Watched Kevin & Ralph’s (Cavalcade Of Food) “Wellness Check-in Coronavirus” video over coffee at about 5:00 this morning and took Kevin’s advice to go through the cupboards, pantry, fridge & freezer for a bit of inventory.

The result? Homemade pizza!

Had a few things that needed to be used up, so raided the fridge, made dough and by 8:30 it was hot out of the oven. Pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black and green olives, red bell pepper and onion.  One of my downstairs neighbor’s kids just emerged from their apartment and said “God that smells good; is that pizza?”  Had to chuckle.

Several here have posted great photos in various threads of what they’re cooking under quarantine; thought I’d create one specifically for that purpose.  Feel free to post photos of whatever you’re making over the next few weeks!

Take care and happy eating, everyone.

Last week I had some potatoes going bad so I dug out the dicing attachment to my food processor diced them up and made hash browns.  I think I've only used it once.  It worked better than I remembered it.

I made chicken cutlets with artichoke hearts and capers.  It's an easy recipe that has the right amount of steps when you're killing time.  Read that to say it's a little tedious to make but well worth it in the end.  It's very tasty.

Last weekend I made pizza.  Not so much because I accidentally ordered a 20 lb. bag of 00 flour but just because I'm Italian and if I don't make pizza at least once a week I could loose my card.  Hint: when ordering flour on Amazon pay special attention to the quantity.  LOL 

Finally, yesterday I had some old bananas so I made banana muffins.  There was a lot of batter so I made a loaf too.

I haven't photographed everything.  I've been cooking every meal because I'm still a little leery of even the drive through lines.  It's been fun digging out old recipes.  As awful as this virus is, being forced to stay home has really changed a few priorities.  On the weekends we would generally spend both days away from the house doing this and that.  It's been really nice to "reconnect" with our home and just slow down a little.  I hate that it is at the cost of this horrible virus.  

We did run out yesterday for a few things and I wore gloves and a mask.  I didn't go in the store I just hung around a little in the parking lot but it was good to get out.  As I opened the car door with these things on I thought to myself, is this our new normal?  I sure hope not.

The freezers are getting full.

I did 16 Qts of Chili, Then 16Qts of been and ham soup, baked ginger cookies, then roasted a chicken and made 12 Qts of chicken corn soup.

Took pictures of some of it.

I have been doing a whirlwind of cooking, but it is on all new equipment so there is a motivation there to try it all out. And so far am loving my new Range and Cooking Chef!!

Grilled cheese with velveeta & bread n butter pickles. 

Broiled haddock with bay scallops.

Hot Chocolate pudding !!!

Korean seafood pancakes, Stouffer's famous red sauce ( recipe very hard to come by) with tempura shrimp. 

Fresh red grapfruit juice in my pulled out of the closet Vintage Vitamix!! 

Oh , and the Quarantini of the day was "Bloodlines"= Tequila, tart Cherry juice, quinine with orange bitters.

Hard to believe that the last "food" I've eaten was 6 days ago. Since then all I've had was decaf coffee and clear chicken bullion. Today is "clean-out" day...oh joy! Tomorrow is colonoscopy followed by colon surgery on Tuesday. I'm hoping my last few day's diet will make today a little easier. Please keep posting your stay-at-home cooking creations. They all look delicious. Look at those bread loaves on the next post. They should be on the cover of "Gourmet Magazine'".

I eat this, close my eyes and pretend it's Thanksgiving dinner, but my stomach says "get real'...

I’ve been finding that I now need to carefully ration just about everything to prepare for the possibility that I may not be able to buy many things, like butter, only have 2.5 lbs left, eggs  only 5 left, flour have enough for 3 wks, sugar only 4 lbs, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, the list goes on and on.  

We do have enough food on hand to eat for 3-4 wks., but this is going to require creativity and smaller portions, which won’t hurt us at all.

But in light of the shortage of just about everything, at least I’ve always kept lots of backup staples on hand.  I can’t imagine the panic that those who were in the habit of only buying for a few days at a time are going thru, especially those that don’t have very good cooking skills. I can make a meal out of just about anything in a pinch, so we’ll get thru it.

I’ve found that meals that I used to cook with 1 lb of meat that I got 4 servings out of can now be stretched to 6 servings without feeling deprived.  It’s kind of like what our ancestors went thru during the rationing of WWII.

