law puts it in a Margarita - in addition to the triple sec. She adds the tequilla, sweet&sour mix, cointreau & triple sec(same amounts) and lime juice - no the sweetened, straight. It's an excellent margarita!
My most seldom used spice or herb is _____
To Mongoose about the juniper berries. On the food network was a show called 2 Dudes Catering. They made a drink called carmel pear. Basically a martini, but it used juniper berries! I'd never really heard of a use for them before, but they boiled them with water, star anise, cloves, and brown sugar to make a spiced simple syrup. Then they added pear vodka and apple juice and some of that simple syrup - looked totally yummy! If you're a fruitty martinin fan, you might have found a use for those juniper berries! I can't get the link to paste, but go to
www.foodnetwork.com and search for carmel pear or look for 2 Dudes Catering.. I am actually going to make it this weekend!
My most seldom used spice or herb is _____
For some reason, I have like 5 containers of pumpkin pie spice in the cupboard, and about the same amount of thyme. Weird. I guess that every year (in November) when I bake a pumpkin pie and cook the turkey, I forget that I have pumpkin pie spice and thyme.... Must have about $30 worth in there!
Ideas for BUNKO easy dinner
Hey PerkyMac!
We usually gather around 6:30 and grab the food and drink and eat and gab for about 1/2 hour or so, then it's down to business! Of course, eating while rolling is always acceptable! We usually munch on dessert after the rounds are done and the prizes awarded. Since we only play the 4 rounds, there's lots of time to talk, eat, drink & be merry!
It is lots of fun, I recommend it to anyone. I have friends who do couples BUNKO, and they all do potluck, and some even have more than 12 players. They usually just award the prize money..certain dollar amounts for each prize. That would be fun too, but my hubby isn't interested, so it's me and the gals once a month!
Impending doom of sickness--what to eat?!
Whenever I feel that sick feeling I immediately start with taking EmergenC. I get mine @ Walmart! If I take that 4 times per day I usually can fight it off. I was on vacation one time in Disneyland and had a 101 fever for 2 days, but with the EmergenC I was able to make it thru the day pretty well. I also find that taking a nice hot bath in the evening before bed, along with my EmergenC does a good job to help me sleep.
EmergenC is a powdered vitamin/minderal packet that you can just in an 8 oz glass of water, or I add mine to a small water bottle and drink it that way. Hope you find something that helps you!
Ideas for BUNKO easy dinner
All excellent ideas, thanks! I never thought about adding pound cake to dip in the chocolate, but that sounds perfect! I love blackened fish, but have never made it. I think I'll try it out on the family first!
So to PerkyMac: BUNKO is a group of at least 12 folks (three tables, 4 each) where you roll three dice, you're on 2 person teams at each table, and the point is to get the highest score. You roll for 1s first then your 2s, and so on. We play 4 rounds, because we need a fairly early evening (we play the 3rd Tuesday of the month).There are different prizes, depending on your individual success or failure! We do most BUNKOS (3 of a kind of the # your are rolling for) most wins, 2nd most wins, most losses (we call it the BFL - big fat loser - prize!) and a "traveling bunko prize. It's really a hoot...we eat drink gossip and just have a really good time! Only costs each of us $10 a month, so it is affordable too!
Caramel Apple Pastry.....
To Sustarz:
The first one @ chefjohnny.com looks almost exactly like what I had! Thanks! The only thing that wasn't on mine was the marshmallow, other than that it looks nearly identical!
Can't wait to bake them! Thank you!
I put ketchup on _____
I put catsup (or is it ketchup??) on my eggs, bacon, ham, hashbrowns... Always on a burger or hot dog (or polish sausage). When I was a kid I made my own "pizza sauce" with catsup, garlic powder, and italian seasoning. I"d toast a couple pieces of bread, then spread on the sause and top with parm cheese and broil for a minute or so...it was a good snack!
I also LOVE catsup on fried spaghetti!
Pickle Juice
I use the leftover pickle juice for when I make potato salad. I keep the jar, and add the mayo, mustard, garlic, etc to the juice - shake it up and there's my potato salad dresingQ
Pickle Juice
Pickle juice is great if you have high sugar levels due to diabetes to help lower them. Dallas Cowboys have been using it for years as an secret boost of energy rather than chocolate milk, candy, or energy bars that can bring them down due to the sugar. Athletes with diabetes use Pickle juice mixed with water for boost drinks. I it frozen on a stick.
Pickle Juice
I poach chicken and fish in it, it also works well as a marinade for cheaper cuts of beef and pork...it tenderizes them like crazy. For the cheaper dill pickle juices, the ones with a lot of yellow color to them, I mix the juice 50/50 with water to use it or it yellows the meat. It's been a staple for my cooking for several years now.I wish they sold it without the pickles in it. BTW, it's also great for steaming veggies...
Pregnancy Cravings?
