Post by flutterbye on Dec 23, 2013 13:49:50 GMT -6
At this precise moment, Foresters' Pie (Shepherd's pie with added bacon and leftover venison casserole to bulk up for 4 people) is browning nicely to be scoffed with lots of cabbage greens. And home-made mango ice cream for dessert. 2 minutes and counting...
Kindle park1: nearly all dragons are frolicking in their habitats! (A Thorny little problem to resolve...)
Smartphone park2: Geode, a dragon with rocks in! Still to breed 4 dragons...
I've yet to find a sugar cookie recipe that I like. They never turn out as soft as I'd like.
Here is sugar cookie recipe that a friend of mine shared with me. They are the best tasting sugar cookies I had ever eaten. It is measurements not weights, sorry. Please bear with me as I am typing all of this on my iphone. We have been having technology issues at our house lately.
Oh man, I made these cookies and they were just fabulous. I already had frosting so I didn't get to make it this time. THanks for this wonderful recipe.
Okay, this is for the vegetarians, with whom I identify without actually being one (it's hard if the environment is not that supportive and you also cook for other people. I envy the Indian vegetarian infrastructure).
Gazpacho is a cold raw-vegetable soup traditional to southern Spain. Our great-grandmothers used to make it manually, but I prepare mine in a blender. (It's a summer treat, so you may have to wait, but I often cheat with greenhouse produce).
Throw in a peeled garlic clove for every litre (rounded up) of total projected volume. I use 2 for my 1.8-litre blender.
Peel and cut tomatoes to make up about half the total projected volume. Then, slice half an onion (or a whole onion, depending on size) and throw it on top. (This is a good neutralizing agent for high-cholesterol consumers). Then throw in a sliced green salad pepper (or half a fat bell pepper). Top with enough cucumber against summer heat (I told you it was for summer).
By this time, your volume in vegetables should have reached your upper ceiling limit.
Add a tablespoon of salt and a dash of cumin. Trickle in some vinegar (a big squirt of apple vinegar, less if you use wine vinegar or modena) and a generous squirt of olive oil (up to two fingers' breadth of the olive oil bottle). Level off to the limit with water and blend.
Serve chilled. Sometimes I add more water after blending and I drink it as a salad juice.
Okay, this is for the vegetarians, with whom I identify without actually being one (it's hard if the environment is not that supportive and you also cook for other people. I envy the Indian vegetarian infrastructure).
Gazpacho is a cold raw-vegetable soup traditional to southern Spain. Our great-grandmothers used to make it manually, but I prepare mine in a blender. (It's a summer treat, so you may have to wait, but I often cheat with greenhouse produce).
Throw in a peeled garlic clove for every litre (rounded up) of total projected volume. I use 2 for my 1.8-litre blender.
Peel and cut tomatoes to make up about half the total projected volume. Then, slice half an onion (or a whole onion, depending on size) and throw it on top. (This is a good neutralizing agent for high-cholesterol consumers). Then throw in a sliced green salad pepper (or half a fat bell pepper). Top with enough cucumber against summer heat (I told you it was for summer).
By this time, your volume in vegetables should have reached your upper ceiling limit.
Add a tablespoon of salt and a dash of cumin. Trickle in some vinegar (a big squirt of apple vinegar, less if you use wine vinegar or modena) and a generous squirt of olive oil (up to two fingers' breadth of the olive oil bottle). Level off to the limit with water and blend.
Serve chilled. Sometimes I add more water after blending and I drink it as a salad juice.
Now I'm off to try that persimmon pudding
This looks really interesting since I don't enjoy eating raw tomatoes or cucumbers. This might be a good way to get these into my diet. Thanks for posting.
Okay, this is for the vegetarians, with whom I identify without actually being one (it's hard if the environment is not that supportive and you also cook for other people. I envy the Indian vegetarian infrastructure).
Gazpacho is a cold raw-vegetable soup traditional to southern Spain. Our great-grandmothers used to make it manually, but I prepare mine in a blender. (It's a summer treat, so you may have to wait, but I often cheat with greenhouse produce).
Throw in a peeled garlic clove for every litre (rounded up) of total projected volume. I use 2 for my 1.8-litre blender.
Peel and cut tomatoes to make up about half the total projected volume. Then, slice half an onion (or a whole onion, depending on size) and throw it on top. (This is a good neutralizing agent for high-cholesterol consumers). Then throw in a sliced green salad pepper (or half a fat bell pepper). Top with enough cucumber against summer heat (I told you it was for summer).
By this time, your volume in vegetables should have reached your upper ceiling limit.
Add a tablespoon of salt and a dash of cumin. Trickle in some vinegar (a big squirt of apple vinegar, less if you use wine vinegar or modena) and a generous squirt of olive oil (up to two fingers' breadth of the olive oil bottle). Level off to the limit with water and blend.
Serve chilled. Sometimes I add more water after blending and I drink it as a salad juice.
Now I'm off to try that persimmon pudding
This looks really interesting since I don't enjoy eating raw tomatoes or cucumbers. This might be a good way to get these into my diet. Thanks for posting.
