Posted on 01/21/2016 5:03:33 PM PST by Jamestown1630
My husband caught a nasty cold last weekend, and promptly shared it with me. We came out of the haze just in time to hear from the NWS that our little area of the US is in the bull's eye for an official - and very rare - blizzard this weekend. We've been preparing, as we're largely concerned about a power outage.
I remember a few pretty bad snowstorms when I was growing up, but a power outage was never a real problem: we lived in one of those old buildings with radiators, whose hot water/steam was powered by burning coal; and with a gas cook-stove that could be lit with a match. I remember playing out in the snow for hours, the cold never bothering; and then seeing our mittens, hats, socks drying for awhile on a radiator or even on the open door of the stove while we ate lunch; before we were out in the snow and playing again.
Breakfast on days like this was, for some reason, always Cinnamon Toast and Tea. (I've never understood why, as kids, we were only allowed hot tea on snow days or when we were sick, even though we drank iced sweet-tea all Summer; but I guess hot tea was some kind of tradition or old-folks' notion of 'healthy'. )
Great slatherings of butter are KEY to good Cinnamon Toast. Spread a lot of butter on white sandwich bread, and make sure a few areas of the bread have thicker bits of butter than others. Top the butter with dark brown sugar, and then sprinkle all over with a generous dusting of powdered cinnamon.
Put this in the oven until the crusts of the bread are crisp, and everything is sort of melted, with the cinnamon looking a little shiny and like a glaze on top.
(The joy of eating this is when you hit one of those butter-soggy areas where the butter was thicker :-)
Kids tend to love this and gobble it up. In a pinch, you can make it with white sugar instead of dark-brown; but my brother and I recall the 'white sugar' days as offering very mediocre Cinnamon Toast!
Now, I live with all-electric heat, cooking, hot water. So we've stocked up on sterno, and foods and drinks that we can heat on a little camp stove or steam tray. We'll be doing a Boston Butt in the crockpot and roasting a chicken during the hours before the storm, so that we have something that is good enough cold or lightly warmed, if it comes to that over the next few days.
I am also roasting some eggplant, for a recipe that was, when I found it decades ago, labeled 'Eggplant Caviar'; but which I learned later is actually a version of a well-known Middle Eastern spread/dip called
Baba Ghanoush
2 small Eggplant
4 T. fresh Lemon Juice
4 T Olive Oil
1 large clove Garlic
1 seeded and chopped Tomato
1/4 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. Cayenne
1 finely minced Scallion (Spring Onion)
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
Pierce Eggplant in several places and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until very soft. Split open and remove pulp.
Place pulp in blender with all other ingredients except Scallions and Tomatoes. Blend until smooth; add remaining ingredients and adjust seasonings.
Serve as an appetizer or snack with chunks of bread, fresh vegetable crudites, or crackers/chips.
-JT
That’s what they gave us at the Indian place with our curry. Also the French toast recipe sounds really good.
Boston Butt? I’ve never heard that term and my family has lived in the Boston area for generations. I looked it up and it sounds like what my parents and grandparents always called a smoked shoulder which they used to make a New England boiled dinner - smoked shoulder, potatoes, carrots & cabbage.
Your eggplant dip sounds good. I printed that out to try sometime. Hope all is well with you during and after the storm.
I hadn’t heard about Lopi; though we’d been looking into Jotul, for heat, during our process of trying to learn about this stuff. (No way to use either now, but we’re thinking about retirement, and alternatives.)
-JT
LOL! Yes, ‘Butt’ is what they call ‘shoulder’ down here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_butt
We’re doing pulled-pork (see last week’s cooking thread :-)
-JT
High five. Was thinking of y'all today so stocked up a dozen more cans of soup. Whenever there's bad weather, be it a freeze or tornadoes, it's wise to get the house cleaning done and food cooked because you never know if or for how long the power will be out. Get the bathrooms clean, don't put off your shower until the morning, wash the dishes, do the laundry (including all sheets and blankets) and fill water jugs just in case. Make sure the pets are taken care of. Charge your electronics and toothbrush. Make sure flashlights and radios have fresh batteries. Top off the gas in your vehicles and have some extra. Bake up some cookies, bread or a cake since those don't have to be heated or refrigerated. Cook that pot roast. Most canned goods taste fine straight from the can but make sure you have a manual can opener.
