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Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
We never actually have anything too weird, but when my mother worked on holidays, while she was building seniority in the hospital (thhis took fifteen years, by the way), my father and I would be in charge of the Thanksgiving dinner. Now, I normally, as a child, had the easy stuff - potatoes, bread, cranberry can/sauce. My father always took the turkey...which meant *his* stuffing....which was essentially a little sage with some stuffing thrown in for good measure.
I would always buy a box of Stouffer's Stuffing to have a little, since, although not the best, still better than a mouthful of sage. Now, I love sage, but a little goes a loooooonnnnnggg way, especially when you are stuffing it into the butt of a turkey for hours.
Favorite Pizza Condiment??
I don't think that I have ever really been one to add much of anything to a pizza. To me, if I order it the way that I like, with the toppings and sauce that I want, then I really don't feel the need to add anything to it. Having said that, though, if I order one that I expect to be spicy and they skimp on the ingredients, then I sometimes have been forced to add some red pepper flakes to it. But that's rare.
First Home! What Should I Make First??
I love these ideas! Thank you and thank you all for the well wishes, too!
I think that I might not try a pie from scratch just yet, as it's more complicated than I would like while I am learning the new place/appliances and where to put things. :) Hopefully, I can just find what I am looking for after I put it all away!
I love the idea of slow-roasting something, either a pot roast in the oven or a stew in the slow cooker. I love that idea, especially since it's so cold now, and I live in teh frozen North.
And bread - oh, yeah! That would be great! A nice loaf of whole grain/wheat bread would be really nice. And I just bought some great new yeast, too, so I could try out the proofing ability of my new digs. :)
I am so excited it hurts!
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Welcoming Treat
Well, it's a small complex in the Midwest (Twin Cities) and when I first moved in, one of the HOA reps came by and introduced himself and basically was telling me how much of a community it all is. Everyone is about my age, give or take, and apparently they have parties and gatherings all the time. I would like to start off on a good note and meet them all...if even just know who I live near now.
I love the idea of gingersnaps, too! But, the krispie treats might also work....hmm....
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
We never actually have anything too weird, but when my mother worked on holidays, while she was building seniority in the hospital (thhis took fifteen years, by the way), my father and I would be in charge of the Thanksgiving dinner. Now, I normally, as a child, had the easy stuff - potatoes, bread, cranberry can/sauce. My father always took the turkey...which meant *his* stuffing....which was essentially a little sage with some stuffing thrown in for good measure.
I would always buy a box of Stouffer's Stuffing to have a little, since, although not the best, still better than a mouthful of sage. Now, I love sage, but a little goes a loooooonnnnnggg way, especially when you are stuffing it into the butt of a turkey for hours.
Favorite Pizza Condiment??
I don't think that I have ever really been one to add much of anything to a pizza. To me, if I order it the way that I like, with the toppings and sauce that I want, then I really don't feel the need to add anything to it. Having said that, though, if I order one that I expect to be spicy and they skimp on the ingredients, then I sometimes have been forced to add some red pepper flakes to it. But that's rare.
First Home! What Should I Make First??
I love these ideas! Thank you and thank you all for the well wishes, too!
I think that I might not try a pie from scratch just yet, as it's more complicated than I would like while I am learning the new place/appliances and where to put things. :) Hopefully, I can just find what I am looking for after I put it all away!
I love the idea of slow-roasting something, either a pot roast in the oven or a stew in the slow cooker. I love that idea, especially since it's so cold now, and I live in teh frozen North.
And bread - oh, yeah! That would be great! A nice loaf of whole grain/wheat bread would be really nice. And I just bought some great new yeast, too, so I could try out the proofing ability of my new digs. :)
I am so excited it hurts!
My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal...
@betteirene: You have no idea! We have always done that, actually - both sides of the family - and it's the *best* way of using the leftovers. Now, some people in teh family heat the turkey, but for me, it's nothing but fridge-cold! And just ketchup, too - no mustard, mayo, nothing else, not even butter. And believe me, once you try it you will be a convert! :)
My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal...
My mother's homemade buns. I have the same recipe, but they never ever turn out nearly as good as hers. She is famous for them. THey are light and slightly buttery sweet and just the right size for the great cold turkey and ketchup sandwiches that make cooking an entire turkey for only three people a tradition every year. I remember dreaming of them during the rest of the year, but she never makes them except for Thanksgiving. I will never be able to recreate them as well as she does, but only serves to make them all the more specialand delicious!