Pixie - I eat cucumbers, and jicamas for snacks....*munch munch munch, crunch crunch crunch*. Have you tried English or Persian cucumbers? They are quite good. English cucumbers are easy to find in regular supermarkets, but Persian cucumbers may require a trip to Korean supermarket.
freitag - Please let me know how that persimmon pudding turns out. It sounds quite interesting.
Pixie, the reason I say use peeled tomatoes is, that the skin can be hard to digest. Oh, we do digest it eventually, but when you're drinking the thing or eating it as a liquid complement it's not advisable for some people. The same goes for the cucumbers, which have two parts some people are resistant to: the inner pulp and the skin. I can take the pulp but my hubby can't take either. I just use the white flesh (good for your skin).
buffy, I may have to wait. My persimmons are still a bit hard.
Pixie, the reason I say use peeled tomatoes is, that the skin can be hard to digest. Oh, we do digest it eventually, but when you're drinking the thing or eating it as a liquid complement it's not advisable for some people. The same goes for the cucumbers, which have two parts some people are resistant to: the inner pulp and the skin. I can take the pulp but my hubby can't take either. I just use the white flesh (good for your skin).
buffy, I may have to wait. My persimmons are still a bit hard.
okay..whenever you get your hands on it. Thank you.
Okay, this is for the vegetarians, with whom I identify without actually being one (it's hard if the environment is not that supportive and you also cook for other people. I envy the Indian vegetarian infrastructure).
I also live in a place where the vegetarian options are limited to... well... really bland salads! That's what I get for living in TX. However, the city I live in happens to be pretty vegetarian friendly. It can be difficult maintaining a veggie diet sometimes, but luckily not too hard. (I also only have to cook for myself so that also helps a lot!)
The gazpacho sounds fantastic though! All my favorite veggies in one. Well except for avacados but those are... fruit??? I bet it'd be good with avacados too.
Hehe, I like to munch on veggies as well, Buffy. Give me carrots, and cucumbers! Add some red pepper hummus as well. One of my favorite snacks is slices of tomato and avacado. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Yum. Can't wait for avacados to come back in season.
Avocado blends deliciously with tomato and asparagus in a salad (I always throw in onions and some olives), with snacks in guacamole or as a sweet, blended with milk (people find this weird, but I got hooked in south-east Asia). I also love it, but I eat it in those other forms. It doesn't really turn liquid, you see. And yes, I think it's classified fruit - but so are tomatoes, I hear.
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention - I keep off sugar, or glucose anyway. Watching out for a congenital diabetes, which doesn't mean I can't take fructose. If I want something sweet, I throw in a pear or similar
Avocado blends deliciously with tomato and asparagus in a salad (I always throw in onions and some olives), with snacks in guacamole or as a sweet, blended with milk (people find this weird, but I got hooked in south-east Asia). I also love it, but I eat it in those other forms. It doesn't really turn liquid, you see. And yes, I think it's classified fruit - but so are tomatoes, I hear.
yummm, avocado blends /w 2% reduced fat milk, bit of sugar...just like a smoothie but better than most, I am very familiar w/ this drink. Tomatoes and avocados are classified as fruits because they have seeds.
Last Edit: Jan 21, 2014 17:33:37 GMT -6 by Deleted
Okay, this is for the vegetarians, with whom I identify without actually being one (it's hard if the environment is not that supportive and you also cook for other people. I envy the Indian vegetarian infrastructure).
I also live in a place where the vegetarian options are limited to... well... really bland salads! That's what I get for living in TX. However, the city I live in happens to be pretty vegetarian friendly. It can be difficult maintaining a veggie diet sometimes, but luckily not too hard. (I also only have to cook for myself so that also helps a lot!)
The gazpacho sounds fantastic though! All my favorite veggies in one. Well except for avacados but those are... fruit??? I bet it'd be good with avacados too.
Hehe, I like to munch on veggies as well, Buffy. Give me carrots, and cucumbers! Add some red pepper hummus as well. One of my favorite snacks is slices of tomato and avacado. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Yum. Can't wait for avacados to come back in season.
I can always buy, all year round, avocados in Central Market.
I have been inspired to try my hand at tamales, but I do not have access to corn husks to wrap them in. Can I just use baking paper? Either the fancy "glad" kind or the old school grease proof paper?
I did see someone suggest you could use "parchment" but the only parchment I know is VERY expensive paper for calligraphy.
Main GCID: GregDarcy Secondary: GregDarcyToo All gems friends spoken for. Happy to accept friends for party hats. I blame Apple's auto incorrect for all my typos. I actively discourage challenges. All challengers are unfriended.
I have been inspired to try my hand at tamales, but I do not have access to corn husks to wrap them in. Can I just use baking paper? Either the fancy "glad" kind or the old school grease proof paper?
I did see someone suggest you could use "parchment" but the only parchment I know is VERY expensive paper for calligraphy.
Oh man! Tamales are fantastic. I've only ever had experience eating them though, not making them.
I do have experience in parchment paper though! As I recall you're located in Australia? This may just be a difference in naming conventions. I think that "parchment paper" and "baking paper" may be the same thing. I know for sure that parchment and parchment paper are certainly different!
