Cooking With Deb

Some years ago, I don't remember how many, my mother sent me a box of recipes.

She'd gotten around to cleaning out her recipe boxes, first of all. Then, she went through her mother's recipes for ones she wanted to save. Finally, she sorted through stacks of recipes from my dad's sisters, given to her over the years and dumped into a drawer. When she was done sorting, she sent what she didn't want to me.

There are hundreds here. I have no idea how old some of these are, but they reflect American Midwestern cooking tastes. The box has sat, unused, in the home office for many years. I was going to integrate these with the recipes I save but it would be such a daunting task, I put it off in favor of doing most anything else.

I like to cook, but the realities of my life are that cooking is not something I do when I get home from work. My stamina is gone so whatever supper is must be something reasonably quick. That doesn't favor good food; let's be honest. Ice cream, crackers, peanut butter sandwiches, dry cereal, tend to be staples of dinner. And a diet like that is not good for me. My efforts to reform my diet fall apart simply because I'm tired.

Then one day, I had an idea. What if I cooked one new recipe a week? I could dive into mom's box and make one new thing. I grabbed a handful and counted recipes, using the date numerator. When I got to #28, I read it to see whether it was something I'd make. It was a fruit cocktail sauce to serve warm with ham. Nope. Counted again and got a recipe for green beans with bacon. You won't find me ever making green beans. I cannot stand them. The next batch of counting yielded this.

Well, this was something I would eat. Plus, I had most of the ingredients. I needed a pastry shell, the sweetened condensed milk and the biscuit mix. Turns out I also needed nuts because all I have, right now, are almonds, but, at the time I made this, I thought I had walnuts.

It's quick to make, but it makes a lot of batter.

The regular pie shell couldn't hold all of it. If I make this again, I should try a deep dish shell. The excess, I put in a greased glass dish and baked with the pie.

The pie bakes for 45 minutes. I had no idea how long to cook this so I checked every 10 minutes. At 20 minutes, I pulled it from the oven. I should have left it bake for another 10 minutes. While set, it wasn't completely baked and I wound up eating these with a spoon, not that there's anything wrong with brownie consumption via spoon. The pie came out, cooked through, at 45 minutes.

The smell in my house of brownies baking was heavenly.

It cut well. The brownie had a nice crust to it. You bake the shell first, add the batter and bake again. I had concerns the shell would be overdone, but it wasn't.

It's very rich. The chocoholic that I am can only eat one piece a day. The batter was scrumptious and I wonder how long it would keep to be used as an ice cream topping. Perhaps that's something for a party. I am not ashamed to confess I licked that bowl clean. The addition of whipped cream was a nice touch, but I wish I had vanilla ice cream. THAT would have been outstanding with a slice of pie.

So, the first recipe in this idea was a success. That got me thinking about the box I have in the home office with all the recipes I've saved over 35+ years. There was a teen magazine when I was growing up, called Ingenue. They gave tips on health and beauty, but also on homemaking and budgeting and living on your own. They were rather ahead of their time back then, not assuming you were going to find a guy and get married and jump into the Ladies Home Journal set. I started collecting recipes back then. I have a couple I still make.

When I moved, the stash went with me. Eventually, the addition of other cooking magazines necessitated a filing system for what I was saving. Enter "the box and folder" system.

It started out okay. Label the manilla envelopes with categories and then drop the recipe into that folder. Once a month, grab a folder and read through the recipes, picking a few to try. Eventually, I took to just ripping out the pages and tossing them in the box. I don't remember the last time I actually sorted recipes into the folders. Some of the folders were 25  years old and disintegrating at the edges. What if I combined the two boxes?

That's what I did. I happened to have a box the right size for the cut ones. My saved ones are on the bottom, with mom's saved ones on the top.

All the single sheets are in a stack, to be gone through, assessed, and the recipe I actually want to try cut out and added to the box. The former box was thoroughly examined but the sides are too high to lie down and rest one's chin on so that box has been deemed "recyclable". The old file folders were sniffed but Pilchard decided she didn't want to lie on those. Her current box is to the right. All the folders have been recycled.

I think this will be a lot of fun. I reduced a mess to at least some containment. I need to buy a cake mix for next week's recipe. I expect there will be quite a few 'what the...' upcoming but that's part of the excitement of doing this. It's going to be great exploring what I, my mother, my grandmother and my aunts thought was so good 20-odd years ago that we saved a recipe. Doing this has already got me cooking supper, too. That alone is a victory.

Beverage:  Assam tea

Deb

Chocolate Wars

At the outlet mall, there is a Rocky Mountain Chocolatier and  Lindt Chocolate Shop. We passed by Rocky Mountain and stopped at Lindt. Lindt had a sale where we were able to split a set amount of chocolate and sign up for a frequent buyer card.