@jcrisco- Hey, I've lived in Nashville my entire life. Where did you work?
Pregnancy Cravings?
I'm only 2 months in but I craved orange crush for the first month and now i crave dynamite roll sushi with the orange eggs on top, and chicken mcnuggets with all the different sauces, fries with honey mustard sauce, and the chicken skin off of kfc. i craved the poutine from kfc for awhile, but from nowhere else.
Salad Master cookware
I bet you can't steam a catfish farmer in 100% kona coffee with miracle berry raviolis at the same time in one pan can you?
Salad Master cookware
I have had Saladmaster for 16 years. It's the best buy I ever made. My parents have a set, my sister and all of my family uses Saladmaster. I never use my oven which saves me a bundle on electricity. I Live in San Diego and can bake in the summer time!!!! I make a lasagna in 20 minutes on top the stove... try that in All Clad.. Wouldn’t work. In life you get what you pay for and Saladmaster is worth every penny. I love Saladmaster so much I want to share it with everybody. The office in San Diego is great and their number is 858 433 0085. They even offer free cooking classes for people to learn how to convert recipes so they can be cooked in Saladmaster with no oil and water!!!! It's so amazing you have to see it to believe it which I guess is why they don't sell it in stores.
Pickle Juice
I drink it. We used to have a tradition in my singing group (think singing frat) where any used drink containers were thrown gently into the middle of the room (with the couches all around the perimeter). Nothing ever breaks in that rehearsal room. Usually, it was beer bottles and coke cans. One day, I threw in a pickle jar after I was done sipping. Got a lot of weird looks, but it was darn tasty.
Pickle Juice
I said it once, and i'll say it again- popsicles! seriously...
Pickle Juice
I don't know how it started, but my mother used to pour enough pickle juice to fill the jar lid and then drizzle it over very well done scramble eggs. I used to love it. I still can only eat my eggs scrambled BURNT/DEAD, and I still have a love for sour pickle juice on my eggs or right out of the jar :)
Pickle Juice
msjhdyer ... Maybe next time you get a jar of pickles you could blend the pickles into liquid and add them to the juice for the pops. That way you have a use for the pickles that come with your needed juice. I don't know how well it would work though.
Pickle Juice
^ Oh dear. I guess that should be Martha Stewart Living.
Pickle Juice
Thanks to Martha Stewart's Living, I learned that quartered green tomatoes are perfect for pickling in left over pickle juice. Yum!
Pickle Juice
i love pickle juice, probably because I have hypothyroidism and addison's disease. But I love salty things. The pickle juice martini is like a really good dirty martini (which is usually just olive juice and either gin or vodka). I've seen little cans of pickle juice in the supermarket but have yet to try it.
Pickle Juice
We run a Girls Softball League Concession Stand and sell the clausen pickles, but also we freeze the juice in sauce cups and the kids go NUTS over Picklecicles!!! In 3 weeks time we have gone thru over 150 picklecicles. Now if we can just get them to buy the pickles, so we can buy more juice!!! We need to figure out how to make homemade pickle juice??
Unclogged: Mario Batali's Super Bowl Menu
I went to Conti's pastry shoppe in the Bronx to try their Boston Cream pie and it was absolutely delicious. It was light and so fresh! Everyone was fighting over the last few pieces! I recommend you try it for your next gathering!
Salad Master cookware
Salad master should be called Food and Energy Saver! This cookware SAVES your nutrients by cooking at approx 180 degees with the "clinking lid", making food taste like it should and keeping nutrients from getting distroyed with excess heat. As far as energy - I can barely get my propane low enough !
I have been cooking in my restaurnt for 20 years - never have I found cookware like this. From the comments above you don't quite know all that this can do for you and your family. If you can only buy ONE pot let it be one of these. Do the baking soda test and see how much metal your pot is leaching into your food!!!!!!!!! Surgical stainless steel - costly. Yes - worth it because of design and quality - Yes.
It is also invaluable for cooking grass fed meats - tender, healthy, yummy!
Celebrating birthdays!
sustarz - here you go - there are no actual directions so I would recommend the traditional creaming, then adding dry and wet ingred alternately then folding in the whites at the end. It should make a 9x13 sheet cake or two 9" layers. 350 degrees for 30 min. (less if layers)
Graham Cracker Cake
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
2 cups fine graham cracker crumbs
2 T. flour
1/4 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 t. vanilla
1/2 - 1 cup finely chopped nuts (usually walnut, but you could use pecans)
3 stiffly beaten egg whites
You can make life simple by dusting with powder sugar, ice with chocolate ganache or my all-time favorite for this cake is the fluffy 7 minute icing.
If you do the cooked icing, hook yourself up with some chocolate covererd caramels and melt them to drizzle over the top in beautiful big globs then throw some more chopped nuts on top and enjoy compliments of me and my mommie.
P.S. This is also easily doubled for large events. I can remember mom doing that and baking in a large broiler pan for parties.
