Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[magpye29]

Or try the Fluff with Nutella--heaven in my mouth!

Edited October 20, 2015 by magpye29

[MargeGunderson]

I don't know if anyone else here watches Chopped, a FN show where they get "mystery baskets" of strange ingredients. But I'm always imagining mystery baskets of horrible foods from my childhood, when my mother was still learning to cook. First on my list is always canned asparagus. There are worse foods, but that one is pretty bad!

When I was about 5 my father tried to make me eat canned asparagus. I told him that I would throw up if I did. He insisted, and I hurled on his feet. First and last time we had that conversation.

[Readalot]

Our thanksgiving tradition is to go to our friends home. There are three core families but if anyone has family in town or others they want to invite they are included too. So it ranges from 12-25 people or so. Always a fun relaxing time. Football during prep and games afterwards until the first person falls asleep. Hubby is the only one in our family that eats turkey so we bring the Ham (honeybaked if I remember to order it or costco ham if I dont). Homemade cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes (I sautee garlic in a cube of butter and use creme cheese instead of milk. Yes it's a heart attack waiting to happen but the most delicious treat) round out our contributions. Although the fruit salad upthread (the one that takes a long time with the oranges) sounds heavenly so I think I'm going to bring that too this year!

[bigskygirl]

So cute!!! I like playing this video because Sassy thinks there is another cat in the house and starts meowing and looks for another cat. So funny!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IP_E7efGWE

[Tabbygirl521]

If you've never seen this site, and you're brave, check it out. And wear Depends, because you will laugh so hard that you'll need them. #overshare

Oh lord. I discovered this site a few years back while wasting time at work, and was literally choking and crying with laughter over the "food," trying desperately not to be overheard. I was wildly emailing links to everyone I knew. SO hilarious!

[IOU Payne]

Iggy is indifferent to the kittens but Max is on High Alert! 

Edited October 20, 2015 by IOU Payne

[lookeyloo]

I haven't had a carb since 1998.

I guess that is a good thing for you? For me the thought of no carbs makes me sad. I tease that I am on the "high carb" diet. But really I do love bread which is why I don't usually buy it. I told my family never to get me a bread machine because eventually they would have to take a wall down to get me out.

[wilsie]

I think you mean me, Wok Chop, with the green beans and cashews.  Our son makes them this way: blanch the green beans in unsalted water (salting the water makes the skins tough), then fry about a cup of cashews and two sliced cloves of garlic in about two or three tablespoons of olive oil until the garlic is golden brown. Toss in the green beans (about a pound), and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, reduce the heat to low and cook for no more than two minutes. Green beans shouldn't fade from their bright green color.  It really easy and so delicious!  He is also responsible for the roasted brussel sprouts.   He does add balsamic vinegar and maple syrup.  I make the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes.  

[Satchels of gold]

So cute!!! I like playing this video because Sassy thinks there is another cat in the house and starts meowing and looks for another cat. So funny!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IP_E7efGWE

Our dog was a breeder dog who was kept in a kennel outside her whole life. We adopted her after she retired. We had the same issues with the hardwood floor and the stairs. Our dog trainer advised us to use "high value" treats aka hotdogs or cheese and put them on the stairs until she gets the hang of it. I had been trying for weeks to get her upstairs and she had her trained in 15 minutes.

[pinkie]

I am *LOVING* reading all of your recipe/holiday stories! (& PixieChicken, I'm still laughing at the ground zero recipe of potato boats!!!)

 

This is my very favorite time of year! The excitement starts in September but goes into overdrive on Nov. 1st.- that's when I try to do a special (tiny) treat or celebration or holiday related thing every day till Dec. 23rd. It started when my daughter was little, but nowadays I keep it up for me, lol, (tho I do include my husband in some of it)

[Wok Chop]

Thanks, wilsie! I will definitely have to try that.

[travel17]

HFC, I went back to re read comments. I don't know how to quote. OMG, I just saw you son lost his finger. I can't believe the neighbor, what if had been a child? That dog could have killed someone. Not that biting off a finger isn't bad enough. And the officials, that's just crazy, you think they would take someone losing a body part with a greater sense of urgency.

