Dear Folks, I never intended this list to be one in which everyone would be encouraged to post their most dismal cooking failures but if I can't discuss mine with friends, who can I? First of all regarding last evening's disaster with the underdone chicken thighs(?), Chardonay wine and Parmesan cheese, I put the two remaining thighs in a covered bowl added a bit of garlic powder to a bit of the wine and cheese and tomorrow I'll put them in the microwave and finish cooking them. And if that doesn't improve them, the remaining thigh gets wrapped up in plastic wrap and thrown into the freezer to join a few other choice bits of leftovers that are destined for the stock pot. Note: no evidence of Salmonella today! :-) Well, this evening I had myself pumped up to finally bake up a pan of mile-high popovers. I had diligently searched through just about every cookbook I own and finally came up with the recipe that suited me best. Since I have only six Pyrex custard cups, I chose the recipe that called for a heavy muffin pan with 12 compartments in it. And I followed the recipe to the nth degree. In fact I even sifted the flour! After I had sifted the flour and salt, beaten the eggs, added the milk and gently stirred the egg mixture into the flour, I used my manual egg beater to beat it all up (according to the recipe). I had already set the oven at 450 degrees, and I carefully poured the batter into the well greased aluminum muffin pan and placed the pan in the oven. I set my tick-tock timer for 15 minutes and when it clanged out to me, I reduced the oven temperature to 350 degrees and set the timer for another 20 minutes just like the recipe told me to do. Although I knew that they were rather delicate and that I shouldn't open the oven door while they were still baking, I still had to take a peak at them. And when I did, I was a bit distressed to find that all of them seemed to be overly brown on top and certainly hadn't risen up much higher than ordinary muffins. At that point I just turned the oven off altogether. When I finally got up enough courage to take them out of the oven, I wasn't surprised with what I ended up with. Although they weren't as hard as hockey pucks, I must say they were close to being in the same category. It was all that I could do to pry them out of the muffin pan in spite of my greasing the pan so thoroughly. Their only saving grace was that there was still a bit of moisture inside them and I slathered butter over the inside of one of them, heated it up in the microwave and with that much butter, it tasted pretty good! Well, now I've ended up with the remaining 11 scruffy popovers that I prepared so carefully and had such high hopes for but I'm not despondent whatsover. I still have my bowl of home made of soup to enjoy for lunch and the popovers will be good for dunking in the soup. Always look on the bright side. P.S. I don't know whether I should even clue you in to what I'm anxious to cook up again after all these years but I will anyway. Although this isn't the week to shop for beef on sale (ham yes), I noticed that the little grocery store in the village has beef chuck roasts and shoulder roasts at $2.58 per pound. Now I may find that the cuts are entirely too large for the Swiss Steak I want to prepare but I know that I have the perfect recipe for Swiss Steak. And if I find that I eventually screw up that recipe too, it's back to ordering Marie Calendar's frozen dinners in bulk! vee

Dear Vee: I sure wish I had your problem! I need to lose a few myself. I've tried experimenting with different recipes and sometimes they always didn't work out. Trial & error I guess! From my days working in restaurants, I learned a lot about food safety and expiration dates. One main rule of thumb I learned was, if you're not sure, toss it. I always try to write the date on frozen items with a grease pencil or marker. Bon appettite! Kim

Patty: Thank you for the history of the pastie and the great recipe. I didn't know they originated in England, but I have heard that coal miners would have them for lunch. Thanks! Kim

My Grandmother taught me to make pasties when I was a little girl. My grandmother's mother-in-law taught her. The crust recipe is the best I have ever seen, I never used a recipe, but have been asked for it several times. My normal response would be just make a STIFF pie crust. I tend to make mine to flaky then they fall apart when u pick them up We just layer the ground round, potatoes (sliced) and a slice or 2 of onion to the top. We fold the edges over, so that when you eat them you have a handle. I cut mine in half and pour ketchup into the middle. YUM . You can also make them as a pie, not as good in my opinion, cause half the fun of eating them is picking them up. :) Pasties originated in Cornwall, England. It was what the miners would have for lunch, They never ate the edge because they couldn't wash their hands and it would be toxic from the coal. The edges were left for the fairies, gnomes, what ever, so they would keep the miners safe. Some times they would put fruit in the other end so they would have desert. They are poplar in UP Michigan because alot of the Cornish miners settled there. My ancestors settled in Lackawanna Co, Pa. I don't think they are as popular down there as they are Michigan. Patty

