tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90129399667013528942024-03-14T00:36:49.540+02:00Help! I Have A Fire In My KitchenA humorous look into the adventures of a single parent who learned the hard way and with a great deal of trepidation how to cook, feed his children, friends and the rare date with a measure of dignity and (hopefully) good food - Recipes Included! And it is all KOSHER to boot!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger303125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-54775432696252235822008-04-15T12:33:00.003+03:002008-04-15T12:41:12.767+03:00We Are BACK!That was a great vacation from blogging....<br />O.k. folks time to get back to the Kitchen....!!!!!!!!<br /><br />But first....<br />we have quite a few frustrated recipe submitters and I apologize for the delay in getting them up. Will do the best I can over the next couple of weeks to cover them all.<br /><br />But first is first...<br /><br />Remember the post on <a href= "http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/09/truly-useless-kitchen-gadgets-for-chef.html">Truly Useless Kitchen Gadgets For The Chef Who Has Everything</a> well quite a few people disagree with me..which is of course GREAT! One wrote a letter and did not leave a comment, but here it is....<br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Just wanted to comment on this not-so-useless device. If you do a lot of canning, you would like to have a sturdy jar lifter. After you have processed your preserves in boiling water for 15 minutes, you grab the wooden handles and put the red rubber curved ends under the boiling water around the neck of the finished jars and lift them out. this allows you to process the next batch without waiting for the water to cool enough to take out the first batch. Your picture is upside down.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br />Elizabeth Gleghorn, MD<br />Director, Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition<br />Children's Hospital Oakland<br /></blockquote>Well this just goes to show you that one person's useless device is Gold for another. And that is a good thing...<br /><br />So I apologize if I offended anyone with the useless devices in the kitchen, and if you think they are important then by all means... GO FOR IT!!<br /><br />Well Passover is upon us in a few days, so I got to go clean...UGH!<br /><br />But I will be posting recipes almost daily...so enjoy...and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> is back..back..back!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-86498828283214120142007-12-25T09:13:00.000+02:002007-12-25T09:14:00.632+02:00Nana Cecelia's Harvard Beets<img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/h5.gif" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" />This is a new one on me. Barbara over at "<a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://barbarany_9.blogspot.com/">Barbara's Tchatzkahs</a>" who recently sent in the recipe <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/12/muffin-meatloaf-and-potatoes-la-barbara.html">Muffin Meatloaf And Potatoes a la Barbara</a>, now gives us a recipe from the "old country" and her grandmother. Here is what she writes:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Today I was digging through more boxes from parents which I had in storage. My mother passed 7 years ago and I knew she had my some of Nana's recipes in her things somewhere. My Nana, of blessed memory, was one of the best cooks I have ever known. The oldest of 13 children and the daughter of 2 immigrants who ran from the Pogroms in Poland, she could make a gourmet meal out of a crust of bread and a carrot! Well, almost.<br /><br />And I found some of them!! Many of them are for baked goods (will share later) but I found her recipe for Harvard Beets in my Nana's handwriting. While I only like beets in borscht, this was a favorite with most of the rest of my family.<br /><br />Hope you can use this - I think she'd be amazed her recipes can be immortalized on the Internet now!<br /><br />Barbara</blockquote>O.k. all this is great. But first thing is first. I had to know why they are called "Harvard" Beets, and not just plain beets. So I went over to <a href="http://www.foodreference.com/html/fharvardbeets.html">foodreference.com</a> and this is what I found.<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Harvard beets are cooked beets in a sweet and sour sauce of vinegar and sugar (with spices) and sometimes with butter and/or orange juice. Supposedly created by a Harvard student (or a Yale student), there is also a story that they originated in a tavern in England named 'Harwood' and the 'Harvard' is a mispronunciation of the name.<br /></blockquote>So there ya go. The reason for Harvard in Harvard beets. And now to the recipe!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Nana Cecelia's Harvard Beets</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/h2-1.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>2 1/2 cups of diced, cooked beets</li><li>1/2 cup vinegar</li><li>1/2 cup sugar</li><li>1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch</li><li>2 Tablespoon(s) butter</li><li>salt to taste</li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/h3.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Pot for Stove Top<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Dice and boil beets until the are soft all the way through (test with a knife)</li><li>Mix sugar, cornstarch and vinegar.<br /></li><li>Bring this to a boil and add beets.<br /></li><li>Cover and take off heat and let stand about 20 minutes. </li><li>Add salt to taste and butter and return to low heat until beets are warm.</li><li>Serve.</li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t1s.png" border="0" />Really, is very easy. Though I am not a beet lover. You can add orange juice which is also in most of the recipes I have seen as well. My father loved borscht with sour cream. I never did get a taste for it, but every time beets are served, I am reminded of eating Sunday Morning breakfast in "Steinbergs Restaurant" which was on the east side of Broadway between 83rd and 84th street. Amazing what memories a simple food dish can conjure!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-78268910146551886632007-12-23T11:18:00.000+02:002007-12-24T06:57:44.180+02:00OMG! Another Macaroni And Cheese With MushroomsI find it incredibly revealing to look at the statistics on the blog from time to time. Especially what people search for and what recipes they are looking for. Consistently, over the year, two different categories rate the highest. The Mac & Cheese recipes and <a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/05/lemon-meringue-pie.html">Lemon Meringue Pie</a>. Now, personally I do understand the desire to create a great <a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/05/lemon-meringue-pie.html">Lemon Meringue Pie</a> but Mac & Cheese is just so... well so easy, right?<br /><br />I am not really sure how to interpret this. We are talking literally way over 10,000 (ten thousand) hits during the year on Mac & Cheese recipes! I would tend to think that simply put many people are looking for the simple, easy, and good recipes with which they can eat and feed their families without too much bother and fuss. And many of these people are simply not chefs and cooks, and want an easy way to make good food. Which is something I suspected for a very long time. But I may be reading the statistics in a way I want to see them, however, nevertheless the fact remains the Mac & Cheese recipes @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> are very popular with Internet searches.<br /><br />So in honor of this we are going to present yet another Mac & Cheese (coupled with mushrooms) today.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Macaroni & Cheese With Mushrooms</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/fire002.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Conchiglie</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/shells.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Pipe Rigate</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/shells.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /><br /></span></div><ol><li>One bag of Pasta - (I usually use either conchiglie (shells) or pipe rigate (elbow shells) - <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">This should be about 1/2 Kilo or 1 pound</span>. You can of course make less or more, depending on how many people you need to feed!<br /></li><li>Grated Cheese - Once again you can use any cheese you like. I use Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need around 400 grams of Mozzarella (14 ounces) and 100 grams (4 ounces) of Parmesan.</span></li><li>Olive Oil - For the bottom of the pan that you put in the oven.</li><li>Fresh Mushrooms (I really do not like the canned or bottled mushrooms - but you can use them as well!).</li><li>1 Teaspoon fresh Oregano (just a touch) or you can use the spice jar.<br /></li><li>1 Tablespoon of Salted Butter - My sister adds this, I do not. Your choice.</li><li>Pepper & Salt to taste<br /></li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/fire004.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Oven Tempered Pot or Silver Foil Pan</li><li>Colander (Food Strainer)</li><li>Pot To Boil Pasta</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/fire001.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /></span><br /></div><ol><li>First you have to get that pasta (macaroni) ready. So put it on the stove in water, (cover the macaroni and add about another 1/3 of water to the pot.</li><li>Let it cook on the flame between 12-18 minutes. The Macaroni should be soft to the touch when you are done but not soggy! So this timing is really a matter of experience believe it or not, cause it should be an almost exact science!</li><li>While the Macaroni is boiling on stove stop - cut up the mushrooms and get the oven pot ready by spreading a bit of olive oil on the bottom.</li><li>Pre-Heat Oven to 350º Fahrenheit.<br /></li><li>When the Macaroni is ready (remember soft <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">not</span> soggy! don't let it cook too much!) pick up the pot and pour it all in the Colander so now you get rid of the water.</li><li>Now put the Macaroni into your oven ready dish.</li><li>Take around 100 grams of the Mozzarella cheese and put on top.<br /></li><li>If you are going to add butter just drop it on the top</li><li>Add the Oregano on top.</li><li>Now mix it all together - (cheese, butter and Oregano.)</li><li>Now mix in all the cut-up mushrooms. (<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">ACK! Forgot this step! Kali found the omission!</span>)<br /></li><li> Now take the rest of the Mozzarella and sprinkle it all around the top. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Don't mix it in.</span> This is the cheese cover.</li><li>Now take the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle it around the middle or around the sides, any which way you like. (See the photo above)</li><li>In the end you should have a cheese top.</li><li>Now cover the dish with silver foil - <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">do NOT put that dish in the oven without it being covered! Otherwise the cheese will not melt at a rate that the Macaroni (pasta) is cooked.</span><br /></li><li>Now believe it or not, this depends on the temperament of your oven. When my oven is having a bad hair day it needs say 60-75 minutes. On a day when the oven is in a good mood and does not want to do some nasty stuff to me it takes 60 minutes! What you want to end up with, is a melted cheese on top and the pasta cooked evenly. I use a glass dish so I can see the macaroni next to the glass. My kids like it crusty!</li><li>Now take that silver foil off, and let the dish cook for 5 minutes, so the cheese turns a nice light golden brown. Don't burn it so be careful here!</li><li>Take it out - Serve or let it cool off and put in the fridge until ready to be heated up and served.</li><li>By the way this is one of those special dishes that I say - go ahead and nuke a part of it when you want to heat it up real fast and you take it from the fridge. (2-3 minutes in the Microwave is usually enough!)</li></ol>There ya go - another Mac & Cheese! Enjoy.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/fire002.jpg" alt="Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen" border="0" /><br /></div><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />I love rating my own recipes. Our insane cook Paula cannot say a thing. HAH! But this is really a two - I kid you not. Not hard, easy on the hands, concentration and kitchen. Enjoy it!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-31981643963818866482007-12-19T16:34:00.000+02:002007-12-20T17:53:34.895+02:00The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts - Book Review<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/Books/bd.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747"><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</span></span></a><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Decadent And Delicious Recipes Perfect For People With Diabetes</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">By: Jackie Mills</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">(***Due to layout of this review, if viewed in an RSS reader, certain sections may seem duplicated.)<br /><br /></span>Before we begin, the review of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> the normal disclaimer from <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen.</span><br /><br />This book review was solicited by the publicists of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> and contains my personal opinion of the book. For kosher readers of Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen - This is not a "kosher" cookbook though the majority of recipes in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> can be used as is, or with just a few sane and healthy substitutions, can be kept kosher. It is not that difficult to find equivalent and healthy kosher substitutes these days, especially in the United States.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Author & Book Details:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/Books/bd3.