Potted Fruit Trees?
Thanks for the ideas! Even if it doesn't bear fruit, just the nice smell of a lemon tree would be nice!
Living on the Edge: Gas Station Junk Food
I once an entire bag of those really good Honey Wheat pretzel twists from Rold Gold (I think?) on a long bus trip from Aspen to Denver back in college. Otherwise, it's any kind of popcorn or pretzels. I am definitely a salt person, but have never (gasp, I know) enjoyed potato chips.
Favorite Bagel Fillings/Toppings?
Definitely a whole grain, or seedy-style bagel with a little cream cheese, thin slices of tomato and smoked salmon! I know, it's a common favorite, but for a good reason!
What would you eat for 30 days?
Either popcorn or oatmeal. And if I could add seasonings or toppins, respectively, I could go a *lot* longer than that! I spent the better part of a solid Year (really, this is no joke) eating only those two things....not the healthiest, but I don't clam to be Marion Nestle, and I was totally, utterly, skint for that entire time...thanks PhD.
It's Over - What candy is left, and what will you do with it?
I hate having so many leftovers, so since I knew that we never get a lot of trick-or-treaters at our home, I only bought one bag of Kit Kats, which I don't even really care for (OD'd of them as a kid), so I took the leftovers and turned them into some really nice chocolate cookies, made with *loads* of cocoa powder and sugar and crunched up (coarse chunks) Kit Kat bars. They turned otu pretty well, so I am happy, and my coworkers are now on a sugar high.
Toaster Oven Inquiry
Thanks, everyone! I have another question for those of you that have used them (or still do). I am moving into a great little condo, and have my own terrace, but the HOA doesn't let people (very understandably) have individual grills on their decks. We have to use the ones in the shared area in the middle. Well, that's just fine for the warm months, but I live in Minnesota and love to grill all year round (mostly fish and veggies, but the occasional dogs, brats, burgers, too) and the prospect of having to stand in -20 degrees trying to grill doesn't make me happy. Do these toaster ovens do anything like a "mock" grill that might be "good enough"?
Paul Rudnick's Candy Diet
I think that overall, people should eat a reasonably healthy diet, but there will always be people who eat strange foods and are perfectly healthy. For instance, I never once witnessed my grandmother eat anything besides meat. And I mean that. Nothing. No potatoes, no sweets, no breakfast foods or even eggs. Just meat. And she drank heavily (gradually became dependent, though maybe not an alcoholic) and she lived to be 91! I, on the other hand, have eaten only the same thing (hot dogs, in my case) for dinner every single night for months and months (I tend to get on trends like that - for awhile it was soup, before that it was baked beans out of the tin) and my doctor checked me out recently (at the annual, of course) and said that I was fit as a fiddle. :) So, everyone is different. That is the beauty (and curse) of human variation.
What's your food therapy?
Definitely grocery shopping - good call out @pooroldmama!
Also, anything with baking, but normally something that is labor intensive, not just whipping up brownies and letting them sit in the oven. Cookies are better, or things that have multiple steps.
Do You Like Mock Foods?
@thehostess: I do, too! I thought that I might be the only one. I tried them once, when I was trying to make pizza for my parents who both wanted to go on a healthier diet (which they tend to start anew each day) and I loved them! Now I use them over anything else, really. Real pepperoni just tastes like peppered grease, if you ask me.
Do You Like Mock Foods?
@jpunk: I have never tried it, but always had the curiosity to do it...maybe I should do that this weekend on a lark. :)
Best Halloween Candy?
Okay, either Snickers or for a regional item, I would easily choose either Pearson's Nut Goodie or Pearson's Salted Nut Roll....great, now I am drooling again...
What desserts do you crave?
I don't really have much of a sweet tooth, despite the copious amounts of baked goods that I make all the time, but I have a weakness for gingerbread cookies. Thank goodness that time of year really only lasts for a couple of months, or I would likely be twice the size of me. :)
Any food you could eat daily til' you kick the bucket?!
Popcorn. You can pry my popcorn popper from my cold dead hands. And if you do, I will haunt you!
Eating out in Minneapolis area?
What types of food are you looking for? Do you have a price-point that you need to watch out for?
If you like higher-end stuff, I would recommend my personal favorite - The Glockenspiel - which is actually in Saint Paul, but has authentic and amazing German food.