Edited October 20, 2015 by travel17

[Fuzzysox]

I keep thinking of Cisco while we all talk about food. Can you imagine if he ever found us he would be licking the screen.

[springtime]

My mom got me an Aunt Sandy cookbook for Christmas one year (as a joke) so the next year I returned the favor. My grandma got annoyed (because she still liked Sandra at that time). Later I found her looking through the book I got my mom in delight. Thankfully she doesn't do the holiday cooking.

and here's hoping you don't celebrate Kwanzaa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2iWTJqo98

Edited October 20, 2015 by springtime

[Wok Chop]

So cute!!! I like playing this video because Sassy thinks there is another cat in the house and starts meowing and looks for another cat. So funny!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IP_E7efGWE

I started playing the video, and my kitty ran over, frantically sniffing for those kittens. I felt bad and stopped it.

[CalicoKitty]

OK, I just played the kitten video, and Lilly, my year-old cat was trying to find them.  She was found with her own llitter when she was less than a year old, and the shelter had to foster them because she did not know what to do with them.  She was not happy when she thought I had kittens in the house!

 

Our Thanksgiving will consist of turkey and whatever sides the deli supplies in their Thanksgiving Special dinner.  Last year it was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole, rolls, stuffing, and a great pumpkin pie.  We will supply extra salads and deserts.  Non of us like to cook particularly , and we like the food from this market.  We will have Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday, so those who need to can go to in-laws on Thursday.  This gives us an entire, relaxing day to spend with each other rather than having to worry about cooking or time tables.  Christmas will be the Sunday following Christmas for the same reasons.  It will give us time to fulfill various church obligations or in-law visits, and still have a nice time together. (I will cook for Christmas, however).  I know this sounds strange, but it works for us.

[Satchels of gold]

I keep thinking of Cisco while we all talk about food. Can you imagine if he ever found us he would be licking the screen.

This is like porn to poor old misunderstood Cisco.

[Jenniferbug]

Pixie Chicken, you and I must be from different parts of the Midwest because I've never heard of those gross concoctions...Thank goodness!

My husband and I used to watch a lot of cooking shows on FN when we had cable. A couple of weeks ago, I caught a show on PBS called The Great British Bake Off, and I am now obsessed with it! There's a competitive element to it, but it's not cast for "personality" like American shows. I've watched 3 seasons via YouTube and Netflix, and I have yet to see one nasty mean contestant. They're all lovely to each other, and its fun to watch them bake. I highly recommend it for those that like cooking shows- I can't say enough nice things about it!

[theredhead77]

What are some recipes that you love for no reason other than nostalgia? The shrimp thing above is probably mine.

[burlsa]

What are some recipes that you love for no reason other than nostalgia? The shrimp thing above is probably mine.

Egg noodles or macaroni, with butter and kraft parmesan.

SpaghettiO's with cut up hotdogs.

Chef Boyardee pizza kits.

[latetotheparty]

This is a New England staple (and one I thoroughly loathe), but a lot of people here love Grape-Nut pudding.  I have never been able to eat grape-nuts since my mother made me eat a bowl of them with sour milk because I hadn't heard her say not to use the milk and she didn't want the cereal to go to waste.  Anyway, it's a custard-type pudding with grape-nuts in it.  I can't abide it.

The whole point of grape nuts, in my opinion, is they are relentlessly crunchy.  Making them into a pudding would defeat the purpose.

[StaceyNotStacie]

I grew up in a Polish-Italian household with a little bit of German.  My maternal grandmother was full-blooded Italian and she used to do the seven fishes Christmas Eve dinner.  My dad was in the military and we lived 8 hours away, so the tradition somewhat faded away as my mom isn't a big fan of cooking fish and my dad is allergic to shellfish.  We had a few years where my mom would make linguini with anchovy sauce and our fish came from Long John Silvers.  

