response 145 of 253:

Feb 21 13:32 UTC 2011

Following up on the rice pudding recipe I posted - I made it early in the 
day and served it about eight o'clock.  It was tasty but the yogurt made 
it very thick.  It seems the longer it sits the thicker it gets.  I 
suspect some of that is simply the nature of the rice (like pasta in pasta 
salad) continuing to absorb the available liquid.

I'm going to play with this some and in a month or two make Alton Brown's 
rice pudding and see which I prefer.  Alton's recipe:


http://tinyurl.com/cbrtcp

response 147 of 253:

Feb 23 15:14 UTC 2011

Winter. Cold. Gray. Dreary.  WAFFLES!

I made them Belgium-style and it yields 10 squares that freeze very well. 
To make these reasonable I substituted whole wheat pastry flour, light 
sour cream and cut the butter to 4 tablespoons and it still worked 
beautifully. They come in at 203 calories a waffle with 4 grams of fiber. 
I reheat them in the toaster.  A side benefit - the house smells 
wonderful!

http://tinyurl.com/4so7res  

response 149 of 253:

Feb 24 16:18 UTC 2011

Yay!  One thing I'm looking forward to when I move is making more
vegetarian food.  This is something I think Eric and I would both like.

response 151 of 253:

Feb 26 00:15 UTC 2011

I just tried it. That's the bomb. ;)

response 153 of 253:

Feb 28 16:52 UTC 2011

Well, I finally cooked something. No formal recipe for it though. But I
made Halupki (or Haluptsi is more how my family pronounces it).
Basically an old family recipe for cabbage rolls. 

I took 2 lbs of ground beef and 1 lb of ground pork and mixed it with a
bunch of brown rice. Then I steamed a head of cabbage and pulled the
leaves off in the way my grandmother showed me. The hardest part is
boiling the head of cabbage the right amount. I boiled it for about five
minutes and then had to keep putting it back in for five minutes as I
peeled off the leaves since the interior ones were still raw. That is
how my grandmother did it though so I am pretty sure it is right. You
don't want the leaves cooked too much -- just enough to soften them up
enough for rolling. 

You roll the meat mixture into the cabbage leaves. Then you line a
roasting pan with cabbage leaves on the bottom and put in a bed of sour
kraut. My grandmother made her own but I used the stuff from a jar. I
added carroway seeds to the sour kraut. Anyways, you put the cabbage
rolls on top of the sour kraut and then when you're done putting them in
the roasting pan, you add crushed tomatoes (I used too few but next time
I'll know) and then pack more sour kraut on top and stick a ham hock in
it. Then I baked it for about three hours at 350F. 

It came out very good but not nearly as good as my grandmother's. My
mother and aunt think it is because I didn't use enough salt. I guess my
grandmother put a ton of salt in it and then salted each roll
individually as she put them in the pan. I may have also overcooked the
rice but I don't think making it with brown rice instead of white made
it bad. 

response 155 of 253:

Feb 28 23:57 UTC 2011

I hate it when I realize I don't have an old family recipe any longer.  
It's like, why didn't I get that down.  Or why didn't I take better care 
of it.  Even if I never intend to cook with some of those ingredients, 
like lard, it would be nice to have that bit of family history.

Your recipe sounds like a bit of family history, Lynne.  It's cool you're 
bringing it back.  I'm not a kraut person but, just the same, I'm familiar 
with the dish, and my father liked it a whole lot.  His version called for 
a red sauce over the top - I think it included Campbell's tomato soup. of 
all things.

response 157 of 253:

Mar 1 11:55 UTC 2011

Funny. Outrageous, but funny. 

My mom cooked with canned soup a lot.  That was back in the 50's and 
60's when I think most moms did.  Dad's tended to rule the BBQ grill but 
stayed away from the stove for the most part.  I still make the green 
bean casserole for the winter holidays out of respect for tradition. ;-)

I haven't given up cans and jars for speed meals - I've just moved on to 
better cans and jars.  Last night I put Trader Joe's Masala cooking 
sauce into a Dutch oven with some browned chicken thighs and drumsticks 
and a little sliced onion.  Brown rice went into the rice cooker.  
Broccoli got steamed at the last minute.  No muss, no fuss, minimal 
hands-on cooking.  But the results were an almost restaurant quality 
Indian dinner with leftovers.  I like leftovers.

The Maude's Michigan Chicken dish is wonderful, Brooke.  I remember it 
well.  I think it's a sin you didn't get a prize. ;-)

response 159 of 253:

Mar 2 19:25 UTC 2011

My mother made her cabbage rolls with cream of tomato soup. Truly awful 
from a woman who really could cook.

Et tu Mary? I would have thought you wouldnt make that crappy green bean 
concoction. I should unfriend you for that. (just kidding)

I pulled one out of the fire the other day....

I made a meatloaf, but I forgot the onion soup mix and the spices. Came 
out awful. I parked it in the cold box thinking I was doomed to eat 
flavorless meatloaf for the next 2 weeks. THEN, I bought some mushrooms 
on sale at la mercado, and I diced the shrooms up with 1/2 of the 
remaining meat. Cooked it some more, then added some water and let it 
simmer. Result was some awesome burrito filling, and topped with some 
homemade salsa and hot sauce it made some pretty good burritos.

The rest of the meat is bound for hamburger helper. Hey, I need a 
change.

response 161 of 253:

Mar 2 20:41 UTC 2011

Yes.  It makes the dish.

response 163 of 253:

Mar 2 20:50 UTC 2011

All of the above.

response 165 of 253:

Mar 10 22:18 UTC 2011

For mardi gras I made some jambalaya using this recipe:

http://tinyurl.com/4s7dl4v

And it was just okay.  I mean, I followed the recipe exactly and used 
quality ingredients, and it had a nice bit of heat, but it was just 
"okay".  One thing - it was a lot of rice for the amount of protein.
I'll not be making this again.

response 167 of 253:

Mar 11 13:57 UTC 2011

Sounds right.  The weird part is I like paella and they are so similar.  
Maybe I'm a closet saffron junkie.