Dear Folks, I know that I've been rambling on about my recent cooking urges but for those of you who aren't aware what's been causing it, here's the reason. For the past number of years I had all but totally lost my appetite and it was all that I could do to force myself to eat little helpings of food three times a day. AND I was losing too much weight. I'm 5'6" and at 114 pounds that equaled a very scrawny woman. That is until my VA doctor prescribed Megace for me to stimulate my appetite and WHOA, did it ever! As a result my interest in food has obsessed me, I've been pigging out on everything and this evening when I weighed myself, I'm now up to 120 pounds. WHOOPEE! I'm still excited about cooking up mouth-watering food and last night I planned this evening's special gourmet meal. Something I hadn't fixed in a number of years. I had unearthed a plastic bag of chicken parts from my freezer and figured they were skinless boneless chicken breasts. Well, at least they were skinless. Last night I put them in the refrigerator to thaw out and all day today I checked my special gourmet "Chicken Loraine" recipe to make certain that I remembered it right. Well in the first place, I found that I no longer had the perfect Pyrex dish to contain the boneless chicken breasts and with the three pieces of chicken that were thawing out, I had an awkward time trying to fit them into some sort of oven proof container. As a result I had to settle for a very deep Pyrex "pot" that would accomodate the three of them on the bottom. When it came time to settle in to doing everything necessary to cook up my gourmet dinner this evening, I followed my simple recipe, poured white Chardonnay wine in the bottom of the pot, sprinkled Parmesan cheese liberally over the chicken and then lavishly dotted the top with butter. Into the oven it went. It was that simple. In the meantime I knew that plain boiled rice was the perfect accompaniment and since I had some already in my freezer, I just thawed it out. But then there was the perfect vegetable to go along with it--sauteed onions and sliced summer squash. I dug out out half the sliced onions from the freezer that I had put in there only a couple of days ago and then dug out the summer squash that I had frozen around Thanksgiving time, sprinkled garlic powder over them and sauteed them in a frying pan. The timing was perfect. The chicken had baked the prescribed number of minutes, I assembled everything on my dinner plate and then dug in. WELL, Houston, we had a bit of a problem with the dinner. In the first place not only wasn't the chicken skinless boneless chicken breasts but it seemed to be something along the lines of skinless large pieces of chicken thighs with the bones and backs still connected. The only way to eat it was to try to pick the meat off the bones. In addition, because they weren't breasts they were underdone and tomorrow I may find that I'll come down with Salmonella poisoning! How were the squash and onions? Frankly they were watery and quite tastless. Well, how about the rice? There wasn't anything wrong with the rice with the exception of what was supposed to be the ultimate sauce poured over it. That would have been the combination of wine, butter and Parmesan cheese. Well, Boys and Girls, guess what? That was also tasteless. Rather than drag this sad tale out any further, let me just give a bit of advice to you. Although you KNOW that you have the perfect recipe to serve to the most elegant company, carefully check out your ingredients first, make certain that they're fresh and make certain you still have the proper baking pan for the chicken. vee

Ruth: To this day, I have never fixed liver & onions, & probably never will. I shudder even thinking about liver & onions! ;-) Kim

Anna: The one I remember is "Sugar, Sugar", by the Archies, and I think there was one or two by the Monkees, my fav group of the time! Kim

Rose: Thanks for the great pastie recipe, I printed it out. I haven't had a pastie in ages, I had almost forgotten what they tasted like! Thank you! Kim

Kim, Here's a pastie recipe that might work for you. My in-laws live in the UP and their church makes pasties at least once a year to sell. We always bring some home. Us "trolls" (below the Bridge) like them, too! Enjoy! Rose in Michigan Upper Peninsula Traditional RecipesPASTIES Crust: 4 cups flour 1 cup shortening 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cold water (approx) Cut the shortening into the salt and flour until it has the texture of cornmeal. Mix thoroughly. Add cold water until the mix until all flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl. Add additional water if necessary. Divide dough into 5-6 balls. Filling: 7 medium potatoes 1 small rutabega or approx. 7 carrots 1 medium onions 3/4 pounds of ground beef (mom suggests ground chuck or ground round) 1/2 pound of lean ground pork Peel and dice* the vegetables. Put these in a large bowl and mix with the meat and 2 t. seasoning salt, salt and pepper to taste. *The secret to a great pasty is to dice the vegetables. Do not use a grinder or other type of processor. Assembly: Roll out the crust on a lightly floured surface as you would a pie crust, only more oblong than round. Put about 1 1/4 cup filling on the crust. Flip the other half of the crust over the filling and press it down over the line of moist dough; crimp the edges. Poke the crust several times with a fork and put on an ungreased baking sheet. Baking: Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for forty minutes. Cool for at least fifteen minutes on the sheet before eating. Serve with ketchup, butter, gravy, or whatever turns you on. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway - Enter today

