Sandwich  | June 26, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

Tuna Sandwich Filling

Ingredients:

  • 227 Gram pkg. cream cheese
  • 1 tb Lemon juice
  • 125 Ml. mayonnaise
  • 125 Ml. chopped ripe olives
  • 198 Gm.  can tuna drained flaked
  • 125 Ml.  peanuts chopped
  • Lettuce

Instructions:

Mix cheese and lemon juice together until fluffy.  Stir in mayonnaise,  ripe olives,  tuna and nuts.  Blend well.  Spread on bread and lay lettuce on top.

I changed:

I converted the metric measurements to something I could understand and then made the recipe. Olives aren’t the most favorite of ingredients in our house, so I split the recipe into two on a sort of two-thirds/one-third ratio and made two distinct portions, one with the olives and one without.  (I love olives, so guess what part I  ate.)

Comments:

The cream cheese has to be at room temperature.  It’s very difficult to make the filling if it’s not.

The filling didn’t receive all that many good comments for the non-olive eaters, although I thought it was nice and finished off the olive eaters portion later on the next day as a snack.  The non-olive eaters wouldn’t say anything other than it was ‘o.k.’, but they suggested that I didn’t have any need to make it again, which I would have recommended.  So go figure.  It’s obviously an individual taste thing.  But it’s not a throwaway in my book.

Sandwich  | June 24, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

Pita Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

4 loaves pita bread
4 c. shredded lettuce
2 green onions, sliced
1 rib celery, sliced thin or chopped
1 carrot, diced
1/3 c. red bell pepper, diced
1/2 c. grated American cheeze
Dash of salt
Mayonnaise as spread
Tomatoes, diced (optional)
Spread mayonnaise inside bread. Toss vegetables. Fill each half pita with salad. May send sandwich filling in separate container and fill sandwich just before eating. Servings: 8.
  • 4 loaves pita bread
  • 4 c. shredded lettuce
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1 rib celery, sliced thin or chopped
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1/3 c. red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 c. grated American cheeze
  • Dash of salt
  • Mayonnaise as spread
  • Tomatoes, diced (optional)

Instructions:

Spread mayonnaise inside bread. Toss vegetables. Fill each half pita with salad. May send sandwich filling in separate container and fill sandwich just before eating. Servings: 8.

I changed:

Nothing.  I followed the recipe exactly.

Comments:

I bought large pita loaves as they were on sale when I shopped, and that may have been not the best move.  Once I had the pitas stuffed, they basically exploded in our hands.  I’d recommend the small loaves for this recipe.  I thought that the sandwich was missing something because it was on the bland side.  Suggestions to improve the sandwich included salsa and some sort of dressing or vinaigrette.  Now having said all of this, the sandwich was sufficiently different that I would make it again, but with the improvements noted.  And maybe some roast beef slices.  Or some German Salami….

Slow Cooking  | June 22, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

Sausage Supreme

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. fresh sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces and browned
  • 2 10 3/4 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 potatoes, cubed

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

Cover. Cook on Low 8 hours. If mixture becomes too dry, stir in half a soup can or more of water.

I changed:

Seeing as the recipe called for extra water, and the slow cooker that I was using today didn’t have a closely fitted lid, I immediately added one can of water.

Comments:

I served this recipe with corn.  Four ingredients makes it a ‘make again’ meal.  I made it with medium spicy Italian sausage, but I think the flavor would vary quite a bit depending upon the type of sausage that you used.  I’d like to make this one again with those little beef sausages and see what that does.  The only other comments made were that because  I added extra water there was a lot of ‘gravy’ which even the Gravy Lovers didn’t eat.  There was a suggestion to either serve it over rice or noodles, which, when I stopped to think of it, made sense and would have improved the recipe.

Kitchen Stuff  | June 20, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

Look What You Can Do With A Lemon (besides Cooking)