For sushi, try Fuji-ya, which has private rooms, too, for parties like yours where they serve it all to you in the traditional way.
For Italian on a budget, try Cossetta's over in Saint Paul, too. Fantastic, fun and great for a cheap night out!
Otherwise, what are more specific things that you are looking for? Or want to avoid?
Fruit Loops served at Best Western...
I have travelled (hence the moniker) *a lot*, but one motel experience that I alsways remember is the old motel that my family would stay at every time that we travelled up north (and by north, I mean literally a mile south of Manitoba) to visit my grandparents when I was a child (we stayed at that farm up until they started having trouble when it was just the two of them, so staying at the motel made it easier all around).
Anyway, we are talking ho-dunk, middle-of-nowhere, don't-have-to-impress-becasue-it;s-the-only-option motels (two - they are in a town at crosses the Canadian truck route), so they never even offered breakfast. We had a lousy (never did work) coffee maker (not that i used it as a child) in the room, but every morning I remember going to the Mileage Cafe that would serve up HUGE pancakes, one at a time (I remember that my mother was confused when the waitress first asked her how many that my brother and I wanted - since she order three each, and the waitress had to explain the size). They were literally the size of a large platet, which for a small child is a *big* pancake. With that fake maple syrup that you get at roadside cafes. I am sure that the flavor was horrible (they stopped serving them years ago, unfortunately, even though I still go up there to visit my relatives), but the memory makes them still smell and taste so good in my mind!!
If You Smelled Like Any Food...
@orlandodrknmnky: Don't feel too badly. When I was a barista at a chain coffee place (it was high school/college and I needed the money) I came home smelling like burnt espresso and spilled coffee and whipped cream. The problem was that, at the time, I had a Saint Bernard and she thought that I *was* food, and would lick me incessantly until I could shower and change!
If You Smelled Like Any Food...
Yeah, okay anything with pumpkin I would immediately go for! How could I have forgotten that?
And maybe hot choclate with marshmallows (at least in the winter)...
If You Smelled Like Any Food...
@_greenbean: Great idea! What about ginger snaps? Those would be great!
Cooking or Pastry classes you'd like to take
Souffles!!! I am normally a very confident baker, but they scare the daylights out of me!
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Not sure if I would call it weird.. but we would always have tomato aspic with a little onion, green olive and shrimp peering out from the shimmering, and shivering, mold. Sliced and served with a dollop of homemade lemon mayonnaise.
Sounds gross.. but it's pretty awesome.
Welcoming Treat
What about just having a regular housewarming, invite your friends, and include your neighbors? Put together a nice invitation to slip under their door, or whatever, and if they come they come. If they don't, then you have a cozy night with friends. No issues for allergies, food going to waste, weird conversation in the hall, etc.
Put together some deelish cocktails/wine/snacks and yer golden.
Good luck!
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
My boyfriends mom puts out pitted dates, stuffed with either cream cheese or peanut butter, rolled in sugar. The ones with the cream cheese are mmmm.
She also puts out the olives/pickles. So weird!
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@foodie,foodie! - I don't know that I would call deviled eggs a weird food. And seeing as how they get made for every family get together in my family, hardly Thanksgiving food :P. Also they're usually the first things to disappear from the table ...
Welcoming Treat
Sorry all you New Yorkers, but Twin Cities is home to Minnesota Nice -- people will eat anything.
But I'm with others on the idea of maybe inviting folks into your place! You could try to put on a "minnesota" meal -- bars, hot dish, state fair food on sticks -- they'll get a kick out of it! :-)
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@KarynMC - that sounds marginally better than a bowl full of eye of frog. ;)
Welcoming Treat
hm, since there is a concern about your food getting thrown away, how about a small pot of herb that you can keep by a kitchen window?
I got a pot of mums from my next door neighbor when I moved to a new neighborhood (I was touched!), and THEN I baked them madeleines for a thank-you gift.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Have got to mention the "deviled eggs!"
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@wellred - It's pretty much a weird name for ambrosia. Canned pineapple juice reduced into a sauce and mixed into acini de pepi, mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks and mini marshmallows (unless I am eating it). At the end, you fold in cool whip (unless I am eating it).
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
My mother always made pimento cheese to eat on soft, white bread while Thanksgiving dinner cooked. She made it with an old fashioned meat grinder attached to the kitchen table. I wouldn't touch the stuff back then, but last thanksgiving, i made a batch according to her recipe and it was a big hit!! No meat grinder though.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@KarynMC - What is frog eye salad??
