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From Talk

Southern Bread Traditions

My family is from Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. I'd say that every bone in my body is southern -- no carpetbaggers here. I never heard of the no cornbread with meat rule. A typical meal at my grandparents' (including breakfast) would include at least one meat and often two; at least 3 vegetables; biscuits AND cornbread. Cornbread (including hushpuppies) is never sweet and contains no flour -- only cornmeal. This, of course, is how I was raised. I would never criticise someone else's taste or opinions. But if you come to my house and cornbread is on the menu, it will not be sweet and will not be dependent on whether there is also meat on the table. On the other hand, I have deviated from my grandmother's recipe by experimenting with whole wheat biscuits.

From Talk

Recipe Request: Scones

My scone recipe (see below) makes really delicate and light scones -- like the best biscuits my grandmother made. Calls for buttermilk, which is, I think, what makes them so light. The recipe is for orange-pecan scones, but you can alter the add-ins to make whatever kind you like -- it is pretty forgiving:

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
sugar
Preheat oven to 425º
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and orange rind.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Add buttermilk, orange juice, vanilla and pecans, stirring just until moistened.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.
Knead 3 or 4 times (but handle lightly).
Divide dough in half.
Pat each half into a 7-inch circle and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Cut each circle into 8 wedges.
Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.

From Talk

ruby red grapefruit...... from texas!

This may sound weird, but my husband's family has a recipe for a grapefruit and avocado salad. He says it is great.
Our avocado only had one on it this year, but the grapefruit tree is loaded (way more than we can handle). We are giving away to everyone we see.

From Talk

Lay out your cookie tray for me, see if we need to trade recipes

brownies
short bread (both plain and chocolate-dipped)
M&M cookies
pecan bars
coffee toffee (actually candy - not cookies)
sugar cookies
gingerbread men (and stars, trees, etc.) -- with dough left over from the gingerbread houses
cheese straws (savory -- not sweet, but an annual tradition)

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From Talk

no-bake dessert ideas?

From Talk

spice cake recipe needed

From Talk

cake cooked in a waffle iron?

From Talk

aphorism for the day

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Recent Comments

From Talk

Southern Bread Traditions

My family is from Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. I'd say that every bone in my body is southern -- no carpetbaggers here. I never heard of the no cornbread with meat rule. A typical meal at my grandparents' (including breakfast) would include at least one meat and often two; at least 3 vegetables; biscuits AND cornbread. Cornbread (including hushpuppies) is never sweet and contains no flour -- only cornmeal. This, of course, is how I was raised. I would never criticise someone else's taste or opinions. But if you come to my house and cornbread is on the menu, it will not be sweet and will not be dependent on whether there is also meat on the table. On the other hand, I have deviated from my grandmother's recipe by experimenting with whole wheat biscuits.

From Talk

Recipe Request: Scones

My scone recipe (see below) makes really delicate and light scones -- like the best biscuits my grandmother made. Calls for buttermilk, which is, I think, what makes them so light. The recipe is for orange-pecan scones, but you can alter the add-ins to make whatever kind you like -- it is pretty forgiving:

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
sugar
Preheat oven to 425º
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and orange rind.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Add buttermilk, orange juice, vanilla and pecans, stirring just until moistened.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.
Knead 3 or 4 times (but handle lightly).
Divide dough in half.
Pat each half into a 7-inch circle and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Cut each circle into 8 wedges.
Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.

From Talk

ruby red grapefruit...... from texas!

This may sound weird, but my husband's family has a recipe for a grapefruit and avocado salad. He says it is great.
Our avocado only had one on it this year, but the grapefruit tree is loaded (way more than we can handle). We are giving away to everyone we see.

From Talk

Lay out your cookie tray for me, see if we need to trade recipes

brownies
short bread (both plain and chocolate-dipped)
M&M cookies
pecan bars
coffee toffee (actually candy - not cookies)
sugar cookies
gingerbread men (and stars, trees, etc.) -- with dough left over from the gingerbread houses
cheese straws (savory -- not sweet, but an annual tradition)

From Talk

Bison Burger.