Tonight and tomorrow night we will have Italian Sausage and Peppers with Penne using 2.5 sausages each night cut into slices and browned with the peppers, onions and garlic., and for Tues. thru Thurs we’ll Chili Verde and grilled flour tortillas, using 1 lb of lean boneless pork chops and canned pinto beans.  I plan a weeks dinners ahead of time.  For lunch we have 1/2 sandwich each with an apple or 2 tangerines, and thats plenty.

It helps to plan ahead.

Eddie

Eddie, I was able to find eggs easily and in ample supply at my nearby Smart & Final.  They were double the price from pre-lockdown days even though there seems to be no shortage.

So far, I've made a batch of split pea soup, which I ate all of over a period of a few days, and a loaf of banana bread.  My buddy and I are sharing stuff we make that's in quantities for more than just one person but it's been more of a one-way street since he over-bought at Costco recently.

I'm going to thaw out some pasta sauce from the freezer.  I can eat pasta every day, and I have a lot of penne.  When that sauce is gone, I'll cook up a new batch.  If I'm out and can find some lamb stew meat, that's what I'll use.  I'm getting a little bored with sausage, and don't have a good meatball recipe.   One of these days I'm going to get a couple of capons.  One for the GE rotisserie/broiler and one for sauce.  My I used to love my Calabrian grandmother's sauce with whole chicken parts in it, and it's even better with a capon.

I made homemade lasagna tonight after a late breakfast of Blueberry Pancakes and Thick Sliced Bacon.

Made the meat sauce yesterday and we had Porterhouse Steak for dinner last night(They were $7.99/Lb @ Lunds and Byerlys).

I made vegetable beef barley soup last night and green chili chicken enchilada casserole tonight for dinner.  I still have roast beef in the freezer from a few weeks ago.  

... so here it is!

Traditional Pork Chili Verde

Ingredients

1.5 lbs Pork Shoulder, cubed

1 Tbsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Ground Black Pepper

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 lb Tomatillos

6 Anaheim Chiles

2 Jalapeños

2 Serrano Chiles (note #3)

1 Large Onion

5 Garlic Cloves

1 Bunch Cilantro (about 2 cups)

Directions

~ Cut pork into chunks, about 1-2 inches.  Season all over with cumin, salt & pepper.  Set aside.

~ Peels out skins off tomatillos, onion and garlic.  Cut stems off tomatillos. Cut stems off peppers and slice in half lengthwise, remove seeds and veins.  Cut onion in half.

~ Bring 6 cups of water to boil in a Dutch oven or large stock pot.   Add tomatillos, chilis and onion, cook 8 minutes. (note #1)

~ Carefully remove with slotted spoon and put everything in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Reserve 1 cup, set aside.

~ In Dutch oven or large skillet on med-high heat, add oil.  When it shimmers, add pork in batches and brown on all sides (don't let it steam). (note #2)

~ Add all cooked pork to Dutch Oven and pour pureed green sauce over and mix thoroughly to incorporate.  Bring to quick boil, cover with lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 hours (or until fork tender), stirring occasionally.  After 3 hours, stir in reserved cup of green mixture.   Serve with warm tortillas or biscuits or bread and enjoy!

INSTANT POT OPTION

Brown pork on sauté setting (again, in batches to brown, not steam).  Place cooked pork in Instant Pot, pour pureed green sauce over and mix thoroughly.  Close the lid, cook @ high pressure for 20 mins and allow natural (slow) pressure release and enjoy.

NOTES!

#1 You can grill, broil (5-7 mins) or oven roast the tomatillos, chilis and onion (@ 400 degrees for 15-20 mins until nicely brown, peel chili skin after cooling) for a roasted or charred flavor instead of boiling.

#2 If you used a separate pan to brown the pork, use 3-4 tablespoons chicken broth to deglaze the pan, then pour into Dutch oven with everything else.

#3 I used only put 1 Jalapeño and no Serrano.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week my other half made a Filipino dish called Tinola.  It's basically their version of chicken soup, using chicken broth, chicken thighs, chayote squash, fresh ginger, Anaheim chile, spinach, onion, garlic, S&P.   Lately it's been very ginger forward (read: lots), but I like it! 

for posting your recipe for Chile Verde.  I’mm sure lots of us will give it a try.  It sounds delicious!

Eddie

My husband is Filipino.  We make Tinola in our house a few times a month.  We sometimes have trouble finding the chayote though.  Yours looks really good.  I'm not a fan of ginger though so he cuts the pieces of ginger large enough that I can pick them out.

the fruits of your labor are impressive, especially your piping skills on the frosting of that beautiful cake.  Bravo!

