mwright's Profile
Breakfast On The Holidays?
Amen to that -- and I like that phrase "eat like hobbits". I was left a widow with 3 children under 5, and on the first Christmas "after" I realized that no one was going to eat anything like Christmas dinner on Christmas morning. So we moved the Big Meal to Boxing Day -- the kids call it the Christmas Feast -- and on Christmas Day we sort of breakfast all day. Croissants, fruit salad, yoghurt, home made bread, cheeses, jams, coffee (with brandy....) and, of course, lots of chocolates. Nothing gets cooked. Wonderful for Mother -- especially in the days when I was up until 3 a.m. decorating the tree and being Santa.
The Mystery of the Molded Salad...
My mother made what must be sort of a tomato-jello aspic-style salad. You use cherry Jello and replace the liquid with V-8 juice, add grated onions, grated carrots, chopped celery, shredded iceberg lettuce and baby shrimp. I think there's a little Worstershire sauce in it too. We still have it at Christmas -- it sort of takes the place of cranberry sauce, whcih none of us likes. It's actually very tasty.
Other than that, I have never had a jello salad that did anything but gross me out.
Cooking Task You Detest the Most?
Picking the bones out of salt fish, which I had to do with tedious frequency when my dear husband was alive. I'm not a big fan of salt fish (for "fish" read cod -- "salt fish" is what they call salt cod in Newfoundland). I hate the smell and the texture of handling it, although I'm happy enough to eat fish cakes or bacalao if someone else makes it.
Okay, Now On To Christmas Dinner...
The Christmas after my husband died I decided that no small children (2 and 4) were going to eat a big meal on Xmas day. My stepdaughter was already committed to at least 2 Xmas day dinners, so I moved the whole thing to Boxing Day. Best thing I ever did -- the kids call it the Xmas Feast and it is its own distinct part of Xmas (still celebrated for 12 days here in Newfoundland).
On Xmas Eve I do a beef soup and a fish chowder. Xmas Day is for grazing -- leftover soup, fruit salad, cold cuts, home-made bread, fruitcake, chocolates... The Boxing Day meal is turkey, mashed potatoes, the Newfoundland trad of boiled root veggies and cabbage with salt beef, pease pudding -- and I also like to have some baked squash (not trad Newfoundland, but I'm from Nova Scotia!). Mustard pickles, beet pickles, and fruit salad for dessert.
I love Xmas food!
things to do with bean pot liquor
I've used it to make a variant of French onion soup.
Marmalade advice needed fast: cooking in the oven?
I've been making marmalade for years and have never even wondered about the temperature. I cook by time and by the "cold plate jelling" method and I never have problems. (of course, i usually use limes or grapefruit, which probably have more natural pectin).
Favorite cheese blend for homemade Mac & Cheese?
Yesterday I did half sharp cheddar and half smoked gouda. I added some ham, whcih really suited the cheese flavours. My kids loved it -- there were no leftovers for my lunch today!
What to do with a whole bunch of limes
Once again I cry -- "Lime Marmalade"!!! The food of the gods, and useful in many surprising ways.
Automatic drip coffee makers [Moved from Home Cooking]
I love my thermal carafe! I can bring it to the table and sit for hours on a Saturday, and the coffee is still hot and tasty, witout that scorched taste that comes so fast with a warming plate.
Church (or Firehouse) Suppers
In Newfoundland they have, among other things, flipper suppers (seal flippers) at the appropriate time of year (March-April, I believe. I have never been -- I like to eat my fish straight rather than taste it via the flesh of a fish-eating animal -- but I believe they are very popular.
Jiggs Dinner events are also very popular, as are "turkey teas"
Ode to Turnips
oh, and they are my secret ingredient in many "brothy" soups -- grate them up very fine and add them to oriental type soup stocks, French onion soup, etc. The vegetable will "disappear' but a nice, rich flavour will remain.
Summer Savory
Have never heard of using it fresh! And summer savory is the herb of choice in Atlantic Canada.
what to serve with baked beans
Home-made sweet mustard pickles or green tomato chow -- and home-made bread and butter.