*Make your own furniture polish by mixing lemon juice with two parts olive oil or vegetable oil.
*To renew the sparkle and brightness inside a glass decanter, skade a small piece of freshly cut lemon and a little water inside. Rub cloudy glasses with cut lemon or saok them in lemon juice and water, and dry with a lint free towel.
*When the finish on bathtubs and sinks looks dull, rub them with half a lemon dipped in borax to regain the shine.
* Polish copper or brass with lemon juice. For heavy corrosion, use a paste oflemon juice and salt. Rub, wash with clear water, and dry.
*To clean ivory (including piano keys), rub with half a lemon or with a paste made of salt and lemon juice. Wipe with a clean, wet cloth.
*Bleach pastry boards and rolling pins clean by occasionally rubbing them with a cut half lemon.
*If you slop paint on the glass when you’re painting windows, let the paint dry. Then rub gently with hot lemon juice. Leave until almost dry and wipe off.
*Bring hardened paint brushes back to life by dipping them in boiling lemon juice in an enamel or stainless steel saucepan. Lower the heat immediately and leave the brush in the hot juice for 15 minutes, then wash in soapy water.
*After washing woodwork, rinse it with the juice of one lemon to a quart of water to maintain the gloss. (This will also work on any painted or enameled surface or linoleum.)
*Use lemon juice in the rinse water to remove soap film from the interiors of ovens and refrigerators.
*Remove spots from kitchen and bathroom faucets by rubbing them with lemon peel. Then wash and dry with a soft cloth to restore their shine.
*Use full strength lemon juice on white washable fabrics to remove lipstick stains; use diluted juice on colors.
*Take wine stains out of washable fabrics with a paste of salt and lemon juice. Rinse, then wash in soapy water.
*A drop of lemon juice rubbed on insect bites or stings instantly relieves the irritation.
*Mulch rose bushes with used lemon peel and pulp.
*Gargle with lemon juice and warm water two to three times, daily for fresh, sweet breath. (Lemon is a local antispetic and internal alkalizer.)
*Add lemon juice to a few teaspoons of hot clover or alfalfa tea to relieve headaches from hangovers or other causes.
*To alleviate coughs, roast lemons until they crack open. Mix their juice with brown sugar and fresh pineapple juice and drink it. The pineapple juice adds its powerful digestive enzymes to those of the lemon to help disintergrate mucus in the throat.
*If you want to stop smoking or chewing tobacco, carry a lemon with a hole in its top, wrapped in wax paper. When you have the urge to smoke or chew, suck a mouthful of lemon juice. You may need several lemons to kick your habit.
  • Make your own furniture polish by mixing lemon juice with two parts olive oil or vegetable oil.
  • To renew the sparkle and brightness inside a glass decanter, skade a small piece of freshly cut lemon and a little water inside. Rub cloudy glasses with cut lemon or soak them in lemon juice and water, and dry with a lint free towel.
  • When the finish on bathtubs and sinks looks dull, rub them with half a lemon dipped in borax to regain the shine.
  • Polish copper or brass with lemon juice. For heavy corrosion, use a paste of lemon juice and salt. Rub, wash with clear water, and dry.
  • To clean ivory (including piano keys), rub with half a lemon or with a paste made of salt and lemon juice. Wipe with a clean, wet cloth.
  • Bleach pastry boards and rolling pins clean by occasionally rubbing them with a cut half lemon.
  • If you slop paint on the glass when you’re painting windows, let the paint dry. Then rub gently with hot lemon juice. Leave until almost dry and wipe off.
  • Bring hardened paint brushes back to life by dipping them in boiling lemon juice in an enamel or stainless steel saucepan. Lower the heat immediately and leave the brush in the hot juice for 15 minutes, then wash in soapy water.
  • After washing woodwork, rinse it with the juice of one lemon to a quart of water to maintain the gloss. (This will also work on any painted or enameled surface or linoleum.)
  • Use lemon juice in the rinse water to remove soap film from the interiors of ovens and refrigerators.
  • Remove spots from kitchen and bathroom faucets by rubbing them with lemon peel. Then wash and dry with a soft cloth to restore their shine.
  • Use full strength lemon juice on white washable fabrics to remove lipstick stains; use diluted juice on colors.
  • Take wine stains out of washable fabrics with a paste of salt and lemon juice. Rinse, then wash in soapy water.
  • A drop of lemon juice rubbed on insect bites or stings instantly relieves the irritation.
  • Mulch rose bushes with used lemon peel and pulp.
  • Gargle with lemon juice and warm water two to three times, daily for fresh, sweet breath. (Lemon is a local antiseptic and internal alkalizer.)
  • Add lemon juice to a few teaspoons of hot clover or alfalfa tea to relieve headaches from hangovers or other causes.
  • To alleviate coughs, roast lemons until they crack open. Mix their juice with brown sugar and fresh pineapple juice and drink it. The pineapple juice adds its powerful digestive enzymes to those of the lemon to help disintegrate mucus in the throat.
  • If you want to stop smoking or chewing tobacco, carry a lemon with a hole in its top, wrapped in wax paper. When you have the urge to smoke or chew, suck a mouthful of lemon juice. You may need several lemons to kick your habit.
Kitchen Stuff  | June 18, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

British Names for American Ingredients.

