lesmel - 2024 You butter believe it

Happy New Year! Blue and I hope everyone has a great year!



Goal for the year: Try one new recipe a month.

May your kitchen adventures entertain, sustain and transport your taste buds with joy..

Looks like Blue will be very present to help you in the kitchen.

>2 MrsLee: He does seem to like treats. 🤣

First book of the year is going to be Learn to Cook 25 Southern Classics 3 Ways
I'm already not sure how I feel about this book. Mostly because I'm going to want to make all the things; but also because she talks about how regional and localized food is and in the next sentence she turns around and declares a dish "classic" like it's the definitive Southern dish. Sooooo, a little cognitive dissonance there.

I do think I'm going to try her method for dumplings (which I saw just before the holidays). She uses broth instead of milk to make the dough.

TOC:

Introduction

Cooking terms

Essential kitchen equipment

Pantry secrets

Classic Southern fried chicken

Contemporary : crispy oven-fried chicken

International : spicy baked piri piri wings

Classic chicken and dumplings

Contemporary : vegetarian mushroom stew with sweet potato dumplings

International : Hungarian chicken paprikash with dumplings

Classic smothered pork chops

Contemporary : roast pork tenderloin with chimichurri

International : Italian pork chops with saffron tomato sauce and provolone

Classic chicken-fried steak with gravy

Contemporary : oven-fried steak with gravy

International : mojo marinated Cuban steak

Classic golden fried fish

Contemporary : quinoa-crusted baked fish

International : Thai fish cakes

Classic fried green tomatoes

Contemporary : oven-fried green tomatoes

International : grilled green tomato salsa

Classic green beans

Contemporary : roasted green beans with lemon, garlic, and parmesan

International : spicy Szechuan green beans

Classic greens

Contemporary : garlicky kale with cashews

International : Portuguese caldo verde

Classic fried okra

Contemporary : crispy coconut-oil okra

International : Indian bhindi masala

Classic summer squash casserole

Contemporary : goat cheese and thyme squash casserole

International : crunchy Italian zucchini wedges

Classic tomato pie

Contemporary : tomato pie with quinoa crust

International : Provençal tomato tart

Classic creamy coleslaw

Contemporary : crunchy dill slaw

International : Mexican slaw

Classic macaroni and cheese

Contemporary : three-cheese macaroni with puréed butternut squash

International : Swiss Älplermagronen

Classic cheese grits

Contemporary : spicy slim grits with pecorino and parmesan

International : northern Italian polenta e gorgonzola

Classic pimento cheese

Contemporary : Kryptonite pimento cheese

International : Swiss tartine

Classic pinto beans

Contemporary : black bean stew with sweet potato and ginger

International : Tuscan white bean soup

Classic sweet potato casserole

Contemporary : crispy sweet potato oven fries

International : West African sweet potato and peanut soup

Classic deviled eggs

Contemporary : herby olive oil deviled eggs

International : truffled devils

Classic skillet cornbread

Contemporary : skinny cornbread

International : sopa paraguaya

Classic buttermilk biscuits

Contemporary : vegan biscuits

International : British buttermilk scones

Classic spoon bread

Contemporary : spoon bread with kale and lemon zest

International : jambon persillé spoon bread

Classic red velvet cake

Contemporary : butter-free red velvet cake

International : Norwegian spiced chocolate cake

Classic pecan pie

Contemporary : crispy mini pecan tarts

International : Mexican chocolate pecan pie

Classic coconut cake

Contemporary : coconut cake with brown sugar frosting

International : Jamaican coconut spice cake

Classic fruit cobbler

Contemporary : savory vegetable cobbler with quinoa crust

International : Dutch apple baby

Cute puppy. I also want to cook from my cookbooks.

I'm pretty sure I had started a post to comment on the recipes in >4 lesmel:; but I refreshed the page without looking and now have no memory of what I might have said. 🤣

This cookbook is really interesting for how the recipes are modified. The author is originally from Ohio, lived in Europe for several years, and settled in North Carolina. Reading through the recipes makes me want to work on my biscuit and cornbread skills.

The author's method for biscuits:
* Use a low-protein flour (8% or less)
* Keep the main ingredients VERY cold
* Cut the biscuits square/rectangular to avoid re-rolling
* Grate the butter before cutting it into the dry ingredients

Overall, this is a very regional representation of The South...and it's "classic" dishes. Mostly Carolinas-based recipes. I know I've mentioned Southern foodways before. While the dishes may be called the same thing, the ingredients or execution can often be very different. Not to mention familial preferences can influence even classic dishes (Mom almost exclusively uses Miracle Whip and we never ate Duke's or Blue Plate because it wasn't available).

The one recipe that matches my own experience is fruit cobbler. I know it as French Cobbler (I have no idea why). Our recipe is melt a stick of butter in the baking dish. Combine the dry ingredients. Add milk and stir smooth. Pour into the dish. Don't mix. Top with a can of fruit or pie filling. Bake until brown. The author's recipe adds the melted butter into the batter and uses fresh fruit that is macerated with brown sugar and cinnamon.

We are under a serious weather threat for the next 3-4 days. It has been incredibly windy all day. I want to make soup all weekend. I need to work on emptying my freezer again. It's packed and I need room for soup!

I have two huge (2lb) bags of fresh cranberries. I figure I could make cranberry bread and maybe cranberry muffins. I guess I will make an inventory of the freezer and see how much I can convert to a meal

Skimmed/read Taste of Home Copycat Favorites, Volume 2 tonight. I'm not inspired to try 90% of the recipes. The recipes I am interested in:

Zuppa Toscana
Wendy's Chili
KFC Coleslaw
Cashew Chicken with Ginger (Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew Ginger)
Original Girl Scout Cookies (sugar cookie)
Bourbon & Cornflakes Ice Cream (Humphry Slocombe Secret Breakfast Ice Cream)

I'm going to discuss food magazines that I'm reading this year. I'm currently reading this one magazine (Ultimate History Cookbook) that I'm not sure how it got published with mistakes like:

* US president Benjamin Franklin, (also a pioneer inventor), makes reference to this in his personal diaries, noting that “Dr Cullen, of Edinburgh has given some experiments of cooling by evaporation.”
* The taro plant was considered so crucial Hawaiian culture that according to myth it was thought to be the elder brother of humanity

I'm not sure I trust anything in this magazine even though the concept is really interesting and some of the recipes are interesting. It mixes historical tidbits with recipes and other kitchen tidbits. It's apparently part of a series called "All About History Bookazine Series." Huh, there's a series here on LT https://www.librarything.com/nseries/160965/All-about-history.