I’m potting up some eggplant seeds tonight/tomorrow. We’re not that wild about them but they hung on during the hot Texas summer and finally produced for a couple of meals this fall. Hey, anything that will tolerate the summer.
Excellent advice, bgill; and I’m LOL at your advice to take showers! We’ve learned before that we can get a couple of hot showers each, even up to twelve hours after the power goes out, so we try to start out ahead :-)
After that, Baby-Wipes are your friend!
Canned Soups are excellent prep-food; they can easily be heated up with a can of sterno and a camp stove, for folks who are in the situation that we are, when it comes to safe, indoor warming modes without electricity.
Cans of corned beef and tuna are a good bet, too.
-JT
Just like a single burner induction top, you would find it useful, especially for entertaining - not just as an emergency cooktop. I think it would be ideal on a gueridon. Steak Dianne, Crepes Suzette, or even Fillet of Beef a la Deutsch. Boiling water for tea or the French press. Fondue if you picked up a baguette before the storm. I don't think it would stand up to your heavy copper Mauviel cookware but the lighter weight line would be O.K.
Just like a single burner induction top, you would find it useful, especially for entertaining - not just as an emergency cooktop. I think it would be ideal on a gueridon. Steak Dianne, Crepes Suzette, or even Fillet of Beef a la Deutsch. Boiling water for tea or the French press. Fondue if you picked up a baguette before the storm. I don't think it would stand up to your heavy copper Mauviel cookware but the lighter weight line would be O.K.
My five year old has become a cinnamon toast junkie. Until this year he had only tasted toast with honey (lovely, thick raw honey) and cinnamon. One day we were out of honey and pretty much all other breakfast foods so cinnamon sugar it was. The boy was instantly hooked. Now he asks for it daily and I catch him sneaking pinches of the cinnamon sugar mixture. He’s a total addict ;-).
Stay cozy and safe! For Minnesota we’ve had a very mild winter-no real blizzards and only three periods of below zero temps. Guess it’s all going elsewhere!
Lopi stoves and inserts are made in Seattle, sold through local dealers.
This brand really is the best you can buy.
For years, I cooked EVERY day. Now, I heat TV dinners in
the microwave & boil up a pot of ramen noodles pretty
often. I *can* cook; but I am tired.
Crack an egg, and throw it into that Ramen once it starts to boil; stir it around while it cooks (instant egg-drop). Add a little chopped garlic, and some hot red pepper flakes, perhaps a sprinkle of soy sauce.
It makes Ramen a lot better, gives you some extra protein, and starts you on the road to being an inventive Cook!
-JT
About your cold. . .stock up on some Gaia Elderberry Syrup, silver biotics, silver biotics asap gel (put a little in the nose), and the silver biotics lozenges. Works for me and members of my family. Stay warm!
My husband and brother have both been telling me about this gizmo. I’ve been ‘askeered’ of keeping those little gas tanks in the apartment - I think I was poisoned against storing any kind of gas, however small, after seeing two houses of neighbors blow-up because of, first, a ruptured gas line; and second, the explosion of a propane tank.
I just developed a bias against *gas*, even though I lived safely with it piped into the house throughout my childhood.
But I think we will try this - it looks pretty safe. Is the ‘Max Burton’ the best recommendation? They sell other butane stoves in the local ethnic store, but they’re cheap, and I’d want to get one from a tried-and-true place.
Thanks very much!
-JT
That looks like a very efficient little cooker thingy.
My husband surprised me after I complained about the Texas Toast. He came home with two pounds of good coffee and a Challah from Zaro’s.
Frozen naan makes an excellent base for a lunch pizza. I only use the Deep brand. I put some drained tomatoes as a base, layer on some jarred mushrooms and/or canned artichokes and then grate some cheese over it. Stick it in the oven for a few minutes until cheese is melted. There may be some scorching on a bit of the bread but that’s nice.
You can’t use the cardboard they sell in the bread dept.
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