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Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
Oh I love these things!
Yes to favoriting the licorice ones--those are fantastic.
I love all those chalky dry candies...nom.
Don't think I want them in a cupcake, but I love to eat them plain. In color order, by favorites, best for last.
Pumpkin Pie Ideas Needed
My favorite is Julia Childs' Aunt Helens' Rum Pumpkin Pie.
Most fantastic pie I have ever had. The regular stuff does not even tempt me anymore compared to this one.
Delicious.
Do You Like Mock Foods?
I have made the mock apple pie--
The story that tends to go along with it is it was created out of a desire for a dessert but a lack of or inability to afford fruit/apples.
My grandma made it every year around the holidays for an aunt who loved when she made it back in the 50's.
It is edible, but not great, and certainly does not have an apple-like texture, just the spices.
I am also not a fan of fake food products, or food mimics. I am a pescatarian now, but I can make a meal just fine without "fake meat" of any kind. I do like tofu and such, but I don't prep it as I would meat.
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Anyone else forage the yard for greens and such come spring?
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 30, 2009 at 4:30 PM
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
My fave two things to do with lots of onions (at least that really feature the onions themselves-)
Saute a ton of chopped onions and some garlic in olive oil and a smidge of butter.
Pour over a pork or beef roast or just some big chunky mushrooms, add salt, pepper, a few dashes of Worcestershire and a bottle or two of Guinness Stout. Bake in a slow oven (275-325) for a few hours til very tender.
Reduce the sauce after taking out he meat/onions/shrooms and serve with taters, rice etc. NOM.
Also Faire-style mushrooms. Saute a ton of shopped onions and a ton and a half of garlic in olive oil. Add salt and pepper and mushrooms. LOTS of mushrooms. Saute til just tender and add lots of beef broth. Simmer a few hours and serve with bread. Awesome.
Roast them whole as a side or stuff them with something yummy before baking. Mmmm
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
Oh I love these things!
Yes to favoriting the licorice ones--those are fantastic.
I love all those chalky dry candies...nom.
Don't think I want them in a cupcake, but I love to eat them plain. In color order, by favorites, best for last.
Pumpkin Pie Ideas Needed
My favorite is Julia Childs' Aunt Helens' Rum Pumpkin Pie.
Most fantastic pie I have ever had. The regular stuff does not even tempt me anymore compared to this one.
Delicious.
Do You Like Mock Foods?
I have made the mock apple pie--
The story that tends to go along with it is it was created out of a desire for a dessert but a lack of or inability to afford fruit/apples.
My grandma made it every year around the holidays for an aunt who loved when she made it back in the 50's.
It is edible, but not great, and certainly does not have an apple-like texture, just the spices.
I am also not a fan of fake food products, or food mimics. I am a pescatarian now, but I can make a meal just fine without "fake meat" of any kind. I do like tofu and such, but I don't prep it as I would meat.
Would You Eat This Lobster?
Nope. He deserves something better than being eaten.
I am a year into pescatarianaism, so I still eat lobster, but I could not eat one that old.
I am with Chowdahead on the reverse argument for veal (other baby animals etc.) which I have never but once eaten.
Just because it is technically edible does not mean it HAS to b eaten. :) Let him live. :)
What's your spice aversion?
Cilantro. I have the taste thing that makes it soap-like to me. Yuck.
Not a huge tarragon fan either.
Persimmons...
Yes, if you can, eat them out of hand.
You can make persimmon butter, just like apple or peach, and it is great as a jam, dessert topping, ice cream topping etc.
Add chunks to an apple crisp with very tart apples and a nice crumble top.
Lay slices on top of a pork roast as you cook it, or make a compote to go with it or chicken etc. Yummy.
Put in pie with other fruits.
Roast with squash wedges/chunks and sweet sausage (or just the veg).
Fold into a spice bread recipe like you would apples or cranberries.
Dessert sauce for gingerbread
Oooh. For me I like a whiskey and butter sauce or a pear glaze on some types of gingerbread.
