elderberry44’s Profile
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The reality for truly poor on food stamps
Has she tried Angel Food Ministries? I used to help put the boxes together for them in my area at my church. It's a great way to get a lot of food for a small price!
Frosting... :-/
This is my go to frosting for cake....very smooth and pipes beautifully and it doesn't just taste like sweet butter.
Very Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
2 and 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
1 and 1/4 cup egg whites
5 sticks butter (half salted)
1/4 cup pure vanilla
Optional flavorings, Omit all but 1 tsp vanilla and add either:
-4 oz melted chocolate – white, milk or dark
-2 tb instant espresso disolved in 2 tb pure vanilla
-1/2 cup of pureed fruit – raspberries (seeds removed), strawberries, mango, cherries etc.
-1/2 cup lemon or lime curd
- 2 to 4 tb flavored liqueur – amarettto, chambord, grand marnier (sp?) , godiva, kahlua (sp?) etc.
-4 oz cream cheese (softened, whipped alone and FOLDED in)
-2 tb or to taste, pure extracts: orange, lemon, almond, mint etc.
Instructions
Over a double boiler , whisk the sugar and egg whites for 3 to 5 minutes until the sugar has melted. you can use a candy thermometer to see that it has reached over 140 OR you can test by rubbing a little between your fingers for smoothness. if the mixture is still grainy, its not ready. when it is, transfer the mixture to a stand mixer and use a whisk attachment on high until the bowl is no longer warm to the touch. about 7 to 10 minutes. Then switch to the paddle attachment and on low (1) add the softened butter one tb at a time. beat on low until it becomes smooth and creamy. Once complete, you can add the vanilla slowly , or other flavorings and or gel color.
This will be an ivory colored frosting because of the use of butter and pure vanilla extract.
What's for Dinner, Tuesday May 24?
BBQ'ed chicken tenders, homemade mac n cheese, seasoned green beans and piping hot yeast rolls....yumm. Simple and tasty (it was my middle child's turn to pick dinner) and we are had a quick stone fruit salad for dessert (cherries, apricots, plums and peaches), topped with a cooked lemon dressing my mom always made when we were kids that consists of butter, sugar, egg, a little salt and lemon juice, cooked and cooled and then folded into whipped cream which is then folded into the fruit.
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elderberry44 answered "Grocery store chain" to Where'd You Do Most of Your Thanksgiving Grocery Shopping?
elderberry44 answered "I don't drink soda" to Do You Prefer Regular or Diet Soda?
elderberry44 answered "Always." to Do you ask before eating off a friend's plate?
elderberry44 answered "String by string" to How Do You Eat String Cheese?
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elderberry44 got 50% correct on How Much Do You Know About Breakfast Foods?
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About elderberry44
Website: http://theberrypatch.blogspot.com/
Location: Southern USA
About: I like to bake rather than cook. I love to experiment with odd-sounding cakes and pies. I collect retro and vintage cookbooks.
Favorite foods: anything sweet, I have a whole mouth of sweet teeth! I really like coconut sticky rice, nutella, pancakes, pecan pie. Non-sweet: pastrami, homemade hash, latkes, brisket, hashbrown casserole, BBQ chicken.
Last bite on earth:

Both my parents worked when I was a kid so we fed ourselves a lot, mostly cold cereal (Sugar Smacks, Corn Pops, Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes with sliced bananas were the faves) and pop tarts, Co-Co Wheats and Malt O Meal in the winter and I remember some hot cereal thing from the 80's that had a packet of jam or some fruit filling that you could mix in.
On her days off my mom made great french toast for us and I remember, every once in a while she would make breakfast casserole or breakfast burritos for us. The only time we ever got pancakes was on our twice yearly trip to grandmas house in the summer and winter. That was really the only time we ever ate eggs and bacon for breakfast as well.