 

We've always gone to Christmas Eve Mass and our parish has changed the Mass time to 6 pm.  As my mom has gotten older, the tradition has changed as she didn't want to spend her entire Christmas Eve cooking.  She usually bakes a ham during the day and we have ham with kielbasa, macaroni salad, potato salad, and a few other small sides for Christmas Eve dinner after church.  She usually makes the linguini with anchovy sauce for my dad for dinner one night the week between Christmas and New Years.  My grandmother used to make about ten different types of cookies every year, but my mom usually only makes the anise sugar cookies.  Half of them are cutout shapes with colored sugar sprinkled on them and the other half are round cookies with nonpareils. 

[IOU Payne]

Nostalgic food:  Kraft Dinner with frozen peas, the way my mom used to make it.  Corn soup made with one can of creamed corn and one can's worth of milk.  Yes, those are the only two ingredients.  Hamburger steak with brown gravy and mashed potatoes from the restaurant I've been going to since I was a kid, on my late father's birthday.  But the guiltiest of pleasures is what we erroneously called "trifle", which is partially set Jello mixed with Cool Whip to make a mousse-like substance.   It's awful, but it's awfully good. *blush

[latetotheparty]

OK, I just played the kitten video, and Lilly, my year-old cat was trying to find them.  She was found with her own llitter when she was less than a year old, and the shelter had to foster them because she did not know what to do with them.  She was not happy when she thought I had kittens in the house!

 

Our Thanksgiving will consist of turkey and whatever sides the deli supplies in their Thanksgiving Special dinner.  Last year it was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole, rolls, stuffing, and a great pumpkin pie.  We will supply extra salads and deserts.  Non of us like to cook particularly , and we like the food from this market.  We will have Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday, so those who need to can go to in-laws on Thursday.  This gives us an entire, relaxing day to spend with each other rather than having to worry about cooking or time tables.  Christmas will be the Sunday following Christmas for the same reasons.  It will give us time to fulfill various church obligations or in-law visits, and still have a nice time together. (I will cook for Christmas, however).  I know this sounds strange, but it works for us.

 

That doesn't sound strange. It sounds SANE.

Pixie Chicken, you and I must be from different parts of the Midwest because I've never heard of those gross concoctions...Thank goodness!

My husband and I used to watch a lot of cooking shows on FN when we had cable. A couple of weeks ago, I caught a show on PBS called The Great British Bake Off, and I am now obsessed with it! There's a competitive element to it, but it's not cast for "personality" like American shows. I've watched 3 seasons via YouTube and Netflix, and I have yet to see one nasty mean contestant. They're all lovely to each other, and its fun to watch them bake. I highly recommend it for those that like cooking shows- I can't say enough nice things about it!

 

YES! GBBO has ruined me for Food Network.

[CalicoKitty]

We love popcorn in our family.  My dad's family tradition is popcorn with milk.  You take a bowl of milk and put a handful of popcorn in it.  Eat it with a spoon before it gets soggy, and then add another handful.  Continue until the milk is gone.  Surprisingly, it it really good.   (Don't knock it 'til you've tried it :)   )  Sunday night was (and still is) popcorn night in our household, and popcorn and milk was always an option.

[Wellfleet]

Gosh, I'm sitting here with my first cup of morning coffee and beginning to drool! 

 

Halloween--love any kind of chocolate.  We live in the country now and do not get any trick of treaters but that doesn't stop us from buying a few bags!

 

Thanksgiving--really my favorite holiday.  All food and very little stress.  I enjoy cooking for a crowd.  We will celebrate with some visiting relatives this year at my daughter's house, but I'll do most of the cooking.  Turkey, traditional mashed potatoes, candied sweets potatoes, stuffing, kale (my grandma was of German descent and made it so it is mild and delicious), string beans in a burnt butter sauce, cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and coconut custard pie.  Our feast is a mixture of German and Italian because we'll often have Italian pastries along with the pies.  I guess I'd better begin to plan now!