Looked through Tea Lover's Handbook. Lots of pretty pictures. Some interesting information on teas. Not much on where to find some of the more unique suggestions.

>9 lesmel: Love those factoids, especially the first one.😁

>9 lesmel: Run away from that! Unless you like finding their blunders. If they tell you to mix arsenic into a recipe, I don't advice it! :D

Made a double batch of Golden Nugget Soup tonight. It made six 2-cup servings. Tomorrow I'll work on one batch of Sausage Potato Soup. Although, I'm already wishing I'd bought Italian sausage for a double batch. I probably could wing it and use the breakfast sausage patties I have in the freezer. I think I have enough of everything else.

Also on the slate is turkey and rice soup, Hunger Games stew, and Pasta e Piselli (video) from ATK (recipe)

Is everything going to be made tomorrow? Probably not; but I'm off on Monday, too. My plan is to make everything I can that will freeze well. The pasta one will not freeze well and might just stay in the fridge instead. I'm trying really hard to use up everything I can in my freezer so I have room for meal prep.

I need to retake inventory of the pantry.

>13 lesmel: What is Golden Nugget soup? Sounds dangerous to teeth. ;)

>14 MrsLee: Ha! It's a basic corn chowder. Potatoes, carrots, onions, corn, milk, cream of chicken soup. I usually like to double the veggies when making it. I forgot to do that this time.

>15 lesmel: Thank you. :)

I spent 2/3 of Sunday cleaning out the fridge, freezer, and pantry; washing load after load of dishes; trying to find homes for all the suddenly empty containers; looking for all the meal prep containers I should have; and making a grand total of ONE stew and a double batch of cranberry sauce that almost didn't gel. I'm irritated about the cranberry sauce. I had to cook it down for a lot longer than it should take.

Oh, wait. I also wrapped two faucets and my backflow preventer since we are going to freeze on and off for three days. I left the 3rd faucet unwrapped just in case I need to run a drip for the house.

I'm still planning buttermilk biscuits, turkey & rice soup, pasta e piselli in broth, and sausage potato soup. Once I get all that made, I have to evaluate my freezer. I still have things I want to use up for meal prep. The more I use up, the better because I want to use most of my freezer space for frozen meals instead of ingredient storage.

Very cold ingredients make a difference. I made two batches. One was with butter and flour straight from the freezer and buttermilk straight from the fridge. The other was with fridge cold butter & buttermilk and room temp flour. Cold makes for a much lighter biscuit.

I have sausage potato soup on the stove now. I think I may have run out of room at this point. I still need to let the soup cool and portion it. I'll know what kind of room I have after that.

Something I didn't mention is I have organization in my freezer drawer!! I'm so stinkin' pleased I keep opening the freezer to look at how tidy everything is. It helps that I pulled some stuff to throw out, store elsewhere (ice packs for coolers and physical therapy), or make into soup.

>18 lesmel: I feel your pleasure. It’s leaking through the inter net.

>18 lesmel: That sounds like a lovely winter day activity with a lot of satisfaction at the end.

I was a little concerned I might not have enough containers or space for the big pot of vegetable beef soup I made, but I was fine. Some is in the freezer; some is out to enjoy over the next few days with super cold temps.

New magazine for me: Meal-Solve. It's a South African publication. I can't figure out audience. It's got "grown up" recipes; but some informational articles are very simplified. I'm looking through some of the previous issues to see what other months are like.

There's a really nice conversion chart for staple ingredients. I wish ALL magazines (cookbooks, blogs, recipe sites, etc) did this. So many recipes say something like "2 cups flour" and then never explain their method for filling a cup. Do they scoop and sweep? Do they fluff, spoon in, and sweep? This is why I prefer weight to volume with baking. Volume can vary widely; weight never will.

I went back to May/June 2021 Cook's Illustrated to find the article about Pasta e Piselli. I'm now determined to try this. Also, I love Cook's Illustrated. I may not try 90% of the recipes; but there are always tons of tidbits mixed in the magazine.

A friend made Pasta e Piselli this past Friday. She made me irritated (this is a me thing) because she:

says she followed the recipe exactly (she used penne not ditalini and argued that other recipes said you can use any pasta you want),

complained that it tasted horrible and she threw in a bunch of stuff (more pasta, more peas, more pepper, more cheese, red pepper flakes),

complained she would leave out the mint if she ever (not likely) made the dish again and add more pancetta,

swears she followed the recipe exactly and decided to change it because she didn't like it,

suggested adding a squeeze of lemon juice, and

finally came back and said "it's better once it ages".

Honestly, you do whatever you want with whatever recipes you find; but don't complain to me about a recipe when you don't follow it. In particular, recipes I am interested in and take time to find, share, and write out -- don't complain about how terrible the recipe is when you don't follow it and then swear you did. Own it. You changed it. That might have ruined it. It definitely changed the outcome of the recipe.

>22 lesmel: & >23 lesmel: Haha! You and I would be dubious cooking buddies at best. If instructions are dubious, I do it the way I want. If they are very complicated, I do it the way I want. On the other hand, I never complain about the recipe and how it turns out if I didn't follow it. This is why I'm a sketchy baker at best, and do much better with savory foods.

>24 MrsLee: I will make a recipe exactly at least once. It's better to know the intent & if a recipe is going to be worth adjusting. I have been known to change recipes wildly after the first attempt. Baking is rarely something I experiment with. I follow recipes to the letter in most baking recipes.

If instructions are dubious, it's unlikely I will attempt that recipe. I'll track down a few others for comparison & use one with better (more trustworthy?) instructions.

When it comes to a recipe from King Arthur Baking or America's Test Kitchen (and their variations), I am going to trust their process. I'll trust their intent & reasoning.

I've seen too many recipes from Cook's Illustrated that have totally misunderstood the dish they were trying to 'improve'.

Anyway, Since most of the time I can't follow recipes exactly because my ingredients are different, I tend to follow my baking experience. For example, flours vary enormously. Type of wheat used, milling procedures, even climate (humidity) can make a big difference in how flour behaves.

>25 lesmel: I try. I really do. :) I cook a lot from old recipes and sometimes I don't understand what the outcome is supposed to be, and there are ZERO instructions. Challenge accepted! :D

>26 MarthaJeanne: I've never looked at Cook's Illustrated as trying to improve a recipe.
America's Test Kitchen, I see as streamlining and make a recipe accessible to most home cooks in the US.
Cook's Illustrated, I see as riffing on classics, well-known, or regional recipes -- how can they make the dish "theirs?"
Cook's Country, I see it as a way to bring micro-regional or family/community recipes to a larger audience and make those recipes accessible.