Whipped cream is also always an awesome choice.
Any creamy but not too sweet custard or cream anglaise (as was suggested) or a hard sauce like the type used for plum puddings.
Yum.
Buttermilk
@Chiano--interesting to think of sour milk in coffee! Don't think I could manage that one (as I prefer my coffee sweet and creamy and have had many a time my milk has gone over and I toss out the coffee if I added it before noticing.)
@ocarol--Oh my, buttermilk gingerbread sounds VERY good. I will have to try making some now that it is gingerbread season! YUM!
@betteirene--I would rather watch someone drink buttermilk than clobbered cream! Now THAT is hard to watch!
Soft-Boiled Eggs-Your eating style
I have also not eaten one in many many years (be a breakfast cook for awhile when you are already not a big breakfast/egg fan and watch how fast any desire to eat them disappears) but I often did as a kid.
My mom would make a really gooey one and take it out of the shell into a bowl with lots of salt and pepper. Sometimes a piece of toast with it. Was a nice breakfast on a cold snowy school morning.
Buttermilk
Yup, I was going to say a nice chocolate cake or some awesome biscuits or scones.
Also buttermilk pie--pretty darn wonderful.
Homemade Kahlua
I make it every year and have twisted the 70's recipe to make it a bit stronger.
I prefer white sugar, as the brown tends to get more syrupy than I like and I don't like the taste as much. Maybe try some raw sugar instead? You can cut the amount of the syrup back or add more alcohol so it is less sweet.
I always use about a third more vodka above what is called for so it is less dessert-sauce and more cocktail.
If you use real coffee, you have to make some seriously strong espresso to make it have the same flavor punch. If someone has a good way to do it other than brewing super-espresso (or the instant that is usually called for and I use) I would love to hear it.
I also use real vanilla beans rather than extract and have found that makes a difference in the taste.
Good luck!
What's up for dinner tonight? Thursday 10/15
I am late chiming in--long day.
For me just baked acorn squash from my recent haul with lots of butter and pepper. A cold apple and some leftover chapatis bread I had in the freezer. Simple, but awfully good after a long day. I hope to do some real cooking this weekend!
You all ate some tasty things!
Where to eat in Ann Arbor, MI?
Have not been to Palio or Paesano so I can't compare, but I have been to Gratzi and I agree that it is very good.
Have fun!
Serious Cocktails: Women and Whiskey
I have been drinking whiskey since I started drinking. Fell in love with the taste as a kid when stealing sips of what at first I thought were my dads' cokes, only to find they were mixed...but I liked it.
Nothing else compares, and there is no second favorite or "right after blank" for me.
I drank Jack for years, before I could afford to expand my palette, and now I tend to prefer Irish. I agree on the Redbreast--very nice.
Not as big on the bourbons--they taste too sweet to me, but I am a fan of the scotches too.
Rocks, straight, in a simple cocktail or with a little soda--no froufy things, and no coke/pop.
Have been to a great tasting at a restaurant near me hosted by the awesome liquor and gourmet food shop 2 blocks from me, and am wanting to keep learning more and tasting types I have not had or can't afford.
I need a whiskey buddy though! No one I know enjoys it the same way, not even the men.
I don't mind the gender skew though, and I hope this does not become some sort of fad, where girls chug it down just because it is 'in' rather than because they really really like it.
Yay for real women who love whiskey.
What Did You Eat Today?
So wrong....since I cook all day my personal meals have all been deplorably sad lately. Lots of cold sandwiches and just nibbling at work as I cook.
I will have to get my fix vicariously thru all of you instead!
Stawberries + Crème Fraîche = Me looking for recipe ideas
I love creme fraiche so much all by itself I would probably just make strawberries Romanoff (or use some other nice liqueur) and dip them in it, or whip the creme fraiche a bit til fluffy and fold the booze, some chopped candied ginger and the chopped strawberries that have been left to set a bit in some sugar. Sort of a fool or syllabub type dessert. Simple and fresh.