 

By the way, I have found that my mom's recipe for meatloaf has been turning out dry.  I've been on Allrecipes and tried some others.  Anyone have a recipe that they absolutely love?  You can PM me if the mods think that the forum will be overrun with meatloaf recipes!

 

Are you buying better ground beef, maybe? You could be picking it up by accident. If you get the 85-90% fat content meat, instead of maybe the 75 or 80%, there'll obviously be less juiciness and less fat/more dryness when the meatloaf is done. I check labels very carefully now because of all the times I've been in a hurry and inadvertently picked up the wrong this or that. Once I grabbed albacore tuna instead of regular "chunk light" tuna. Which, BTW, had always been completely fine before. The first time I made sandwiches with the albacore I thought, "Wow, this is just delicious! Almost tastes like chicken salad - I have GOT to get more of this..." Then I notice the word "albacore" on the label and knew what I'd done. Needless to say, I was spoiled and have been buying albacore ever since - it's so good you can eat it plain, without mayo etc. An Italian friend of mine from the office told me years ago to try drizzling a little good Italian salad dressing into the albacore and that is The Bomb. Dumping the albacore along with white beans, sliced sweet red onion, cherry or grape tomatoes and Italian salad dressing into a big bowl of fresh cold Romaine or butter lettuce also makes one of the best, most nutritious salads you'll ever have.

[lookeyloo]

We love the Great British Bake Off. They are in competition but they don't seem out to get each other and it doesn't seem so frenetic as some of our shows. And that Paul Hollywood is pretty cute.

[kathe5133]

The whole point of grape nuts, in my opinion, is they are relentlessly crunchy.  Making them into a pudding would defeat the purpose.

I am from New England, I would never eat grape nuts in any form ,but that reminds me. My roommate sent her husband to the store for some grape nuts. He combed the produce section for an hour and then asked the produce clerk..........

[theredhead77]

Nostalgic food:  Kraft Dinner with frozen peas, the way my mom used to make it.  Corn soup made with one can of creamed corn and one can's worth of milk.  Yes, those are the only two ingredients.  

Are you Canadian? I'm not but my mom is and she would make me Kraft Mac & Cheese (aka Kraft Dinner) with frozen peas.

 

That corn soup sounds delicious. I may actually make it this winter.

[Pixie Chicken]

What are some recipes that you love for no reason other than nostalgia?

Pizza Hut. It's not very good, and we have AWESOME pizza in these parts, but it hits the spot once in awhile. Takes me back to the days of BookIt!

[BOOgen3]

My husband's and my addiction to the GBBO has met with approval from even our son, unlike our other favorite, Antiques Roadshow. Old people porn.

[magpye29]

My roommate sent her husband to the store for some grape nuts. He combed the produce section for an hour and then asked the produce clerk..........

 

Hilarious!

 

We make the blue box Kraft mac & cheese with tuna and sometimes add frozen peas.  My kids snarfed that up!

[scriggle]

This is a New England staple (and one I thoroughly loathe), but a lot of people here love Grape-Nut pudding.  I have never been able to eat grape-nuts since my mother made me eat a bowl of them with sour milk because I hadn't heard her say not to use the milk and she didn't want the cereal to go to waste.  Anyway, it's a custard-type pudding with grape-nuts in it.  I can't abide it.

 

My mother loved grapenut pudding.  She never made it herself but there was this restaurant that served it and every time we went there she had it for dessert.  I never saw the appeal of it myself but then again I'm not a big fan of custards in general.

[Fuzzysox]

Pizza Hut. It's not very good, and we have AWESOME pizza in these parts, but it hits the spot once in awhile. Takes me back to the days of BookIt!

Girl you like abuse if you can eat Pizza Hut. Greasy and tasteless.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Fuzzysox

[IOU Payne]

 

Are you Canadian? I'm not but my mom is and she would make me Kraft Mac & Cheese (aka Kraft Dinner) with frozen peas.

 

Yes, I'm Canadian!  KD with frozen peas is as Canadian as butter tarts (basically pecan pie without the pecans but with the addition of raisins!) or poutine. 