I like them better than beef burgers. If we go out for hamburgers, and bison is on the menu, then that is what I order.

From Talk

no-bake dessert ideas?

thanks, guys for some terrific suggestions. We had already nixed the ice cream idea (our guests will be traveling about 45 minutes, and the weather is cold and wet).
We considered something with custard, and I really was lobbying for chocolate mousse. I think that chocolate is going to win.
As we are about 45 minutes from the closest grocery store (mountain cabin in North Carolina), we are making do with what's in the fridge.
Thanks again.

From Serious Eats

Win a Free Organic D'Artagnan Turkey Here!

We are definitely having the bacon cornbread dressing.

From Serious Eats

Win a Free Organic D'Artagnan Turkey Here!

it's going to have to be the Corn Bread Dressing with Pecans and Bacon

From Serious Eats

Win a Free Organic D'Artagnan Turkey Here!

Do I have to choose only one?
I would say the Best Drop Biscuits, but the Oven Roasted Potato Wedges also sound great.

From Talk

anybody have a hot cocoa mix recipe?

My hot cocoa "recipe" is pretty basic. I like mine very dark and a little bitter, so you might have to adjust to your taste:
equal parts cocoa and sugar -- for example for 8 ounces of milk, I use 2 tablespoons each of cocoa and sugar.
Actually I blend that into some extra milk and whisk it until it's dissolved, so that might end up being the right amount for about 9 ounces of milk.
Sometimes I add a splash of vanilla after it's heated.

From Talk

Favorite Vanilla?

The absolutely best vanilla I ever had was a brand of Mexican called Xel-Ha.
My brother brought me back an entire pint of it when he was down there on vacation. I've used it all up and have not found any other that is as good as that. So, if you are ever in the vicinity of Cozumel (near where the cruise ships come in), look for it.

From Talk

Ricotta Recipes Needed!

OK, so what's Italian Love Cake?

by the way, the Italian Easter Pie (or, as some call it, Ricotta Pie) is terrific.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'The Modern Baker'

My biggest baking disaster was a loaf of bread that I actually named "disaster bread."
It was the year that 4 hurricanes came through central Florida. We were "between" hurricanes and were moving to a new house across town. I decided to make a loaf of bread to take to the new house.
I accidentally picked up my bag of mixed nuts and seeds and used that instead of flour (how could I not notice?). I was aware that it seemed kind of "dense" when I kneaded it, but the brick that came out of my oven was indescribable. It actually tasted kind of good, if you could get past the texture.

From Talk

spice cake recipe needed

Thanks, guys, for all of your recipes and suggestions.
Here's what I'm going to do:
I have some egg whites left over from a tart I made this weekend. I'm going to start with a basic white cake, to which I will add spices.
That will give me a starting point and then I can vary/add/subtract from there.
My goal is to have the cake recipe perfected by Thanksgiving so that I can bake it for my dad -- and everyone will rave over how much it is just like Grandmother's!

From Talk

spice cake recipe needed

@Niblet: I actually did look at Emeril's recipe, but don't think that is like what I am looking for.

@beth1: I think that, rather than a yellow cake, I will probably start with a white cake. This was definitely a light-colored cake.

The problem with most of the recipes that I have found is that they are for the more traditional molasses/brown sugar -- ginger -- type of dark spice cake. I have several terrific gingerbread recipes, but this is not what I am looking for at this time.

@laurelvan: I would love to see your 1939 recipe, if it is for a lighter version. As I mentioned in my original post, the predominant spice flavor is that of allspice. Of course I can play with, and alter the spices called for in a recipe. Mainly I am looking for that light beige color and light, but moist, texture.

Thanks, everyone for suggestions!

