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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 20, 2009 21:51:12 GMT -6
Once or twice a month, turn members on to something new to try.
It does not have to be food ... it can be anything. But here is _my_ main reason for this thread:
I got this idea from reading the "What Food Is Stuck In Your Teeth?" thread. There has been dishes & food items mentioned that I have never had, and wouldn't even begin to know how to prepare. And I wouldn't mind trying new things and adding them to my list of foods that I eat.
I've never had lentils, and I wouldn't know how to go about buying them or even how to best prepare them. I love sweet peas, but I've never had Split Pea soup. I love the huge chunks of cooked onions in the slow cooker dish that I fix up, but I've never had onion soup, or stuffed onions.
So ... anyone want to turn us on to something new? Anyone want to suggest something from the food mentions in various threads?
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Post by katina2nd on Feb 22, 2009 18:45:56 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 22, 2009 22:04:21 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Feb 23, 2009 7:40:17 GMT -6
Oooo, those desserts look good, Katina. I'd love to give Pavlova a try....if someone else did the baking!
It'd be so out of character for me to post a recipe that involved baking for the good of all mankind. I think there was once a spell put upon me by the Evil Kitchen Witch: "Castor outta the kitchen! She shall bake no more!!!" Hence forth, all I baked turned into a disaster. So what's a girl to do with all those baking ingredients? I have learned another use for sugar - castor, or otherwise.
Just pour equal amounts of sugar and olive oil into your hand to remove paint, grease, or dirt, (it especially works well for that ground in garden dirt that I can never seem to get off with just soap and water). Rub you hands together for a few minutes, and rinse. The grit of the sugar is abrasive enough to remove whatever it is you're trying to remove, and the olive oil softens your hands at the same time.
Because I wash my hands so much during the work season, this is one way I've found to keep them from staying red and dry like they do with those abrasive hand cleaners.
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Post by quettalee on Mar 12, 2009 8:51:08 GMT -6
OK, I'll get it over here. Being from the south, we ate a lot of rutabagas. My papa's favorite way was just for them to be cut up and boiled similar to how mom cooked cabbage. Nothing was ever "roasted and herbed in olive oil" or my favorite, sauteed in olive oil with lots of fresh garlic. Things was boiled or fried in...(I can't even type it)...lard from the five gallon can from beneath the sink or bacon grease from the little can that sat on top of the stove. After all, Papa did raise hogs. Everything was fried or seasoned that way. Anyway, back to the rutabagas. They were boiled to death and we always had corn bread or "ho-cakes". The cornbread was cooked in the skillet in the oven. We usually had it fixed that way with anything--above-mentioned ruts' or cabbage, so it could be crumbled up in the "pot liquor", or juice from the boiling process. Ho-cakes were made with every other meal on top of the stove in the little bitty flat skillet. Round and flat and fried in a little bit of grease. That was Papa's bread of choice, so it had to be on the table. Oh, and my personal favorite was cracklin cornbread. The same cornbread from the oven skillet, but made with homemade pork rinds cooked inside the batter. You know it's true what they say, we used everything from the snout to the...well, the other end, including everything in between. By the gods, I'm starving to death! I'd almost pass up the soy bacon right now. |
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Post by Phalon on Mar 12, 2009 21:27:52 GMT -6
This cracks me up; it reminds me of the saying that in the South, there is no such thing as an over-cooked green bean. Of course, my Mom does the same thing with broccoli and she never lived a day in the South.
Hubs did though. Many of the things you mentioned, TG, he grew up with too....everything cooked in lard, or the grease from the coffee can on the back of the stove, (it didn't have to be bacon grease in their house; any kind of grease would do). Cornbread cooked in a skillet in the oven was staple, and though he loved it, the way his dad used to eat it grossed him out, (makes my stomach turn too, just imagining it). Bill's favorite lunch was to take a slab of cornbread, and crumble it up in a glass of buttermilk...and drink it. (shudder) His dad also used to love rutabaga...he'd peel them like a potato, and then eat them raw like an apple.
I asked about cracklin' cornbread and Hubs' granny made the best. He never heard of "ho-cakes" though.
Though I didn't eat any of these things growing up, I did eat a lot of parsnips. Mom used them to flavor stews and soups. Hubs never had one until he met me. Actually, we had them for dinner tonight, as a side to my meatloaf - both of which Hubs declared "good eats". You should try the roasting method sometime....it's soooo easy. Just peel them like you would a carrot, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Throw 'em in a casserole dish with salt, pepper, parlsey flakes, and just enough olive oil to lightly coat them. Cover and bake until tender. No fuss, no muss, but....Mmmmmm.
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Post by quettalee on Mar 12, 2009 22:07:42 GMT -6
See, I never heard of parsnips until a couple of years ago...and still have never cooked them. Or eaten any that I know of. My housesitting friend left some in the fridge for me, but I didn't use 'em. I'm going to try some though--just because my friend thinks I should and swears by them so.
Bryan and Jerry and I went to Golden Corral today for lunch because I was craving a salad bar. The salad part was great. We all had a huge salad to start off. Mine was spinach, mushrooms, bleu cheese crumbles (and bleu cheese dressing), sliced almonds, black olives, red onions, grated carrots...it was sooo good. Bryan and Jerry both had a huge plate of just meats...pork roast, wings, meatloaf, baked chicken...I don't think either of them even had a vegetable on their plate. I had carrots, brussel sprouts (both cooked to death), sauteed green beans and garlic, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and absolutely the best dressing ever. I should've just had another salad plate with a side of dressing. Then we all hit the dessert bar--just to make sure it was OK for all those other people that came in behind us. The banana pudding was the best I've ever eaten...and you know I've had some good banana pudding at all those deep-south family reunions.
See Jox, it's going to be hard to keep this separated from the "just general food thread".
I'll be back after my parsnips.
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Post by Mini Mia on Mar 12, 2009 22:11:36 GMT -6
Yeppers ... I can see that. Oh well ... back to the drawing board.  
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Post by Phalon on Mar 13, 2009 6:23:46 GMT -6
Oh! Salads! I love salad dinners - especially in the summer when it's too hot to cook, or too hot to even think about eating anything hot. And bleu cheese crumbles and bleu cheese dressing...mmmmm. It's a coincidence, but Hubs and I were just talking bleu cheese last night. I like it; Hubs does not....and I'm not quite sure how we got on the subject.
Oh, yes...it came up when I asked him if he'd ever had cracklin' corn bread, and he told me how his dad used to eat it in buttermilk; whenever corn bread comes up, somehow the conversation always turns to buttermilk. We both agree on that one; it's like spoiled milk with chunkies. Bluck! Hubs' list of other spoiled milk tasting foods are cottage cheese, yoghurt, and bleu cheese.....which when the conversation turned cheesy. I like them all, which is when he listed his favorite dairy products - all of them cheese. Then LX and BP chimed in with their list of favorites.
See what you started, TG.
Yep - whenever the conversation turns to food, it seems people have a lot to say.
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Post by Mini Mia on Mar 13, 2009 17:39:42 GMT -6
I like cornbread in milk, but never touch buttermilk. Except that mom made cornbread using buttermilk the other day and gripped that we couldn't taste it so stop moaning/wining.  And you can't really taste it all that much when eating it with other foods, but you can sure smell it. Which in my book is just as bad.
Oh, BTW, Phalon. I saw an infomercial last night and thought of a conversation we had:
Tomato Tree
The inventor came us with this because the soil in his area wasn't good for tomato growing. I'm sure you can fix up your own 'tomato tree'.
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Post by Phalon on Mar 14, 2009 6:38:36 GMT -6
Thanks for the link, Joxie. We tried something similar last year - Hubs used a five gallon bucket, drilled holes in the bottom, and planted a tomato in both the top of bottom of the bucket. When the plants got bigger - the top plant hit the roof of the back porch where it hung; the bottom plant grew up instead of down. The thing weighed a ton, and with one strong wind, it all came crashing down. I normally take my hanging plants down when it gets windy, but with a plant coming out of the bottom of the bucket, it wasn't possible with this one.
I'd just do better to plant them in pots, right-side up.
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Post by quettalee on Mar 14, 2009 17:10:36 GMT -6
My salad was the sh!t last night. Spinach, black olives, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, fresh mushrooms, boiled eggs, and sunflower seeds. I had to leave off the red onion because Bryan nor Jerry either one like raw onions. But it was everyone's favorite of the whole meal and I got lots of ooo's and ahhhs. I had bleu cheese dressing, but everyone else had raspberry vinaigrette.
Bry made barbqued chicken breasts on the grill, broccoli (which was frozen and nuked and even he didn't like it), and some of the best mac and cheese I've ever had. He used elbow mac, mozzarella cheese and a can of cream of mushroom soup. It was really good. Of course you or I would've gone a couple of steps farther and threw in some spinach...maybe some fresh herbs...but it was really good. I was just going to taste it because I'm trying to eat healthy again, but I had to have a second spoonful.
Not bad for the boy.
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Post by stepper on Mar 14, 2009 17:47:07 GMT -6
[ I love the huge chunks of cooked onions in the slow cooker dish that I fix up, but I've never had onion soup, or stuffed onions.] Can't say that I've had onions soup, but I like potato soup. And onion rings. I ate at a place in NJ that had huge onion rings. They were great! Then there's the basic turkey stuffing that includes cooking down onions and celery - but it's GOT to go in the bird. What else...I used French Onion soup as part of my chicken over rice recipe. There are myriad uses for onions! |
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Post by Mini Mia on Mar 14, 2009 18:32:28 GMT -6
I make up potato soup all the time. I grew up on the stuff. And I use onion soup mix in the Pork Chops & Rice dish I fix up. Which will be next on my list when my homemade chili is gone.
