December 2010
23 posts
5 tags
Potato pancakes for breakfast?
Yes indeed. It’s one of our New Year’s Day favorites. My cousins come to stay with us for a few days and we usually eat a couple of days of smoked fish (salmon, sturgeon, whitefish and herring) with bagels. But New Year’s Day should be a little more special so a couple of times I’ve made very large potato pancakes (like 6-inches) and served...
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London broil is definitely not filet mignon and olives aren’t truffles.
And yet, many years ago, I confess, I made an elaborate New Year’s Eve dinner for friends with those very substitutions. Filet was too expensive. Truffles? Forgetaboutit. No way. So, I made Beef Bordelaise — even made the stock from scratch — using London Broil. To garnish, I sliced black olives to...
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When you’re used to plain yogurt and dried apricots for breakfast every day, the rare, occasional blueberry muffin becomes a luxurious treat. It’s not as if I can’t buy a fresh blueberry muffin at any bakery or coffee shop, any time. Or even make my own. They only take a few minutes to make and a few minutes to bake.
But I think of blueberry muffins as dreadfully fattening,...
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sprinklefingers: birds of a feather →
sprinklefingers:
i’m in love with sprinklefingers’ readers. especially ronnie fein. we’ve found a connection through food - talking about it, thinking about it, cooking it - and we have a place to discuss it all (the magical internets.) and it’s a good thing we have the web because ms. fein lives all the way on…
I’m not so good at this Tumblr stuff either, so I’m reblogging...
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Once, on New Year’s Eve, it snowed so much that we had 28 people for a sleepover at our house. My parents had invited my mother’s family to come celebrate — so long ago that I can’t remember what year — and no one could go home.
Okay, forget the Ben Franklin quote about how guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days. And forget what my father might have been...
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We’re snowed in and that’s fine with me because I love a quiet day at home. I can read and also catch up on Rubicon, which I realize has been over for quite some time now but not in my house. We’re only through episode #5.
Mostly I am going to cook because my cousins are coming for the New Year’s weekend. I need lots of food and wine. But, to tell the truth, less food and...
4 tags
My goose is cooked. Or should I say, prepared and ready to cook. I usually roast one during Hanukkah but the holiday was early this year and the days flew by and I never got to it. But — the stores had so many plump, good looking geese for Christmas it reminded me that I don’t need it to be Hanukkah to make one. My children and grandchildren are coming for the weekend because everyone...
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A Timely Thought About M.F.K. Fisher
My English professor husband Carl is teaching a class next quarter in non-fiction writing that includes food writing, and the first person he thought of was the renowned M.F.K. Fisher. Most foodies know that Fisher was one of the greats — her writings about food qualify her as a gastronome, but, more importantly, they place her in the forefront of distinguished American sociologists,...
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I love sweet and sour food, especially when it’s cold. And it’s been SO cold here in Connecticut lately that I’ve been whipping up sweet and sour everything. Lots of things, anyway. Like these Sweet and Sour Short Ribs I served last night (with mashed potatoes and cabbage).
I used honey instead of the more traditional brown sugar and added some powdered ginger to give it a...
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I don’t want to get into a political fight with anyone, but I am in favor of the new school lunch law. I’m glad there is some new focus on healthy eating for kids so we can start somewhere. I look around and see a lot of fat children, many more than I remember through the years. I hear about the huge increase in childhood diabetes. It’s not good.
A healthy school lunch 5 days a...
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sprinklefingers: pulling it off. →
sprinklefingers:
in less than one week i’m hosting a plated christmas dinner for 10. TEN. each time i’ve been asked if someone can bring something i say, “oh, no. thank you. i’ve got it handled.” and i do. i DO have it handled. but, just between you & me, i’m already a little tired. i wish i could say that i’ve…
No, you are not crazy.
Or else, I am too.