I have been inspired to try my hand at tamales, but I do not have access to corn husks to wrap them in. Can I just use baking paper? Either the fancy "glad" kind or the old school grease proof paper?
I did see someone suggest you could use "parchment" but the only parchment I know is VERY expensive paper for calligraphy.
Oh man! Tamales are fantastic. I've only ever had experience eating them though, not making them.
I do have experience in parchment paper though! As I recall you're located in Australia? This may just be a difference in naming conventions. I think that "parchment paper" and "baking paper" may be the same thing. I know for sure that parchment and parchment paper are certainly different!
Thanks for that Lemmy. I was suspicious that parchment = baking paper! but was not sure. Don't you just love it when your FIRST language trips you up. I don't know how half the people on is forum cope. They must have a dictionary in one hand all the time. Cooking is an area particularly prone to regional variations. Cilantro tripped me up for a long time. Until someone pointed out to me that it was just coriander. The worst though are the measurements. These are all over the shop, but are called by the same name. Aargh! That's why I prefer to use liters and grams rather than tablespoons, gills and ounces. You need to know the country of origin of a recipe to work out the amount specified for them.
Yes I am in Australia. Which is why my location said West of the Emerald City. But I see that's gone. It must have vanished in the move to the new forum.
Main GCID: GregDarcy Secondary: GregDarcyToo All gems friends spoken for. Happy to accept friends for party hats. I blame Apple's auto incorrect for all my typos. I actively discourage challenges. All challengers are unfriended.
Where I come from a tablespoon is FOUR teaspoons. All your charts claim it is only three. And the teaspoon is a different size. And for that matter so is the cup
For me: 1 tsp = 5ml, 1 tb = 20ml, 1 cup=250ml
For you 1 tsp = 4.9ml, 1 tb = 14.79ml, 1 cup=227ml
And I know of at least three different measurements for a pint and two for a gill (I have an old recipe that uses a gill of lemon juice. The best cheesecake I have ever eaten) And don't get me started on pounds. 1 litre on the other hand is ALWAYS 1000 cubic centimetres.
Now I know for most things, these variations don't matter much, but for some things they do. Especially the tablespoon. Imagine the result of adding >25% extra yeast. Or chile!
Main GCID: GregDarcy Secondary: GregDarcyToo All gems friends spoken for. Happy to accept friends for party hats. I blame Apple's auto incorrect for all my typos. I actively discourage challenges. All challengers are unfriended.
That is why I don't bake very much. Last time I baked some brownies for Santa, double dark chocolate brownies. The result was not exactly what someone would expect it was hard and burn lightly. I actually liked the aroma of burn chocolate, and Santa did not mind it either because he ate 2 but 1. Hehh hehh. Honestly though, the kids love them, crunchy chocolate brownies. When I make brownies again, soon, I would not change a thing.
Where I come from a tablespoon is FOUR teaspoons. All your charts claim it is only three. And the teaspoon is a different size. And for that matter so is the cup
For me: 1 tsp = 5ml, 1 tb = 20ml, 1 cup=250ml
For you 1 tsp = 4.9ml, 1 tb = 14.79ml, 1 cup=227ml
And I know of at least three different measurements for a pint and two for a gill (I have an old recipe that uses a gill of lemon juice. The best cheesecake I have ever eaten) And don't get me started on pounds. 1 litre on the other hand is ALWAYS 1000 cubic centimetres.
Now I know for most things, these variations don't matter much, but for some things they do. Especially the tablespoon. Imagine the result of adding >25% extra yeast. Or chile!
It is hard to cook under these extreme hazards.
A suggestion would be to order some measuring devices from the US to have on hand when using recipes from here. Didn't realize the exchange was so far off, that would be discouraging and frustrating.
A suggestion would be to order some measuring devices from the US to have on hand when using recipes from here. Didn't realize the exchange was so far off, that would be discouraging and frustrating.
The issue isn't the conversion. That is easy enough as long as you are aware of it. I use a lovely app called HiCalc HD Pro that handles pretty much every conversion you might ever want. Though even that doesn't know about Australian tablespoons. Sigh. The problem comes when you are not sure what system the author is using or even if they are using a system. Is this blogger posting Mexican recipes using American measures? Probably. Hang on. He's an Australian. Hang on again. His wife is Peruvian. Aargh! (DeLaTierra btw) At least he is a professional cook so he is probably using some system. Some just use their teacup. I have them ranging in size from 85ml through to 370ml. What size do I use? Not a problem if everything is measured in cups. Just use the same one for everything. But as soon as there are cups and teaspoons in the recipe... No wonder I am going bald. The very best otoh are very aware of the issue and are quite specific when it matters. Laura Pazzaglia is an example.
Sorry. End rant.
Main GCID: GregDarcy Secondary: GregDarcyToo All gems friends spoken for. Happy to accept friends for party hats. I blame Apple's auto incorrect for all my typos. I actively discourage challenges. All challengers are unfriended.
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I've yet to find a sugar cookie recipe that I like. They never turn out as soft as I'd like.