The Dec/Jan issue of Cook's Country actually has two articles that reflect the nature of recipes (Bryan’s story has no formal recipe, while Matthew’s recipe draws on the legacy of versions that were likely never written down.). The Letter from the Editor is a lovely intro into the issue.

>27 MrsLee: Yeah. It's different when there are no instructions. That's not the same circumstance at all. I have a recipe for a cookie that I got from my grandmother's collection that I just assumed were drop cookies that spread. Mom saw them and asks me "why did you make that recipe into cookies? It's a bar." Uh. No instructions?

>28 lesmel: LOL. I wish my mom were here to help me through some of these!

The bagels are a Disappointment. I know better than to change my recipe. I used the recipe from Cook's Illustrated from the Basics with Babish. I don't know why I that the CI recipe had gotten better. Back in 2019 I went through a number of bagel recipes looking for the right one. I ended up combining part of the CI recipe with the KAB recipe and got a great home bagel. I'm going to make some English Muffin Toasting Bread as a balm to having crappy bagels for the foreseeable future.

>30 lesmel: maybe you could slice them thin and make croutons?

The 2nd of the first batch was actually better. I don't know what happened with the first 8; but they are pretty awful -- not much chew; too salty. The second double batch look better. I allowed them to proof out of the fridge for two hours. That makes me think the first double batch really should have had the same proofing.

>31 MrsLee: I might be able to make them into croutons. I was trying to think what else I could do with them. Maybe slice into thirds and bake crisp to make bagel chips.

I've also made a single batch (12) of the bagels I KNOW work. They aren't going to have a ton of developed flavor because I'm not doing a cold proof; but they are like visiting an old friend.

Blue is trying to figure out why I'm in the kitchen almost non-stop two days out of the week. He's gotten more active in the last week or so. It's kinda hilarious to watch him move from baby puppy to toddler puppy to teen puppy.

I made pasta e piselli! It's good. I ended up added 2 cups of broth extra because I boiled the pasta in the broth/water uncovered at a full boil. Also, I doubled the recipe and ended up with 8 2-cup servings. I'm hoping it's even better tomorrow. Next up is turkey and rice followed by something with the steaks I got on discount 2 for 1.

The bagels...

>34 lesmel: Pretty bagels! This is something I've never attempted at home.

Another batch of bagels is in the fridge. I made the dough this morning so I could boil and bake tomorrow. If these turn out as well as I want, I may have one more batch with my bread flour before I need to move over to my whole wheat flour.

I am very tempted by the KAB virtual classes. They have a live bagel class.

I wish they had a live "get your sourdough started" class.

While on the subject of flour, I want to bake some cookies.

Sonic has a peanut butter bacon hamburger and shake. The shake is divine. I haven't tried the burger...yet. I have a recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies that I'm going to turn into (you guessed it) bacon peanut butter chip cookies.

There's also a recipe from KAB for Peanut-Chocolate Dips that lends itself well to making bacon peanut butter chip cookies (w/o the dip).

The thing is, I'm down to very little (for me) AP flour, nearly no white wheat, a huge amount (for me) of whole wheat, and a lot of self-rising. I want to use up everything I can before I buy any more flour. And vital wheat gluten, of course.

The KAB recipe calls for 1 cup of AP flour. The recipe I have calls for 2 1/2 cups AP flour. I am fairly certain I do not have 3 1/2 cups of AP.

I'm fairly sure I can sub whole wheat for AP at 100% for a single cup. Even at 2 cups, I think it's still manageable; but I could combine it with the self-rising flour and leave out the salt and baking soda from the recipe...maybe. I had the AP flour ear marked for another recipe; but I may just go ahead and do a 50/50 split of AP and WW for both recipes.

Why both recipes? Because I'm insane that way. I want to see which is a better cookie recipe for marrying bacon and peanut butter.

>37 lesmel: You got me started. See https://www.librarything.com/topic/329029#8385338 (and more later today).

whole wheat flour usually wants a bit more liquid than white flour, which shouldn't matter in drop cookies. It can keep absorbing that liquid for half an hour, which could matter in rolled cookies that rest the dough.

I would not use self rising flour to replace regular flour in a recipe that uses baking soda, as that helps adjust for acid ingredients.

Testing

Huh. Something is up with my posting Flickr photos... I think someone else mentioned this already.
Ha! It's the javascript.

First round of peanut butter bacon cookies done. This is the recipe based on the Never Bashful with Butter recipe from years and years ago. I started with making HUGE cookies (12) and quickly switched to making "button" cookies (36). I'm pretty sure I could have made the cookies about half between the sizes.

Something I would do differently is to keep the cookies "rough." I rounded the button cookies and pressed them flat. They would have done better to have been rounded, split, and the smooth sides smooshed together.

The cookies did not spread. At. All. Possible culprits:
* Not a lot of liquid
* Oven too hot
* Nearly 50/50 split between brown sugar and white sugar
* Not enough fat or the wrong kind of fat
* Softened butter instead of melted and cooled butter
* Too many add-ins

The cookies are too sweet (which is a shock for me b/c I love high sweet flavors).

Stopping by to check on you. Did you ever get those cookies right? Because peanutbutter bacon chocolate chip cookies sound like my idea of heaven.

It's funny you ask. I was just staring at the recipes I have printed. I didn't get them figured out. Everyone that tried the first version (the one pictured) says they were great. This is the recipe the cookie is based on:

https://kitchentimes.blogspot.com/2012/06/bacon-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Here are the adjustments I made:

170 g butter
140 g brown sugar
130 g white sugar
1 t almond extract
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 egg
200 g AP flour
100 g PB powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 c PB chips
2 c crisp bacon crumbles

This the ingredient list from America's Test Kitchen for their Reese's Pieces Bacon Cookies:

319 g all-purpose flour
1 t table salt
¾ t baking soda
198 g light brown sugar
12 T unsalted butter, melted
99 g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1½ t vanilla extract
1½ c Reese's Pieces
3/4 c cooked, chopped bacon

King Arthur has a cookie I modified; but wasn't thrilled with:

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/peanut-chocolate-dips-recipe

>42 lesmel: I was thinking it was a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips and bacon mixed in.

>43 MrsLee: I really didn't want a peanut butter cookie with mix-ins. I was aiming for a chocolate chip cookie with PB flavor and bacon crumbles. The problem is the PB flavor. I think powder gives a bigger punch; but it's throws off the wet-dry ratio.