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0696224429?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0696224429"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/Books/t2.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0696224429" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> is the second diabetic cookbook written by Jackie Mills, MS, RD.<br /><br />The other one is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0696224429?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0696224429">Type 2 Diabetes Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for Healthier Living (Published by: American Medical Association)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0696224429" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" />. Of course these two books together should give the reader some idea as to where the interests of Jackie Mills lie when it comes to the kitchen.<br /><br />Jackie Mills, MS, RD, is an experienced writer and food/recipe writer. She contributes to many national magazines, including Cooking Light, Family Circle, Cottage Living, and Coastal Living. She was the recipe developer for the American Medical Association's Type 2 Diabetes Cookbook and has contributed to Weight Watchers cookbooks and Christmas with Southern Living annual cookbooks. Jackie is the former food editor at Redbook magazine and worked as an associate food editor at Southern Living magazine. She lives in New York City.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Book Itself:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><span class="pullquote">Some of these recipes are absolutely INCEDIBLE! Forget the word diabetes for a moment. They really are impressive. Man, oh man, just the names of these recipes gets your stomach juices running. But the recipes themselves are truly an art as well and Jackie Mills does not disappoint!</span>There is no doubt Jackie Mills comes with qualifications to write such a cookbook. This is though, the first time I am actually faced with the old yet very important discussion of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">form versus function</span>. One gets used to and is spoiled by incredible photographs in cook books of almost every single recipe published. Indeed, it is almost a prerequisite these days in the Cookbook publishing industry. And to be honest I was at first a bit disappointed that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> did not have such pictures, especially since it deals with the topic of desserts as they usually do make the best pictures. Instead the publishers opted for a few pictures in the middle of the book.<br /><br />So as in regard to form I was somewhat surprised. But, and this is a <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">BIG BUT</span>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> has an <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">important function</span>, and must also be judged on whether it fulfills that function as well. Pictures will not make or break your needs of food especially if you are a diabetic, but certainly recipes will. The better the recipe the more encouraged a diabetic, or someone just interested in making sure they stay healthy, and on the lighter side of sugar, will continue using the book - and more important continue on their specialized diet.<br /><br />There is one more confusing aspect of this book, and though the book itself will get high marks, as it truly does contain <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Decadent And Delicious Recipes Perfect For People With Diabetes"</span> this is an oversight which really has no excuse. There simply is no overall "Table of Contents". Though the book itself is divided into sections, and each section has its own Table of Contents of the recipes in it, the only real way to find anything is to flip to the back index and begin to look quickly. Indeed in order to discover all the yummy sections in the book, I had to flip through, page by page to mark off each section when I found it. So you will have the benefit of my work!<br /><br /><span class="pullquote">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts has an important function, and must also be judged on whether it fulfills that function as well. Pictures will not make or break your needs of food especially if you are a diabetic, but certainly recipes will. The better the recipe the more encouraged a diabetic, or someone just interested in making sure they stay healthy, and on the lighter side of sugar, will continue using the book - and more important continue on their specialized diet.</span>However, this is really an oversight of the layout artists, though it is a mistake and an important one that should have been caught before the book was published. Cookbooks require a Table of Contents at the front. Simple as all that.<br /><br />Yet, and while some of the readers of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> may not agree, I am willing to go easy with the lack of the Table of Contents because the book's function is to produce recipes for the diabetic population, and it is published by the <a href="http://www.diabetes.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">American Diabetes Association</span></a> and all proceeds from the book go to this worthy charity. Thus, major mistakes which would get me to cringe in a recipe cookbook where the author is making all the royalties, will in this case get a mild critique and one should be willing to forgive such things in this case.<br /><br />So let us get positive now. The public relations piece that came along with the book is quoted below. We tend to dismiss such things, but in this case the book deserves it and you will see why later on.<br /><blockquote>From Chocolate Souffles To Blackberry-Pecan Tarts, New Cookbook Offers Dozens Of Sumptuous Desserts That Are Low In Sugar And Fat<br /><br />Whatever treat one's sweet tooth craves -- cakes, pies, cookies, puddings -- decadent desserts are often the hardest thing to give up when on a diet. Whether someone is watching calories and fat, or is living with diabetes, limiting sweets has long been the rule -- and those who seek to substitute with sugar-free, fat-free versions of their favorite desserts are often sorely disappointed. This no longer need be the case. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" />, Decadent And Delicious Recipes Perfect For People With Diabetes, by dietitian and former Redbook food editor Jackie Mills, MS, RD (American Diabetes Association, November 2007) offers dozens of delicious concoctions -- all developed to be lower in carbohydrates, calories, and fat.<br /><br />From Mocha Fudge Sheet Cake to Banana Meringue Pie and from Cappuccino Crème Brûlée to Crispy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies, most of the recipes in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> use a combination of granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses along with the no-calorie sweetener sucralose (Splenda®). The limited amount of sugar makes the desserts mouth-watering and enjoyable, but with carb counts that enable them to fit into a balanced meal plan. In addition, all the choices in the new book contain less than 1.5 grams of saturated fat per serving and virtually no trans fat.<br /><br /><span class="pullquote">Despite the drawbacks mentioned above, there is a great deal of good to say about The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts. All in all it is a cookbook well worth the effort and price, especially if you have a diabetic to feed. No one is going to believe these deserts are for diabetics anyway. So you will only gain in your reputation as an incredible cook by using these recipes. Jackie Mills certainly shows us that diabetic eating has certainly changed and can be quite enjoyable.</span>In THE BIG BOOK OF DIABETIC DESSERTS, Mills explains precisely how sugar functions in baked goods and in frozen treats, and offers tips for indulging one's sweet tooth in healthier ways -- such as brushing molasses, real maple syrup, or honey on the tops of warm muffins, loaf breads, or cakes; sprinkling a tiny bit of ordinary confectioners' sugar on a cake or batch of muffins; and using in-season, ripe fruit to accompany desserts, especially in place of high-fat and high-sugar frostings. She also includes advice for making the most of small servings of nuts and chocolate and for using spices to add wonderful flavors and aromas to desserts.<br /><br />In addition to the dozens of mouth-watering recipes, Mills offers helpful guidelines for better baking -- advising buying the proper pans (shiny-surfaced, heavy-gauge aluminum), using parchment paper, and stocking one's kitchen with pastry brushes, offset spatulas, and a cookie scoop. She also offers pointers for creating low-sugar, low-fat desserts, including tips on: how to test for doneness (the same timing and visual cues don't work with low-sugar baking as they do with traditional baking); how to work with a more delicate, low-fat pie crust; and how to store baked goods made with sugar substitutes (they stale faster).<br /><br />"You can and should enjoy desserts without feeling that you're having something second rate or that tastes 'good for you,'" writes Mills. THE BIG BOOK OF DIABETIC DESSERTS offers desserts so satisfying and delicious, they are ideal for anyone craving a sugary indulgence -- whether or not they need to watch their carbohydrates, calories, and fat.</blockquote><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a> is divided as follows:<br /><ol><li>Great Cakes - Page 13<br /></li><li>Quick Breads - Page 49</li><li>Sweetie Pies - Page 77</li><li>Smart Tarts - Page 107</li><li>Fruity Desserts - Page 131</li><li>Custards & Puddings - Page 163</li><li>Cookies & Bars - Page 189</li><li>Pleasers From The Freezer - Page 213</li></ol>(I included the pages because of the lack of the TOC when you buy the book!)<br /><br />Each recipe has listed:<br /><ul><li>Calories<br /></li><li>Calories from Fat</li><li>Total Fat</li><li>Saturated Fat</li><li>Cholesterol</li><li>Sodium</li><li>Total Carbohydrate</li><li>Dietary Fiber</li><li>Sugars</li><li>Protein </li></ul> This is obviously kind of important for diabetics but also equally important for anyone who wishes to be careful about their food intake.<br /><br />Let me say this. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Some of these recipes are absolutely INCEDIBLE! Forget the word diabetes for a moment. They really are impressive.</span> Man, oh man, just the names of these recipes gets your stomach juices running. But the recipes themselves are truly an art as well and Jackie Mills does not disappoint! I have been allowed to reproduce one recipe here.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">CHOCOLATE-DRIZZLED PEANUT BUTTER CAKE </span></span><br /></div><br />Makes 9 servings • Serving size: 1 (2 1/2 inch) square<br />For a lunch box, an after school treat, a bake sale, or a coffee break, this cake is a pleasing sweet for peanut butter lovers of all ages.<br /><ol><li>1 cup all-purpose flour </li><li>1 teaspoon baking powder</li><li>1/2 teaspoon baking soda </li><li>1/8 teaspoon salt </li><li>1/4 cup natural peanut butter </li><li>3 tablespoons canola oil </li><li>1/3 cup granular no-calorie sweetener </li><li>1/3 cup light brown sugar </li><li>1 large egg </li><li>3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk </li><li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract </li><li>1/2 ounce semisweet chocolate baking bar, chopped </li></ol><span class="pullquote">In addition to the dozens of mouth-watering recipes, Mills offers helpful guidelines for better baking -- advising buying the proper pans (shiny-surfaced, heavy-gauge aluminum), using parchment paper, and stocking one's kitchen with pastry brushes, offset spatulas, and a cookie scoop. She also offers pointers for creating low-sugar, low-fat desserts, including tips on: how to test for doneness (the same timing and visual cues don't work with low-sugar baking as they do with traditional baking); how to work with a more delicate, low-fat pie crust; and how to store baked goods made with sugar substitutes (they stale faster).</span>Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.<br /><br />Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to mix well. Set aside.<br /><br />Combine the peanut butter and oil in a medium bowl and beat at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the no-calorie sweetener and brown sugar. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the peanut butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.<br /><br />Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on the rack.<br />Place the chocolate in a small resealable zip-top bag and seal. Place the bag in a saucepan of hot water. Let stand 5 minutes or until the chocolate melts. Snip a tiny corner from bag and drizzle chocolate over the cake. The cake can be covered in an airtight container and stored at room temperature up to 3 days.<br /><br />Exchanges 1 1/2 Carbohydrate • 2 Fat<br />Calories 193, Calories from Fat 86, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 24 mg, Sodium 204 mg, Total Carbohydrate 23 g, Dietary Fiber 1 g, Sugars 11 g, Protein 5 g<br /><br />Of course you have other great recipes as well.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/Books/IceCreamCakes9x8.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">Ice Cream Cakes</a><br /></div><ul><li>Fruit Filled Layer Cake with White Chocolate Frosting<br /></li><li>Chocolate Chip Banana Bread</li><li>Devil's Food Snack Cake</li><li>Tropical Blueberry Muffins</li><li>Peaches & Cream Pie</li><li>Cherry & Toasted Almond Pie</li><li>Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart</li><li>Blueberry-Lemon Curd Tart</li><li>Fresh Berry Terrine</li><li>Blackberries With Lime Cream</li><li>Cherry Orange Cobbler</li><li>Chocolate Velvet Pudding</li><li>Cappuccino Crème Brulee</li><li>Raspberry Lemon Pudding Cake<br /></li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/Books/FlanandPudding8x9.