Posted on 12/05/2021 6:11:11 PM PST by Jamestown1630
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/
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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 plastic gun-type ones, and they usually broke after a short while.
Recently I had a birthday, and someone gifted me an Italian Marcato ‘biscuit maker’, which is supposed to be the G.O.A.T. of cookie presses. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but it’s all metal and very sturdy, and has great reviews.
Here is the Spritz recipe from the little book that came with my old ‘Mirro’ press; I’ve used this since I was a kid, and one of my friends still wants nothing else for Christmas except a box of these cookies:
Quick Mix Spritz
Oven to 375 degrees.
2-1/4 C. sifted all-purpose flour
¾ C. Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Baking Powder
1 C. shortening (I suggest butter)
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla (you can also use Almond, Lemon, or whatever you like.)
Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Cut in your shortening – it should resemble biscuit or pie crust, but very small particles.
Measure the egg in a measuring cup – a large egg should measure ¼ Cup; if it doesn’t, add water to measure ¼ Cup.
Add egg and vanilla to the flour mixture and beat well. Fill your press and press out cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, and remove immediately to a cooking rack.
(You may have to do your dough in portions, while keeping the rest regrigerated. Different cookie presses function differently.)
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I’m not really crazy about turkey at holidays – maybe because I’m so tired from roasting and watching over it and all of the sides. But I love Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers, and would like to hear your recipes for leftover turkey.
-JT
Turkey noodle salad. Not much to it. Equal parts by volume of cooked elbows, cubed turkey, chopped sweet onion and celery, mayo, season to taste and refrigerate until flavors marry.
...and sliced almonds and dried cranberries.
Sounds good.
A friend of mine once made a wonderful casserole of leftover turkey, recipe taken from an old edition of ‘The Joy of Cooking’. I’ll try to find and post.
Thanks, Liz. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
This year my pescatarian daughter and also son’s girlfriend will be visiting at Christmas. Can’t wait to see them, but I’m having trouble coming up with something a little “fancy” for Christmas dinner. My daughter recently discovered that she’s allergic to crustaceans, so no shrimp, lobster, or crab anymore. I believe she can have scallops but I haven’t had much luck with preparing them in the past. What should I look for if I can find any fresh? They will likely have been frozen at some point.
Also thinking of eggplant parmigiana. I make it old school and it takes me several hours to get in in the oven. It’s pretty darn good though. Maybe I can make it partly ahead and just pull it out of the fridge or freezer to warm up.
Appreciate any ideas or suggestions others might have.
Hi FamiliarFace! I have a “Pesky” tarian as well so I sympathize. You are sort of very limited because some of the recipes I have that are more “fancy” have crab, shrimp etc... Find out if she can have the “fake” crab or lobster and perhaps that can be substituted in a recipe like “Seven Sacrament soup” etc? Or, I have a very good recipe for vegetable lasagna that mimics the old recipe from Stouffer’s. If she is anything like my Pesky daughter.. she will be happy with anything that she can put on her plate. Hugs, Mom
Oh, thanks, for the tip. I’ve not heard of 7 Sacrament Soup before, so will look that up.
I make a terrific veggie chili, but that’s not very fancy. It is comfort food though, so maybe for one of the nights she’s here.
I’m not sure if she’d be happy with just anything. If that were the case, she wouldn’t be so hard to cook for. She enjoys cooking but she makes a horrible mess in the kitchen.
I like to clean as I go, so maybe she can do some of her own cooking and I’ll man the sink.
While it’s designed for bluefish, I’ve done this recipe with several different kinds of fish. It comes from one of John Shields’ Chesapeake Bay cookbooks:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3740038/replies?c=13
For many years, we had ‘Cookie Day’ at Mom’s. Six of us, give or take, would descend on her kitchen (2 ovens; big table to use!) and in about 6 hours get all, and I mean ALL of the cookie baking done for the season.
Everything went on the covered pool table in the basement, then we’d walk around and fill our tins and boxes and bins and it would be DONE! Any leftovers went to our local Food Pantry and Mom always took a big platter of cookies to Church.
I was in charge of the Spritz, so I know Spritz! Great topic, great memories.
‘Cookie Day’ is no more. We’ve lost a few of our key members (natural causes) and NONE of us need as many cookies to share as we once did. I’ve been kind of missing it, but not enough to start up the tradition again! ;)
My mother-in-law used to make enough cookies, several different kinds, for all 5 of her kids and other relatives. She still makes the best chocolate chips I’ve ever had, but she’s no longer able to do quite as much as she used to.
Yeah. Mom is 84 now - she says she’s baked enough for one lifetime, LOL!
Love your recipe from a Chesapeake Bay cookbook......very Mediterranean.
Bluefish Baked with Tomatoes and Capers
ING 1/4 cup Olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 2 T. chopped garlic 1/4 cup chopped green onions 1-1/2 lbs tomatoes, peeled and chopped, with juice (3 cups) OR 1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes Cup dry white wine 3 T. capers, drained and chopped 1/2 tsp. dried thyme bay leaf Juiced lemon s/p 4 Bluefish fillets or other fish, 6 to 7 oz. each.
SAUCE heat oil, saute the onions, celery, garlic and green onions til limp. Add tomatoes, wine, capers, thyme, bay leaf, lemon juice. Simmer 45 min, s/pepper.
ASSEMBLY layer in Baker 1/2 hot tomato sauce, fish on top, rest sauce over fish. Place buttered w/paper, butter side down, atop dish. Bake 20-30 min (fish flakes). Remove to heated platter. Spoon sauce over, serve at once. Good over rice.
I’ve seen lots of pretty vegetable and fruit ones:
https://www.christmastraditions.com/category/old-world-christmas-fruit-veg.html
And this artist on Etsy offers DIY papercraft ones:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleSquidBoutique?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=731033112
Just adorable.......thx.
The pickles reminded me of Dillsburg, a borough in Pennsylvania that has a ‘pickle drop’ on New Year’s. Mt. Olive, NC does the same thing:
http://www.visitgoldsboronc.com/2021/12/02/new-years-eve-pickle-will-drop-into-2022/
It looks more omlette-y than crepe-y but whew it takes a lot of time standing at the kitchen counter. A nice presentation though.
Dr.’s orders for hubby to go low carb and he’s complaining about every dish. No Christmas treats in this house any time soon.
I always read it as “pest”.
Since I’m not baking cookies this year, I am giving my three closest neighbors a jar of Spiced Nuts and a freshly-baked loaf of bread, instead. Made the nuts today - the house smells wonderful! Made a loaf of bread for us and thought, ‘Bingo! Perfect Christmas Gift. Unique and unexpected.’
Spiced Nuts:
https://www.food.com/recipe/sugared-spiced-nuts-28564
No-Knead Crusty Dutch Oven Bread:
https://anaffairfromtheheart.com/no-knead-crusty-dutch-oven-bread/
Found fancy jars at Dollar Tree for the nuts, and I’ll double-wrap the bread and tie that with a bow.
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