When you have a passion for...
re: your 12/16 Advocate rib roast article
I’ve been using a similar roast seasoning approach for decades but I suggest the following tweak. It makes things easier and much more convenient for me.
Add a full canister of salt to a large bowl. Press and add all the cloves of a full head of garlic and thoroughly mix until all the lumps are gone. Add paprika until the color is just about that of your site background. Reserve in an...
2 tags
My daughter Gillian is the carver in our clan. She is awesome and when she carves turkey each slice is perfect. The bones are cut away in exactly the right spot. The skin says crispy and she layers it over the meat, just after spooning some pan juices on the platter to keep the meat moist.
I can’t remember when Gillian started carving. But it probably had something to with the fact that my...
1 tag
Ohmyohmyohmy! Just got a note from someone at Fairway that the event where someone can win a holiday dinner isn’t on the 22nd. It’s on the 15th! This Wednesday! Someone sent out a release with an incorrect date.
So, it looks like I won’t win the dinner because I will be away on Wednesday and can’t get to the store that day! SO SAD. I am feeling really competitive. Or maybe...
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Followup folks! The dinner I could win at Fairway could be a rib roast! Exactly what I am planning for New Year’s Eve when my cousins Leslie and Neil and my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Eileen come. We have rib roast every new year’s eve. Except when we have rack of lamb.
Of course I could also win Salmon en Croute but Neil wouldn’t eat that, or Turkey, which I could eat any...
Fairway Stamford has been open for about 6 weeks now and I think I should take rooms nearby because I’ve been there so often. Talk about shop till you drop. They just opened their Liquor/Wine Store, so I had to make another trip down (it’s quite a ways from my house) and lucky me — they had the perfect sweet kosher wine I needed to experiment on a recipe for Passover zabaglione I...
3 tags
This is a perfect day to make soup. It’s cold, dark and rainy where I live, the kind of day when you want to stay inside, wear your most comfortable clothes, read a book or watch a movie and know there’s a comforting something simmering on the cooktop.
I’m going to make Minestrone. The recipe is flexible. I always have fresh carrots, potatoes and celery, frozen peas and corn,...
Kichel memories
My mom made kichels, not necessarily for Hanukah. She didn’t like cooking, but actually was good at baking, although she wouldn’t admit it. Dessert was part of our family dinner meal, and since store bought cake was expensive and considered a special treat, my mom would very often make some kind of cake to be eaten that night. When she was “out of everything”, she would...
so, basically what you're saying is...
sprinklefingers:
…i’m screwed anyways? la times discusses study proving that parents have little influence over kids’ eating habits.
Anyone out there want to weigh in on this one?
Kids always influenced other kids, but for the most part I still want to believe the grownups are in charge.
6 tags
Goose fat is silky and sensational. Fabulously rich and velvety. So yes, yes, yes, I know it isn’t the best thing for anyone’s cholesterol, but when I use it for matzo balls for Passover dinner next April, no one will complain. Goose fat is colorless and virtually tasteless, so it’s first choice over heavier, more earthy tasting chicken fat or vegetable oil. Perfect for matzo...
Thanks for the historical note
Happy Chanukah Ronnie (to you and the family)! Thanks for the feminist reminder. I’m taking that note about Judith, as well as the cheese-honey dessert crackers, to our Chanukah party next door tomorrow night! I think everyone will be enlightened and delighted. —Carol
Submitted by: carol_selkin@sbcglobal.net
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Some easy doughnuts for Hanukkah or whenever — not as time consuming as the raised-yeast kind.
Cake doughnuts
4 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
vegetable oil for deep fat frying
cinnamon sugar,...
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On Hanukkah let’s not forget that a woman played a major role in the victory of the Maccabees in that battle, over 2000 years ago, that saved the Jewish people from complete annihilation. That woman was Judith, who visited Holofernes, a general in the enemy camp, and he fell in love with her so he asked her to dine with him.
During the meal Judith gave him great quantities of cheese, which...