Eddie

Your Cabbage Roll dinner plate looks just like the Merchants Lunch that the ladies from the Jewish Synagogue in Petaluma, Calif. used to sell once a year to the shops and store employees in Petaluma once a year for a fund raiser in the early 70’s, right down to the canned green beans and mashed potatoes yum.  

My boss was Jewish and he always purchased these delicious lunches for all of his employees, and we looked forward to this every year. It was the first time I ever tasted Cabbage Rolls and I’ve loved them every since.  I’ll have to get some cabbage and make a batch, I haven’t made them in several years.

Eddie

Looks good Sam, I notice in your first picture you have 2 of the rare Christmas Corning pieces they look to be the 1988 edition.

How did you find these pieces and do you have any others ?

John L.

I wouldn't mind the recipe.

Thanks.

Kevin, me too!!

Filipino Chicken Adobo 

Ingredients

Yum!!!!!

After last nites wonderful bike ride - I was craving a roast of beef.  Since its just me I haven't made one in  a year! So off to the butcher , I got a nice spoon roast. In my new Easy Bake Oven it went! Holy Moly, these new ovens are so sealed when you open the door to check, you get a blast furnace , almost burned off my eyebrows! Hour & half at 400 it was done perfect using the new convect roast feature !! The outside was crispy the inside pink !!! As the roast relaxed out of the oven, I got out my 2 qt Indian pressure cooker and made a single serving of carrots n celery steamed in left over tea. 10 minutes Boom Boom Done. 

So dinner today is Korean Spicy Chicken and Potato (Tak Toritang).  It's a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com.  I'm always looking for new things to cook and this sounded interesting.  I found it the other day but it required a spice I didn't have so I rang up Amazon and viola!!  It's at the front door.  Like magic.    And no, I didn't abuse my Prime membership. I ordered other things too.

Patties made from ground pork seasoned with Lawry's Granulated Garlic, Pepper, Worcestershire and grilled.  Bacon char-broiled on the grill.  Topped with Provolone and Swiss-American cheeses.   Quite a good burger.  I will make them again.

Kansas vintage cookbook.

From 1920

There is something interesting here

Late yesterday afternoon I made the dough for a doz Crusty Dinner Rolls and a loaf of No Knead sandwich bread.  First thing this morning I formed the rolls and the loaf, let them rise and baked them.  I baked the rolls first, since they take a shorter time to rise, then the bread.

The bread just came out of the oven.  I’ll bake the Angel Food cake this afternoon, then fill and frost it with the Pineapple Whipped Cream.

Eddie

The photos are of the Pineapple Whipped Cream Angel Food Cake, Au gratin potatoes, Ham, and David at the table with the dinner served along with Crusty dinner rolls, green salads and a bottle of Welch's Sparkling White Grape Juice  We just used our everyday white Corelle, stainless steel silverware, placemats and napkins.  

We have been having a very nice Easter and I hope everyone else has too.

Eddie

My husband had to work yesterday so I did some exciting things.  I shampooed the carpet in the family room and made pizza while binge watching All American.  This staying in is getting really challenging.

Couldn't really do anything outside.  Check out this weather radar.  We got the wind and storms but we were very, very lucky that the tornadoes went around us.

Alister, thanks for your interest.  The recipe for my Pineapple Whipped Cream Angel Food Cake was already posted about two years ago.  

To access it, just type the it into the Supersearch-o-lator with my user name, ea56 on this website and it will bring it up.  It’s really pretty easy and really delicious, my Mom made it every year for my Dads’s birthday cake,it was his favorite.

Enjoy and stay safe!

Eddie

Salmon Patties, Rice with Sliced Green Onions and Soy Sauce, Mixed Vegetables.  All from the pantry and freezer.

Eddie

Some Real Minnesota Food.  Most outside our state don't know what it is. I made this for a potluck at a resort I was staying at in Sarasota Fl. and no one could stop eating it and asking what it was and I gave copies of my recipe to folks from Kentucky, Vancouver BC and Denver.  If anyone want's to know how to make it Email me. 

WK78

Banana Nut Cake.   The “new” Sunbeam Mixmaster made it a snap.  And I’d forgotten how fluffy a mixmaster can make a simple butter cream frosting.

Eddie

PS Reply #60 was deleted as it was a duplicate in error.