[travel17]

When I was young, 1980s, some of the older people would cook chitlings. They looked so gross and smelled worse. I'm just happy no one cooks or eats them at big family gatherings now. My mother and I went to Greekfest sponsored by a Greek Church. Here on the Gulf, the chance to get great food that is not seafood or regional doesn't roll around often.

Edited to add

Edited October 20, 2015 by travel17

[Wellfleet]

I grew up in a Polish-Italian household with a little bit of German.  My maternal grandmother was full-blooded Italian and she used to do the seven fishes Christmas Eve dinner.  My dad was in the military and we lived 8 hours away, so the tradition somewhat faded away as my mom isn't a big fan of cooking fish and my dad is allergic to shellfish.  We had a few years where my mom would make linguini with anchovy sauce and our fish came from Long John Silvers.  

 

We've always gone to Christmas Eve Mass and our parish has changed the Mass time to 6 pm.  As my mom has gotten older, the tradition has changed as she didn't want to spend her entire Christmas Eve cooking.  She usually bakes a ham during the day and we have ham with kielbasa, macaroni salad, potato salad, and a few other small sides for Christmas Eve dinner after church.  She usually makes the linguini with anchovy sauce for my dad for dinner one night the week between Christmas and New Years.  My grandmother used to make about ten different types of cookies every year, but my mom usually only makes the anise sugar cookies.  Half of them are cutout shapes with colored sugar sprinkled on them and the other half are round cookies with nonpareils. 

 

My grandmother was a cookie-baking fool at Christmas too. She must have made 15-20 different kinds. Cutouts, those round white golfball-sized cookies with powdered sugar, icebox cookies, pressed cookies, thumbprints, the "stained glass" cookies with fruit jam or marmalade, date bars, pecan fingers, peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses - you name it. Her two sons, my Dad and his brother, had 10 kids between them and Grandma started baking the day after Thanksgiving so there'd be plenty of cookies at her house for parties. She also sent cookies home with my Dad if he happened to stop and have lunch with her between Thanksgiving an Christmas. 

[burlsa]

My husband's and my addiction to the GBBO has met with approval from even our son, unlike our other favorite, Antiques Roadshow. Old people porn.

I love Antiques Roadshow! I am actually watching it right now.

[Fuzzysox]

We love popcorn in our family.  My dad's family tradition is popcorn with milk.  You take a bowl of milk and put a handful of popcorn in it.  Eat it with a spoon before it gets soggy, and then add another handful.  Continue until the milk is gone.  Surprisingly, it it really good.   (Don't knock it 'til you've tried it :)   )  Sunday night was (and still is) popcorn night in our household, and popcorn and milk was always an option.

Try this recipe if you like carmel corn. I never thought it was so easy to make.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/carols-caramel-corn-recipe

[Wellfleet]

When I was young, 1980s, some of the older people would cook chitlings. They looked so gross and smelled worse. I'm just happy no one cooks or eats them at big family gatherings now. My mother and I went to Greekfest sponsored by a Greek Church. Here on the Gulf, the chance to get great food that is not seafood or regional doesn't roll around often.

Edited to add

 

Major fan of Greek food, also Italian. IMO, these two cultures are teaching the world how to eat. To a great extent, anyway. I'm not a vegetarian and I think it would be difficult for me to become one. But if I do think that following a Mediterranean diet - MINUS the meat - would be just about the healthiest and tastiest diet humans could have.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Tabbygirl521]

Pixie Chicken, you and I must be from different parts of the Midwest because I've never heard of those gross concoctions...Thank goodness!

My husband and I used to watch a lot of cooking shows on FN when we had cable. A couple of weeks ago, I caught a show on PBS called The Great British Bake Off, and I am now obsessed with it! There's a competitive element to it, but it's not cast for "personality" like American shows. I've watched 3 seasons via YouTube and Netflix, and I have yet to see one nasty mean contestant. They're all lovely to each other, and its fun to watch them bake. I highly recommend it for those that like cooking shows- I can't say enough nice things about it!