Whatever you do will be yummy I am sure!
Lots of sorrel...
Oh that sounds good Elsie! Yum!
I like sorrel mixed up into a quick pesto and put on baked or broiled fish.
I love sorrel! I did not get any this year and now I am sorry. (And hungry!)
Homemade liqueur recipes
I do a coffee liqueur every year for gifts too--love it!
I like making an orange liqueur too. I simmer orange peels in a simple syrup and add a little orange essence. Then I mix it with vodka or light rum.
This is great mixed with your own cranberry vodka (just chop some fresh ones and infuse the vodka for 3-4 weeks.)
I do a lavender in the summer the same way, and give it in tiny bottles since a little goes a long way. Great added to a vodka lemonade or even in some nice hot teas.
My other favorite is doing an Irish Cream. If you use evaporated milk and a good dark chocolate syrup (which you can make, no need to rely on Hershey's!) it lasts for quite a long time in the fridge--not that it ever lasts long ones people get their hands on it.
You can find a basic Irish Cream recipe on most of the big sites--then just sub out some evaporated milk for the cream. I tend to make mine a bit less sweet and add more whiskey, but that is just personal taste.
What Did You Eat Today?
I missed the cutoff to reply properly to this post, but I did want to say that I love these type of posts!
Not only to hear of the neat/interesting things folks are cooking, but of sharing the guilt/laziness/indulgence of a PB&J night, a pig-out of ice cream or a cheese and cracker with wine movie night.
Keep asking Pumpkinbear--I love to know.
Problems with baking/roasting in a gas oven
I have never been lucky enough to have gas at home (I rent) but at work I sure notice a difference.
Baking is not a huge issue, (I am very used to baking in gas) but roasting is. I just can't get it to work the way electric does, but that may be just me being more used to roasting at home and baking at work. Now that I do more all-purpose cooking at the new job I have issues.
Mostly it is the heat distribution in the double ovens that make me have to rotate the food more than I would ever have had to in my home electric oven.
It may be just getting used to the quirks of your new appliance, I imagine after awhile you will figure out how to make it work to your advantage. I hope anyway! :)
CHILI!!!
I am with the other posters--no way i could give a real recipe. Mine is different every time, depending on ingredients on hand and who I am feeding. Plus, regional ideas about how chili "should" be come into play for sure. I am still adjusting to the "yankee" version involving green pepper and celery that I keep encountering here. :) Tasty! But odd to me...
Hope yours was great! Really, can chili be bad?
Butternut squash bread
I actually like to make a standard white or wheat bread and just add in some squash puree (take out as much liquid as possible) as I add the first of the flour. I reduce the flour as needed depending on how it feels as I am mixing and kneading and it usually works out great.
Oatmeal bread recipes also lend themselves well to subbing out squash puree.
Hope yours was good!
In Season: Squash
My first big "thing" to celebrate fall is to head towards the lake (Lake MI) to a huge squash and pumpkin farm and buy a ton of whatever looks good.
I store it in my cool basement and use it whenever possible/all the time.
I seriously could eat it just about every day until January/February, and sometimes do!
I wish I was able to grow it, but walking the 2 acres of huge bins and piles of dozens of different kinds has become a fall ritual that I just love. It has gotten me to try some varieties I had never seen or heard of before, as well as having the best examples of my childhood favorites. Yum. So versatile--from savory to sweet, and I love keeping a reserve of good puree on hand for whatever baking idea pops into my head.
What a great post to see on top now that I am finally back on SE! Thanks!
I'm going to a Mad Men party and need to bring food. Help!
OMG bette! I am rolling on the floor!
GREAT ideas.
What amazes me is how many are still so popular!
I was not alive in the 60's, but I collect cookbooks from that era and just love the recipes--so many exactly like what you posted.
I worked as a cook in an assisted living and rehab facility and many of those types of foods would be requested, and the ladies would often show off the cookbooks they still had.