Kim, One of the Wheaties box records was "Pony Boy" and our youngest brother loved that song! That was just the neatest promo. Thanks for the memory, Anna ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kim & Mike Paul" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 10:34 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Do you remember Crystal Beach? > Vee, Ruth & group: > > I asked my husband about cardboard records and he told me that you could buy them in regular record shops back then. The records were fairly common, and as you mentioned, made of cardboard, often varnished with shellac. They aren't very collectable as the Vogue records are, though. We have a few of those in our collection. > > I remember when I was a kid in the 60's and we used to collect records that we cut out of cereal boxes, I used to have a bunch of those, but don't know what happened to them. Now those are highly collectable! Those records had the popular teen groups and idols on them of the day. > > Hope that answers your question! > > Kim > >

Vee, I remember my mother telling me to spoon the sifted flour very carefully into the cup so that it didn't settle. That way your buscuits or popovers would be lighter and fluffier! I don't know if it made any difference because I always did as I was told - I lifted carefully! :-) Jo in Michigan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 11:29 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Onward to another baking experience > Ruth suggested, > > > Vee, If you can't find the sifter use a wire strainer and just shake it. > Ruth > > Ruth, do you know what? That's pretty much my attitude lately. Actually I > did find my 1950 Bridal Shower flour sifter today, gave it a good scrubbing > and I really don't hate to sift the flour. All I need to do is hold its > red-painted handle and turn its crank with the red-painted knob on the end > of it and I have sifted flour. > > However, back in "my day" sifting flour was an exact science. First of all > you needed to lay down a piece of wax paper to sift the flour onto. Note: I > don't have any wax paper any more. But more than that, after the flour has > been sifted you were strongly instructed to VERRRY carefully spoon the > sifted flour into the proper measuring cup. And if needed, crease the wax > paper to pour more flour into the cup to fill it up. > > Well, Boys and Girls, that's just not my style anymore. OK, I'll sift the > flour but under the present circumstances, I'll use a clean sheet of folded > printer paper instead of wax paper. Will I VERRY carefully spoon the flour > into the measuring cup? Ya gotta be kidding! I'll just dump it into the > cup. As we used to say in the Navy, "It's close enough for Government > work!" > > Will my popovers end up less than perfection? Ask me if I can even remember > what "perfect" popovers used to taste like! But I'll tell you what--when > you're eating a hot popover slathered in butter, who cares! :-) > vee > > >

Ruth suggested, > Vee, If you can't find the sifter use a wire strainer and just shake it. Ruth Ruth, do you know what? That's pretty much my attitude lately. Actually I did find my 1950 Bridal Shower flour sifter today, gave it a good scrubbing and I really don't hate to sift the flour. All I need to do is hold its red-painted handle and turn its crank with the red-painted knob on the end of it and I have sifted flour. However, back in "my day" sifting flour was an exact science. First of all you needed to lay down a piece of wax paper to sift the flour onto. Note: I don't have any wax paper any more. But more than that, after the flour has been sifted you were strongly instructed to VERRRY carefully spoon the sifted flour into the proper measuring cup. And if needed, crease the wax paper to pour more flour into the cup to fill it up. Well, Boys and Girls, that's just not my style anymore. OK, I'll sift the flour but under the present circumstances, I'll use a clean sheet of folded printer paper instead of wax paper. Will I VERRY carefully spoon the flour into the measuring cup? Ya gotta be kidding! I'll just dump it into the cup. As we used to say in the Navy, "It's close enough for Government work!" Will my popovers end up less than perfection? Ask me if I can even remember what "perfect" popovers used to taste like! But I'll tell you what--when you're eating a hot popover slathered in butter, who cares! :-) vee

