Sparkina's Profile
Candied Persimmon or ??
Icky? But . . . but . . . persimmons are a delicacy of the highest order! Candy that grows on trees! Food fit for Roman emperors! One of Mother Nature's finest food gifts. :-)
What the heck is nutritional yeast for?
I recently rediscovered this scrumptious substance and I don't use it as a cheese substitute or as a substitute for anything, but as an ingredient/seasoning/flavor enhancer in its own right
What the heck is nutritional yeast for?
actually, it's not only a nutritional aid but a flavor enhancer and is used in recipes and dishes and as a popcorn seasoning, and I think the stuff is INSANELY TASTY
We have all vilified Sandra Lee but...
Ants? ANTS? Candied ANTS? Sounds disgusting (although the Candied Ants does sound like a good name for an 80s-type synthpop band)
We have all vilified Sandra Lee but...
Abysmal? Your friend's dish sounds delectable to me.:-)
Childhood literary chow memories
The book about the boy who only wanted to eat chocolate and developed the chocolate curse was called The Chocolate Touch, and it was a modernization of the Midas myth
Childhood literary chow memories
I think lembas are just fantasy, but the bagels in NYC are 2 die 4 :-)
Childhood literary chow memories
I believe the book was called Me and Fat Glenda by Lila Perl
Have you ever "trained" yourself to eat something?
Oooh, yes. Mushrooms are divine! I like the fresh and dried ones loads better than canned, though.
Why must all restaurant entrees have meat in them?
Butternut squash ravioli? Avocado tacos? Sounds divine! Oh, man, now my mouth is watering all over my keyboard.
Where do you draw the line ? Things you let slide or things that you can only let be fresh?
HAS TO BE FRESH -- Peanut Butter. The jarred stuff just tastes like goop to me, whereas the fresh-ground pb (available in the deli/prepared-foods section of my grocery) tastes like PEANUTS.
I never make mashed potatoes from flakes, only fresh, but I do use the flakes to thicken dishes or to bread something.
I do use canned beans. Much more convenient than soaking dried beans overnight then putting them on the range all day to stew.
Is this some new type of cheesecake?
I dunno. I think that dessert sounds divine, myself
Dish in Children's Book
Well, anyway, I couldn't see how anyone could call that "disgusting"
Typical American breakfast foods you don't enjoy at breakfast?
I respect people's likes and dislikes but I personally don't see how anybody can hate toast. It's TOAST, for crying in Manhattan!
Dish in Children's Book
When I was a young teen, I read the Judy Blume book "Superfudge" and in the scene where the family announces plans to spend a year in Princeton, the protagonist, Peter, remembers visting friends of his parents in that city and recalls that these friends served "this disgusting dinner -- shrimp and mushrooms and spinach, all mixed together." For the life of me I could not see what was supposed to be disgusting about this dish. It sounded delectable to me. Anyone else think that this sounds like a dish fit for a Roman emperor?
"Pre-Prepared" Food in Restaurants
You do have a point there, but by the same token, how hard can it be to bread some, say, mozzarella sticks or onion rings, or assemble potato skins? I bet many of the mozz sticks at restos are from a box.
"Pre-Prepared" Food in Restaurants
A lot of appetizers in chain restos are premade "heat-n-eat" products, made by a company, available in your grocer's freezer, and I think that's kind of appalling and something of a rip-off when it's so easy to CREATE an appetizer fit for an emperor, on the spot to order. Maybe use some pre-made INGREDIENTS, such as canned beans or ready-made phyllo shells or bouillon concentrate, but a restaurant serving a WHOLE DISH made in a factory? I don't see the point. If we wanted heat-n-eat-factory food, we'd stay home and heat up some Farm Rich frozen snacks. Why go out and eat something that you can always get from your grocer's freezer?
Most Overrated Dishes
I think sun-dried tomatoes make any dish taste divine! So let's agree to disagree
What menu items need to be retired?
Oh, Amy, no. Cheesecake is divine. ANd that cheesecake in phyllo pastry thing sounds like a dessert fit for an emperor!
foods you ate as a kid (or young adult) that you wouldn't eat now?
Raw bacon? Ooshk! Even if I wasn't a vegetarian (since 1988), my face would be green. That is just gross beyond the law.
Looking for ideas for an 80's theme party
CATERING BY SPARKINA - AWESOME 80S BASH
MENU
APPS
Potato skins
Buffalo wings
Spinach-feta phyllo puffs
Goat-cheese sun-dried tomato phyllo puffs
MAINS
Pasta salad with sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, black olives and artichokes
Blackened (cajun) fish
Stuffed potatoes
Chicken breast sandwiches a la Chick-Fil-A
SWEETS
Hummingbird cake
Carrot cake
mini-muffins
oat-bran muffins
Chocolate mousse
Fruit Pizza
BEVERAGES
Perrier
Herbal Tea
Smoothies
Capri Sun pouch drinks (came out in the 80s)
Wine Coolers
Most Wonderful Tastes (Of Normal Foodstuffs)
Oh, have to add mild goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes to that list
Food Scars - Things you will never eat again.
Chunky-syle milk? Oh, no, now my face is REALLY green
Food Scars - Things you will never eat again.
That image was enough to turn my face green. I don't think faces are supposed to be green
Food Scars - Things you will never eat again.
I was a strange child. LOVED fruits and veggies (still do!) Ate broccoli and asparagus with nary a complaint, only unbridled gusto. One day when I was about seven, I was in the supermarket with my mother and nans (grandmother), and I ate a whole head of raw cabbage. I saw the cabbage, tried a leaf. It was sweet, but not candy-sweet. More like a fresh, green sweetness. Tasty stuff! I tried another leaf, and another, and another, and soon I had polished off THE WHOLE HEAD OF CABBAGE.
The next day, I had such a case of gas pains that I literally thought I was going to die. Mom gave me some medicine and I was fine, but from that day to this, I can't look at a raw head of cabbage without feeling slightly queasy.
Food in Fiction
Heartburn, by Nora Ephron. The title character is a cookbook author and she describes her dishes (even recipes at the end) which all sound tasty except for the lima-bean-and-pear casserole (cook beans for 12 hours? Only if you like munching on ball-bearings :-) )
BRIDGET JONES' DIARY, while not food-oriented, has two chowish chapters. One where Bridget attempts to prepare the fixin's for her birthday dinner and then, of course, there's the infamous "blue soup, omelette, marmalade" dinner party