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=virgeartreale-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580402747" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">Flan & Pudding</a><br /></div><br /><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/buttons/tedreview4.png" border="0" />These are just a few of the recipes you will find in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a>. So despite the drawbacks mentioned above, there is a great deal of good to say about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a>. All in all it is a cookbook well worth the effort and price, especially if you have a diabetic to feed. It gets 4 stars and if there had been a Table of Contents even with the lack of pictures for every recipe, I would have sorely been tempted to give it a five star rating. No one is going to believe these deserts are for diabetics anyway. So you will only gain in your reputation as an incredible cook by using these recipes. Jackie Mills certainly shows us that diabetic eating has certainly changed and can be quite enjoyable. Couple this cookbook with some other cookbooks we reviewed here at <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>, such as <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/10/tosca-reno-eat-clean-diet-cookbook-book.html">Tosca Reno - The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook</a> & <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/08/holly-cleggs-trim-terrific-diabetic.html">Holly Cleggs Trim And Terrific Diabetic Cooking</a>, and you will have one incredible recipe repertoire and kitchen to be envied. Buy it - even if you don't have a diabetic in your house and do not cook for one. This is one great book of recipes!<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580402747?ie=UTF8&tag=virgeartreale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580402747">The Big Book of Diabetic Desserts</a><br />Decadent And Delicious Recipes Perfect For People With Diabetes<br />By Jackie Mills, MS, RD<br />Publisher: American Diabetes Association<br />Publication Date: November 2007<br />Price: $18.95/trade paperback<br />ISBN: 978-1-58040-2274-3<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-81206801995759227342007-12-17T20:45:00.000+02:002007-12-17T20:47:51.516+02:00English Toffee - Great Candy Recipe<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">(An old recipe from Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen with pictures now added)<br /><br />Paula really surprises with this one! Candy Recipes! Wowsers!</span><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Who doesn’t like candy? This is fairly easy and makes a great gift idea when placed in a decorative tin.<br /><br />And you thought I snuck out of the kitchen!<br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >English Toffee</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/Fem001.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">You will need a candy thermometer. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>2 Cups of Sugar</li><li>1 Teaspoon of Salt</li><li> 1 Cup of Water</li><li>1 Cup (2 Sticks Butter)</li><li>3 Cups of Slivered Almonds (Divided)</li><li>3 - 6 Oz Packages Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Combine sugar, salt, water and butter. Cook to the light crack stage (285 f on candy thermometer). Stirring constantly.</li><li>Add 1 cup almonds.<br /></li><li>Pour quickly on well greased cookie sheet and spread out with a metal spatula. Fast now, because it will set fast. </li><li>Allow to cool for ½ hour.</li><li>Melt chocolate morsels in saucepan on top of the stove or in microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate on high for 30- second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted.</li><li>Spread half on top of cooled toffee. </li><li>Sprinkle with 1 cup of slivered almonds and press into chocolate.</li><li>Allow it to set then turn toffee over and spread with remaining chocolate and 1 cup of almonds.</li><li>When completely cooled, break into pieces. </li></ol><hr /><img class="lpic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t1s.png" border="0" />Great Idea! Candy for all and Paula said to send her all the dental bills! This is a great gift idea, and also to keep around the house.<br /><hr /><div style="text-align: center;">Posted On: <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen<br /></span></div><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories" rel="tag">Cooking Stories</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/candy+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">candy</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-35854022961430943502007-12-15T18:21:00.000+02:002007-12-15T18:22:05.131+02:00Diets, Fat And EatingI can possibly get in a lot of trouble for this, as it appears on the web site of the <a href="http://www.iht.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">International Herald Tribune</span></a>. I actually read this editorial by Alex Beam in the Friday, December 14, 2007 edition of the <a href="http://www.iht.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">International Herald Tribune</span></a>.<br /><br />However, this piece so belongs in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>, I am just going to go for it, and hope the powers that be realize that I am posting for readers who would never have read it otherwise, with all the links and with clear note that it is from the <a href="http://www.iht.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">International Herald Tribune.</span></a> (Click on the title and you will be taken to the article in IHT. All pictures below were added by yours truly and not part of the original editorial.)<br /><hr /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/13/opinion/edbeam.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/iht.gif" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/13/opinion/edbeam.php"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Steady Diet Of Blubbering About Fat</span></span></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">By Alex Beam</span><br /></div><br /><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/ihtscale.jpg" border="0" />BOSTON: A year-end fixture from the newsmagazines is The Year in Pictures, a roundup of the past 12 months' worth of photojournalism. Playboy, I'm told, used to run a feature called The Year in Sex. Maybe they still do. So here is my annual contribution: The Year in Fat.<br /><br />2007 was another banner year for misinformation, swamp remedies, idiocy, and plain outright lies about diet and weight, subjects that obsess Americans far more than the future of Iraq or the solvency of Social Security. If only Oprah could promise New Hampshire voters that they would lose seven pounds - overnight! - by voting for Barack Obama, then Mike Huckabee would have to fold up his revival tent and go home.<br /><br />Where to begin?<br /><br /><img class="rpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/ihtdiet-water.jpg" border="0" />This spring, word arrived that Victoria Beckham, the former Spice Girl now married to underperforming soccer star David Beckham, had put her husband on a "daughter diet," in the hopes that she might conceive a female child. Supposedly Ms. Beckham insisted that David cut back on dairy products, red meat and coffee, and instead chow down on steamed vegetables, salads, asparagus, avocado, peppers and fish.<br /><br />Of course you laugh at the intellectual mendacity of a pseudo-diet that purports to link eating habits to your chances of conceiving. But when you are talking intellectual mendacity, don't forget the Harvard School of Public Health! Without apparent irony, two of its docs, Jorge Chavarro and the ubiquitous Walter Willett, are hawking "The Fertility Diet," which says "10 simple changes in diet and activity can have profound effects on fertility."<br /><br />Here is an excerpt: "The plan described in the Fertility Diet doesn't guarantee a pregnancy." Posh Spice isn't offering any guarantees either, but at least she's not charging $25.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/fri_59.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />The Main Event of The Year in Fat was the publication of Gary Taubes's title-heavy, 600-page treatise "Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease." Let's not pretend that either of us has read this book. But one of Taubes's widely bruited, heretical conclusions is that Big Medicine has oversold the terrors of fat consumption and undersold the virtues of eating fewer carbohydrates.<br /><br />But wait. Didn't the late Dr. Robert Atkins preach precisely that, only to be greeted by catcalls, howls of derision, and brickbats from the medical "establishment"? Maybe it's time to revisit the Zone Diet. The quacks are back!<br /><br />Later in the year, the New York Times food writer Jane Brody dropped a bomb on all those NordicTracksters who thought they could "work off" the fourth slice of bûche de Noël. Exercise is valuable, Brody opined, but not necessarily for losing weight. You'll probably eat more to compensate for the few hundred calories you burned off, plus "If you exhaust yourself by overexercising, you may do less routine activity for the rest of the day, reducing the caloric benefit of your workout."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/ap_52.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />Hungry for a second opinion, I consulted Eileen Kennedy, dean of Tufts's Friedman School of Nutrition, who confirmed that "weight loss is unlikely to occur simply from physical activity by itself." I haven't risen from the couch since.<br /><br />Where to end? In October, my colleague Judy Foreman wrote a column headlined "Let the Post-Diet Era Begin." Judy posed the question, "Is permanent, significant weight loss really possible?" Her answer, in a word: No.<br /><br />Shortly after that column appeared, I received a press release from "renowned physician, author, and weight loss expert Dr. Sanford Siegal" touting his "hunger-controlling Cookie Diet." Perhaps this is worth trying. I have been self-prescribing cookie diets from Dr. Famous Amos and Nurse Fields, with equivocal results.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/con_54.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />Next came a missive from Dr. Constantino Mendieta, a plastic surgeon who boasts of graduating "Magna Cum Laud," possibly from a medical school. Mendieta claims to be the "pioneer of 'The Triple Threat,' a buttock enhancement, waist minimizer, and lower back sculpting" procedure that requires patients to gain weight "so that [Mendieta] can harvest the fat through liposuction on the flanks, outer legs, and upper/outer buttocks." Aha. "He then adds an antibiotic, injects the fat into the trouble zones, and starts to craft the shape," a procedure deemed to be "not only efficacious, but safe as well."<br /><br />It sounds extremely safe, very simple, and costs a mere $13,000. I only hope that Carl Hiaasen, author of the brilliant parody of plastic surgeons "Skin Tight," isn't reading this column. Mendieta might become even more famous than he would like.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Alex Beam's column appears regularly in The Boston Globe.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/ihtImprovedDiet.gif" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-30494035979504165802007-12-13T09:46:00.000+02:002007-12-14T14:36:37.769+02:00Muffin Meatloaf And Potatoes a la BarbaraAs readers of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> know, I love meeting new people through this blog. It is often a great experience and certainly expands one's horizons. Barbara sent in these two recipes below. She is a fairly well known blogger with quite an interesting background. So let me first introduce you to Barbara (Don't call her Barb though, only Barbara or B!) through the two blogs I know she runs. (Pictures below are from Barbara's blogs.)<br /><br /><a href="http://barbarany_9.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/b3.jpg" border="0" /></a>Her first blog is "<a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://barbarany_9.blogspot.com/">Barbara's Tchatzkahs</a>". Now before you go off to your dictionary trying to figure out just what a "Tchatzkah" is it is a Yiddish word that can mean many different things. However it is usually used to denote - "an inexpensive trinket or a toy". When someone saves a million little different things, you say, "What are all these Tchatzkahs for?" "It can also be spelled as "Tchotchka".) The word has other meanings as well. It can also refer at times and depending on the context to "a sexy but brainless girl" though not used in the pejorative sense. One would say "She is a cute tchotchkala".<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://barbarany_9.blogspot.com/">Barbara's Tchatzkahs</a> is a continuously and constantly updated blog on many topics. Politics (argh! yuck!), as well as thoughts, philosophies and ideas on life. Barbara is a devoted blogger without a shadow of a doubt.<br /><br /><a href="http://abusesanctuary.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img class="rpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/b2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Her other blog "<a href="http://abusesanctuary.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sanctuary For The Abused</span></a>" is really critical and important. Here Barbara sticks to one subject - helping abused people get out of the deadly abusive relationship. This blog should be read by anyone who knows of anyone in an abusive relationship or is in one themselves. Barbara holds no punches in <a href="http://abusesanctuary.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sanctuary For The Abused</span></a> nor should she. This blog is strongly recommended and important. Barbara also maintains a comprehensive list of articles, self-help sites, on-line support groups, personal stories from others, help for abuse for both men and women, and of course a comprehensive set of articles she herself as written. In other words, Barbara's blog, <a href="http://abusesanctuary.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sanctuary For The Abused</span></a> is a one-stop must read, where you can hook up and find exactly what kind of information, service or advice you require. And Barbara is approachable so if you have any questions or comments leave them for her. She will answer you.