Technically, I needed a bag of Lindt chocolate like I need a rash. There are a lot of bags of M&Ms on top of the fridge. But there is something immensely satisfying about popping a Lindt chocolate into your mouth. Unlike M&Ms, I don't have to suck on the shell before it splits, to get at the whipped chocolate center. I think I have a half dozen different flavors in this bag. I don't have a favorite. They are all good, but I avoided the coconut and mint offerings.

I listened to the manager talk about how he never eats Hershey anymore. I thought, "What a shame." As I have grown older, I see the value in consuming a wide variety of chocolate. American chocolate is sweeter than European chocolate. Even when you're eating a 70% dark chocolate bar, the taste is sweeter if the confectionaire is based in the US. Europeans have, up until the last 10 years or so, had a wider variety of flavors from which to choose. We're better but still, M&M/Mars is the #1 chocolate manufacturer in the US. In spite of dark, white or candycane M&Ms, the essential offering is Americanized chocolate.

But while I feel a bit of sadness for this gentleman deciding that he will only eat one kind of chocolate. I have ruled out one kind for a very different reason. Last month, the Hershey company won a lawsuit against an importer of British chocolate. In case you don't know about this, Hershey bought the rights to the US production of Cadbury's chocolates. Very gradually, as global trade has exposed people to more items, importers began to bring in Cadbury chocolates from England. English ex-patriots say the US chocolate is of an inferior mix. Having experienced both European and US chocolate, I wouldn't say "inferior". It's different owing to what the US deems should be the composition of chocolate manufactured here. Plus, it's very much a decision based upon what you've grown up with.

Anyway, Hershey's filed a lawsuit against some importers of British candies claiming their trademarks were being infringed upon by these bits of British chocolate. They claim there is "confusion" between these sweets and their US made counterparts. The net result of this is the loss in heavily British/Irish communities, particularly on the east coast, of the chocolates and other treats which were imported for the few shops which do that kind of business.

I understand the need to protect one's creations from trademark infringement. When the case was settled, we had a discussion in my World of Warcraft guild about how important it is to protect what you've worked hard to create. Knock-offs are a huge business. But here's the rub. Unless you know exactly where to go, finding British chocolate is not as simple as picking up a candy bar at the Casey's when you fill up your gas tank. I'm told Cost Plus World Market has some things, but British chocolate seems to be a niche market. It would never make a dent in the grand trade that is Hershey's. I fail to see that if a wrapper is orange, it's going to confuse a shopper looking for Reese's Pieces. It seems to me, there is plenty of room in this vast world for Flakes and Crunchies and Reese's and York Peppermint Patties.

The bottom line, for me, is that I have decided not to buy Hershey products. I really didn't need to eat Twizzlers, but this will put a dent in my s'mores consumption. How can you make s'mores without that flat Hershey's bar? I guess, if I want this treat, I'm going to have to find out. Maybe I can take some Lindt chocolates and stack on them a hot marshmallow.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Score!

The game plan was to go to Mariano's and then to Target and then to CVS. I needed a few groceries and I needed to pick up a new prescription for the pain in my right leg. I had only one thing on my mind at Target.

Score.

Target employees had dismantled over 80% of the Valentine's display by the time I walked into the store at 9:15 a.m. Easter M&M's have been artfully arranged on the end cap where, the week earlier, Valentine bags of pink, red and white sat. I nearly panicked. I couldn't see any Valentine candy. Giving the employees wide berth, particularly the gal tasked with lowering an extending sign that just didn't want to collapse, I found the candy on a back set of shelves. All the M&M's were lumped together, arranged by colored bags, but in one small section. There were probably 7 bags of these left. The sign said 30% off.

Yes, I admit it. I was sorely tempted to grab all 7 bags. My favorite flavor has been the peanut filled ones, Mr. Yellow. But when I stumbled upon these 2 years ago, he was replaced. Thankfully, they are only available around Valentine's Day and I've only seen them in Target. Must be something between Target and M&M special flavors. (I think the bag on the very bottom of the Easter display was coconut. No thanks.) I only took 4 bags, however. It seemed wrong of me, no matter how much I like these, to take all that was left. Seven bags looked kind of greedy. I wouldn't have had that angst had they been down to the last 4 bags. MINE!

So, I'm good now. I have not checked to see when Easter actually arrives, but I shall ration these and then head over to Target the day after for some pastel Mr. Yellow. With some luck, I can make these last through Easter, through spring and, perhaps up to Memorial Day.

Beverage:  Black Cherry Seltzer

Deb

Noshing News

When I'm playing World of Warcraft, that's when I want to nosh. I don't do it when I sit in front of the TV. My hands are usually otherwise occupied. I'm cross-stitching, crocheting or petting a cat. Something about sitting down at the front of my computer with a beverage brings out the nosh monster. For one's health, however, this is not the best thing. That's why I tend not to have a lot of noshing foods in the house. I will eat them, all of them, in a couple sittings. Not good.