Aubergine = Eggplant
Bicarbonate of Soda = Baking Soda
Biscuits = Cookies, crackers
Broad Beans = Fava or Lima Beans
Chicory = Endive
Cling Film = Plastic Wrap
Cornflour = Cornstarch
Courgettes = Zucchini
Cream, single = Cream, light
Cream, double = Cream, heavy
Flour, plain = Flour, all purpose
Frying pan = Skillet
Grill = Broil
Minced meat = Ground meat
Prawn = Shrimp
Shortcrust pastry = Basic pie dough
Spring onion = Scallion
Sultana = Golden raisin
Swede = Rutabaga
Sugar Types
Granulated: The most common type and is what you would put in your coffee or tea. Used where a recipe just says ‘Sugar’.
Caster: Finer than granulated and dissolves faster. Used where a recipe calls for sugar to be ‘creamed’ with fat, or for ‘whisked/beaten’ mixes. Makes a far lighter result with extra volume than caster.
Soft Light Brown: Fine grained sugar with added molasses to provide colour and flavour. Used for light fruit cakes.
Soft Dark Brown: As soft light but with extra molasses which gives it a richer flavour more suitable for rich fruit cakes and gingerbread.
Muscovado Sugar: Very dark, moist, and fairly fine grained. Used for making very dark, rich, fruit cakes. Strong flavoured.
Raw Cane Sugar: This is unrefined white sugar. The darker it is the more impurities it contains. The darkest is almost black.
Demerara: Light brown. Large crystals. Sprinkled over cakes before cooking it gives a crunchy sweet topping.
Icing Sugar: Very fine powdered sugar. Dissolves quick. Used for frosting cakes. Good for sweetening whipped creams, or sprinkling over cooked cakes and cookies
Lump Sugar: Made from granulated sugar which has been moistened with syrup and then moulded.
Preserving sugar: Used in the commercial preserving of fruits etc. Very large crystals which can be sprinkled over loaf cakes prior to cooking.
Golden Syrup: A blend of sugar syrup, caramel and flavouring.
Black Treacle: A mixture of molasses and sugar syrup. Very dark. Strong flavour. Used for dishes such as Boston Baked Beans, gingerbread, rich fruit cake.
Molasses: A thick dark syrup drained from raw sugar cane. Interchangeable with black treacle in recipes.
  • Aubergine = Eggplant
  • Bicarbonate of Soda = Baking Soda
  • Biscuits = Cookies, crackers
  • Broad Beans = Fava or Lima Beans
  • Chicory = Endive
  • Cling Film = Plastic Wrap
  • Cornflour = Cornstarch
  • Courgettes = Zucchini
  • Cream, single = Cream, light
  • Cream, double = Cream, heavy
  • Flour, plain = Flour, all purpose
  • Frying pan = Skillet
  • Grill = Broil
  • Minced meat = Ground meat
  • Prawn = Shrimp
  • Shortcrust pastry = Basic pie dough
  • Spring onion = Scallion
  • Sultana = Golden raisin
  • Swede = Rutabaga

Sugar Types

Granulated: The most common type and is what you would put in your coffee or tea. Used where a recipe just says ‘Sugar’.

Caster: Finer than granulated and dissolves faster. Used where a recipe calls for sugar to be ‘creamed’ with fat, or for ‘whisked/beaten’ mixes. Makes a far lighter result with extra volume than caster.

Soft Light Brown: Fine grained sugar with added molasses to provide colour and flavour. Used for light fruit cakes.

Soft Dark Brown: As soft light but with extra molasses which gives it a richer flavour more suitable for rich fruit cakes and gingerbread.

Muscovado Sugar: Very dark, moist, and fairly fine grained. Used for making very dark, rich, fruit cakes. Strong flavoured.

Raw Cane Sugar: This is unrefined white sugar. The darker it is the more impurities it contains. The darkest is almost black.

Demerara: Light brown. Large crystals. Sprinkled over cakes before cooking it gives a crunchy sweet topping.

Icing Sugar: Very fine powdered sugar. Dissolves quick. Used for frosting cakes. Good for sweetening whipped creams, or sprinkling over cooked cakes and cookies

Lump Sugar: Made from granulated sugar which has been moistened with syrup and then moulded.

Preserving sugar: Used in the commercial preserving of fruits etc. Very large crystals which can be sprinkled over loaf cakes prior to cooking.

Golden Syrup: A blend of sugar syrup, caramel and flavouring.

Black Treacle: A mixture of molasses and sugar syrup. Very dark. Strong flavour. Used for dishes such as Boston Baked Beans, gingerbread, rich fruit cake.

Molasses: A thick dark syrup drained from raw sugar cane. Interchangeable with black treacle in recipes.

Kitchen Stuff  | June 16, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

Alcohol Substitutes.