I was home for two weeks for family obligations. In that time, I made Pimento Cheese Crackers, Chocolate Cherry Bread (twice), and chocolate-blackberry cake. Pictures to follow.

Chocolate-Cherry Bread from Paul Hollywood


It looks monstrous here. The "braid" isn't. It's supposed to be a two-strand plait. I watched nearly every video on YouTube and still couldn't get it. Also, the loaf just expanded out not up.

It sliced up nicely, though.

Dark Romance Chocolate Blackberry Cake

This was from Facebook. We cut the recipe in half; but I have so many questions about this recipe because per social media stupids, the image has buttercream between the layers and no instructions/ingredients for buttercream. We made little bundtlets and covered in ganache.

Pimento Cheese Crackers

I had lot of problems with this recipe. It came from a cookbook; but it doesn't have pimentos in the recipe. Also, the crackers are greasy and very dark. Comparing it to the photo from the cookbook, you wouldn't think I made that recipe.



Still, give these a few days to age, and they have great flavor...still aren't pimento cheese, though.

>47 lesmel: Those are adorable and decadent looking.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has issues with internet recipes. :P

I made some hot mess of something that tastes ok. Rice, mushrooms, and chicken. I'm debating adding cream of mushroom and cheese and turning it into a casserole. I could add some of the hot mess to stock and have instant soup.

Remember this, Lesli: cooked.wiki/

I'm purging my kitchen. Ok, let me back up for context.

I got influenced and bought an nugget/pellet ice maker. It's a counter-top machine. I have wanted an ice maker that makes nugget ice (if you are in the US, it's the ice from Sonic) for years. YEARS. I was on Instagram watching reels about coffee drinks and this one woman I follow posted about her ice maker. The machine is just a tad too tall to fit under my upper cabinets. This leaves me with just enough room on either side of my sink or the open counter where my bar (to eat at, not my boozy bar) is. I would rather use one of the sink sides because the maker has a drain tube I can run into the sink without moving the machine. Additionally, the machine has a compressor and really shouldn't be moved from counter to counter to counter (not to mention I've read that the machine is on the heavy side).

To prep for the arrival, I have been moving everything from the counters on either side of my sink. This has lead to tidying my bottles and jars. Which lead to me looking at my pantry in disgust (as always). Which lead to me purging anything with expired dates or long passed "best by" dates.

I have a rapidly developing passion for lazy susans. Just in the last four days, I've bought ten.
A big one holds my meds and vitamins. It's supposedly a fridge lazy susan with suction cups because the whole thing swivels instead of spins.
Two hold my everyday spices, seasonings, and drizzles.
One hold sauces I plan to use in the next two weeks or so.
One holds honey, spice mixes, instant coffee, and instant tea.
Two hold my vinegars and oils.
Two have not been put into operation...yet.
One I'm waiting to be delivered tomorrow.

My kitchen is still a giant mess. I still hate my pantry. I'm going to talk to my brother about maybe renovating the pantry once I get my floors replaced. It seems counterintuitive to decrease the depth of most of the shelves. I dread rows and rows of cans I can't see; risers just make it easier for things to fall off a shelf or knock everything over.

And now, eighth lazy susan is holding about 1/2 my boozy bar and the ninth lazy susan is holding (temporarily) my drink syrups. The tenth lazy susan (comes tomorrow) and it's really for my syrups. The ninth lazy susan will be repurposed to the pantry, probably.

I also plan to move all my vitamins/meds off the large lazy susan and try it in my fridge. If it works well, I may hunt down another swivel style lazy susan. If not, maybe the ninth lazy susan will work in the fridge instead of the pantry.

All lazy susans have been deployed. I haven't gotten everything settled in the right places...yet.

The ice maker arrived. I set it up. I waited. I made ice. I dumped ice. I ran the clean cycle twice. I made more ice (to use). I am not disappointed! I've already made four baskets of ice and used probably one full basket. This should make for an interesting twist on what has moved from cocktail summer to 2024 H2 cocktail season. Cocktails tried so far:

Aperol Spritz
Carajillo
Cherry Bourbon Smash
Gold Medal (for the Olympics, of course)
Pickle Margarita
1930s Tequila Sunrise (until the tequila gave me a splitting headache)
1970s Tequila Sunrise (I would have to try it will real grenadine instead of red sugar syrup)
Kentucky Luau (adding Tajin to the shaker or as a half-rim improves this cocktail)

Mocktails / coffee drinks

Espresso tonic (with lime)
Espresso + orange juice
Ginger-Yuzu Seltzer
SF syrup + carbonated water

I plan on trying my hand at homemade syrups in the near future. The trick is I want them sugar free(ish) and I only like Splenda as my sweetener. So, I have the option to make syrups with Splenda + ingredients (fruit, instant coffee, tea concentrate, etc) or Splenda + unsweetened flavorings. Decisions. Decisions. Again, near future problem. Like 2025.

>54 lesmel: Cocktails sounds like a nice reward for organizing the pantry. :)

I made food things over the weekend. I'm rather shocked and pleased.

Root veggies with shallots and honey -- these were supposed to have sweet potatoes and I totally forgot them. I may roast the sweet potatoes and add them to the already portioned servings

Patlıcan soslu (eggplant in tomato sauce) -- Turkish. It can be served hot; but it's better cold the next day. I should have added more tomatoes. I can probably simmer a can or two of crushed tomatoes, add some tomato paste and the pour that over the portioned servings...or I can eat it as is since it still tastes great.

Green olives and beans -- I'm trying to eat more beans for my blood pressure. This is surprisingly good considering it has two things I don't really care for: parsley and cilantro. Also, I'm trying to figure out why my family insists on only serving bland black olives and Spanish olives at holidays. There are dozens of olive varieties out there -- most of them better than blah black olives.

** I am going to post a few things to up my thread count with the hopes I might actually make it to 150 this year and be able to continue my thread into next year. Feel free to jump in with comments, ideas, suggestions, etc! **

My house is a wreck. I'm packing with the intention of replacing the flooring Very Soon. Most of my dining room is packed and now the table is staging for the rest of the breakables in the house. Almost all of my bookcases are packed -- the last of the books were packed last night. I have 15 grocery bags of book donations and need another 4-5 bags to collect the rest. I'm running out of room in my front hallway for donations. I have a variety of boxes full of a variety of things that I'm culling as I pack. I'm beginning to wonder if I would be happier having a $2 driveway sale. Every item is $2 no negotiating. It would maybe make the ache of buyer's regret less sharp.