From Serious Eats

Soda vs. Pop vs. Whatever: What Do You Call Cola Drinks?

Well, I don't have a "why," but I think that in the south, it is most common to call all soft drinks "coke."
I know that we always did (in Georgia). Now I most often use "soft drink" but "coke" still makes sense to me. "Pop" and "soda" always sounded wrong to me.

From Talk

i'm looking for the best pound cake recipe ever!

This recipe for sour cream pound cake has been in my family for several generations. It is not at all temperamental and quite easy to make -- always wonderful. My grandparents were bakers/caterers and they even used it for wedding cakes:

2 sticks butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
1 cup sour cream
3 cups cake flour
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325º
Cream sugar and butter.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Add sour cream.
Sift together dry ingredients and gradually add to creamed mixture.
Add vanilla.
Pour batter into greased and floured bundt pan and bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes.

From Talk

cake cooked in a waffle iron?

It is my plan to layer the waffles with vanilla custard, then top with fresh peaches.

From Talk

different cocoas

Hershey's does make a dutch process cocoa. They market it as "Special Dark" and it comes with the same label as their special dark candy bar.
I use both natural and dutch cocoa, depending on what I have on hand. Each gives its own special flavor to the recipe. But you have to be careful. If the recipe calls for baking soda, then use natural cocoa (dutch processed cocoa is quite alkaline, and combining it with baking soda can give a strange taste to the food it's cooked in).

From Talk

SE users: please introduce yourselves.

papillon -- actually the name of my cat (who looks nothing like a butterfly). I'm not telling my age, but it looks like I am older than all of you. No children, but two cats -- the other is Ebony (guess what color she is).
I love to bake and like to spend all day in the kitchen, when I have time -- which is rarely.
I read SE daily, but don't often post.
My day job is totally unrelated to food (teaching) and I live in central Florida.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: The Cornbread Gospels

I grew up on true Southern cornbread, which does not have any sugar (or flour) in it. Therefore, I never developed a taste for the Jiffy mix. My cornbread is simply cornmeal (preferably yellow), buttermilk, egg, and shortening (plus leavening, of course).
And it must be baked in a smoking hot cast iron skillet.
But, I also loved my grandmother's johhny cakes, which were fried on the stove, also in a cast iron skillet.

From Recipes

Baking with Dorie: Lemon-Lemon Lemon Cream

this does look spectacular, and I will be trying it. But, I want to know where LoCo lives. My Meyer lemons are already juiced and in the freezer. My tree has blossoms on it, but I won't have ripe lemons again until Christmas.
We are in central Florida.

From Talk

So, how likely are you to make those Sloppy Joe's?

I haven't made (or eaten) sloppy joes in so long that I can't remember the last time. The recipe looks really good and I will definitely try it. But will have to wait until my parents leave (they are visiting for a week), as my mom does not eat ground beef or tomato products!

From Talk

my yeast bread dough always rises really fast

OK, I will try the overnight in the fridge method next time -- it will just require some advance planning.
As for "sourdough tends to be a slow riser anyway" -- maybe that's the way it's supposed to be, but that has not been my experience. Either it overproofs and I have to punch it down and start over, or it deflates once in the oven. Perhaps it will work with the fridge method also.
Thanksl for your advice!

From Talk

Do you have one favorite go-to, all comprehensive cookbook?

My mom gave me "The Settlement Cookbook" when I first went out on my own, and I loved that book. Gave my copy to my nephew when he got his first apartment, planning to gey a new copy for myself.
Was disappointed to find that it is out of print.
I have since bought the 75th anniversary "Joy of Cooking" and have been enjoying it almost as much as Settlement.

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Recent Posts

From Talk

no-bake dessert ideas?

From Talk

spice cake recipe needed

From Talk

cake cooked in a waffle iron?

From Talk

aphorism for the day

From Talk

my yeast bread dough always rises really fast

From Talk

meat from humanely raised animals

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