Our food is on the tame side, but the names for it aren't. Mashed potatoes have been Mashed Steven since I was about twelve (Steven is a family friend), the turkey is always Turkus Maximus, etc.
We did discover one year at Canadian Thanksgiving that my mom's pumpkin bread goes really well with adobo (chicken/pork cooked in soy sauce, vinegar and garlic). Delicious!
Welcoming Treat
How about some mini-loaves of pumpkin, zucchini or banana bread?
Welcoming Treat
it's sad to say, but i wouldn't bother...just let introductions play themselves out organically. (i don't trust 'stranger' food either, Cassaendra-it goes in the garbage as soon as they're out of view)
Welcoming Treat
Sorry, Traveller, but you've got it backwards. Your new neighbors should be welcoming you to the neighborhood (which is an acceptably polite way of being nosy about the new people) by stopping by with plates of goodies.
I'd bring a small platter of assorted homemade cookies, candies and quick-bread slices to a condo association board meeting instead. Trust me--your name will spread like wildfire through the building and your neighbors will go out of their way to say "hello" and stop by. Unless, of course, you're curious about how what your neighbors are like and how they've decorated their condos.
Welcoming Treat
Truffles are easy, and almost everyone loves them. You only have to make some ganache, chill it, and scoop out your truffles (about teaspoon sized). You can roll them in different toppings (cocoa powder, chopped coconut, holiday sprinkles, whatever will stick).
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
I discovered potato salad with turkey dinners when I was working in a large metropolitan hospital and found that my African-American co-workers would bring it as part of a potluck turkey meal. And despite what Mom always said about Thanksgiving meals too much about "starch", i.e., carbohydrates, I thought it was a great addition to the meal. It's cool, the texture a good contrast to the other items, and if I'm doing a really big turkey dinner, as opposed a pared-down one, I've kept it on the family menu.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Nut loaf. My parents became vegetarians when I was very young, so turkey did not show up on our table. Instead, there was 'nut loaf', or as my mum called it, 'nut meat'. Whatever. Essentially, it is like a meatloaf... without meat. Never could cope with the texture, leading to ugly brawls between my dad an myself every Thanksgiving.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Every year, either my mom or my grandma makes the "carrot ring." It's basically shredded carrots, lots of cheddar cheese, butter, and some bread crumbs molded into some sort of ring-shaped baking dish and baked. It's actually amazing, but it's funny when we have new people to dinner. They say, "I'll take some more of that orange stuff." :)
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Making the stuffed celery was usually my job; cream cheese, chopped walnuts mixed and stuffed into the celery stalks. Paprika dusted over the top.
Relish trays aren't just a French-Canadian tradition. I grew up in suburban Philly and we always had the pickle/olive/stuffed celery/carrot sticks at major holiday meals. I also remember most "nice" restaurants always served a relish tray before dinner.
Favorite Pizza Condiment??
At our pizzeria we have red pepper flakes and parmesan on every table. We also have Tabasco and similar sauces and we have two homemade sauces: creamy chipotle and chimuchurri. This last one is intended to go with "empanadas" but a lot of clients request it to have it with their pizza, it has a strong lemony/parsley taste. They some times ask for our (also) homemade Italian dressing, but creamy chipotle is the most requested of all.
My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal...
@julea
I'm with you - all my friends know that I'll be bringing the "shape of the can" - it has become a minor competition to see who can dump the cranberry sauce out in perfect "can" shape. However, my favorite part is the other thing no one else I know likes but me - mincemeat pie.
Favorite Pizza Condiment??
I don't mind the condiments on my pizza, but I don't go dipping. What I want on the pizza is already there.
I like a pizza that's smeared with garlic butter, basil pesto, artichokes and oven cured tomatoes.
Favorite Pizza Condiment??
I've started eating pizza by choice recently. The place near our house serves their pizza with honey packed on the side.
On my pizzas, I add a lot of crushed red pepper flakes and dip the pizza in honey, even the chicken ranch pizza.
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Well, it's a small complex in the Midwest (Twin Cities) and when I first moved in, one of the HOA reps came by and introduced himself and basically was telling me how much of a community it all is. Everyone is about my age, give or take, and apparently they have parties and gatherings all the time. I would like to start off on a good note and meet them all...if even just know who I live near now.
I love the idea of gingersnaps, too! But, the krispie treats might also work....hmm....