May I just say that Underwood deviled ham and cream cheese sandwiches on white bread were common when we were kids, as my mom loved them too.
A couple of my books have these as appetizer ideas:
*Sprinkle some parmesan cheese (the kind in the green can) over Club or saltine crackers. Wrap with a half slice of bacon and bake til the bacon is crisp.
*Bisquick made up into the drop biscuit dough, mixed with crumbled cooked sausage and American or cheddar cheese and baked.
Be sure all your platters have a nice layer of iceberg lettuce on them to garnish, and don't be afraid to toss maraschino cherries on everything sweet.
That party sounds like so much fun!
Homemade Kahlua
REAL (ALMOST) KAHLUA RECIPE
We usually start this on a Friday night & blend the next day. Makes about a gallon.
Bring 2 quarts water to boil.
Add 1 lb. good ground coffee
Return to boil for TWO MINUTES.
Remove from heat, cover & let sit overnight or 12 hours.
At same time, boil 4 cups water with 8 cups sugar
about 10 minutes, til slightly syrupy. Remove from heat,
cover & let sit, also.
Next day: Use a cloth bag or clean old pillowcase to strain grounds from
coffee.
Then mix: coffee, sugar syrup, 2-teaspoons real vanilla, & 2 pints grain alcohol (NOT VODKA). Vodka is something you mix with Kahlua, not an ingredient in it.
This is a recipe I've been making for years & it's a hit as a gift. We make it evey Christmas. Makes a whicked good White Russian, also.
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
Thanks for all the great recipes guys!
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
This is my white onion puree...good for using up a bunch of onions.
5# of white onions, roughly chopped
1 chef potato, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1/2 cup sherry
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
S&P
In a large pot over low heat melt a few tbsp of butter and add the onions, potato, thyme and garlic. Cook for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. You're not really looking for caramelized onions, they should be a very light brown color when done.
Add sherry to the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Place cooked onions into a blender and puree until smooth, add vinegar. If onions won't quite blend up splash in a little water or chicken stock.
Strain mixture through a chinois or other fine mesh strainer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
Oh my word...these all look so fantastic. Thanks much all of you!
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
Cover a sheet pan with foil, pour a little puddle of olive oil on the foil. Slice onions 3/8in thick, brush oo on both sides of onion slices, roast at 425 til just starting to brown on top - probably 25 minutes or so. Top with favorite salt and black pepper. Wonderful snack or meal.
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
Here are my suggestions:
1) Caramelize without effort in the slow cooker by filling your cooker (any size will work; I use my 6 quart) with sliced onions and about 1/2 cup oil or butter. Add in a bay leaf, sprig of rosemary, or sprig of thyme and cook on low for 10 to 14 hours. Also you won't need extra fat if you use more onions. In fact you don't even need sweet onions. I usually make with three pounds of organic yellow onions when I want to make this. It's great on meatloaf, steak, and pork chops and even works as a dip.
2) Ina Garten has a great recipe for pissaladiere, which is a Provencal style pizza/tart.
3) Here's another recipe for a pretty good onion tart with bacon and bleu cheese, though I think I made it with feta or goat cheese.
4) This chicken curry recipe calls for yellow onions, but sweet onions would work fine! It makes plenty of sauce so you can freeze some so you won't have to start from scratch the next time you want Indian.
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
Tinga de Pollo is amazingly flavorful and incredibly cheap. Although it's a time-consuming recipe, you can feed yourself for days on it for under ten dollars. The ingredients include:
4-6 lbs onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
1 28 oz. can tomato puree
1 can chipotles en adobo
1 tbsp vegetable oil
cumin and oregano to taste
salt
tostadas
sour cream
lime (optional)
Add vegetable oil to your largest sautee pan or rondeau (mine is nearly two feet in diameter) and heat on high for about two minutes before adding the onions and three teaspoons salt. Maintain high heat, stirring occassionally, until the onions have given up most of their water (they will stop steaming and the pan will be dry). Reduce heat to low and walk away, returning to stir every few minutes. Caramelizing this many onions can take up to an hour but it's well worth it and requires virtually no work. To speed up the process, toss a scant handful of sugar into the pan, raise the heat to medium and stir vigilantly.