Lord have mercy they are going to have to bulldoze me out of this house when this is over.  I was bored so I dug out two recipes that my Aunt Mary used to make when I was a kid.  They are tasty and fattening.  Just the right combination!!  I'm not sure they came out exactly the way hers did but we'll see.  Working with pastry dough has never been my strong suite.

Then of course there is always the snacks between meals.

I am married to a Filipino,  I showed him the picture of your spaghetti and he gave it a thumbs up.  It looks really good.  I have seen that spaghetti sauce in an Asian store he shops in but I have never tried it.

Being Italian I'm not sure I'd like a sweet tasting sauce but your post has inspired me to try it.  He doesn't eat pork or beef so I will have to figure out subs.  Do you think it would be good with ground chicken instead of pork?  As far as the hot dogs I can find a chicken version without much of an issue.

Last Wednesday I made beef enchiladas for the first time.  Honestly I looked at a handful of different recipes, then made a combo of 2 or 3 different of them, as I didn't have the specific ingredients for one.  

In my case i used...

1 lb of ground beef

1 medium onion diced

28 oz can of red enchilada sauce

1 15 oz canned corn, drained

3 cups grated cheese (colby jack & pepper jack) 

Pkg of small flour tortillas

I sautéed the onion, browned the beef, added 1/2 the corn and about 3/4 cup enchilada sauce.   I put the rest of the corn and sauce in a sauce pan and warmed it slightly. I then started to assemble, dipped a tortilla completely in the sauce then put it a plate, put about a tablespoon of meat, then tbsp of cheese, rolled tightly and placed in casserole dish, flap down and repeat.   Once all were rolled, I ladled the sauce over the enchiladas, then covered with the remaining cheese.  Baked at 350 for 30 mins.

Notes: 1. You really should use corn tortillas, not flour (lightly fry each in oil to warm and make pliable before dipping in the sauce).  2. I should have covered with aluminum foil before baking, but forgot that part.  3. Most recipes call for sliced black olives rather than corn.

Kevin

Those Enchiladas look really good Kevin.  

You know, the last few times I’ve made enchiladas I used small flour tortillas too, just because thats what I had on hand the first time  After that because they tasted just fine, and the flour tortillas are a lot more pliable and easier to roll than corn tortillas. 

Its a matter of taste, but I think yours look great, good job!  Great photos  of the process too BTW, this is just how its done and could really help a novice.  Thanks for sharing it.

Eddie

Looks delicious Kevin.  I don't have the patience any longer to do all that assembling and rolling.  Hence, my quick green chili enchiladas casserole.

In Tex-Mex cooking, I associated corn tortillas with tamales (the tamales themselves are wrapped in a corn husk and steamed) and enchiladas with flour tortillas.  

Thanks Eddie and Bob!  

I used flour tortillas because a few recipes called for flour instead of corn.  I will try using corn tortillas next time because it's a textural issue for me.  The flour tortillas got mushy/soggy and I believe the corn tortillas may hold up better(?) with all the moisture from the sauce.   (Oh damn, we just got back from the market and I walked right by the tortillas, but didn't think to buy any, oops!)   I'm going to make chicken enchiladas w/green sauce, next time, after I get some corn tortillas.

NOTE on the Filipino Spaghetti above: I also married a Filipino and that's one of those comfort foods he wants when he feels homesick, or "just because" etc.  I too was a little put off by the sweetness and while when asked if I want any, I'll say "no", but I end up eating it, LOL.

Eugene: When my honey "makes" the Filipino spaghetti at home, he will grate the carrot, rather than "chop" it.  He has also added bacon to it. 

We have the option of either a Filipino market a few miles away, or one of two Jollibee's about 10 miles away, (opposite directions).  Jollibee is basically the Filipino McDonalds as they are everywhere in the Philippines.   But IMO, the majority of the menu is 3 or 4 levels below McDonalds.  The two items I will happily order, is their chicken sandwich deluxe (Excellent!) and their fried chicken, or "chicken joy" as they call it (also VERY good!). 

I just tried looking up that documentary on Jollibee and found this 2 minute clip where Anthony Bourdain tries Jollibee in Manila - Pretty funny.

OK so I went a little overboard with Jollibee stuff (Sorry)!  LOL

Kevin

I NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED THREAD.....  

I’m glad that you gave the No Knead Bread a try.  Your loaf came out beautifully, congratulations!