The countertop ice maker I bought... It makes nugget ice (aka Sonic ice). Today, it leaked all over my kitchen. Twice. I slapped a return label on the box and drove it to The UPS Store. I don't have time for that crap. I'm not wasting my time or money trying to figure out why it suddenly leaked after working perfectly for two weeks straight. I'll probably look at the makers from Walmart or Costco next. The nugget ice was lovely while it lasted.

I bought a rechargeable frother/whisk. I have zero luck with battery powered frothers. I kill them all at six months. A friend recommended the one she uses. We shall see. I started using it Oct 2nd. If it makes it to Tax Day 2025, I will be shocked.

While packing, I found my collection of clipped recipes. I had lovingly ripped pages from magazines and put them in plastic inserts and put them in various three-ring binders...and never looked at the recipes ever again. I looked at all the recipes, copied a few to my Paprika app, and ditched all of the magazine pages. I'm trying to be ruthless in my weeding and culling.

Which reminds me, I knew I had my grandmother's glassware set -- iced tea & juice glasses. I did not know that the set came with old fashioned glasses...or plateware. Somehow, I have 16 iced tea glasses, 11 juice glasses, 8 old fashion glasses, and 1 plate. WTF? Either while collecting everything after my grandmother's death, I missed a bunch of glasses and plates...or over time, a lot got broken. Did my grandmother have a set of 16 iced tea & juice and 8 old fashioned and 8 plates? Did she have a complete set of glassware and plateware? We shall never know.

I do know I want to start using the glassware. I have a set of 8 blue glasses I love; but I'm probably going to donate them. 1. I almost never use them myself. I use Ball jars for almost all my drinking needs. 2. Ruthless culling of THINGS. 3. My grandmother's things should be used not left to gather dust. I am resisting Very Hard the urge to buy 7 of the plates to match the one plate. I have plates I use. I do not need to match that single plate. I can use it as a centerpiece or serving or whatever. As for plates, I have a set of four Fiesta Ware I am also going to cull...and the four cups and saucers to go with them.

All this and I haven't even gotten to my closets yet. The clothes, shoes, and purses are just...I am not looking forward to that process. There's a ton I'm going to cull. If I'm ruthless enough, I will probably cull about 50-60% my clothes, 90% of my shoes, 95% of my purses.

I wish I were more ruthless about my knick-knacks. I don't need dust catchers. I mean, do I even SEE most of these things on my shelves? What is the point if I'm not actually stopping, looking at the things, and remembering what drew me from the start? For example, there are these two statues from my grandmother's bedroom. I will DIE before I give them up. I see them Every Single Day and think of her. Same with this metal flower basket. I see it Every Single Day and think of my paternal grandmother. I have a bowl that my cousin made me. I don't see it every day because of where I've placed it; but I'm never giving it away. In fact, I'm going to try to find a new place for it when it comes out of the box because I DO want to see it every day. I want to cherish it.

So, what can I cull in my knick-knacks? What don't I cherish? I think that might be part of my problem. There's guilt involved in not cherishing something that someone has given me. I end up keeping something out of obligation. Also, I don't want to just foist my things off to others. If you truly love something, yes; I will give you that thing. I hope you cherish it. I also don't want to leave a burden to my family. My brother's kids are going to inherit everything I have. I don't want them to feel obligated to keep anything I own now.

In thinking about this, it's one of the reasons I've stopped researching my genealogy. No one in the family cares. The work I do isn't going to be carried on by anyone. There is no joy in to process for me any longer. The four two-drawer cabinets full of photographs and documents are a burden. Most of the photographs are unlabeled and no one is alive that can label them. It's sad really.

2 more boxes packed. Pretty sure I have 2 more boxes of breakables & 1 of non-breakables. I'll need to round up the flotsam & housewares hiding in closets next. I also have a table of paper work. 24 x 36 x 2 inches of random paperwork I have to file or shred.

All I can say is, you will feel so good, fresh, clean, light and free when you are done with this process. You go girl!

>64 lesmel: That is sad. I am thankful that my siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins and even friends are excited about what I am doing with our families letters (making books of them and typing the difficult to read handwriting). On my husband's side of the family, there is zero interest. So many photographs of people unknown. Stories untold.

>60 lesmel: Same here. I live alone and will never cook or bake these things.

It has been a wild couple of weeks in the house.

First, I was dog sitting. Blue & Cosmo (the guest dog) had a blast running around & sleeping & playing for two weeks.

Second, I had two more house measurements. I was incredibly unhappy with all three quotes. The first wasn't unreasonable; but I don't think I was really comfortable with the contractor. He's fairly new to general contracting; he didn't give me a full quote for everything I wanted done.

The next two quotes were astronomical and use ceramic tile. Also, there was never mention of financing.

I had pretty much decided after a discussion with my brother that I would buy all the tile for the house; have only the two rooms installed; and install everything else piecemeal.

I went to another flooring company. They have a huge sale happening AND exceptional financing. I can get the entire house refloored with porcelain tile for about the same price as the second two quotes AND get 0% interest for 48 months.

I'll need to put down about 10%, but that is doable. I could probably afford to put down 15-20%.

I have an appointment Tuesday to have the house measured. I am praying hard that this goes well. I am ready to have new floors.

>68 lesmel: Tile floors have lots of advantages, bot they are very hard on knee and hip joints.

Last night's dinner:



Roasted root veggies with shallots
Olive and beans salad
Patlican Soslu
Olives
Mustard shrimp
Bread and butter
Bloody Marys

That photo makes my head hurt. The food was delicious if I do say so myself (since I fixed everything most of the stuff on the table).

My current (final?) tile options:





Left: High Ridge Gray Marazzi
Right: Larchmont Maison Matte Emser

Preferences anyone?

I like the warmer one one the left, but I like warmer colors.

The Office...

The Guest Room...

In full sun...

Flooring project started yesterday!

Here's where we mostly are on Day Two:

The entire project: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bloglass/shares/J78aqLb8Kb

I already baptized the floor in my bedroom with a bottle of coffee. I shook it forgetting I'd loosened the cap. I got drenched, my shoes, the floor... Blue was trying to help me off the floor while I was trying to hand-mop the spill. At least I know one part of the bedroom floor doesn't have grit and grime on it!

I don't remember if I mentioned that Blue destroyed a hand-written recipe from my grandmother. I could have tossed him in the nearest canal at the time. 100% it was my fault even though he knows he's not supposed to grab the towels or the paper from my kitchen baskets.

I was able to mostly rescue the recipe to get a photo. I'm not sure if it's worth keeping the paper recipe since anything I do to it will actually shorten the life of the recipe unless I put it in a sleeve. And really, I don't think it matters in the long run. No one after me is going to care about these recipes.