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Post by stepper on Mar 14, 2009 23:54:06 GMT -6
Pork chops and Rice sounds pretty good! A friend made yummy chicken fajitas by marinating the chicken in thousand island and then BBQ'ed the meat. Uncomplicated - something I can live with.
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Post by Phalon on Mar 15, 2009 7:59:21 GMT -6
Boll! Ok, Ms. Adverbally and Grammatically Correct - although there are many times you let me grammatically slide, I just gotta laugh at this one. But I am not one to correct either your word usage or its placement. Or is it 'neither your word usage nor its placement'? Either way, I don't think Bryan nor Jerry either one would advise it's wise to ask, "WTF kind of grammar is that?"
I have a recipe for killer Salisbury Steaks that has French onion soup as an ingredient. I should pull that out again; I haven't made it in years. Thanks for the reminder!
But Onions: They're not just for cooking anymore. Here are a couple tips from my handy, dandy "Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things" book:
"Remove rust from knives - plunge a rusty knife into a large onion three or four times, (if it's very rusty, it may require a few extra stabs). The only tears you shed will be ones of joy over your rust-free blade." This tip also works especially well during tax season, when the IRS man is too busy to make kitchen calls.
"Soothe a bee sting - If you have a nasty encounter with a bee at a barbecue, grab one of the onion slices intended for your burger and place it over the area where you got stung. It will ease the soreness."
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Post by quettalee on Mar 15, 2009 9:34:22 GMT -6
 Omg! That is one of the reasons I love you so. I knew, I knew, I so knew that one was never going to slide on by, but I was already past medicated at that time and too tired to fix it...or care. (But I did see it.) But thanks, sis. I needed to find a good laugh to start my day and you delivered. I'll be surprised if they're weren't half a dozen more from last night. I know of one for sure that I cringed over after I posted it the other day. I think it's in the rutabaga post. Let me go check... Funny girl. Here, have a tomato.   |
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Post by quettalee on Mar 15, 2009 9:40:01 GMT -6
Oh, and btw, you spelled adverbially incorrectly. What can you expect? Do you realize how many professors use work-study students to proofread and grade papers when you're working on an English minor? Even 30-year-old habits die hard.  |
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Post by Phalon on Mar 15, 2009 21:03:01 GMT -6
HA! Caught me again, Ms. Adverbially and Grammatically Correct!
Yours truly,
Miss Spelling
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Post by stepper on Mar 15, 2009 21:24:16 GMT -6
I toot are not always using good english 'cause some times word are hard to spelt. I speek much gooder than I rite.
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Post by Phalon on Jul 22, 2009 5:48:43 GMT -6
I know many Whooshites are allergy sufferers, and came across a couple of things that might offer some relief.
Things are blooming out of season this summer, and because of it my hay-fever has reared its ugly head month or so early. My sneezies and itchies are usually accompanied by sinus pressure and eye-closing, brain-splitting headaches. Nothing completely gets rid of the headaches unless I catch it when I just notice them coming on. I've had those kinds of headaches off and on the past couple of weeks, and the other night LX, who gets the same headaches, came to the rescue.
She doesn't use medication for headaches, deciding a while ago she was going to use a more holistic approach. She looked a bunch of stuff up on-line, and after I checked it over to make sure nothing she found was going to harm her, she's been medication free (except for her Asthma inhaler and a histamine-blocker) for over a year and a half.
The headache relief method she tried on me was so simple, and it worked!!! All she did was squeeze the fleshy area between my thumb and forefinger hard enough so it was just to the point of being uncomfortable. Hold it for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 to 15 times, then do the same to the other hand. I was amazed at how much relief I got so quickly.
In a related topic, I recently read that parsley can relieve hay fever symptoms because it contains a natural chemical that slows down the body's ability to release histamine.
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Post by vox on Jul 26, 2009 14:37:57 GMT -6
Nothing much eases my hayfever Phalon, the only relief I get from sneezing, itchy/puffy eyes etc is to wash my hair. Apparently the polen clings to oour clothing and hair and washing my hair certainly does releive the symptoms, plus I have superclean hair!
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Post by Phalon on Jul 27, 2009 3:53:32 GMT -6
If washing my hair would do the trick, yesterday, I would have spent the entire day in the shower, Vox! Oh, sheesh - I forgot to take my allergy medication on Saturday, and by the time I got around to taking it yesterday, I already had one of those full-blown headaches, sneezies, and itchy eyes.
So desperate for relief, I went out to the garden and grabbed a couple handfuls of parlsey....you know, just to see if it worked.
It might've....I'm not quite sure; I felt so bad I went to bed to try to sleep it off. At least I got my vitamin C - I also read parsley contains more vitamin C than an orange. I wonder how many pounds of it a person would have to eat though? The article didn't say.
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"There are people you meet, who move in and out of your life, like ghosts-- and after they're gone, you find that they've left a part of themselves with you.