 The Dutch Oven method is the way I first tried it make No Knead Bread and its a good way to get your feet wet to the process.  Did you not find that this bread is delicious?  

Try making rolls with it, they are out of this world, and they keep fresh for a week, provided you reheat then in a 325 F oven for 10 mins before serving.  We just ate the last two on Sat. and they tasted just as good as they did on Easter.

Eddie

If you like the Dutch Oven No Knead Bread, try my version for making sandwich style loaves.  It is so easy and so good.  I’ve been making all of our bread since Jan 2019, and I can’t imagine buying bread again.  The recipe and instructions are posted in the No Bread In the Stores thread.  

If you do get in the habit of making your own bread a West Bend Bread Slicing Guide is a good investment, they are readily available on ebay.  This way your bread will sliced neatly and evenly with no waste.

BTW, I always use the overnight rise method, with the exception of once or twice when I was in a hurry and made the dough with 130 F water, same amount of yeast with a 2-3 hour rise.  It came out just fine.

Eddie

Your Simple Fried Rice looks delicious and the recipe looks like its just up my alley, and a good way to use some the vast amount of Easter Ham in our freezer.  This is the way I cook pretty much, why make things any more difficult than they need to be.  

Thanks for the photos, sharing the recipe and linking my post for the No Knead Bread.  BTW, your All Clad Dutch oven should work fine, with one caveat, the lid must be oven proof up to 450 F, if not you’d need to jerry rig some other kind of lid that was oven proof to 450 F.  

Perhaps a round cast iron griddle if you have one could be placed on top of your Dutch Oven as a improvised lid.  And if you don’t have one they can be bought for about $12.99 to 14.99, and are great kitchen tool to have anyway.  Just a thought.

And most of all, thanks for starting this delightful thread!  Its’ such a pleasure to see want others are cooking and how they do it.  You can always learn something new.

Eddie

The Dutch Oven recipe I use also called for the Dutch Oven to pre heated in the oven for 30 mins at 450 F too.  It tastes like sourdough as well.  I just use unbleached white all purpose flour and let rise for 12 to 16 hrs.  Very easy, and probably the same as the one you use, they’re all very similar.

BTW, you’ve been right busy!  That Chocolate Pie looks delicious.  Its plain that you enjoy cooking and are good ate it too.  Thanks for sharing your photos.

Eddie

Joe went a little overboard buying bananas so when they got too ripe guess what I made?  Ha.  Yup.  Three loaves of banana bread.  This recipe is really good and is supposed to make two loaves but over the years I've found it's gets a little dry because it has to stay in the oven for so long to cook through.  The past couple of times I've made it I have divided it among three pans and it comes out really nice and soft and moist.

I used seven bananas for these three.

I made your Easy Fried Rice for dinner tonight, and it was great!  The seasonings were perfect, I would have never thought of using black pepper, maybe crushed red or white pepper, but the black pepper was perfect.  I used some of the left over Easter Ham, and since eggs are getting scare I didn’t use the scrambled egg, but if I were going to make it without meat definitely I would add the scrambled eggs.  I also added 3 thinly sliced green onions after I turned the heat off at the end of cooking.  We both enjoyed it very much.  I told David that it was Eugene’s recipe, he said to thank you Eugene.  And I thank you too, its a keeper.

Eddie

David asked me yesterday of we were going to have Cheeseburgers on Saturday.  I said I hadn’t planned on it, but we could have them next week.  Well I got to thinking, I have ground round in the freezer, but no buns.  I didn’t want to go into a store for just buns, and then find out they didn’t have any, so I decided to make some.

I just took them out of the oven.  I made two big hamburger buns for our Cheeseburgers tomorrow and four hot dog buns for tonight and we’ll have hot dogs with carrot and celery sticks.  

I made the dough at 11:30 am using:

3 cups of flour

1 1/2 cups of hottest tap water

1/2 tsp rapid rise yeast

1 tbs. sugar

1 tbs. oil

1 tsp salt

Let it rise until 2 pm, formed the rolls and let them rise for 1 hr. after brushing the tops with oil to help keep the crust tender.  Baked the on parchment paper at 375 F for 20 mins.  They look pretty good.  Next time I think I’ll make the hot dog buns just a tad bit smaller.

Eddie

As for freezing eggs, I’ve frozen egg whites many times and used them for various things and they always worked fine however I used them.  Yolks however haven’t been very successful for use after freezing them, they seemed to dehydrate and become kind of gummy.  I did see someone of TV recently that advised to beat the eggs first then freeze them.  You can choose containers for only one egg, or multiple eggs, just be sure to label the contents so you know what the amount is in each container.