Sometimes a photo is the best we can do.

>78 lesmel: I have some hand written recipes from family.

Well, isn't this interesting. We are almost two weeks in the last month of the year and I have no where near 150 posts to get the magic link. There will be a bunch of faffing about in this thread over the next 22 days.

ETA feel free to join in!

US Tday -- aka the great food fest of insanity -- has come and gone. We made the usual things:

chicken spaghetti (that is our traditional Tday eve meal)
pickled beets
turkey
cornbread dressing
green bean casserole
brown sugar sweet potatoes (sans marshmallows)
fruit salad

Some not usual things:

oven roasted potatoes

Some not homemade things:

mini croissants
pecan pie
pumpkin pie
spiral ham

I did not get a single photo of all the food. Why??? It was a huge spread this year. I know I am missing some things. Mom's entire island counter was covered in dishes.

>81 lesmel: Faffing about: In the Green Dragon this is called a piffle party. Not uncommon there.

>81 lesmel: I hope you make it.

There was a discovery made! Mom has my grandmother's (her mother) paring knife. Why is this important, you may ask. Weeeeeellll....



It's literally been sharpened into non-existence.

I honestly thought this knife had been thrown out by my grandmother's caregivers. I looked all over her house when we were clearing it. Little did I know that Mom took the knife! I'm very happy she did. Although, I don't know that the knife will survive beyond me. I'm hoping my nephew takes it and uses it. There's also a bone-handled two-prong fork Mom has that belonged to her grandmother.

Instead of food, I bring you pets!



On the left, Mom's Bengal that was growling for 5+ minutes.
On the right, Blue, who went in there willingly only to stare at me like I double crossed him and came out with sweaty little paws. Poor baby. He was just trying to make friends!

She wouldn't not have hurt him -- only his pride -- as she has no front claws and she really was growling about being stuck in the crate and not the dog in the crate with her.

Mom and Stepdad have a new addition to the house.



This is Dolly (as in Parton). She's a standard poodle. In fact, she is Nelson's (as in Willie) daughter. Do y'all remember Nelson?



He's grow up a lot. lol



The dogs spent days and days and days playing. Blue was exhausted. I think he is still exhausted. lol

Dolly in particular is a little toughie. Doesn't she sound vicious?? Click to go to the video.



She is a little rough, and still Blue doesn't correct her or tell her when her biting hurts! Click to go to the video

So, we have this recipe for meatloaf in my family. 20-min meatloaf. We have made it for years and years and years. While poking through Mom's huge collection of clipped recipes, I found the original! It comes from a 1966 Hunt-Wesson leaflet. I love finding things like this. There are a number of recipes we have made over the years that I don't know where they came from. Or I might know that the recipe comes from a person; but not who the person is. Mom probably knows. She has a memory like an elephant for these sort of things.

>85 lesmel: Love it!

I spent most of the Tday holiday trying to figure out Canva to make a family recipe book. Anyone used Canva? I feel like a design idiot. Maybe because I don't 100% know what I want the book to look like. If I can figure this book out, I can maybe do a second recipe book that is all family faves.

The recipe list:

Asian Beef & Noodle
20-minute Meatloaf
Chicken & Rice Medley
Orange-Almond Salad
Beef Stroganoff
Old Settler Beans
Cashew Chicken Salad
Keto Chicken Alfredo
French Toast
Fish in Lemon-Butter Sauce
Monroe County Style Chops
Seafood Gumbo
Chicken Cacciatore
Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Almond Chicken Stir Fry
Salmon Patties
Hawaiian Meatballs
Golden Nugget Soup
Carne Guisado
Cinnamon Crisp Popular
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti
Bourbon Balls
Taco Salad
Chicken & Dumplings
Orange Chicken
Skillet Lasagna
Sausage Potato Soup
Chocolate Butter Roll (bonus)
Chicken Spaghetti (bonus)
Eulaliah's Coffee Cake (bonus)
Marshmallows (bonus)

I have the recipes in a variety of places. I am trying to merge everything into three places: Paprika (recipe manager), Dropbox, and my blog. Why three places? First, LOCKSS (lots of copies keeps stuff safe). Second, each serves a different purpose: Paprika is for me mostly and for quick searching, Dropbox is for my family/friends and to maintain scans and transcribed copies of recipes, my blog is for sharing recipes with anyone that asks.

>91 lesmel: It has been over 6 years since used design software extensively for a job. (Wow time flies.) I had to design stuff related to a job and I had several projects in my past schooling where visual graphics were needed. ... I am not trained designer. But a few tips I have learned.
* Templates and the undo button are your friend
* There are several guides out there that explains different layouts that look visually balanced. ... It may take a few searchers
* Lean into your strengths. (For example if you are a great photographer use a design the photo is center stage. If you are a great writer, use with one with a lot of explanation and the text block is important. If you are great with color combinations use that in a design that uses bold colorful shapes and lines. Etc.)
* Simple bold design is timeless. (Kind of like the principle of Coco Chanel “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory.”)
* Grapic design/layout often involves a lot of tweaking.

I can't remember if I have used Canva before, but from a quick look it looks like there are a lot of templates. I would start with a template and then adapt. ... Don't make it harder on your self by trying to recreate the wheel, improve the wheel... I know this from personal experience. 😀

https://www.canva.com/templates/?query=recipe-cook-book

Mos importantly have fun with it.

>92 BooksandMovies: It's funny you mention templates. I have been watching this one YouTube video that talks about doing a cookbook. One of the recommendations is to use a magazine layout instead of a book layout. Also, I fell down a rabbit hole of recipe card templates. There are some SERIOUSLY creative people in the world.

>93 lesmel: Yes there is some very talented people out there with graphics!

I can see that. A lot of cookbooks that i have looked at recently that are very visual are kind of layed out more like a magazine.

>91 lesmel: I couldn't face the learning curve of Canva, although I used to use them for cards and such.

I designed, typed my cookbook into Word, added photos, then converted to a PDF and uploaded it to lulu.com which then printed it for me in book form. I chose the spiralbound version for ease in the kitchen, though I wish they had an option for hardcover spiralbound. Anyway, I am very happy with my cookbook, as are the over 60 people in my family who purchased it. Way more than I thought would be interested. I just sold 4 more to a cousin for his kids. Crazy. I chose not to sell it publicly, so I have to place the orders then get the cookbooks to the people. I found that for a charge of $25 I can get the cookbook and pay the shipping and break even. I wasn't trying to profit. My cookbook is over 200 pages.