Meanwhile, place chicken breast in a stock pot with the reserved onion skins and just cover with water. Season well with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat immediately and cook until the chicken is just slightly undercooked -- it will be fairly firm (feels like the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger) but still slightly pink. Take the meat off the bone and return the bones to the poaching liquid. This will be the stock for the tinga de pollo.
When the onions are caramelized, strain the stock and combine with the onions, the tomato puree, the adobo sauce (omit the chipotles themselves), cumin to taste (at least two teaspoons), and a generous dash of oregano and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low and cook for half an hour.
While the sauce is simmering, shred the chicken and add to the sauce five minutes before serving - it's important that you not overcook it.
Tinga is traditional served on a tostada spread with sour cream.
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
@JeSuisJuba - the ice cube trick is GENIUS. I can't wait to try it.
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
Empanada Gallega!
Here's a recipe. We always sweated the onions in lots of olive oil. We'd use the leftover oil to make a dough with flour, baking powder and some salt. We'd cover an oven rack with foil and use it as a pan. You spread half the dough on the rack and layer onions, soaked bacalao and roasted red peppers. Then cover with the rest of the dough, roll the edges and brush with some egg. Bake until golden.
It's great at room temp as a sandwich and you can replace the bacalao with canned tuna or any other meat you want.
10lbs of onions in a two person house! What to do?
Throw together a quick pizza dough (use 1/2 the amount of the Cook's Illustrated standard pizza dough). Then dice 5 onions into half moons, caramelize in some butter/olive oil for about 30 minutes over medium heat in a saute pan (don't use nonstick so they brown). When the onions are done, add an entire can of anchovies, oil and all. Stir together and let the anchovies melt into the onions. Top your pizza dough with the onions, kalamata olives and fresh parm or pecorino. Bake at 400.
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
I love all of those things. I don't have them anymore at my thanksgiving table, but if I'm served (any and all of it!) somewhere, I go for it and bask in nostalgia for days gone by with Nana and the whole fam!
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
@ mr guy- I agree, the brining doesn't do much for me either. I've done it the past two years, and if you ask me it's a big pain in the ass for little results. Expensive too.
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
Cans of thick slop and sludge never get anywhere near my cooking. As a matter of fact, Campbell's cream "soup" line is single handedly responsible for making crock pots the biggest laugh in the kitchen. (The crock pot was later de-throned by Sandra Lee as the biggest laugh in the kitchen - ironically a chronic user of cream soups.)
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
Don't be hating on me, but Campbell's creamy onion soup is far superior to use in casseroles versus the cream of mushroom. When I took over Thanksgiving duty from my MIL, that marshmallow sweet potato monstrosity was banned from my menu. As well as the canned cranberry "sauce", I make my own SF version from the real cranberries from the produce section.
Thanksgiving Foods We Love to Hate
Everything was fair game until you got to the marshmallows.
Marshmallows aren't Thanksgiving food. They're candy.
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
@eeels ROFLMAO!
Reminds of of a conversation recounted by a friend this Halloween. Upon meeting a toddler Yoda, she said, “May the force be with you”.
He responded, immediately, “And also with you”.
Would You Eat This Lobster?
What a great marketing opportunity. Keep the Big Boy Alive! Put this lobster on display and l make the best of it.
What's your spice aversion?
CUMIN... after 3 weeks in India a few years ago, i developed an aversion to cumin after a whole week straight of eating food seasoned with cumin. Everything tasted the same.
Now, I can't even smell it at the supermarket.