I sent a friend some candy goodies for her birthday. She should be receiving the parcel today. I filled a rather silly container with her favorite and some other silly things, but I overestimated just how big the container was. The Runts I bought wouldn't fit.

They have turned up next to the computer. Added to them were the rest of the Reese's Pieces that didn't fit in the container. The nice thing about Runts is that I can't eat a lot of them in a sitting. The Reese's Pieces look a lot like the Runts so I'm not eating them by the handfuls. This is a satisfying mix to nosh on while playing the game.

I saw these on the ThinkGeek.com web site, some time ago.

I can get lost in those pages for hours. This probably doesn't look like anything spectacular but here these are out of the foil liners.

If you know gaming, you will recognize these shapes as being the dice commonly used in Dungeons and Dragons or other tabletop pen and paper fantasy games. I got Carole a set and, well, had to have one for myself, naturally. They are made out of dark chocolate, 60% dark Ghirardelli Chocolate, no less. This is the ultimate in noshing.

The problem is that, as much of a chocoholic as I am, 60% dark chocolate, while good for me, is rich and I don't sit down and consume that wantonly. I've eaten the 4 sided die and it took me a couple sittings to do it. It's good, oh it's good, but these really aren't the "pop in your mouth" kind of dark chocolate one consumes when one is playing a game.

I discovered something else I would nosh a whole bag of, which also isn't a good thing.

Oh my gosh are these good. They are expensive; notice the package contains only 8 rolls. But fresh from the oven with a teaspoon of butter, they are heavenly. I can't keep these in the house. I'd make the whole package and that's all I'd eat some weekend. If you have more restraint than I, they get a huge thumbs up. I need to try them hot from the oven with jam, although that's not something I can eat in front of the computer. I did eat the last 3 rolls in the package while playing the game. I'm also willing to bet that they will be in scarce supply on Wednesday night next week.

Yesterday, noshers of the world rejoiced, just a little. There was a report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which stated that people eating a handful of nuts daily had a 20% reduction in heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. That's a significant reduction. It didn't matter the kind of nuts, either. One handful, once a day, was enough to lower risk. Nuts are almost the perfect noshing food, but they are high in calories so must be consumed in a small amount. A "handful" translates into an ounce or 1/4 cup. If you actually measure 1/4 cup of peanuts, it looks like a lot and if you eat them one at a time, you can make them last a long time.

My friends know me quite well. Several of them sent me a link to the news reports of the study along with the comment, "The nuts you eat should be plain, not contained in the middle of M&M's."

Dang. There's always a catch, isn't there?

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Well, This Is New

Found at Target.

Plus, they were on sale.

I'm usually up on my M&M's flavors, but this was new to me. These were located right above the coconut filled ones and some people had intermingled them. I don't care for coconut so I spent a few minutes sorting the bins and getting the coconut flavors back to their section. Both have white bags although the coconut ones have blue lettering, not brown.

You'll be wanting to know how I feel about these. Did I eat all the bags? Well, they are interesting.

White chocolate is a bit of a different animal than milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate. The chocolate solids that give chocolate its brown color are removed to make white chocolate. It's pretty much cocoa butter, milk solids, salt and sugar. I've found, in my years of eating chocolate, that the flavor of white chocolate can vary quite a bit. The quality of the chocolate the manufacturer starts with affects the taste of the end result. M&M/Mars should know a bit about chocolate but this is also mass produced and, therefore, the taste is affected.

I found the flavor to be a bit "off". The mouth 'feel', and, for a chocoholic like myself, how the chocolate feels in your mouth is a big factor in the overall experience, was a bit waxy. I don't usually chew my M&M's. I suck on them to remove the outer shell and then get the full taste of the interior flavor. With the peanut butter ones, for instance, I'm left with an explosion of peanut butter taste. The white chocolate here, didn't dissolve as well as say Lindt white chocolate does. These are not super sweet. In fact, I think they are similar in sweetness to M&M's dark chocolate filled. But I felt there was a waxy-ness to the chocolate itself. It's not grainy, I've had grainy white chocolate, it just wasn't as good as it could be, at least for me.

So, I have eaten about a third of a bag so far. I eat a handful and that's all I care to have in a sitting. I'm a notorious snacker but I won't reach for these every time I think I have a snack craving. Also, I don't think I'll be buying these again. My all-time favorite is the chocolate cherry ones they have at Valentine's Day. When those are gone, I'm very happy with M&M's with peanuts. I wouldn't be sad if these didn't make their selection long term.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

8 Pounds

I love my friends, every one of them. While we may not agree on some things like politics or religion, they all share my slightly skewed sense of humor. It came to the fore last week when my friend, Meredith, mentioned she'd had a bad day and was headed out for some retail therapy to cheer herself up. I quipped, "Buy me some chocolate." The comment was made in jest. She said, "Okay."