Favourite summer recipes?
hodge-podge -- baby potatoes, green and yellow beans, fresh peas, an onion and maybe a few new carrots. Cook in a little water and a pinch of salt until veggies are tender, then add milk and butter.
Mmmm -- that takes me back to my father's garden in Nova Scotia -- brushing the earth off the little baby carrots, eating the peas, warm from the sun -- actually, I liked all the veggies raw as much as I lked thm cooked. The smell of the warm garden earth is the essence of summer for me.
Please help settle dispute with my Mom
Does anybody out there mash their potato salad? When I took my first potato salad to an event in my husband's community I did the usual cubed potatoes/eggs/onions/celery/pickles -- no one had ever seen such a thing before and they treated it as a whole different variety of salad. (Got to say, thier version is mashed -- or even, shudder, instant -- potatoes with sandwich spread as mayo and, sometimes, beet juice). I have since had it mashed in other places here (Newfoundland).
Just to add -- I can live without egg in the potato salad, but I must have onions. I sometimes add baby peas and radish slices, just for colour. (I think I did all of this on the occasion mentioned above).
Help! Need fabulous tea sandwich recipes!!
Don't forget asparagus sandwiches -- just spread a bit of mayo/cream cheese on a flattened, de-crusted slice, roll it up and slice it into little wheels. In my mother's day in our part of the world the asparagus was canned, but fresh, lightly steamed and chilled asparagus would be incredible!
Best Food Memory From Long Ago
I remember the taste of raw new potatoes. In the fall of the year when the potatoes were dug it was the job of the children to gather them up and put them in the burlap bags for winter storage. We used to get the tiny ones -- not much more than stubs on the roots -- and eat them raw. I remember the cool, starchy flesh with the smell and taste of the rich earth in the fall evenings.
Not something I'd seek out now, but it's sad that my children have never had that sort of total food experience (other than picking blueberries). The memory is so vivid -- in my mind and in my mouth!
What are you eating to start your day on wed March 5th?
Head cheese with mustard and sliced tomatoes on toasted multigrain bread.
Lovely sunny day in St. John's -- -5 C and not too much wind where I am.
pickled green beans
Try using those purple beans (they turn green when you cook them). In a taste test between purple, green and yellow beans the purple ones made the best pickles -- tender yet crunchy.
Best Sandwich you ever had?
The Veggie Special at the Herring Choker Deli in Nyanza, Cape Breton. I don't know what made it taste so very good -- maybe the home-made whole wheat bread or the thin slices of onion, but after a hard week's work and a lot of french fries on the road it was heaven! I had it for the first time almost 25 years ago, and the last time I stopped there it was just as good!
Uses for Jam and marmelades
Pretty well. I posted the recipe I use here:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/285809
Figgy Duff Recipe Wanted [Moved from Canada board]
Here's one recipe:
Figgy Duff
½ cup butter
2 cups flour
1 egg
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup milk or water
1 cup raisins
pinch salt
Combine dry ingredients and add milk and egg. Place in
cloth bag and boil for one hour in pot of water. (usually in with the boiled dinner)
Ingredients can also be steamed in a pudding mild.
To make a plain duff follow same recipe but omit raisins.
I must say, I know my M-I-L never used eggs, and I don't think she added sugar either. I haven't been able to reproduce her recipe.
Uses for Jam and marmelades
The marmalades can be used for any number of things. I've made bbq sauce, marinades, glazes (for meat and for baked goods), mincemeat ( subbing for peel when I couldn't get any) -- lime marmalade, in particular is one of the must-haves in my fridge,
Original Canadian Foods? Eh!
Don't forget toutons for Newfoundland.
And what about hodge-podge for Nova Scotia -- fresh new potatoes, new onion, peas, green beans and new carrots cooked with milk, real butter and salt and pepper -- makes me think of home.
Cadburys Creme Eggs
Ah, the clucking bunnies! They still crack me up after -- what is it -- must be nearly 25 years?
What are your favorite condiments with EGGS?
Tapanade spread on toast for poached, soft-boiled or sunny-side up eggs.
bakeapple jam? [Moved from Canada board]
Try looking for cloudberry jam -- cloudberry is another name for the berry.
