Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen

Deborah Dowd of Play With Food is, as I have previously said a regular commentator here. Recently I published her Sparkling Punch Recipe which I stole from Play With Food with her permission of course. In that post I made a comment about Deborah not being Jewish and thus her blog was essentially not a "kosher" blog. I did it because the recipe appeared right with a "shrimp" recipe and meant it as a compliment. Deborah then commented on the post writing: Teddy, Glad you don't old my not being Jewish against me. An equal opportunity blogger... Deborah When I read that I assumed that Deborah was offended by the remark about not being kosher so I immediately wrote her and apologized and removed what I thought to be the offending sentence. The following is what Deborah wrote back: Teddy, Absolutely no offense taken! I took what you said in the manner in which it appeared. No need to be politically correct. I am thrilled if you and your readers can find not only...

Editor Note: This is from Beth whom we called " Shrugged " at Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen . She is a regular contributor of recipes here. The Great Cake Recipe Contest - Submission # 5 I'd completely forgotten about this recipe! All my life, my mother has been making Hot Milk Sponge Cake. All of us kids loved it, but even so, I haven't thought to make it in years. I've made this recipe successfully dozens of times, but after a major debacle with this recipe, I needed to put in a caveat. I was living in Utah at the time, and I forgot to adjust for altitude. (We were about 4000 ft above sea level.) The result was a sorry mess, so I've added a note on how to avoid my disaster. You can certainly frost this and serve it, but it doesn't need any frosting. It's perfect all by itself. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I and my family have all these years. Hot Milk Sponge Cake Cooking Utensils Required: 2 8" round cake pans or 1 8x11" ...

I stole this one from Deborah Dowd's - Play With Food Blog . Deborah is a regular commentator at Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen , and I love her philosophy on kids and food. I peek at her blog from time to time (shush..don't tell her!). I decided its about time to steal a few gems. This one is for Purim - with or without the alcohol. Actually it is for Passover and the whole year as well! But we just make this the official Purim drink of Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen . After all we can spike it galore and no one will know until they are passed out on the couch! Of course Deborah gave me permission to repost as she wrote: As long as you provide attribution, I am happy for you to post my recipes. And the punch is really good... much better than the usual Hawaiian Punch type that is too sweet and too watered down. It provdies a great base and you can play with additions to change it, too. So here you go folks - I LOVE THIS ONE! Sparkling Punch This punch is very good and bo...

Teddy’s Insane Laws For The Kitchen & Cooking There Really Is A Method To My Madness Rule № Fourteen Important Prayers To Always Remember While In The Kitchen I have zillions of magnets on my refrigerator. The bottom two have been with me through many good and bad times in the kitchen. Here are two prayers to share with you. When that friend who is always so damn skinny comes over and eats and eats and eats and does not gain even a half of pound, before you go to sleep that night, say this prayer. It does not work but it sure makes you feel good! Now, how about all those friends and family that call you up to ask you for a recipe and suddenly you are cooking a 15 course dinner for 10 people for a party in their house - a party to which you were not invited! "Oh darling. I know how much you hate mingling and making small talk. I didn't invite you because I wanted to save you the trouble and aggravation. Besides Steven Spielberg is only coming for desert. How much fun...

In my recent post, Honey-Garlic Chicken With A Few Other Tidbits , I told readers of Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen the story of the almost-not-done chicken on Friday. What I did not mention is that in the morning I made two dairy dishes. I was kind of stupid. I did not think of taking pictures of the Mac & Cheese one, (which I should have - cause it came out SO PERFECT...sheesh!) but I did think of taking a picture of my potato madness Quiche. Now this is not really a Quiche... so I am cheating... pfffffttttt. Hell, it kind of looks like Quiche! So I am taking a literary license on this one! It is actually almost the exact the same recipe as the one I gave in, Mr. Potato Head - The Good Ole' Potato Recipe , but it is worth its own post, me thinks. There is a bit of a change nothing drastic mind you, but if you rather make a dish and not start with the muss and fuss of nice looking potato halves, this will fit the bill quite nicely. (I did try to make the picture come out n...

Paula writes: If you like vegetables, this is a great dish either by itself, served as a side dish or over rice. You can add or subtract vegetables to suit your taste. This makes a nice side to chicken or fish (Imagine, One pot.. that’s it) Ratatouille You will need: Large Saucepan Ingredients: 4 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil 3 Tomatoes (chopped) 2 Red Onions (cut in half, then sliced thin, separate rings) 2 Zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds 1 Eggplant, diced into cubes 1 each – Red , Yellow, Orange and Green pepper , chopped 1 Teaspoon Salt 1 Teaspoon Fresh Black Pepper 3 Gloves Garlic, chopped fine 3/4 Teaspoon Thyme 1/2 Cup Worcester Sauce Directions: Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Saute’ Garlic and Thyme Add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium heat, uncovered for 45 minutes Stir occasionally Shop @ Amazon with Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen & Help People In Need Shop @ Cafe Press with Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen & Help Peop...

The Great Cake Recipe Contest - Submission # 4 Editors note on some terminology used in Martha's submission: Balabusta - means "home-maker" actually refers to the Matriarch of the family. The one who with just one look will make you crawl into your shell! Pesadik - means Kosher for Passover. (Yiddish-English kind of term) Parve - as readers of Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen know is something that does not contain milk or meat and thus can be eaten with both. Coeliac disease or celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small bowel that occurs in genetically predisposed individuals in all age groups after early infancy. ( See the Wikipedia article on this for more info. or click below on the link for celiacs.) Martha Greenberg writes about her submission to the Great Cake Recipe Contest: This cake is my all-time favorite. I got the recipe from my aunt, who is a terrific balabusta. It is not only parve, it is also pesadik (and safe for celiacs ), but so good ...