Celebrating birthdays!
i made two cakes for my birthday last year {it was a milestone birthday and i deserved it.} pumpkin spice and a new york style cheesecake. this year i think i'll make banana.
"Proper" techniques I just don't use...
LoCo - I cannot stop giggling - cause I know exactly where all the beans are going to end up. But I'm going to practice that tomorrow until I get tired of bending over to pick beans up off the floor. I'm thinking it's a good time to not have a dog in the house!
I do have the All-Clad large saute pan but also have the sloped sided 10" pan, so I will try to employ all the techniques you guys have suggested and see where I can take my frustration level. Thank you so much for your valuable insights.
Celebrating birthdays!
you've got it sustarz - I promise I will look for it tomorrow. Mom and Gram's cookbooks are packed up in the basement. I've never had anything like it. The cake could be a derivative of the Hungarian Dobos Torte but without the extra effort of all the layers. This is really bad, I'm talking myself into making it now.
The other family favorite that was made for my Dad and I made for my kids' birthdays was the Hershey's Chocolatetown Special cake with buttermilk. Very moist and flavorful.
I must admit that I and my group of girlfriends cannot pass on wedding cake. That white cake with the almondy, slightly coconuty flavor and scent is absolutely cakegasmic. I sometimes make candles and I found "wedding cake" scent on a candlemaking website. I could not resist. When we met before Christmas for dinner I took the candles in gift bags and made them sniff before they looked or opened. Their eyes all rolled back in their heads and sigh.... Anyone else have that wedding cake weakness?
What is the best cookbook ever?
the complete meat cookbook (kelly/aidells) the timing/temperatures for various cuts are so accurate. i love it.
What is the best cookbook ever?
Its so funny, I was scanning all these comments and thinking of all my 1000 plus cookbooks what is the one that I use most, learned from and The John Ash cookbook came to mind. The recipes are fresh, healthy, delisious (beef salad with fried capers is delish) and he teaches you, empowers you. King Arthur does the same thing for baking, I love all of their books and they just came out with a baking with whole grains that is fantastic!
Celebrating birthdays!
Strawberry shortcake, made with angel food cake, in real layers like real cake with fresh whipped cream and sliced lightly sweetened strawberries. Light as a feather and delicious.
I like regular cake, but I hate, hate, hate frosting and methodically remove every spec of it when I find myself in situations when I have to at least take a bite of it. The only exception to this is the frosting on the lemon cupcakes at Buttercup Bakery in Manhattan.
What is the best cookbook ever?
This question is hard because what I'd call my favorite cookbooks, or what I'd argue are the best cookbooks ever, are cookbooks that have taught me. So in a fire, I might not need to grab those books, since many of their lessons and quite a few of their recipes have been internalized.
I'll recast the question: there's a fire and all knowledge gained from the books will be lost: which would I want a back-up copy of?
In that genre, I'd say that Cooking One on One by John Ash is a great cookbook. It doesn't have the romance or other emotional tug of Zuni or works by Marcella or Julia or any other number of famous books and their authors. But he's such a great teacher, and this book is so efficiently comprehensive (its barely 200 pages, if that), that I think anyone who works through it would emerge quite a capable cook with a deep understanding of highly adaptable techniques across several cuisines. You wouldn't need the books so much after that.
But he's lacking in desserts, and no baking.
For sheer breadth of recipes: Gourmet. It's a boring answer, but if I could pack only one book (and this may be happening soon in real life, sigh), it's probably Gourmet.
What is the best cookbook ever?
Julia child....Nigella Lawson...
Recent Posts
Recent Favorites
Maleficent_fan hasn't favorited a post yet.
Polls
Maleficent_fan hasn't answered any polls yet.
Quizzes
Maleficent_fan hasn't taken any quizzes yet.
About Maleficent_fan
Location:
About: Married 21 years, 2 children (girls) 19 and 16, 3 dogs & 1 pot belly pig! Live in No. California just north of Napa Valley.
Favorite foods: Mexican food that our friend Victor makes. He makes melanessa (spelling?) breaded & fried carne asada...yummy! Also LOVE italian food....favorite restaraunt is Mario's Ristorante Italiano in Redwood Valley...all made from scratch, it is fantastic!
Last bite on earth:
I've made home-made ice cream cakes before, and they are so much better than the store bought! They are pretty simple too. I always bake cakes for my friends and family for the parties that I throw. Not necessarily from scratch, (sometimes) but I always use mayo instead of eggs in the cakes! Happened by accident one year (about 3 hours before the party, I realized no eggs in sight!) my good friend just said to add a tablespoon of mayo for each egg that was called for, and it would be fine. I tell ya - best most moist cake ever!
I think my favorite scratch cake was the Milky Way Cake from my Disney cookbook.....so fantastic, but not good for hot weather - the melted chocolate "frosting" is real messy when it's hot out!