Ruth asked, Do you remember the brown > cardboard records that were made during the war. If you didn't keep them > under something heavy the curled up. We used to have some but I think they > all got thrown away as I can't seem to find any now. Ruth, you really got me there. I can't even think of what sort of phonograph records would have been made out of something so flimsy. All of the ones that I collected as a kid during WWII were of the highly breakable pre-vinyl days. The only ones that I can recall that might have been of a flimsier variety were those that were personally recorded in a recording booth to send to your family and/or loved one. And I believe that was in the early 1950s. vee

Bert said, > They are a delight to make and fill with butter and let it oozzze all over. And liking your fingers, yes. No real table manners suggested. I know just whatcha mean! Just be certain you hang your elbows over your plate so that the excess butter can drip off of the ends of them. Neatness counts to some extent when it comes to popovers! :-) vee

Vee, Ruth & group: I asked my husband about cardboard records and he told me that you could buy them in regular record shops back then. The records were fairly common, and as you mentioned, made of cardboard, often varnished with shellac. They aren't very collectable as the Vogue records are, though. We have a few of those in our collection. I remember when I was a kid in the 60's and we used to collect records that we cut out of cereal boxes, I used to have a bunch of those, but don't know what happened to them. Now those are highly collectable! Those records had the popular teen groups and idols on them of the day. Hope that answers your question! Kim

They are a delight to make and fill with butter and let it oozzze all over. And liking your fingers, yes. No real table manners suggested. In high altitude temperature and time need to be adjusted or they burn to a crisp. Bert a he from Cheyenne, Wyoming that is.

Hi Folks I remember going to Crystal Beach with my best friend probably in the middle to late 40's. I lived in Rochester but visited my Aunt, who lived in Wilson, every summer. She would clip a coupon out of the Buffalo Evening News and my friend Joyce and I would go over on the boat and spend the day. What wonderful fun times they were. Louise

Vee, If you can't find the sifter use a wire strainer and just shake it. Ruth At 12:31 AM -0500 4/4/04, Vee L. Housman wrote: >Dear Folks, >Now if only I can find my flour sifter. >vee -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT

Vee, I do so envy those of you who are old enough to have danced to the sound of the "Big Bands" live. I love the big band sound, probably because we had so many records of it when I was young. Do you remember the brown cardboard records that were made during the war. If you didn't keep them under something heavy the curled up. We used to have some but I think they all got thrown away as I can't seem to find any now. Ruth At 11:32 PM -0500 4/3/04, Vee L. Housman wrote: >Dear Folks, > >Nona Goodrich sent me the following URL regarding the old Crystal Beach >amusement park in Canada across Lake Erie from Buffalo and I just had to >share it with the list in the event that you might have experienced it >yourselves. http://www.pbase.com/kjosker/crystal_beach&page=all > >The pictures brought back memories of my own but my memories weren't as a >young child, they were more of when I was around 16 years old and staying >with my high school sorority girls in a cottage at Crystal Beach that summer >of 1948. Although I certainly remember the midway and all of the rides that >were there, most of my memories centered around the memories of the high >school fraternity boys who "pestered" us (bless their hearts!), dancing in >the ballroom and trying to look sexy in our bathing suits on the beach. > >Several years later in the mid 50s, I had a couple of dates who took me back >to Crystal Beach and we danced away to Harry James' orchestra, and to Sauter >and Finnegan, the popular band at the time, who played the "Doodletown >Fifers." I could name my date's names but as far as I know they're either >happily married and/or deceased by now! > >Do you remember Crystal Beach? >vee -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT

Kim, I'm with you, onions OK, give liver to cats. I don't know how many people have said, "You just haven't had it fixed right, try mine it's delicious." Well, it just isn't. Same with olives. Ruth At 12:39 AM -0600 4/4/04, Kim & Mike Paul wrote: >Vee & group: > >Okay, you guys, all this talk about food is making me hungry for a >midnight snack, but we could exclude the liver. My mom used to make liver >and onions, but hard as she tried to make it more tasty, I still hated it! >But I do have to admit the onion pie sounds pretty good, although I have >never heard of it before. >Here's one for you, does anyone have a recipe for "pasties"? I used to >have them when I lived in Michigan and I loved them, but for the life of >me, I can't remember the ingredients. >Vee, your popovers sound delightful! >Kim -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT