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I’m not much of a baker, and these ‘Easy King Cake’ recipes using refrigerated cinnamon or crescent roll dough have intrigued me. This one is from ‘The Painted Apron’, and uses refrigerated cinnamon rolls: https://thepaintedapron.com/2017/02/21/take-out-tuesday-cinnamon-roll-king-cake/************************************************ We mentioned Spoon Bread on some thread last month, and I was craving it. While looking for a recipe, I found some interesting twists on it. My grandmother used to make it from scratch, and I think she also sometimes used a Washington Flour mix for it. (That isn’t available anymore, but I believe the Weisenberger Mill still has one.) Granny didn’t put canned corn...

It seems I’ve been cold for weeks. My husband laughs, because he grew up in Pennsylvania, often sitting in deer stands in below-freezing weather, and tells me that I don’t know what ‘cold’ is. But I’m a hot-house plant – at least, I’ve become one in old age – and I’ve just wanted to ball myself up in a blanket for days on end, even here South of the Mason-Dixon. I haven’t done much cooking lately, and have pretty much lived on store-bought comfort foods, especially soup and little chicken pot pies. But I’m looking forward to Spring which...

Years ago, a satisfied customer sent a gift basket of goodies to my husband’s office, and he came home with a few of the things that were in it. One of them was a little jar of Capelin ‘caviar’. I had never had any experience with fish eggs; but one taste of that, and I was hooked. True caviar only comes from the sturgeon fish, and I’ve never been – and will probably never be – in the tax bracket to afford the best of that. What’s available to me is properly termed fish roe; and I very much...

I have a question - it's probably 'dumb' to those who know about these things, but I once received a lot of good information on modern lightbulbs, here; so I'll try. We bought a new shower head today. I have long hair, and need a higher-pressure one to wash it. We usually remove the 'flow restrictor' (so, arrest me!) but this one claims to have a 'flow regulator'. What, if anything, is the difference between a regulator and restrictor? Thanks for any help. P.S.: We saw a really nice Christmas movie tonight - 'The Christmas Candle': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Candle

I happened to hit on this Russian Crepe Torte recently – it has chicken, mushroom and cream cheese filings, and looks like a ton of work and time – but I can’t think of a better time than Christmas (or maybe New Year's Eve?) to try out something so extravagant: "https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/262207/cheese-torte-with-chicken-and-mushroom/********************************************* I have had several cookie-presses – my first one was a Mirro, which I had in the 1960s when I first became interested in cooking. It was all metal, with the giant screw that you had to crank down for each cookie. After that, I had several of the...

My husband saw today what he swears was a ‘woolly bear’ caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella) – but it had no brown band, it was all black. I suggested to him that it might be another species that looks similar, but he was adamant – he grew up in rural Central Pennsylvania, and this time of year they saw them all over the place, and he denies that its spines were anything like those of the Giant Leopard or any other one around these parts that we could find pictured. The legend is that the width of the brown bar on the...

Norman Rockwell, Freedom From Want (1943) People seem to want Thanksgiving to always be the same – there’s a lot of advice out there cautioning against trying something new for family or guests on that day. But I’ve often enjoyed very interesting new recipes at Thanksgiving, in the homes of friends and family who have ignored that advice. I recently found a recipe for turkey stuffing that is quite different from the plain type that I’ve always made; but I’m very tempted to try it. (It may be a little ‘busy’ for some who are used to a plainer bread...

My husband grew up with lots of siblings, which came in handy for the annual tomato sauce making. But even when they were all quite young, it was useful for making ice cream in their father’s old wooden crank gizmo. The youngest would start out (and tire pretty quickly) and then the others would take over like stair-steps; until finally my husband, the oldest, finished it off. I liked ice cream a lot when I was a kid (these days I prefer fruit sherbet); and while it may be one of those things that are never as good later in...

I need a swivel spray attachment for my kitchen sink – one that converts from spray to stream. We bought a cheap one on Amazon, and the adapter stripped as my husband was trying to install it. Everything in this line on Amazon seems to be very cheap (and Chinese) – selling for 12 dollars or less – and it’s the same with what I’m finding at the big local hardware stores. I’m willing to pay a lot more for something METAL that actually works, from an actual company. It’s a typical kitchen faucet, the aerator appears to be 15/16...

We were bored and looking for some new recipes. My husband is 'religious' about low-carb/Keto - (he lost a lot of weight years ago, and has kept it off; and got his A1C down to normal levels) - and I love roasted or grilled veggies. We found this recipe for a sheet-pan dish of Greek-inspired chicken and vegetables, from Downshiftology. Here is a video of how it's done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXRINU_tjs8And here is a link to the recipe to print: https://downshiftology.com/wprm_print/55213*************************************************** My husband likes a traditional Italian olive-oil salad dressing, and always makes his own. I like gloppy, creamy ones. We recently...

This has to be the most Joyful, Brilliant, and (despite his protestations) Creative eccentric that I've encountered.(It's 47 minutes, but well worth it if you have the time; and may be of special interest to the 'preppers' among us).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qcsWajivnI

I recently made the acquaintance of a lovely lady from Trinidad, and became interested in the culture of her country. The favorite street food in Trinidad is called ‘Boubles’. It’s a piece of fried flatbread with spiced chickpeas and various condiments on top – including the Green Sauce/Seasoning that is ubiquitous in the food of the Islands. The dish is very influenced by the historical Indian presence in the Islands, and it gained the name ‘doubles’ when it became a street food, and people asked for an extra piece of the fried bread -'can you double the bread?'. Here, from...

We’re in crab season, here in Maryland. Some versions of Crab Imperial can be totally ‘keto friendly’, and here is one, from the long-time Maryland seafood company and restaurant ‘Phillips': http://www.phillipsfoods.com/recipes/classic-crab-imperialCrab Imperial 1 lb. Phillips Jumbo Lump Crab Meat 1 tsp. parsley 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 egg 1 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise 1 tsp. melted butter Imperial Topping: 3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise 1 oz. half & half 1/2 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce Pinch of paprika 1/4 c. shredded Cheddar cheese 4...

I have great respect for both Senators Kennedy and Paul; but Kennedy is correct in this argument. Kennedy isn't trying to 'force' anyone to leave Afghanistan - he is in favor of giving them the choice and help to leave if they think that is best for them. We are allowing many thousands of people to enter our country illegally, and setting them free in the US, without knowing anything about them individually. We should certainly be able to accommodate people who have proven themselves to be our allies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgaV-X2j69A

Tarta de Santiago – or St. James Cake – is a traditional Spanish cake from Galicia made with almonds and flavored with cinnamon, lemon zest, and sometimes sweet wine or brandy. I found it on Albert Bevia’s YouTube channel, ‘Spain on a Fork’ (lots of nice recipes here): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JesYuzdlu_sUnderneath the video, ‘Show More’ includes the full recipe and a link to a pattern for a St. James Cross stencil that you can make for the powdered sugar top decoration - or you can buy a nice birch wood stencil on Etsy that comes with recipes: https://www.etsy.com/listing/841418990/tarta-de-santiago-cake-stencil-st-james?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=tarta+de+santiago&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1Another very nice website for...

When my father died in the mid 1970s, I found in his things a membership card in the ‘International Migratory Workers Union – Hoboes of America’. It’s exactly like the one pictured above, save the name and membership number.Jeff Davis was apparently a vaudevillian and self-styled, long-term ‘King of the Hoboes’. He founded the ‘Hotels de Gink’, which were basically homeless shelters for itinerant men.Jeff Davis appears to have been a patriotic man, and legend has it that he created his ‘hobo union’ in part to counter socialist outfits like the ‘Wobblies’ (q.v.) of the time .This was the Jeff...

Many years ago, I had neighbors who were immigrants from Bolivia. One day, when the young daughter of the family was about to celebrate her fiesta de quinceañera, she asked me if I knew how to make an ‘egg roll’. I began to tell her about egg roll wrappers, cabbage, frying, &c, when she interrupted me and said that she meant the ‘hairstyle’. Apparently, young people of her set had begun to identify the classic‘French Twist’ hairstyle, as an ‘Egg Roll’. I had never worn a French Twist – for that matter, I had never actually made Egg Rolls; but...

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by miniatures – dollhouses, matchstick cars, all kinds of little models - and I still am. The thing I remember most from the Easter Baskets that my Grandparents gave us, were panoramic sugar eggs – eggs made of sugar, with peepholes and little scenes inside. I looked recently to see if you can still buy these, and you can; most places may be out of stock by now, but try next year - lots of people offer them, including the Vermont Country Store, vendors on Etsy, etc. However, if you want to...

In honor of Mr. Potato Head’s ‘transitioning’ - (from what-to-what I’m not exactly sure, as I’ve always understood potatoes to be, in Nature, self-pollinating and containing both sexes in one plant anyway) - I thought we’d do a thread on SPUDS this month. I like potatoes done certain ways, and despise them other ways. I like baked potatoes (with plenty of butter and sour cream), and home-made potato salad, mashed potatoes, scalloped, etc. I do NOT like potatoes cut up into soups, or store-bought potato salad (in the latter, the potatoes are always undercooked, and the salad is always strangely...

We had a 'snow day' yesterday. It used to be that snow days were an unexpected and very welcome respite from the workday routine, perhaps coming along once or twice per year here (though I remember one year when we were 'locked down' for over a week with huge snow, and then rain on top.) But yesterday, we were still expected to 'telework', since we'd been doing it for a year anyway; and it wasn't quite the same :-( I haven't been eating well, during the past year of lockdown. It's been too easy to just order lousy food for...