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
I like to use them as shingles on my annual homemade gingerbread house for the holiday season but that's it. I personally fit them into the 'chalky' category and I am quite surprised at all the necco lovers out there! I had no idea they actually had flavors! I thought they were all the same...probably because I can't bring myself to actually eat one. I made that mistake as a child and haven't looked back since.
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
I loved the clove, licorice the best but actually enjoyed all the flavors. Didn't know about Neccos being the candy for the soliders..interesting. I lived on an army base when I was a teenager, we would go to the show and throw jujubees at each other...was weird going to the show all the soliders that lived on the base would stand up and cheer when my sister and I walked in, not just for us, they cheered for all young girls age 15, 17 years. Was very strange but I never felt scared, they probably knew who my Dad was!
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
I wish Necco would make an all-clove roll - those are my favorite. The licorice ones are pretty awesome, too.
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
The intersection between Catholicism and Necco Wafers in this threat is fascinating--perhaps receiving communion makes people more apt to like them? ;)
I used to WANT to like them as a little girl, because of Sweet Tarts and the lovely little sayings on them. Cupcakes with Sweet Tarts 'round Valentine's Day were adorable--but as for the taste? BLECH!
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
I eat them, yes I do.
They make wonderful pretend communion wafers. I used to humor my little brother when he played priest. Hey, don't laugh. . .this was back in the day, a few years before Barbie and GI Joe were invented and there wasn't much else to do except pretend.
They also make beautiful roofing shingles on gingerbread houses.
Serious Chocolate: Understanding Necco Wafers
Necco wafers were actually carried by Civil War soldier's.
You should definitely check out the new all natural and all natural chocolate roll (it has four flavors in it now). There was also some mention on the package of some Superfruit Necco Wafers.
Pumpkin Pie Ideas Needed
My recipe for pumpkin pie is a riff on the back of the Libby's can, and it always gets raves.
Use 1/3 cup dark brown sugar & 2/3 cup white sugar instead of all white
Use 1-1/2 cups heavy cream instead of evaporated milk (half & half is OK)
Double the spices, and heap the spoons a bit & add a teaspoon of nutmeg
Use 3 eggs instead of two
Recent Posts
Anyone else forage the yard for greens and such come spring?
Posted by sadiepix, April 18, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Recent Favorites
Dinner Tonight: Mushroom Curry
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 30, 2009 at 4:30 PM
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About sadiepix
Location: Kalamazoo, MI
About: I'm a pastry chef, but love ALL cooking & all aspects of food!
I love to garden & wish I had more space for it.
I'm all about eating, fresh, unprocessed foods by season, & try to find foods that work w/ what is available during each part of the year.
Favorite foods: Spring-dandelion/new lettuce salads w/ good cheeses.
Summer-anything grilled, fresh herbs, spicy/cajun & BBQ!
Fall-roasted root veggies & braised meats, mushrooms, walnuts, cranberries.
Winter-Stews...beets, lots of squash, fresh homemade bread.
Last bite on earth: I think brie would have to be involved.
Or maybe a good southern vinegar BBQ.
Blackened salmon.
Crawfish.
Fresh strawberries and cream.
Gooseberry and rhubarb crumble.
Blueberries off the bush.
Roasted red peppers and mushrooms.

My fave two things to do with lots of onions (at least that really feature the onions themselves-)
Saute a ton of chopped onions and some garlic in olive oil and a smidge of butter.
Pour over a pork or beef roast or just some big chunky mushrooms, add salt, pepper, a few dashes of Worcestershire and a bottle or two of Guinness Stout. Bake in a slow oven (275-325) for a few hours til very tender.
Reduce the sauce after taking out he meat/onions/shrooms and serve with taters, rice etc. NOM.
Also Faire-style mushrooms. Saute a ton of shopped onions and a ton and a half of garlic in olive oil. Add salt and pepper and mushrooms. LOTS of mushrooms. Saute til just tender and add lots of beef broth. Simmer a few hours and serve with bread. Awesome.
Roast them whole as a side or stuff them with something yummy before baking. Mmmm