I quickly realized that, with Meredith, she will buy me chocolate. I was just kidding but my jest gave her a reason to shop and that made her happy. The next day, I got a text, "Don't be mad at me." Uh oh. "The box weighs 8 pounds." Holy bittersweet chocolate, batman! How big is this box? She just laughed. It arrived during the snow of last Friday.

It doesn't really look like much. It didn't feel like it was 8 pounds but that weight had to include the box. This really isn't a cat size box, it's a bit small, although that's never stopped cats in my house from attempting to get into a box. So exactly how much chocolate is in 8 pounds?

Here's what I saw when I opened the box.

Let's see, we have 3 Musketeers dark chocolate with strawberry filling, pretzel and peanut M&M's, a peanut butter Snickers bar, chocolate lollipops, a bag of Ghirardelli squares, a bag of Dove miniatures and chocolate dipped fortune cookies. This is really nice.

That evening, Meredith asked me if I liked the box. I told her I was very happy with it. "Did you look at everything? Is everything okay?" Um...yes. "There are two layers." What? By jove, there are.

Here is layer number 2, moved to the top.

Oh wow. Bags of M&M's in, pretty much, every flavor one can find. There aren't any plain ones. I had to laugh at that, but those are, well, plain. And there is a small box of peanut butter chocolate sticks.

I was floored. This is going to take me at least a month and a half to consume. I'm sure she got some of this on sale, maybe all of it, and I know it cheered her up to go shopping for someone, even if that someone was just making a joke.

I've done this to friends, not on this grand of a scale, but I've done this. Last year, Meredith and I shipped a box back and forth. She got it back at Christmas but it was in rather sad shape. Here's a new box that, once I empty the contents, I'll have to fill and ship back to her. I'm not sure quite what to put in it. How do I 'top' 8 pounds of chocolate? Maybe I don't and I try to figure out something else.

Meredith is amazing and, if you know her, don't let her tell you otherwise. Memo to self: be careful what you tease Meredith with. You just might get it. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some bite size 3 Musketeers to eat with my lunch.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

I'm Out!

There is no more of Daniel's instant hot cocoa. I finished the last of it today. I've been feeling rather rough around the edges. I'm not sure why. I'm glad I had some ginger ale in the fridge for my stomach was not at all settled. I've slept more than I've been awake. I've done some cleaning, no sewing, and I wrote a letter in that journal which I'm going to send to a friend. It turned out to be many, many pages. But that's what the "journal-letter" idea was meant to be, pages of thoughts and feelings and ideas. I hope she enjoys it. She's welcome to take a few months to write back.

I finally decided eating something would be a good idea, so I made up the last of my Bob's Red Mill Scotch Oats. Since I can't find them at Dominicks, a trip to Whole Foods is in order. Orange juice wasn't appealing as an accompaniment but hot cocoa was. And that's the last of the cocoa.

We were chuckling about this last weekend. I mentioned to Daniel that I was running out, that I'd managed to make his recipe last me over a year. He bemoaned not writing down the recipe. It's too bad. While he couldn't retire on his earnings, there would be a market for an instant hot cocoa recipe made with organic cocoa powder and organic dry milk and whatever magic he added that made it taste so good with or without the addition of Godiva, cherry or hazelnut liqueur or cinnamon schnapps.

So, I'm back to taking 7-8 minutes to make hot cocoa via nuking milk. I saw you roll your eyes at me. It's just that sometimes, milk can get a funny flavor to it when you add alcohol, even in shots. Daniel's cocoa never did that. There is a bright side to this. Once I wash this container, I can put my dried cranberries in this and toss the plastic container they came in. Less space eaten up in the cupboard.

Now, to figure out something to bet with him so I make him have to make me more cocoa.

Beverage:  (sigh) the last of the cocoa

Deb

It's tragic.

I am officially out of instant hot cocoa.

I know. I know. For a chocoholic like me that fact that I admit to drinking an instant chocolate beverage almost makes me a heretic. And I know that I should be warming milk, melting unsweetened chocolate, blending in sugar (organic, if you please) and heating the mix, while stirring constantly.

You do that after I've shoveled the walk and the driveway apron. I'll take the 2.5 scoops of powder in a mug with hot water.

No no. I have no intention of buying those {insert brand name} boxes with their suggested serving size pouches. Those aren't anywhere close to what I want my hot cocoa to taste like. I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. Maybe I will make hot cocoa the long way which does result in a much better drink made exactly to one's specifications.

But, I tell you what. I'm going to be on the lookout for a nice instant. You can't beat coming home from the office, turning on the kettle and curling up with a cat and cocoa. I just don't want to have to wait 45 minutes to do that.

Beverage: my last mug of cocoa

Deb