>95 MrsLee: I cannot fathom even 10 people interested in our recipes. Our family isn't very tight or overly large. I'm annoyed enough at Canva at this point that I'm not sure I want to continue figuring it out. I don't have a problem paying for content or expertise; but for a company to make basic free content nearly impossible to find or use when they are courting me (of sorts) makes me want to dump them.

>95 MrsLee: FWIW I edit a quarterly offering for our local Railway History Society. Like @MrsLee, I lay the material out in Word, then convert to PDF. That then gets sent to our Chairman, who sees to the reproduction. I send three copies of the pdf overseas, and one to a local archive. If you click on the link, go to "KZN Railway History Society Chronicle" and my products start at no. 52.

>95 MrsLee: That is great your family is so interested.

I realized I haven't mentioned anymore of the cookbooks I've looked through this year. There are a number of them. I'll probably have more since I'll be at Mom's for the holiday.

Skimmed Taste of Home Copycat Restaurant Favorites: Restaurant Faves Made Easy at Home after skimming the volume 2 waaaaaay up there (>8 lesmel:). Eh. It's fine.

Giuseppe's Easy Bakes: Sweet Italian Treats was fun to read through and ask a friend about the Italian (she has been learning Italian for about an year now).

Doughnuts: 90 Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home. Sometimes I wish I had a deep fryer. Most of the time, I'm glad I don't. I looooooooooove a good buttermilk/sour cream/old fashioned unglazed donut. Cake is an acceptable alternative. Yeasted runs last as I've gotten older. Once upon a time, chocolate filled yeasted was THE donut I went for.

Gatherings: Casual-Fancy Meals to Share. ATK always has interesting cookbooks.

Butter, Flour, Sugar, Joy: Simple Sweet Desserts for Everyone is very pretty.

Someone mentioned Snacking Bakes: Simple Recipes for Cookies, Bars, Brownies, Cakes, and More. I like the book and recipes. I also borrowed Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings: A Baking Book

I am not a die hard Paul Hollywood fan; but I do love GBBO. I borrowed BAKE: My Best Ever Recipes for the Classics in hardback. There's a lot in this book.

Anyone else wish cookbooks were spiralbound to make the book stay open when cooking??

I thought I'd skimmed all the Batch Lady cookbooks; but it seems I only borrowed The Batch Lady: Cooking on a Budget

I went a little crazy and skimmed a few freezer meal cookbooks:

Fix It & Freeze It/Heat It & Eat It: A quick-cook guide to over 200 make-ahead dishes
Fix 'n' Freeze Pressure Cooker Meals in an Instant: 100 Best Make-Ahead Dinners for Busy Families
It's Always Freezer Season: How to Freeze Like a Chef with 100 Make-Ahead Recipes
Modern Freezer Meals: Simple Recipes to Cook Now and Freeze for Later
Freeze Fresh: The Ultimate Guide to Preserving 55 Fruits and Vegetables for Maximum Flavor and Versatility
From Freezer to Cooker: Delicious Whole-Foods Meals for the Slow Cooker, Pressure Cooker, and Instant Pot

>95 MrsLee: >97 hfglen: I'm using Pages (I'm a Mac user). I've just discovered that Pages can function like word or like Publisher. Now I'm struggling with figuring out how text boxes and images can be adjusted in Pages. I'm still half-heartedly working on Canva. I finally found a style I like; but Canva is making it ridiculously hard to find free content.

A couple small batch/plate cookbooks:
Good Housekeeping Dishes For Two: 125 Easy Small-Batch Recipes for Weeknight Meals & Special Celebrations
The Complete Small Plates Cookbook

A few instant pot cookbooks (I did go a little crazy skimming one author):
Meal Prep in an Instant: 50 Make-Ahead Recipes and 7 Prep Plans for Your Instant Pot
The Lighter Step-By-Step Instant Pot Cookbook: Easy Recipes for a Slimmer, Healthier You―With Photographs of Every Step
Super Shortcut Instant Pot: The Ultimate Time-Saving Step-by-Step Cookbook
The Simple Comforts Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook: The Easiest and Most Satisfying Comfort Food Ever ― With Photographs of Every Step
The Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook: 100 Simple Recipes for Spectacular Results -- with Photographs of Every Step

The Complete Make-Ahead Cookbook: From Appetizers to Desserts 500 Recipes You Can Make in Advance
Again, I find ATK cookbooks really interesting because of the through testing of recipes.

Back in the Day Bakery Made with Love: More than 100 Recipes and Make-It-Yourself Projects to Create and Share
These had the Not Pimento Cheese crackers I made in >48 lesmel:. Funny story. While home at Tday, I found the 1/2 of the second roll that we never baked. It was a weird colored science experiment. The bakery in Savannah closed (Feb 2024; retirement) after 22 years in business. I may look for Cheryl Day's Treasury of Southern Baking.

The Great British Baking Show: A Bake for All Seasons
Perfect for the GBBO fan. I may have to borrow the book again. This reminds me that I probably will skim Jürgen's baking book: The German Baking Book, Krauss

If any cookbook should be spiralbound, The King Arthur Baking School: Lessons and Recipes for Every Baker is DEFINITELY the book. There's a TON of info crammed in this book. Most of the recipes build off the previous.

Another cookbook for GBBO fans: Great British Baking Show: Favorite Flavors

For Mary Berry fans: Mary Berry's Baking Bible: Revised and Updated: With Over 250 New and Classic Recipes

I started reading the cookbooks on my shelves. It didn't last long since I had to pack everything up for the flooring; but Cooking for Christmas, Southern Living has a Bourbon Slushies I really want to try!

And your post number is creeping up! Here to cheer you on.

>119 MrsLee: Now to just get my other threads up to the magic number. lol

Huh. I never posted links to the other threads here.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/356604 -- Reading log. I have a lot to catch up on.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/356606 -- Sewing log. I didn't do much of anything this year. I'm thinking of calling it my Gap Year. Also, I'm hoping maybe this Year of Not Sewing leads to a little bit longer in sewing life. My hands, wrists, and shoulders can only take so much.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/334015 -- Gardening & house things. It's a multiyear thread since I don't really garden so much as murder weeds and fire ants and try not to murder plants and pollinators.

I am making cookies. Possibly two kinds tonight because after finally reading the whole recipe for the first batch (Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies), I have to rest it 24 hours. ::eyeroll::

Honestly, I'm not mad about it. Rested dough almost always leads to better cookies. I'm annoyed I didn't read the whole recipe last night when I was debating making the dough.

The second batch of cookies are Ginger Bars from the back of the candied ginger container.