Another alternative to fresh eggs for baking anyway, are Egg Beaters, but I’ll bet this product is also in short supply too.  I’ve used them in the past for baking, Bread Pudding, even Frittata and they weren’t bad.

Eddie

No Worries here.  There is a farm just east of my town and they always have plenty.  Much better than grocery store eggs anyway.  

WK78

Anyone else find themselves making supper/dinner foods first thing in the morning?

This was another exercise in playing Jenga with a traditional recipe: Pull out several standard ingredients and see if the end result is still palatable. In the case of Simple Meat Loaf, it tastes better than it looks.

I opened what I thought was a can of cream of chicken soup for a casserole a couple of weeks ago, only to find that while scavenging the balancing act that passes for my small pantry, I set the intended can of soup back in the pile and a few seconds later found myself with an opened can of tomato soup.

In an effort not to waste even a tablespoon of anything these days, (Mom, you were right!) I swore a bit, then transferred the soup to a container and popped it in the freezer.

This morning, I decided to put it to use by building a meat loaf around it with only a few other ingredients. I buy Tone’s Spaghetti Seasoning at Sam’s Club; don’t recall seeing it on the grocery store shelf. At any rate, the more readily available Italian seasoning blend and some dried minced onions will do the trick.

In fact, almost anything in this recipe can be substituted with whatever you happen to have on hand: tomato sauce—or even ketchup—instead of soup; a pound each of ground pork and ground beef instead of all beef; dried bread or panko crumbs instead of fresh; skip the Worcestershire; Egg Beaters instead of fresh eggs...

I didn’t include a ketchup/brown sugar topping, which would go a long way to improve the look of the thing, as my intention was to divvy up the slices two-by-two in plastic wrap, then toss the little packets into a ZipLoc freezer bag.  I tend to eat meatloaf with ketchup on the side, anyway.

Considering it has none of the extra ingredients—primarily minced fresh vegetables—found in my standard meat loaf recipe, or better yet, Cavalcade of Food Kevin’s delicious ‘Buttermilk Meat Loaf,’ this really tasted pretty good!

Damn, Mike! Another winner in the Italian division. Looks--and I'm sure smells--absolutely delicious.

Petek- Your whatever’s-in-the-pantry Rice-A-Roni is just the kind of thing I’m into, lately; simple foods using the ingredients on hand.  Looks good!

Matt- Leftover rice & beans is so versatile. I like to make burritos with it or add some chopped/shredded leftover meat...and make burritos with it, LOL.

I made dough for a loaf of bread at 4:30 this morning. Want to use the oven very early. It got to 86 degrees here yesterday and I’d like to put off cranking up the central air as long as possible. Dropped to 52 overnight, but there was no wind, so even though windows were open all night, the apartment only cooled to 72 degrees.

Made two pounds of taco meat, as well, to portion & freeze.

Based on all the great foods we see on here it's seems like we are all craving good old fashioned comfort foods.  All these look so good!

About six months ago I found a recipe on line for buttermilk pancakes.  I have always either made pancakes from scratch (non Buttermilk) or used a Buttermilk mix.  Since this recipe called for Buttermilk we bought some and OMG.  What a difference.  They are so tender and fluffy.  Like nothing I've ever made before.  So, now we're having them at least once a week and I'm keeping a big bottle of Buttermilk in the frig at all times for these and the Waffles of insane greatness recipe that was shared a while back.  

At 66, I don't think I have ever kept full fat Buttermilk in the frig.  I've spent my adult life trying to be conscious of the carbs and fat I consumed.  I don't know exactly what changed in my brain but I sure am living it up food wise.

Ralph- “just pancakes”  Pancakes are awesome! Great dishes, by the way.  I broke down and purchased an electric griddle (BroilKing) recommended by Cook’s Illustrated a few months ago. Never had one before. Love it for eggs, pancakes, French toast, burgers (fun to grill the hamburger bun restaurant-style) and hash browns.  No room to store it in the kitchen, so it’s on a shelf in the living room built-in, LOL.

Sam-  Your wedding soup and baked beans look delicious.  Do you portion and freeze these or keep them in the fridge?

I’ve started using a 12” bread pan by Kaiser for sandwich loaves. The slices are a little shorter and more square-shaped than when baking in a traditional 9” x 5” loaf pan. Works great in the toaster—the entire slice is browned evenly top to bottom. 