It always seems that Friday brings on the stories... so here is a pretty good one for readers of Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen . If you remember last week I posted, Mr. Potato Head - The Good Ole' Potato Recipe . In it I told you the father of a friend of mine is recuperating from difficult heart surgery. Anyway, this week it turns out she had guests she had to feed for Friday night dinner. So since I was making chicken for my own children, I told her not to worry, to bring over a chicken and I would just make two of them together. No real big deal ... No big deal - USUALLY! But life with Teddy is always full of surprises. So there I was preparing the chickens and they were in the oven, timed to the minute to be ready to be picked up before the Sabbath which began around 5:25 PM, when a little before 4 PM - BANG! - all the electricity goes out in this dumb abode. Well turns out a major fuse had burned out, and the electric company had to come to replace it. They were actually r...

Paula Writes: After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, my sister hosted a family that had been displaced. On Sundays, we got together for brunch. Each of us made a dish and swapped recipes. Not only did we have a great opportunity to help a family in need, we also had a wonderful experience sharing a kitchen and swapping recipes. Sweet Potato Pancakes Utensils - You will need: Griddle ( or large surface frypan) 2 Mixing bowls Potato Masher Ingredients: 1 1/2 Cups Flour 3 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder 1 Teaspoon Salt 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg 1 1/4 Cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes (2 large potatoes) 2 Eggs, beaten 1 1/2 Cups Milk 1/4 Cup Butter, melted Directions: Peel and cube Sweet Potatoes and place in medium size pan, cover potatoes with water and cook on medium heat until potatoes are fork tender. Drain water and mash potatoes Combine Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and Nutme...

Paula sent this in as a regular submission. She writes: This is an easy one. The ingredients are something usually in the cabinets and can be made quickly. Make ahead and freeze for those drop in guests… thaws in ½ hour. Ok.. let me guess, you will give it a two for difficulty because it’s baking… but.. again ONE BOWL …highly unlike me. Pound Cake Utensils. You will need: 1 Medium Bowl Electric Mixer 1 Loaf Pan ( Greased) 1 Toothpick (for doneness test) Ingredients: 1 Stick of Butter Softened 3/4 Cup of Sugar 2 Jumbo Eggs 1 Heaping Teaspoon Baking Powder 1 3/4 Cups Cake Flour (it gives it a better texture) 1 Teaspoon Vanilla 1/2 Cup Milk Substitutes and variations (on Ingredients): Replace milk with 1 Cup of Sour Cream Use Margarine in place of the butter Directions: Mix butter and sugar until blended Add eggs and mix until blended Add vanilla and mix until blended Add Baking Powder and mix until blended Add Milk and mix until blended Add flour and mix until blended Bake ...

The Great Cake Recipe Contest - Submission # 3 Editors Note on explaining the meaning of Tu Bi'Shvat Before This Recipe: Tu Bi'Shvat is known as the New Year For Trees - Rosh Ha'Shanah La'Elanot. (Not to be mistaken with the normal New Year which falls out in the fall, on the 1st day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei and which is followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur.) Indeed this is Judaism's " green" holiday . It falls out between Hanukkah and Purim. Tu Bi'Shvat simply means the "15th of the month of Shevat". Tu - is just a transliteration of the number of days. The " T " stands for the Hebrew Letter "Tet" which is equivalent to the number 9. The " u " stands for the Hebrew letter "Vav" which is equivalent to the number 6. 9+6 = 15. Thus " Tu " is fifteen. Shevat being the name of the Hebrew Month - "Bi" meaning in. Thus "Bi'Shevat or Bi'Shvat (spelled both ways with th...

Recently I visited the Jerusalem International Book Fair which I wrote about in Cobwebs Of The Mind , in the post, Jerusalem International Book Fair - Flashlight Press . While there, I was handed a cook book with the request to have it reviewed in Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen . I warned the person requesting the review that I would be brutally honest about the book and gave them a chance to cancel their request for the review. However, and this I say to their credit, they insisted they wanted an honest review of the book in question. Before I enter into my thoughts on the book, I know that some readers of Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen have contributed recipes to this book, as will become apparent soon, since this is somewhat of a conglomeration of recipes from many home cooks and some chefs at some fine restaurants in Israel. So it kinds of puts me on shaky ground, as it is never really a great place to be when you happen to know some of the people who contributed to a book t...

The Great Cake Recipe Contest - Submission # 2 Submitted By Manara - She Writes: A sentence about my recipe: For those who LOVE pancakes, and crave it as dessert (rather than breakfast), well, now you can! Go figure, Maple Cake! Maple Cake Ingredients: 3 eggs 1 packet (or 1 tablespoons) of vanilla sugar 1 cup of heavy (sour) cream 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar (demerara) 1/2 cup oil 3.5 ounces walnuts, finely chopped Maple syrup Directions: Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease up and flour either 3 loaf tins or 1 medium size cake tin (approximately 9 inch X 12 inch). Add all ingredients, except for walnuts and syrup, in a mixer until there's a consistent batter. Pour batter in tin(s) and sprinkle chopped walnuts all over cake. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake is settled with a golden brownish color. Check with toothpick. When cake is ready, remove from oven, and while it's still hot, drizzle maple syrup over the cake until it's glossy. (...