KIRSCH: Syrup or juice from black cherries, raspberries, boysenberries, currants, grapes or cherry cider.
COGNAC: Juice from peaches, apricots or pears.
COINTREAU: Orange juice, or frozen orange juice concentrate.
CREME DE MENTHE: Spearmint extract or oil of spearmint diluted with a little water or grapefruit juice.
RED BURGUNDY: Grape juice
WHITE BURGUNDY: White grape juice
CHAMPAGNE: Ginger Ale
CLARET: Grape or currant juice, or syrup from cherry cider.
FLAMBE’S OR FLAMING DESSERTS: The only substitute that might be used is a sugar cube soaded in lemon extract, then set atop a dessert and burned.
BEER OR ALE: Chicken broth, white grape juice, or gingerale
BRANDY: Apple cider, peach or apricot syrup.
RUM: Pineapple juice or syrup flavored with almond extract.
SHERRY: Orange or pineapple juice.
RED WINE: (unsweet) water, beef broth, boullion or consome, tomatoe juice (plain or diluted), diluted cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar, liquid drained from mushrooms.
WHITE WINE: (unsweet) water, chicken broth, boullion or consome, ginger ale, white grape juice, diluted cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, liquid from canned mushrooms.
NOTE*** To cut sweetness of the syrups, dilute with water. Also use flavor extracts for interesting flavors.
  • KIRSCH: Syrup or juice from black cherries, raspberries, boysenberries, currants, grapes or cherry cider.
  • COGNAC: Juice from peaches, apricots or pears.
  • COINTREAU: Orange juice, or frozen orange juice concentrate.
  • CREME DE MENTHE: Spearmint extract or oil of spearmint diluted with a little water or grapefruit juice.
  • RED BURGUNDY: Grape juice
  • WHITE BURGUNDY: White grape juice
  • CHAMPAGNE: Ginger Ale
  • CLARET: Grape or currant juice, or syrup from cherry cider.
  • FLAMBE’S OR FLAMING DESSERTS: The only substitute that might be used is a sugar cube soaded in lemon extract, then set atop a dessert and burned.
  • BEER OR ALE: Chicken broth, white grape juice, or gingerale
  • BRANDY: Apple cider, peach or apricot syrup.
  • RUM: Pineapple juice or syrup flavored with almond extract.
  • SHERRY: Orange or pineapple juice.
  • RED WINE: (unsweet) water, beef broth, boullion or consome, tomatoe juice (plain or diluted), diluted cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar, liquid drained from mushrooms.
  • WHITE WINE: (unsweet) water, chicken broth, boullion or consome, ginger ale, white grape juice, diluted cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, liquid from canned mushrooms.
NOTE*** To cut sweetness of the syrups, dilute with water. Also use flavor extracts for interesting flavors.
Slow Cooking  | June 14, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

New Brides Stew

Ingredients:

  • 1 – 2 lbs stew meat chunks
  • 1 pkg onion soup mix
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • vegetables as desired, cut in chunks (celery, carrot, onion, turnip, mushrooms)

Instructions:

Cook until meat and carrots are fork tender, 8-10 hours slow cooker, 2-4 hours covered in oven (350). Serve gravy over mashed potatoes or noodles.

I changed:

I added celery, onion and carrot as the recipe indicates.

Comments:

Again, another recipe that landed dead center on my “Favorites” list because there are only four ingredients.  And it took me maybe 10 minutes to peel and cut the veggies.  It was nice.  I served it on pasta with veggies on the side.

Bread Machine  | June 12, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 pk Yeast
  • 2 1/2 c Whole wheat flour
  • 1 c Bread flour
  • 1 tb Sugar
  • 1 ts Salt
  • 2 tb Soft butter
  • 3 tb Nonfat dry milk
  • 1 1/2 c Warm water

Instructions:

Add all ingredients in the order listed, select white bread and push start.

NOTE: A nutritious real whole wheat bread good for sandwiches and “great” for toast.

I changed:

Nothing.  I followed the recipe exactly.

Comments:

I’ll parrot what the recipe says.  Its a nice whole wheat bread.  It toasts well. And, more importantly, everyone here liked it.  I’d make this bread again.

Slow Cooking  | June 10, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

Ham and Cabbage Supper

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium-size cabbage head, cut into quarters
  • 4-lb smoke picnic ham
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions:

Place cabbage quarters in bottom of slow cooker. Place ham on top.  Pour in water.

Cover.  Cook on Low 8 – 10 hours

I changed:

Nothing.  I followed the directions exactly.

Comments:

A nice blend of cabbage and ham.  Unfortunately, the cooker burned the cabbage and that taste influenced the rest of the meal.  I also found out that cabbage wasn’t a favorite for the dinner table, but the cabbage that I had was excellent.  I was told not to make this again.

Kitchen Stuff  | June 8, 2010 By admin | Comments turned off

How to roast a duck.

A domestic duck requires almost twice cooking as wild duck. A wild duck will take about 30 minutes in a hot oven and should always have strips of bacon or salt pork laid across the breast while roasting, to keep it moist. Both kinds of duck need thorough basting; wild ducks are not stuffed.

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