These are not very far off from a bar we make for breakfast: Cinnamon Crisp Popular

>122 lesmel: I might try those in a few days. Can't bake when hubby is getting ready for a colonoscopy. It wouldn't be nice.

>123 MarthaJeanne: I am probably going to go rogue and add the spice mix that I use in the Spiced Rye Ginger cookies from KAB.

The ginger bars are a hit. Both as the recipe is written and with the Spice Rye spice mix. I think I could add more spice mix to the recipe; but I'm waiting to see if the cookies have aged a little overnight.

I am...underwhelmed by the Browned Butter toffee chocolate chip cookies. They don't taste any fancier than non-browned butter cookies.

The recipe says to refrigerate the dough 24 to 72 hours. Then bring the dough out to warm up for an hour. Then scoop. All of that is stupidly fiddly for reasons I can't figure out.

KAB has a post about long chilling times. What I take away from the post is that if you want a strongly flavored, sweeter-tasting, chewy-crisp cookie, you should wait more than 72 hours before baking...otherwise, 30 minutes of chilling is ideal. KAB also has a post about finding your perfect CC cookie.

Other things I don't like:

* the cookies are greasy
* the recipe calls for a sauté pan and at least two mixing bowls
* the recipe calls for flaky sea salt for finishing
* 2 pans spread beautifully, 2.5 did not
* the recipe says it yields 25 large cookies

2 sticks (US) of butter is too much, methinks.

What the heck is her definition of "large??" I mean, I have a cookie recipe that uses a 1/3 cup for a scoop; but it is also an oatmeal cookie with a ton of add-ins. That recipe does not make small cookies -- only Very Large cookies. I've tried making the cookies smaller, the recipe does not work.

She calls for a 3T scoop (aka #20 yellow disher). I used the purple disher (#40) -- about 1/2 the size she calls for. I'm pretty sure I overbaked (but did not burn) the cookies because I didn't think about the size difference.

>126 lesmel: I have no patience with fussy recipes, which is too many pans out utensils, any more. I am a grumpy baker when that happens.

>127 MrsLee: I used one bowl and a large sauce pan for the recipe. I was not going to add another bowl to the chaos.

>126 lesmel: What is this deal with flaky sea salt? I mean, salted things are lovely. Salted caramel. Salted popcorn. Bacon. Why though is finishing with flaky salt a lasting trend?

I can't figure out the difference between the pans of cookies. It makes zero sense to me that some spread and others didn't.

A friend tried them. She agrees they aren't worth the effort. Also, the bookclub people that tried them didn't rave about them; but did rave some about the ginger cookies. I'm waiting for Mom's opinion.

Ohhhhhhhh, this gets even more interesting! There is a recipe from Kate Davis via Bon Appétit. This recipe is from 2017/18.

Tessa from Handle the Heat swapped out some AP flour for bread flour, used homemade toffee instead of Skor, and semi-sweet chips instead of dark chocolate chunks/wafers...and recommended the stupid chilling step. This recipe is from 2014 (based on her post).

Now I may have to try the Kate Davis recipe.

King Arthur announced a cookie of the year that sounds a lot like what you described. I decided that it wasn't worth the effort. Not to mention that I don't have access to the specific products they use.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/supersized-super-soft-chocolate-chip-co...

And also, I don't want my cookies that big. Never saw the point of great big cookies.

>130 MarthaJeanne: Ohhhhh, that recipe is sooooooooo fiddly. Who puts a tangzhong in a cookie? I saw that recipe in January & knew I wouldn't make it. Big cookies are for sharing. Or breaking into pieces and snacking through the day. lol

I was talking with a friend about the browned butter cookie -- had disappointing it was -- then we got on the topic of other cookie recipes that we trusted. I have an oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie that I call "World's Best Cookie" but is NOT the cornflake World's Best Cookie from the 70s.

This lead to us talking about a peppermint crunch cookie that is very similar to both versions of our World's Best Cookie. Now I want to make more cookies. lol

>85 lesmel: The handle reminded me of my mom's favorite paring knife--but not the blade. Mom's was the full blade!

>128 lesmel: Mom likes the cookies. Maybe aging the cookie helps? She did say it's hard to distinguish the toffee in the cookie. I agree. Heath bits is NOT the way to go for this cookie if anyone plans to make it.

>133 thornton37814: Once upon a time that was a full blade, too. lol

These are the cookies in >121 lesmel::

I also made the viral popping cranberries. 100% worth the fiddly-ish nature of the process.

1 bag FRESH (never frozen) cranberries
1-2 cups OJ
1-2 cups fizzy something
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Rinse the cranberries. Discard soft cranberries. Combine to taste the OJ and fizzy. Pour over cranberries in a container with a lid. Stick in fridge overnight. Drain liquid. Coat cranberries in powdered sugar. I've found the easiest way to do this is combining the damp cranberries and powdered sugar in a large zip top bag, blow air to fill, and roll on a counter. Make sure you break up any clumps of cranberries. Make sure you discard any soft cranberries again. Spread in to one layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 200F for 5 minutes. You are looking to make the sugar coating dry out but not cook the cranberries. Allow to cool. Store in fridge overnight. Happy popping! I recommend storing in the fridge when not eating them. They do start to soften after 4-5 days.

We made chicken and dumplings and nearly ruined them using a boxed chicken broth. Mom says she's never using that broth ever again. I have a feeling I will be taking the chicken and dumplings home. I don't mind the flavor; but there's definitely something off with the flavor profile.

Hmm, I took pictures of a few recipes from the cookbooks I'm looking through at Mom's. I should have kept them in Flickr. I could have posted a couple interesting ones.

Anyone familiar with sausage cookies?

Pork sausage
flour
brown sugar
baking powder
salt
egg
orange juice
orange zest
drippings
chopped nuts

>139 lesmel: Those are similar to the pork cake I made last year using my grandmother's recipe. I say similar meaning the flavor profile and the pork, but the cookies had raisins and spices, no oranges.

We made spinach dip and stuffed dates for tonight's party.

The spread tonight:

Grapes for luck:

My plate:



The cocktail is a grasshopper. It was exceptional. Better than most grasshoppers I've had. They are usually sickly minty and heavy with fat. Mom said it was too sweet; but I have ceiling for tasting sweetness. After a certain point, it's all just sweet. Like when it's hot outside. At some point, hot is hot. No matter what the thermometer says.

Behind the cocktail was Stella Rosa Black. I love most of the Stella Rosa label. It's a sweet wine.

Time

to

cheat

for

the

magic

number!