<br /><br />So it was with a lot of pleasure that I received the following from Barbara in an email:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">I love your Fire in my Kitchen blog! You've given me many new ideas. I am a single mom (divorced) of twins, disabled and not the greatest cook in the world. I also don't keep kosher...<br /><br />Anyway - I wanted to share my kids FAVORITE recipes. They have ORDERED me to make this once a week and it disappears! Any problems with keeping it kosher - let me know - maybe we can figure something out.<br /></blockquote>Well it was all kosher - and a good down to earth recipe. So here we go with Barbara's Tchatzkah Meal Recipe!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Muffin Meatloaf</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/b4.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>extra virgin olive oil (for muffin pans)</li><li>1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin</li><li>1 small yellow onion</li><li>1 small green bell pepper</li><li>1 large egg, beaten</li><li>1 cup plain bread crumbs</li><li>2 tablespoons of grill seasoning (I use Montreal Streak Seasoning)</li><li>1 cup barbecue sauce (your favorite)</li><li>1/2 cup tomato salsa (I use Ketchup - works fine)</li><li>1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>One Large Bowl</li><li>One Small Bowl<br /></li><li>Optional - Food Processor<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Preheat oven to 450º Fahrenheit<br /></li><li>Brush muffin tins (6 large or 12 medium) with olive oil</li><li>Put ground beef into a large bowl.</li><li>Cut up onion very small (dice it) or place in a food processor</li><li>Cut up small pepper very small (dice it) and throw away the seeds and insides or place in a food processor</li><li>Pulse the processor to finely chop the onion & pepper</li><li>Add the onion & pepper to the meat along with the beaten egg. Mix.</li><li>Add bread crumbs and grill seasoning to meat mixture. Mix together.</li><li>In a small bowl mix together the barbecue sauce, salsa or Ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.<br /></li><li>Pour into the meat mixture. Mix thoroughly.</li><li>Use a large spoon or ice cream scoop (though make sure it is a scoop only used for meat products) and scoop equal portions of the meat mixture into the muffin tins.</li><li>Bake about 15 minutes. Let cool.</li><li>The meatloaf muffins may crumble some when you remove them. This is normal. But they are still YUM (according to my kids!)</li></ol>Barbara often serves the Muffin Meatloaf with:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Potatoes a la Barbara</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>2 1/2lbs of potatoes (red, gold, Idaho... your choice)</li><li>2-3 tablespoons of olive oil</li><li>Dry garlic spread mix or onion soup mix</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Large oven safe bowl or Silver Foil Pan<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Preheat oven to 450º degrees</li><li>Slice the potatoes thinly or cut into small squares.<br /></li><li>Put in a large oven safe bowl.</li><li>Drizzle on about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil - until potatoes are covered.</li><li>Use either dry garlic spread mix or onion soup mix - put into bowl and mix until potatoes are covered.</li><li>Microwave for 6 minutes on High</li><li>Then Bake in Oven for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. (I often put this bowl in with whatever meat I am cooking to save time.</li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/b5.jpg" border="0" /></div><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />Fairly simple to make and good for the kids. The only thing I personally am not wild about is nuking the potatoes in a microwave. I know it saves oodles of time, but if you think ahead, cook the potatoes for around 90 - 120 minutes in a an oven @ approximately 300º Fahrenheit. That is all there is too it. And as Barbara said in her email, "Enjoy!"<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-20614627778034650492007-12-10T01:25:00.000+02:002007-12-10T19:51:32.396+02:00Just What Is This Holiday Called Hanukkah? (And A Simple Latke Recipe)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/fich0001.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />Over the past few days I have received quite a few emails asking me a great deal about Hanukkah and its significance. Though I have written about this before here @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> in the post "<a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/bit-about-hanukkah-some-history.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Bit About Hanukkah & Some History</span></a>", I realized that many Jewish traditions in regard to food I obviously take for granted. So in this post I will try to explain a bit more about Hanukkah than I did previously in the above mentioned post, and how the traditions of eating certain food groups developed.<br /><br />I will try and concentrate on three main points.<br /><ol><li>The Historical Background</li><li>Some Of The Traditions Involved</li><li>The Food Associated With Hanukkah<br /></li></ol>Some of what is written below obviously has nothing to do with food per-say so if you are not interested just skip over it. The following is not meant to be a comprehensive article either. So if you are looking for detailed specifics just Google it and there are a million sites explaining Hanukkah.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">The Historical Background</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Lighting The Large Hanukkiah (Hanukkah Menorah) in Jerusalem @ City Hall<br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/safra.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />The story of Hanukkah took place approximately in 165 BCE. (Many people make the mistake of thinking the events of Hanukkah were before those of the events of Purim and that which is described in the Book of Esther. This is incorrect. The events from the Book of Esther, which created Purim, took place before the Second Temple Era, at the end of the first exile, somewhere near 520 BCE. Hanukkah came much later, 165 BCE - during the Second Temple Era which lasted from 516 BCE - 70 CE.)<br /><br />The story itself has both religious and political motifs which are intertwined and certainly have a bearing on the history of the Jewish people of the time. The Greek king, Antiochus IV, had ordered the Hellenization of the Jewish people. This meant that the official policy was to make all Jews convert and accept the Greek ways and religion. The practice of Judaism was in effect made illegal. Certain laws were concentrated upon. Circumcision was outlawed; the laws of Kosher; and the laws pertaining to keeping the Sabbath. Antiochus saw these, and rightfully so, as being the central core of the Jewish religion, and he assumed if he could break these laws and traditions he would in effect break the back of the Jewish people.<br /><br />Perhaps the biggest mistake Antiochus made was to place a statue of Zeus in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This provoked the Jewish people living in Israel, as nothing else would. The Temple was the religious and political center for Jews in Israel. Idol Worship was the one thing that would not be tolerated within its midst. Thus the revolt of the Maccabees, known in history as the "Maccabeean Revolt" began. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#_note-0">The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia</a>:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi ("Judah the Hammer"). By 166 BCE Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated.<br /><br />The festival of Hanukkah was instituted by Judah Maccabee and his brothers to celebrate this event. After recovering Jerusalem and the Temple, Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. But there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.<br /></blockquote>This then explains the very basics behind the story of Hanukkah. It must be made clear that there are a myriad of miracles including the one with the "oil" that are celebrated on Hanukkah. One of those miracles is the fact that a small army was able to defeat the Greek Empire. This also added to the myth and power of the holiday of Hanukkah.<br /><br />The most famous, and tragic story of the days leading to the revolt is told of Hannah and her seven sons. Though this story is told in many different versions it finds its roots in the Talmud and then in the Second book of the Maccabees (part of the Apocrypha). In synopsis, Hannah and her seven sons are imprisined and then each son is asked to bow before an idol and declare that the idol of Zeus is their God. As each son refuses he is killed. Below I quote this story, in old English, however the tragic essence is there for all to see.<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">During the terrible times which followed the fall of the Holy City, Hannah and her seven sons were cast into prison.<br /><br />According to their ages they were brought before the tyrant conqueror, and commanded to pay homage to him and his gods.<br /><br />"God forbid," exclaimed the eldest lad, "that I should bow to thy image. Our commandments say to us, 'I am the Lord thy God;' to no other will I bow."<br /><br />He was immediately led out to execution, and the same demand made of his brother, the second son.<br /><br />"My brother bowed not," he answered, "and no more will I."<br /><br />"Wherefore not?" asked the tyrant.<br /><br />"Because," replied the lad, "the second commandment of the Decalogue tells us, 'Thou shalt have no other God but me.'"<br /><br />His death followed immediately his brave words.<br /><br />"My religion teaches me, 'Thou shalt worship no other God'" (Ex. 34: 14), said the third son, "and I welcome the fate accorded to my brothers rather than bow to thee or thy images."<br /><br />The same homage was demanded of the fourth son, but brave and faithful as his brethren, he replied, "'He that sacrificeth unto any God save unto the Lord only'" (Ex. 22: 19), and was slain pitilessly.<br /><br />"'Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God, the Lord is One,'" exclaimed the fifth lad, yielding up his young life with the watchword of Israel's hosts.<br /><br />"Why art thou so obstinate?" was asked of the sixth brother, when he, too, was brought before the tyrant and scorned the propositions made him.<br /><br />"'The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty and terrible God'" (Deut. 7: 21), he said; and died for the principles he proclaimed.<br /><br />Then the seventh and youngest boy was brought before the murderer of his relatives, who addressed him kindly, saying:<br /><br />"My son, come bow before my gods."<br /><br />And the child answered:<br /><br />"God forbid! Our holy religion teaches us 'Know therefore this day, and reflect in thy heart that the Lord he is God, in the heavens above and on the earth beneath there is none else' (Deut. 4: 39). Never will we exchange our God for any other, neither will He exchange us for any other nation, for as it is written, 'Thou hast this day acknowledged the Lord' (Deut. 26: 17), so is it also written, 'And the Lord hath acknowledged thee this day, that thou art unto him a peculiar people!'"<br /><br />Still the tyrant spoke smoothly, and with kind words.<br /><br />"Thou art young," he said; "thou hast seen but little of the pleasures and joys of life, not as much as has fallen to the portion of thy brethren. Do as I wish thee and thy future shall be bright and happy."<br /><br />"The Lord will reign for ever and ever," said the lad; "thy nation and thy kingdom will be destroyed; thou art here to-day, to-morrow in the grave; to day elevated, to-morrow lowly; but the most Holy One endures for ever."<br /><br />"See," continued the other, "thy brothers lie slain before thee; their fate will be thine if thou refusest to do as I desire. See, I will cast my ring to the ground, stoop thou and pick it up; that I will consider allegiance to my gods."<br /><br />"Thinkest thou that I fear thy threats?" returned the unterrified lad; "why should I fear a human being more than the great God, the King of kings?"<br /><br />"Where and what is thy God?" asked the oppressor. "Is there a God in the world?"<br /><br />"Can there be a world without a Creator?" replied the youth. "Of thy gods ‘tis said, 'mouths they have, but speak not.' Of our God the Psalmist says, 'By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.' Thy gods have 'eyes but see not,' but 'the eyes of the Lord run to and fro in the whole earth!' Thy gods have 'ears but hear not,' but of our God ‘tis written, The Lord hearkened and heard.' Of thy gods ‘tis said, 'a nose they have but smell not,' while our God 'smelled the sweet savour.' 'Hands have thy gods but they touch not,' while our God says, 'My hand hath also founded the earth.' Of thy gods ‘tis written, 'feet they have but walk not,' while Zachariah tells us of our God, 'His feet will stand that day upon the mount of Olives.'"<br /><br />Then said the cruel one:<br /><br />"If thy God hath all these attributes, why does He not deliver thee from my power?"<br /><br />The lad replied:<br /><br />"He delivered Chananyah and his companions from the power of Nebuchadnezzar, but they were righteous men, and Nebuchadnezzar was a king deserving of seeing a miracle performed, but for me, alas, I am not worthy of redemption, neither art thou worthy of a demonstration of God's power."<br /><br />"Let the lad be slain as were his brothers," commanded the tyrant.<br /><br />Then spoke Hannah, the mother of the boys:<br /><br />"Give me my child," she cried, "oh, cruel king, let me fold him in my arms ere thou destroyest his innocent young life."<br /><br />She threw her arms around the lad, clasping him tightly to her bosom, and pressing her lips to his. "Take my life," she cried; "kill me first before my child."<br /><br />"Nay," he answered, scoffingly, "I cannot do it, for thy own laws forbid; 'Whether it be ox or sheep ye shall not kill it and its young in one day'" (Lev. 28).