nami54's Profile
Real Butcher Shop on the Peninsula
The peninsula is a big place. Save More meats in Pacifica is run by the same family we bought our meat from in the 1960's.
Super Bowl menu?
I have family who have lived in Indianapolis all my life. I've been going there to visit since 1971 and I've never encountered a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. A shame really, since they sound really good! I've had a lot of wonderful food in Indpls over the years, but nothing I could reasonably call a local specialty.
My aunt used to refer to Indpls (my uncle dubbed it "India-no-place" in the 1950's and it stuck) as "we live in a cornfield with lights, you know": Corn chowder, fritters, pudding, anything corny.
White Castle didn't start out in Indpls, but they've been there since the 1920's. Sliders?
There is also a growing community in Indy from India, so my second generation of cousins, raised on 60's midwestern fare have adopted several Indian dishes as their own.
There is a historic farm settlement outside of Indpls, Connor Prairie Farm (now affiliated with the Smithsonian). They do a lot with apples in the fall, but I can't say whether the apples are grown locally.
In the southern half of the state, Brown County is known for fried biscuits with apple butter. These are yeast biscuits, deep fried, served warm, with apple butter. I haven't had any since the 1970's and I still remember how good they were. http://www.examiner.com/chef-recipes-in-indianapolis/nashville-house-fried-biscuits-and-apple-butter
Fat, Fat, Gucky Chicken Breast (Normal or Freaky)? [moved from Site Talk board]
if you are not able to tolerate any fat at all, it would be wise to check with your doctor.
potato planting questions
Glycemic Index. A measurement of how rapidly/high a food will boost one's blood sugar. Most potatoes are pretty high GI, though the way they are prepared can make a difference.
potato planting questions
I can't say whether one variety has a higher or lower gI than another, but a great resource for all things potato is Peaceful Valley Garden Supply (groworganic.com). Usually planting grocery store spuds isn't recommended, but if you must, organic ones are the way to go.
Anyone doing a fall/winter crop?
you are making me very grateful we confined our potatoes in trash cans! We got a pretty small crop, though. Hoping for better yields next season. I'm about to pull up our arugula.
Anyone doing a fall/winter crop?
bobabear, if you haven't already done so, get yourself a copy of Pam Pierce's "Golden Gate Gardening". It's the best bay-area (especially SF) resource for what to plant, when to plant, and what to do with it after you harvest it. When I spent five years living in SoCal, I used to pore over it and dream of winter gardens (I never had any luck with winter veggies in Altadena). She also has a great section on which tomato varieties are most successful in SF.
Anyone doing a fall/winter crop?
bobabear, EVERYONE had trouble last year with the cold - we had a much cooler, later summer than usual. It might help to know where in NorCal you are. I'm in the SF East Bay (west of the EB hills) and we had wonderful tomatoes and peppers and beans last year, though they were later than usual. Just now we have mixed lettuces, kale, and arugula to harvest, some leeks ready when we are, garlic and shallots are up, and the first batch of broccoli will be ready to harvest in another couple weeks. Chives, parsley, thyme, and oreano we grow year-round. Under lights indoors we have starts for more lettuce/spinach, broccoli, and both sugar snap and shelling peas. We plan to start peppers and tomatoes indoors with an eye to transplant about May 1. Hope this helps!
Low-maintenance vegetable gardening
A lot depends on where you are located and the length of your growing season.
How to Tell When Lemons are Ready to Pick
Confessing here that I cheat. I wait til they fall off the tree. Our don't ripen all at once, maybe this is a varietal thing?
Help me use my frozen green beans (blech!)
We froze a TON of green beans from the garden this past summer. We've been throwing them in a hot skillet with a bit of olive oil and tossing them with a dollop of bacon jam. Killer. We used garlic in the oil before we discovered bacon jam.
What cookies are you baking for Christmas this year? 2011 Edition
two variations on basic butter cookies: bittersweet buttons and jam slices drizzled with dark chocolate,
lemon-ginger biscotti
blondies with mini chocolate chips
pepparkakor
shortbread
I may have to do either some eggnog cookies or apricot pastries.
What cookies are you baking for Christmas this year? 2011 Edition
I don't know where your mom got her copy, but mine is from the newsletter P G & E (our power company here in the SF Bay area) used to put in everyone's bill. Mine dates to about 1980 or thereabouts.
What do you make for breakfast on Christmas morning?
It was a very common recipe in the 60's. Somewhere I have a Pillsbury leaflet I got in Home Ec in junior high school and it has a Swedish Tea Ring in it.
What do you make for breakfast on Christmas morning?
I read this post to Huz and he said he knows why you have 50 people to feed each Christmas morning!
Need a cookie recipe to knock new hubbie's (and in-law's) socks off
sushiqueen is right - execution will get you points that nothing else will. That said, with three weeks off, you have lots of time to play in the kitchen! My family are Swedish, and I long ago learned the trick of basic butter cookie dough, which you can dress up or down and play with all you want.
Basic dough:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups flour ( I like to use 1 cup cake flour in this).
Cream together the butter & sugar, beat in the egg yolk, then the flour. I like to chill before doing anything else. My personal fave is to roll into logs about 1" in diameter, indent diagonally with the handle of a wooden spoon, pipe raspberry jam into the indentations, and bake at 350 for 12-16 minutes til just barely beginning to brown on the edges. When cool, drizzle with dark chocolate. Cut into slices diagonally, in the opposite direction you piped the jam.
Last night I rolled a couple 1-1/2 inch diameter logs of this, rolled them thickly in chopped pecans, sliced 1/4" thick, and baked for about 7 minutes. Poked a shallow indent in each with a wine cork, then filled the indent with bittersweet ganache.
Have fun!
How does this recipe sound for Swedish Meatballs?
What makes a meatball Swedish are: finely ground beef & pork, bread soaked in milk, and allspice, along with their small size. I wouldn't use seasoned breadcrumbs and you can use fresh breadcrumbs. My mom always just tore a piece of bread into pieces, poured milk over it, and used that. Onion, not shallot, is more typical. The sauce sounds right, but add a pinch of allspice. I'd skip the nutmeg in either recommended by another poster.
A traditional Swedish meatball mix is moister than many Americans are used to. My mom learned her meatballs from my grandmother, who was born & raised in Sweden.
After years of fussing with finding just the right texture for the meatballs and laboring over the sauce, a Swedish pal and I ran short of time one Christmas and resorted to frozen meatballs from Ikea and their sauce packets. We've used those ever since to rave reviews.
Recipes You've Never Heard of Outside Your Family
I STILL put potato chips (or fritos, even better!) on my tuna sandwiches!
Flashback: Menu ideas for 70's/80's potluck. Tupperware optional.
My family still wants spinach dip on Thanksgiving. Guess I'm tragically un-hip! Anyone else remember the caviar pie from the 80's? It's pretty tasty! I may have to make a Bacardi rum cake soon. Anyone else make the chocolate version?