Ralph if you don’t have buttermilk you can make a substitute by putting 1 tbs, of either white vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup and filling it to the 1 cup mark, this will equal 1 cup of buttermilk and I do this all the time for any baked recipe the requires buttermilk.  It’s the acidity of buttermilk reacting with the baking soda/ powder in the recipe that creates the light, fluffy results.

BTW, most buttermilk sold these days isn’t really a full fat product, but more equivalent of low fat milk.  And anyway, its the butter and syrup that most of us put on our pancakes that make them fattening, not the buttermilk.  And Ralph your pancakes look delicious.  I’ve been resisting the urge to make some for weeks, cuz I know that I’ll saturate them with butter and syrup, and I don’t need those extra calories. LOL

Eddie

My other half said he was making pork adobo tonight, which was the perfect excuse to "break in" our new Samsung 5 burner gas cook top (I installed 3 days ago), but more so, to also "break in" my Le Creuset cast iron wok.  I've had it a number of years now and have used it a handful of times, but never had a powerful enough burner to properly cook in it, until now.  This center burner cranks out 22000 BTU's and boy-o-boy did it kick ass!     I'm now seriously thinking about getting a traditional carbon steel, round bottom wok! 

Kevin

That pork looks really good as does everything people have been making.  Looks like that new cooktop and your Le Creuset Wok are a great match!!

I have to say I just love this place.  These posts have taught me I can freeze Buttermilk or make it with milk and lemon juice or vinegar.  I've read you can do that and use it inerchangeably in your recipes but I was always afraid the lemon juice or vinegar taste would come through in the food.  It sounds like it wouldn't.

Thanks for the replies and the advice.

those hot dogs and macaroni salad sure look good. Reminds me of the early years of our marriage when we would have hot dogs and macaroni salad on TV trays in the living room while watching Wheel of Fortune.

David always called this meal hot dogs and “macaron”, a homage to his Italian heritage LOL. In fact just the other day he let me know its time for some “Macaron” again. Next time I go to the store I hope I can find some salad macaroni .

Eddie

Does he roll that "R" when he says MACARRRRONE?  That' how we say.  Rich, that macaroni salad looks really good.  When I make it I usually have a bowl before it hits the frig.  Then, the next day I'll pick at it when it's nice and cold.  YUMM!!  I made potato salad last week and I don't think it made it to lunch time the following day.  Now macaroni salad sounds good.  I have to make some. 

nope, no rolling of the “r” in macaron, its like Navarone, in the “Guns of Navarone”, only Macarone, LOL.  Kinda like Italian “Pidgin English”.

I love Macaroni Salad and I make mine like my paternal grandma.  I always use salad macaroni, finely diced celery,  yellow onions, sliced black olives, pimentos, sweet pickle relish, mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley, black pepper and little salt and I boil the macaroni until its really tender, this way its already saturated with water and doesn’t absorb all the dressing and get dry.  I like it to be really moist.

Another salad that my Mom and her Mom used to make was Pork and Bean Salad.  I know it sounds nasty, but its delightful!  

You use Van de Camps Pork and Beans, that you rinse well  in a colander and drain, taking out any pieces of salt pork.  Place them in a large bowl with finely diced celery, yellow onion and sweet gherkin pickles, crisp bacon pieces, a couple of chopped hard boiled eggs, parsley and ground black pepper.  Toss lightly with mayonnaise and sour cream, being careful to not break up the beans.  Let it it set for a couple of hours, overnight is better.  

You have to use the canned Van de Camps Pork and Beans, its the tomato sauce they are canned in that gives them a special tang that you can’t really duplicate with just cooked navy beans.

 It is out of this world!  When I was telephone operator in the 70’s I took it to a potluck.  My co workers said, “Whats this?”   I said try it you’ll really like it.  Well that 6 quart bowl was the first potluck item to disappear, they couldn’t get enough of it.

Just use the amounts of each item like you would making either Macaroni or Potato salad, and season it to your liking.

My husband David loves all these kinds of salads that I make.  When I was a little kid in the pre-Tupperware 50’s, Grandma used to save the cardboard  1/2 gal ice cream containers, after washing them out and letting them dry.  Then when we went on picnics she would pack the salads into these containers for carrying the salad to the picnic site.  Lots of great memories of those salads and the Little Brown Jug of ice cold homemade Lemonade.

Eddie