<br /><br />"Oh, woe to thee," replied the mother, "thou who art so particular to regard the laws." Then pressing her boy to her heart, "Go, my dear one," she said, "say to Abraham that my sacrifice hath exceeded his. He built one altar whereon to sacrifice Isaac; thy mother hath built seven altars and sacrificed seven Isaacs in one day. He was but tempted; thy mother hath performed."<br /><br />After the execution of her last son, Hannah became insane, and threw herself from her house-top. Where she fell, she expired.<br /><br />Happy are ye, ye seven sons of Hannah; your portion in the future world was waiting for you. In faithfulness ye served your God, and with her children shall your mother rejoice for ever in the eternal world.<br /></blockquote>The pathos behind Hanukkah, the miracle of the oil, the defeat of the Greeks, the inability for the Greeks to destroy the Jewish faith, the great sacrifices that were made - are all captured within this holiday.<br /><br />Yet there is one more even greater lesson from Hanukkah. One that not only the Jewish people have adopted, but one that is ingrained in the Judeo-Christian tradition and roots. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">This theme simply put, is about "bringing light where there is darkness" - to "chase away the darkness of evil". To revel and rejoice in the light.</span><br /><br />To this end the Talmud in the Tractate of Avodah Zorah, tells us a very interesting story about Adam and Eve. They had just been expelled from the Garden in Eden and had no idea how the laws of nature worked. Now tradition has it that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden after Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish New Year - as the creation of the world was completed on the eve of Rosh HaShanah). So as Adam and Eve were in there new world they noticed the days getting shorter and shorter with less and less light. They were convinced this was a punishment and God would slowly take all light from the world. The Talmud states:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Our Rabbis taught: When the first Adam saw the day getting gradually shorter, he said, "Woe is me, perhaps because I have sinned, the world around me is being darkened and returning to its state of chaos and confusion. This then is the kind of death to which I have been sentenced from Heaven!" So he began keeping an eight days" fast. But as he observed the winter equinox and noted the day getting increasingly longer, he said, "This is the world's course", and he set forth to keep an eight days festivity. In the following year he appointed both as festivals.<br /></blockquote>Now the Romans too had a festival of light during this time, and of course later Christianity in the form of Christmas and the birth of Jesus (the stars over Bethlehem and the light it brought to the world) as well adopted this motif.<br /><br />Indeed, one can say that Hanukkah is equally a celebration of the renewal and cycle of Nature as it is a commemoration of the miracle of light. It is a holiday where we rejoice in many ways over the creation of a new light. One through the miracle of oil, and the other through the miracle of nature.<br /><hr /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Some Of The Traditions Involved<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">The Hanukkiah</span><br /></span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/h1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/h2.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/oil.jpg" border="0" />Of course the most famous tradition is in lighting of the "Hanukkiah" (the eight pronged candelabrum). Both candles and oil (olive oil not regular cooking oil) may be used to light the candles of the Hanukkiah. Indeed, just to be clear, one does not need a "Hanukkiah" to fulfill the commandment of lighting candles. All one has to do is to light the candles (first night one candle; second night two candles etc. until the eighth night and eight candles) <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">in a straight row</span>. However, you will see "nine" candle places on a normal Hanukkiah. This is because there is an injunction against using the light of the candles lit for Hanukkah for anything except the Hanukkiah. So we always light a "shamash" - "a serving candle" which is not on the same row as the others (it is placed higher or lower), and that candle and its light may be used. This is done to remember the miracle of the oil found in the Temple grounds when the Temple was retaken and the miracle that one day's worth of oil lasted for eight days. (Though in public electric bulbs are often used - the essential aspect of the commandment is that a "fire" must be lit.)<br /><br />Since the Jewish "day" begins at nightfall, and goes from nightfall to nightfall, the Hanukkiah is lit at nightfall (or right before). Though one can light the Hanukkiah during all the hours of the night, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">as long as there are those who will see it</span>. The candles or oil should be enough to last for at least 30-45 minutes.<br /><br />This is because part of the commandment of lighting, is to "make acclaim to the miracle in public" ("Pirsum Ha'Nes"). In order to make acclaim to this miracle in public, the Hanukkiah is often placed in the front of a house or on a window ledge where it can be seen from the street. Again from Wikipedia (which is essentially correct below):<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">The reason for the Hanukkah lights is not for the "lighting of the house within", but rather for the "illumination of the house without," so that passers-by should see it and be reminded of the holiday's miracle. Accordingly lamps are set up at a prominent window or near the door leading to the street. It is customary amongst some Ashkenazim to have a separate menorah for each family member (customs vary), whereas most Sephardim light one for the whole household. Only when there was danger of anti-semitic persecution were lamps supposed to be hidden from public view, as was the case in Persia under the rule of the Zoroastrians, or in parts of Europe before and during World War II. However, most Hasidic groups, light lamps near an inside doorway, not necessarily in public view. According to this tradition, the lamps are placed on the opposite side from the mezuzah, so that when one passes through the door he is surrounded by the holiness of mitzvoth.</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><hr /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Dreidel</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Dreidel2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/dreidel-boxes.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />The "dreidel" or "sivivon" (in Hebrew - meaning a "spinning top") is in itself an interesting game and tradition. The dreidel has four sides and on each side appears a Hebrew letter.<br /><ol><li>"Nun" which is the first letter in "Nes" - meaning "miracle"<br /></li><li>"Gimel" which is the first letter in "Gadol" - meaning "big"</li><li>"Hey" which is the first letter in "Hayah" - meaning "was"</li><li>In Israel the forth letter is "Pay" the first letter in "Poh" - meaning "here"; outside of Israel the forth letter is "Shin" the first letter in the word "shom" - meaning there.</li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">In Israel</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/pay.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/hay.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/gimel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/nun.gif" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">In The Diaspora</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/shin.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/hay.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/gimel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/nun.gif" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/mickeydreidel1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />The letters stand for the saying, "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Nes Gadol Hayah Poh</span>" - "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A great miracle took place here</span>"; Or (outside of Israel) "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Nes Gadol Hayah Shom</span>" - "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A great miracle took place there</span>".<br /><br /><img class="rpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/dreidel.jpg" border="0" />There are many legends and stories as to how the how the Hanukkah dreidel came to be invented. One, though maybe not totally true, serves to accentuate the story of the Maccabees and the revolt against the Greeks.<br /><br />Antiochus, among other things, forbade the study of Torah or the gathering of Jews in their synagogues. But the Jews kept on meeting secretly in small groups and in hidden places and studied the Torah by heart. In that way, if one forgot a passage, another who remembered could teach it to him while a third person served as a lookout at the door. When soldiers approached, a warning was given and the group would quickly break up and disappear through back doors and secret passages.<br /><br />One of the tricks that were used to avoid discovery was the dreidel game. The students always kept a toy spinning top on the table while they were studying. If a soldier appeared before the members of the group could run away, one of them would begin to spin the dreidel and all would pretend, enthusiastically, that they were engaging in an innocent game. The soldier had no way of proving otherwise. And so, a little Hanukkah dreidel came to be.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/han_03.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />Today, usually a game is played to guess on which letter the dreidel will land after spinning it and it is played for money. Hanukkah money or as it is known from the Yiddish, "Chanukkah Gelt" is given to the children.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/hanu_03.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><hr /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Hanukkah Presents</span></span><br /></div><br />I have no doubt that the presents given on Hanukkah developed as a result of the presents given on Christmas. This was to make sure that Jewish children did not look with envy upon others who received presents during this time of year and they did not. Which of course, now turns the tables and everyone wants to be Jewish!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/rosh_01cd.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />While I was a child growing up in New York, my sister and I received a present each night of Hanukkah. I can still remember the big red fire engine Pop got for me. It forever cemented my belief that parents do know how to read their children's minds and angels do exist! However, a present each night made for 16 presents my parents had to account for, each and every year. It was a wonderful joyous time and I loved every minute of it. Yet I loved most of all taking walks with Pop along fifth avenue in the snow at night and looking at the magnificent store displays in Saks Fifth Avenue and Bonwit Teller and all the rest. Today with most of the kids grown, and I cannot afford to give six children a present each and every night, but I try to make sure they get one present which they really like. (I used to give presents each night though.)<br /><hr /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">The Food Associated With Hanukkah</span></span><br /></div><br />Now that you understand the reasons behind lighting the candles, and the miracle of the "oil" you will understand why the food associated with Hanukkah is basically "fried" in oil. There is a pretty good posting on this subject, "<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6642274"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Beyond Latkes: Eight Nights of Fried Delights</span></a>" by Bonnie Wolf.<br /><br />The usual fair that is mentioned are Latkes - Fried Potato Pancakes, and Sufganiyot - Donuts. (See <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> and the post - "<a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/sufganiyot-donuts-with-jelly-other.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sufganiyot - Donuts with Jelly & Other Fillings</span></a>" for a great recipe!)It used to be that the Sufganiyot were just filled with Jelly. Now we have all different types of fillings, from jelly, to cream, to vanilla, to white chocolate. The donuts themselves are made a zillion different ways and the best tasting ones are not fried but baked (but who is complaining? not me!). My sister happens to make incredible Latkes. This picture is from our Hanukkah Party last week.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/fich0002.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />But all in all, fried food in oil, even good ole' French Fries are fair edibles for Hanukkah. As you can imagine this is cholesterol heaven and not very healthy. But if you are careful and don't overdo it, then hell .. indulge yourself once in a while. Just to make this a recipe here, and to make you realize just how easy Latkes are... here we go.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>10 Potatoes</li><li>1-2 cups of oil</li><li>3 eggs</li><li>5 Tablespoon(s) Bread Crumbs<br /></li><li>One onion - Optional</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Frying Pan</li><li>Peeler</li><li>Food Processor</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Peel the potatoes</li><li>Run them through the food processor - cutting them up in really small pieces or strands</li><li>If you are using an onion put that through the processor as well<br /></li><li>Mix in the eggs and bread crumbs</li><li>Heat the oil in the frying pan</li><li>Put your hand in water (so the batter does not stick to it) and pat out a "latke" the size of your palm.<br /></li><li>Dump it into the frying pan with the heated oil</li><li>Turn over the "latke" after three minutes or so.</li><li>Continue the process with the rest of your "latke" batter.</li></ol>Simple and easy. No great need for any real difficult cooking or baking.