I discovered that recently, too, and I just love it. It's even a bit educational for cooks here and there. SO different from the nasty chef battles on US TV.

[kathe5133]

Another childhood staple. Fried baloney sandwiches. You don't use the good baloney from the deli, but the prepackaged store brand. Fry it up in butter and serve on Wonder Bread with yellow mustard. Delish!

[SomePity1066]

What are some recipes that you love for no reason other than nostalgia? The shrimp thing above is probably mine.

Pasta e fagioli made by my so-not-Italian father !!! He'd lived in Italy after the war (HIS war, the Korean, that had nothing to do with Italy, but that's where he ended up !) and he had soaked up everything about cooking that he could. It's basically leftover casserole/stew made from whatever you can find in the fridge, but it was AWESOME ! 

 

I'm sure there are a thousand-thousand variations, but his was always leftover sauce, pasta, cheese, veggies, with beans added in. He'd add bacon crumbled on top. More cheese. Basil, oregano, and fresh parsley. 

 

And now I'm drooling...

Edited October 20, 2015 by SomePity1066

[BOOgen3]

Growiing up in western NY, a staple of any decent hot dog stand was a grilled baloney steak covered in Webers mustard and served on an excessively soft white bun.

[CalicoKitty]

Try this recipe if you like carmel corn. I never thought it was so easy to make.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/carols-caramel-corn-recipe

Thanks, I'll give it a try.  It sounds yummy!

[lookeyloo]

What are some recipes that you love for no reason other than nostalgia? The shrimp thing above is probably mine.

Everybody hold your noses! My mother was not much of a cook. she served me and my brothers spaghetti with contadina tomato sauce straight from the can. Not spaghetti sauce but tomato sauce. Oddly enough this has become my primary comfort food. I like angel hair pasta with the sauce straight from the can. Not heated. And not from the frig. Is everybody totally grossed out?

[Wellfleet]

My husband and I have 2 Christmas traditions. The first is that we go out to a really nice lunch on Dec. 24th. It started because we worked near each other and both had a half day. We also have the week between Christmas and New Year's off, so it's a great way to start our stay-cation.

 

The other tradition is Christmas Eve appetizer dinner. There are a few mainstays, like spinach artichoke dip and shrimp cocktail, and I try out a few new things. Last year I made my own country pate. It was pretty taste and no one got food poisoning, so success! (I was worried about the low temperature and the pork's pinkishness.)

 

One year I made a yule log from scratch, a 2 day effort that included meringue mushroms and sugared rosemary sprigs and cranberries. It remains my culinary masterpiece (I'm not very good at decoration, so the bar is low). I'd love to try a croquembouche but with just me and my husband, that's a lot of cream puffs!

 

I love that idea - going out together for an elegant lunch. Are the restaurants really busy? Or surprisingly slow? It seems like since the malls are jammed, maybe the restaurants are relatively quiet. Well, at least the ones not near a mall.

[burlsa]

Everybody hold your noses! My mother was not much of a cook. she served me and my brothers spaghetti with contadina tomato sauce straight from the can. Not spaghetti sauce but tomato sauce. Oddly enough this has become my primary comfort food. I like angel hair pasta with the sauce straight from the can. Not heated. And not from the frig. Is everybody totally grossed out?

I would totally eat that.

[KittyS]

I love TGBBO too! It's how reality TV should be.

So I'm from the Midwest and my main squeeze is from New England. His favorite sentimental meal is hot dogs, baked beans, and (canned) brown bread. Such a weird brown combo. Gag!

[Love2dance]

Spoiler Alert: Sob story.

 

Christmas was my favorite holiday when my kids were little. I still enjoyed it as they grew into adults, but not so much the decorations. A few years back we lost our house in a natural disaster. For some reason I haven't cared for Christmas since then. The holiday almost irritates me now, however we still do celebrate it. !

So sorry, GeeGolly. That is awful.