<br /><hr /><br />A special treat for readers of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Adam Sandler Three Part Video on The Hanukkah Song is really a treasure. DO NOT MISS THIS!<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Put On Your Yarmulke & Have A Happy Happy Hanukkah!</span><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lwYQBV66rbM&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lwYQBV66rbM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoKG_4g5bNc"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwYQBV66rbM"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Direct URL To YouTube Video - The Chanukah Song (Part 1)</span></a><br /></div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoKG_4g5bNc"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_l_HdtiaL_U&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_l_HdtiaL_U&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l_HdtiaL_U"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Direct URL To YouTube Video - Adam Sandler: The Chanukah Song Part 2</span></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRaxMLSzPwc&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRaxMLSzPwc&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRaxMLSzPwc&NR=1">Direct URL To YouTube Video - Adam Sandler: The Chanukah Song Part 3</a><br /></span></div><hr /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">In conclusion it would be good for all of us to remember, Jew and non-Jew alike, the central theme of Hanukkah. Let us always remember to chase away the darkness and always bring more light into this world of ours. Let us rejoice in the light of the candles and set them as a sign for all to see - for in truth, a great miracle takes place every day in our celebration of life.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" >Chase Away The Darkness</span><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/menorah.jpg" border="0" /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></span></div><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-47029358106056456522007-12-09T10:29:00.000+02:002007-12-09T10:30:49.998+02:00Finally...Kosher Ham!One of the basic rules of being kosher is that it excludes all products that have anything to do with pigs. Pork, Ham all of it. Being kosher means no pig. Period. Well, sooner or later you know someone would come up with kosher ham. It was inevitable.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.star-k.org/directory/comp-k.asp?src=&compid=VSCBO" target="_blank"><img class="rpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/star.gif" border="0" /></a>In truth this is My Bad! I saw this quite awhile ago, but somehow it slipped out of my radar. You have to hand it to the <a href="http://www.jonessoda.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Jones Soda Company</span></a>, you really do. Not only do they have their interesting and sometimes real quirky sodas, but they also manage to keep kosher certification from Star-K. This time they really went all out and produced special holiday packs of soda. One for Hanukkah and one for Christmas.<br /><br />The Christmas pack is of course kosher. And what makes it even better, is that one of the flavors in the pack is "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Christmas Ham</span>" - <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.star-k.org/directory/comp-k.asp?src=&compid=VSCBO">certified kosher by Star-K</a>. (You can download the PDF kosher certification as well.) This is not a joke. It is GREAT! Ingenious actually. Kosher Ham Soda. What will they think of next! So go get both packs! Here are the flavors. Just for the taste-buds.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hanukkah Pack:</span></span><br /><ul><li>Chocolate Coins</li><li>Apple Sauce</li><li>Latke</li><li>Jelly Donut</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Christmas Pack:</span></span><br /><ul><li>Sugar Plum</li><li>Egg Nog</li><li>Christmas Tree</li><li>Christmas Ham<br /></li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jonessodastore.com/shop/home.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/happychanukahpak.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.jonessodastore.com/shop/home.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/xmas07_pack.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Worth the price of purchase even if you don't ever drink it. Just for the bottle and label!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-30675578202108486782007-12-05T13:24:00.000+02:002007-12-05T16:45:27.958+02:00The Magic And Mystery Of Challah<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" >The Magic And Mystery Of Challah</span><br /><br />I - A Brief Introduction</span></span><br /></div><br /><span class="dropcaps">T</span>he following post has been created over a period of time and is fairly long - so forewarned is forearmed! (If you are reading this on a web site which is not <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</a></span> and it gathers in RSS feeds, you may not be seeing the whole article. So if you are interested in this piece, make sure you click over to <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen.)</span></a><br /><br />The idea for this piece on Challah, came to me a long time ago, when our insane but great cook, Paula, submitted her recipe for <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/01/braided-challah-bread.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Braided Challah Bread</span></a>. Somehow though, my desire to place a full and comprehensive recipe for making Challah always went to the back burner due to pressures of time. Then one day, while I was preparing the post on <a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/11/donuts-more-donuts.html">Donuts & More Donuts...</a> which Carolyn over at <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> was gracious enough to allow me to repost here @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> when her "<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/05/virtual-challah-lesson-step-by-step.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Virtual Challah Lesson Index</span></a>" caught my eye. Carolyn, in a few posts had provided all the necessary instructions for making Challah in a few ways with some great pictures to boot. The problem was that Carolyn had divided the process of making Challah into a few posts and thus it was not all laid out in one flowing piece. So being full of Chutzpah as usual I asked Carolyn for permission to repost what she had created over @ <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> in her <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/05/virtual-challah-lesson-step-by-step.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Virtual Challah Lesson Index</span></a> here @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>. She readily agreed.<br /><br />However, I am going to do a bit more explaining than Carolyn has in her posts. Carolyn assumes that most if not all of her readers, are familiar with Jewish customs and traditions and trust me on this - Challah is one Jewish custom! She also assumes a fair amount of "kitchen smarts". So as we go through this post, I will clearly point out the pictures and instructions from <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> and also try to make it clear where I am adding some description or reason for certain things. But if you prefer the quick and easy, just head over to <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> and peruse the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/05/virtual-challah-lesson-step-by-step.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Virtual Challah Lesson Index</span></a>.<br /><br />One other point worth mentioning. Yes, you can use your bread machine to make any sort of bread you like. But still there is truly nothing like the taste and smell of home baked Challah. If you have the patience and time well here it is. And even if you don't ever expect to bake bread or Challah the old fashioned way, it still is a skill to learn for your kitchen. Enjoy. Now on with the show!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">II - What is Challah?</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0001.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Most traditional Jewish meals begin with "the breaking of bread". <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Challah</span> is a special kind of bread used for Shabbat, holidays and on special occasions such as a Circumcision, Wedding, Bar & Bat Mitzvah etc. It is a usually, though not always, sweet, golden, and a type of an eggy bread. The taste and texture of these egg-laden "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Challot</span>" (Challot is the transliterated Hebrew plural for Challah". Challah is singular; Challot is plural.) is somewhat similar to egg twist rolls (those little yellow rolls that look like knots). However, Challah can be made from "whole wheat" (very popular these days) and in many other fashions and ways.<br /><br />Remember, since this bread, the "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Challah</span>", is used on <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Shabbat</span> (Transliterated Hebrew for "Sabbath"), it is on a traditional Jewish table at least three times a week and at least 5 loaves are required (though they can be small loaves!) Why? Because on Shabbat and Holidays, we require two loaves to begin the meal and we eat three meals. However on the third meal of the Shabbat there is no requirement for 2 loaves and one will suffice. So assuming you are going to at least break all the loaves (though certainly that does not always happen unless there are a few people) 2X2=4 (Friday Night = 2; Saturday Main Meal = 2) +1 for the meal on Shabbat afternoon which is five loaves all told.<br /><br />Additionally, the loaves used to begin the meal, the ones that the blessing before eating bread is recited - <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">must be whole</span>. Which means you cannot begin the main Shabbat meal on Saturday, making the traditional blessing over bread) by using a loaf half-finished from the Shabbat Friday Night meal. Though of course you can eat that loaf from Friday night during the meal itself. And if a whole loaf is left over from Friday Night that can be used to make a blessing over on Shabbat.<br /><br />Thus as you may be able to tell, Challah is kind of a central factor in Shabbat and Holiday meals, and of course, baking and selling it is big business as well.<br /><br />By the way we should clear up one faulty assumption. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You do not need specifically Challah for the meals.</span> You can use normal rolls or pita bread or whatever bread you have as long as it is whole. Challah is simply a "festive bread".<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Whole Wheat Braided Challah</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch5.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />The loaf is usually braided, but on certain holidays it may be made in other shapes. For example, on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), and on Shavuot (Pentecost) it is traditional to serve round Challah (the circle symbolizing the cycle of life and the cycle of the years as well as the mystical symbolization of the "Ein-Soph" - "the Never End").<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Some Different Types Of Challah</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch3.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />The etymology of the word "Challah" is fairly simple though connected to a fairly complicated practice. In order to fully explain I am going to quote from an <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah">excellent article in Wikipedia on Challah</a>.<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">The term Challah refers to a small piece of dough — about the size of an egg — that is traditionally separated from the rest of the dough before braiding. In biblical times, this portion of dough was set aside as a tithe for the Jewish priesthood (see Numbers 15:17-21). In Hebrew, the ritual is called "hafrashat challah."<br /><br />Today, this commandment applies more to professional bakers than the home cook, as it involves batches of challah using more than 2 kilos of flour.<br /><br />The Bible does not specify how much dough is required for challah, but this issue is discussed in the Talmud. The rabbis said that 1 part in 24 was allocated to the priest in the case of private individuals, and 1 part in 48 in the case of a baker. If the baker forgets to set aside challah, it is permissible to set aside the same portion of bread.<br /><br />According to the Talmud, the requirement to separate challah from the dough was imposed on the owner of the dough, not on the person who kneaded it; hence if the owner was not Jewish, even if the kneader was, hafrashat challah was not mandatory. The requirement did not apply to quantities of less than one omer in size, to bread prepared as animal feed; to dough prepared from a flour derived from anything other than wheat, barley, oats, spelt, or rye. Although the Biblical expression when you eat of the bread of the land might be understood as applying only to bread eaten in the Land of Israel, classical rabbinical sources argue that hafrashat challah should be observed in the Diaspora.<br /><br />Since the destruction the Temple, no one is considered ritually pure. The idea of "priestly descent" still exists, and the title of "cohen" is passed down from father to son, but there are no rites comparable to those practiced in the Temple. Hence the custom of separating "challah" is a symbolic act, with a blessing recited before the dough is separated and thrown into the fire or discarded.<br /><br />Challah was a means of sustenance for the kohanim, who had no income of their own. This is a point upon rabbinical sources and modern scholars agree. The Priestly Code, containing the law of challah, is believed by textual scholars to be a series of accretions to the earlier priestly source, and to postdate the law codes in the Torah. Thus the instruction concerning challah is believed to be a later development, perhaps reflecting the emergence of a full-time professional priesthood.<br /><br />Many deeper insights are cited for challah in the Midrashic and Kabbalistic literature. The mitzvah of separating challah is traditionally regarded as one of the three mitzvot performed especially by women (the others are lighting the Shabbat candles and family purity).<br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Freshly Baked Challot</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch4.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />In order to summarize. The word Challah refers to that portion that was given to the priests from the whole batch of dough. Since the destruction of the Temple we do not practice any of the commandments in regard to Priestly portions and tithes for the priests and levites, a blessing is made over the separated part of the dough and then it is burned. This discarded piece of dough is actually the "Challah". <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The laws of challah apply to any large quantity of dough or batter intended for baking. There is no difference between challah dough and oatmeal cookie dough; "challah" must be separated for both.</span> (Last statement now edited according to correct comment by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/13715046177293916034"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mother In Israel</span></a>. Thanks go to her!)<br /><br />However, in modern days, the term <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Challah</span> has come to mean the whole bread eaten on Holidays etc.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span>Today the separated portion (in keeping with the original Challah) is usually placed in the oven and allowed to burn and then thrown away. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Today though, our festive special bread is called Challah</span>.<br /><br />I hope that was not too complicated but now we know where the word Challah came from and what it actually is, let us go on to discovering how to make it!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">III - Yeast & It's Magic - The First Step</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/yeast1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />In order to get dough to rise one requires yeast. For a moment, let us take a look at this "little creature" that works wonder on dough, and what it actually does. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">In Wikipedia we read</span></a>:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Yeast, specifically Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is used in baking as a leavening agent, where it converts the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide. This causes the dough to expand or rise as the carbon dioxide forms pockets or bubbles. When the dough is baked it "sets" and the pockets remain, giving the baked product a soft and spongy texture. The use of potatoes, water from potato boiling, eggs, or sugar in a bread dough accelerates the growth of yeasts. Salt and fats such as butter slow down yeast growth. The majority of the yeast used in baking is of the same species common in alcoholic fermentation. Additionally, Saccharomyces exiguus (also known as S. minor) is a wild yeast found on plants, fruits, and grains that is occasionally used for baking<br /><br />It is not known when yeast was first used to bake bread. The first records that show this use came from Ancient Egypt. Researchers speculate that a mixture of flour meal and water was left longer than usual on a warm day and the yeasts that occur in natural contaminants of the flour caused it to ferment before baking. The resulting bread would have been lighter and more tasty than the normal flat, hard cake.<br /><br /><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/yeast2.jpg" border="0" />Today there are several retailers of baker's yeast; one of the best-known is Fleischmann’s Yeast, which was developed in 1868. During World War II Fleischmann's developed a granulated active dry yeast, which did not require refrigeration and had a longer shelf life than fresh yeast. The company created yeast that would rise twice as fast, cutting down on baking time. Baker's yeast is also sold as a fresh yeast compressed into a square "cake". This form perishes quickly, and must be used soon after production in order to maintain viability. A weak solution of water and sugar can be used to determine if yeast is expired. When dissolved in the solution, active yeast will foam and bubble as it ferments the sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide.<br /><br />When yeast is used for making bread, it is mixed with flour, salt, and warm water (or milk). The dough is kneaded until it is smooth, and then left to rise, sometimes until it has doubled in size. Some bread doughs are knocked back after one rising and left to rise again. A longer rising time gives a better flavour, but the yeast can fail to raise the bread in the final stages if it is left for too long initially. The dough is then shaped into loaves, left to rise until it is the correct size, and then baked. Dried yeast is always used for bread made in a bread machine.<br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/yeastprocess.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />This also from <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.yeastgenome.org/VL-what_are_yeast.html">Yeast Genome</a>:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><img class="rpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/i-yeast.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" />The yeast's function in baking is to ferment sugars present in the flour or added to the dough. This fermentation gives off carbon dioxide and ethanol. The carbon dioxide is trapped within tiny bubbles and results in the dough expanding, or rising. Sourdough bread, is not produced with baker's yeast, rather a combination of wild yeast (often Candida milleri) and an acid-generating bacteria...<br /></blockquote>O .k. Phew! Now we know all we ever did not want to know about Yeast! Yeah! But trust me, if you have read up until now you will understand the process of Challah Baking that much better. So let us now move on to the first Challah you can make.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">IV - A Normal Challah Recipe Step By Step</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>17 fluid oz. warm (115 degrees F or less) water</li><li>2 Tbsp. (or two packets or one coffee scoop) active dry yeast</li><li>1/2 cup sugar</li><li>1 Tbsp. salt</li><li>3 eggs</li><li>1/2 cup oil (=4 fl. oz)</li><li>2 ½ lbs. bread flour (higher gluten than all-purpose flour)</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Mixer</li><li>Mixing Bowl</li><li>At least 1 or 2 Pans (flat and long)<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">(Summary of Recipe Directions Appears After The Detailed Explanation.)</span><br /><br />So now we know all about the yeast monster let us begin with specifics and let us move to <a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/05/virtual-challah-lesson-yeast.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Carolyn's Yeast instructions at Juggling Frogs</span></a>. (Bold on words is mine.)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0002.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">These instructions represent what I actually do to make the challot, as opposed to what the cookbooks usually say. I've streamlined the process for my own needs, based on the tools I own. Your mileage may vary.<br /><br />I buy the yeast in bulk at Costco for $2.99/2 lbs. This amount usually last me for many months of constant baking. I keep it in a glass container in the refrigerator, with a dedicated coffee scoop (2 Tablespoons) kept in the container.<br /><br />Most recipes call for one "packet" of yeast. One packet is just under one tablespoon. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I always round up, most times doubling, the amount of yeast suggested in recipes. It doesn't discernibly change the flavor, and it makes the dough rise more reliably and faster.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be sure to add the yeast to the water, not vice-versa. This will prevent yeast clumps and the yeast will dissolve faster.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">The water should be 115 degrees F or colder. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast. If it is too cold, the yeast will remain dormant, and your bread will either not rise, or take FOREVER to rise.</span> You can test it on your wrist, similar to testing a baby bottle's temperature. I used to have a temperature probe in my microwave oven, so I just heat the water to 115 in the microwave.<br /></blockquote>Got the yeast down pat? Great. So the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">First step</span> is as follows:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><blockquote>Add the yeast to the warm water. Let this sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast is fully dissolved.</blockquote></span>Now lets move on to the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Second Step</span> which is <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">kneading the dough</span>.<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Add the remaining ingredients, bread flour added last. Mix into a dough, rest it for 10 minutes covering with a loose plastic wrap. And while the dough rests, prepare the greased rising bowl and the pans for baking<br /></blockquote>Now you ask what is "kneading the dough"? Well Carolyn supplies the answer as well.<br /><blockquote>Remove the plastic wrap once the dough absorbs the flour, before it starts to become a cohesive ball. After it forms a dough, let it rest for about 10 minutes before kneading in earnest. (Save that plastic wrap, though. It will come in handy.) <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">If it is the right consistency, you will see the dough ball clean the sides of the mixer bowl. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Hand kneading is also a plus even if you are using a mixer<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">.</span><br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Preparing The Dough<br /><br /></span><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0003.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Kneading In The Mixer</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0004.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Hand-Kneading As A Finishing Touch</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0005.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Now what happens when we finish kneading the dough?<br /><br /></div><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: left;">When finished kneading, form the dough into a smooth ball.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0007.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Take the ball, place it in the well-greased bowl, twist it all around to cover it in grease from the bowl, and invert, such that the top is also greased. The grease is necessary to allow the dough to rise, unhindered by the friction between the dough and the bowl.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0008.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Cover loosely and set aside someplace warm to rise. (You can use the plastic wrap (so conveniently floured) from the mixer-covering step. ) Let the dough rise <span style="font-weight: bold;">until doubled in bulk</span>.<br /></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0009.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Remember what we discussed above about having to take a piece of the dough and burn it. Well if you are a traditional Jew now is the time to remove that piece of dough.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0010.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And now you should have as well enough greased pans ready for the Challah you are making. And if you do not, make sure you grease enough pans for the Challah.<br /></div></div></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Greased Pans</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"></span><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0006.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Now we get to the FUN PART! Shaping the Challah.</span><br /><br />Shaping Challah can be done in a zillion different ways. For now we will show you the basics. It really is not as complicated as it looks, I promise! You do not need 10 hands either. Just go slow and easy and it will work out... Patience is what is demanded here, and don't get frustrated!<br /><br />First, squeeze the dough into a very long rope of even thickness.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0011.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Next, lay the two ropes over one another as in overlapping/nested "v" shapes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0012.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Now cross the inner two legs, then cross each pair of the outer two legs. Repeat this until braid is completed.<br /><br />There are four "legs" in the picture. Take each of the outside legs and cross it either over or under the inside leg closest to it. (Crossing over it is lower than the inside leg, under if it is higher than the inside leg.)<br /><br />At this point, you will again have four legs. Repeat the same instruction above (take each of the outside legs and cross it either over or under the inside leg closest to it. Crossing over it is lower than the inside leg, under if it is higher than the inside leg.), with the new four legs.<br /><br />Continue this way until you have run out of "leg room".<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0013.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />I find braiding this way, with four legs, as opposed to the more standard three legs, much easier to do, as it is symmetrical. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Tuck in the ends of the braid. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0014.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span>Place in the greased pan, cover in plastic wrap and set aside in warm place to rise.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0015.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Believe it or not we are almost done! At least with this first Challah recipe and this part!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Let the dough now rise again until not quite doubled in bulk.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Now as an optional part, you will need a few egg yolks and if you like sesame seeds.</span><br /><br />Take the egg yolk and using a brush lightly brush the top of your Challah. Then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Go easy on the egg yolk, unless you like very egg-tasting bread (which some people do!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0016.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Set aside to cool.</span><br /><br />Some Useful Notes from <a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> before the Summary:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0017.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">In the picture, you can see my pre-measured bread flour (in the brown paper bag), microwave probe (for heating the water up to, but not above 115 degrees F), a measuring cup with the 17 fluid oz. mark made clearer with the aid of a paint marker, and the glass yeast container I keep in the refrigerator.<br /><br />Although there is a bread machine in the picture (and two in my kitchen), I don't use it for challah making. Bread machines just aren't big enough to make a useful amount of challah, in my opinion. I use a stand mixer to help with the kneading.<br /><br />I buy the bread flour from a restaurant supply store (or at Costco) in 50 lb. bags (for $10 !) I take the 50 lb. bag and divide it into 2.5 lb. lunch bags. These lunch bags can fit in the door of my stand-alone freezer for storage.<br /><br />Storing them in the freezer prevents insect infestation. I've adapted the two challah recipes I make each week (this one and the Yekkish/Water Challah) to use 2.5 lb. of flour. It's very convenient to have the flour pre-measured, and to be able to look in the freezer and know how many more batches' worth of flour are available.<br /><br />Bread flour has a higher gluten content than all purpose flour. It gives it the bread a more chewy, bread-like texture. If you use bread flour in a cake it will be too tough.<br /></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Summary of Steps:</span></span><br /><ol><li>Add the yeast to the warm water. Let this sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast is fully dissolved.</li><li>Add the remaining ingredients, bread flour added last. Mix into a dough, rest it for 10 minutes covering with a loose plastic wrap.</li><li>While the dough rests, prepare the greased rising bowl and the pans for baking.</li><li>Remove the plastic wrap once the dough absorbs the flour, before it starts to become a cohesive ball.</li><li>After it forms a dough, let it rest for about 10 minutes before kneading in earnest. (Save that plastic wrap, though. It will come in handy.)</li><li>If it is the right consistency, you will see the dough ball clean the sides of the mixer bowl.<br /></li><li>Hand kneading is also a plus even if you are using a mixer<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">.</span></li><li>When finished kneading, form the dough into a smooth ball.</li><li>Take the ball, place it in the well-greased bowl, twist it all around to cover it in grease from the bowl, and invert, such that the top is also greased. The grease is necessary to allow the dough to rise, unhindered by the friction between the dough and the bowl.</li><li>Cover loosely and set aside someplace warm to rise. (You can use the plastic wrap (so conveniently floured) from the mixer-covering step. )</li><li>Let dough rise <span style="font-weight: bold;">until doubled in bulk</span>.</li><li>Remember what we discussed above about having to take a piece of the dough and burn it. Well if you are a traditional Jew now is the time to remove that piece of dough.<br /></li><li>Squeeze the dough into a very long rope of even thickness.</li><li>Next, lay the two ropes over one another as in overlapping/nested "v" shapes.</li><li>Cross the inner two legs, then cross each pair of the outer two legs. Repeat this until braid is completed.</li><li>Take each of the outside legs and cross it either over or under the inside leg closest to it. (Crossing over it is lower than the inside leg, under if it is higher than the inside leg.)</li><li>At this point, you will again have four legs. Repeat the same instruction above (take each of the outside legs and cross it either over or under the inside leg closest to it. Crossing over it is lower than the inside leg, under if it is higher than the inside leg.), with the new four legs.</li><li>Continue this way until you have run out of "leg room".</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Tuck in the ends of the braid. </span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span>Place in the greased pan, cover in plastic wrap and set aside in warm place to rise.</li><li>Let rise again until not quite doubled in bulk.</li><li>Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit.</li><li value="26">Optional: Brush gently with egg yolk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. -Take the egg yolk and using a brush lightly brush the top of your Challah. Then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Go easy on the egg yolk, unless you like very egg-tasting bread (which some people do!) </li><li style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Bake in 350º Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes.</li><li>Set aside to cool.</li></ol><hr /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Shaping Rolls</span></span><br /></div><br />Now that you are an expert Challah maker, here is where you can make rolls or small Challot. This runs along the same process as above, except that rolls should <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">bake in 350º Fahrenheit oven for <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">18</span> minutes.</span><br /><br />So Here We Go:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #1:</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Separate the dough into 10-12 parts.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0020.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #2: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Roll each part into a thin "snake"</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0021.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #3: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Tie in a single knot</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0022.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #4: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Tuck in the ends to secure</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0023.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #5: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">After shaping, set them aside to rise.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0024.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #6: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">After rising, ready to bake</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0025.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Remember:</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Bake in 350º Fahrenheit oven for <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">18</span> minutes.</span><br /><hr /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Water Challah (No Eggs)</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0027.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Now we are done with regular Challah and rolls it is time to move on the "Water Challah" made without eggs. Since you are already a world class Challah baker this should be a cinch!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients For Water Challah:</span><br /><ol><li>3 cups warm water (=24 fl. oz.)</li><li>2 Tbsp. (or two packets or one coffee scoop) dry yeast</li><li>1/4 cup sugar</li><li>2 Tbsp. salt</li><li>1/4 cup. oil</li><li>2 ½ lbs. flour </li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">These are basically the same as above.</span><br /><ol><li>Let rise</li><li>Take challah and shape it</li><li>Let rise again.</li><li>Bake in a 400º Fahrenheit oven for <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">40 minutes</span> for a chewy interior and crispy crust.</li></ol><hr /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Bread Cornucopia</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0030.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Well if you have not guessed it yet, you have become a true baker. So with Carolyn's permission I am going to give you the absolute coolest bread creation I have yet to see. This is not really for Challah - but with all the instructions above, if you are a bit creative, this could be an incredible dish for your table. So get ready for a wild ride on bread!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need the ingredients from the regular Challah or the Water Challah whichever suits your tastes for this one.</span> Most of the trick here is in shaping the dough and making the mold.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #1: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Cut a foil pan's corners so that it will lie flat.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0031.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #2: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Roll the foil pan into a cone shape and secure with duct tape.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0032.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #3:</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0033.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #4: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Spray generously with oil.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0034.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #5: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Place oiled foil mold on a cookie sheet and make a large recipe of bread dough.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0035.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #6: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Roll the bread into long, thin snakes.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0036.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #7: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Starting at the tip, wind the dough around the oiled foil cone.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0037.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Step #8: </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">After allowing to rise a bit, brush with diluted egg yolk and bake until golden brown. (Should be in a 350º Fahrenheit oven for 20-30 minutes)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0038.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The following note from Carolyn is actually the most astounding part of this recipe!<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">From 2004 - Including the ornamental Indian Corn, but not including the reusable nuts and vegetables, this (theoretically edible) centerpiece cost less than $3 to make.<br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/chal/ch0040.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t5s.png" border="0" />Obviously without Carolyn over @ <a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> this post would never have been possible. My sincere thanks go to her and her kind permission to reprint much of her Challah and bread recipes. Of course it gets a 5 star for difficulty. But once you have this down, making bread could never be easier. Of course there is always the bread machine, but, there is nothing like Home Baked Challah and Bread. So if you have the time and want to really learn how to bake, go for it! Even if you never make it at home, now you are initiated into the secrets and mystery of bread making and Great Challah. - Added later - Carolyn does not think this deserves a 5 star for difficulty. She feels it is fairly easy to make (see comments on post). While I will not disagree it is easy to make for those with the willpower, it does take a bit of "kitchen sense" and do not forget that braiding the Challah for a new-comer is hard!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-48361229161596139372007-12-04T07:11:00.000+02:002007-12-04T07:11:10.307+02:00Eating And Watching Your Weight<span class="dropcaps2">F</span>rom time to time I discover some great blogs and web sites on the subject of food. The most common way is someone leaves a comment @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> or sends me an email and I quickly take a look at the site they link to. <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://weightwatchen.com/index.htm">Roni's Weight Watchen Page</a> & the sister blog of <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://greenlitebites.com/">Green Lite Bites (spelled GreenLiteBites)</a> are two such web sites. A couple of weeks ago, Roni left a comment here, and I clicked to see her web site. It turned out to be an interesting experience.<br /><br />As the title says, <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://weightwatchen.com/index.htm">Roni's Weight Watchen Page</a>, is about watching weight. Yet, just a cursory examination of the site tells us a great deal more. Roni is honest. She tells us how she had to deal with eating disorders (a lot more common than some of us would think), and her constant battle with weight gains and loss. <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://weightwatchen.com/2007/01/my-story.html">Her page devoted to her story is an eye-opener</a>.<br /><br />One of the posts at <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://weightwatchen.com/index.htm">Roni's Weight Watchen Page</a> is entitled, <a href="http://weightwatchen.com/2007/11/fast-food-fiasco-rant.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Fast Food Fiasco – A Rant</span></a>. The first time I began reading this post as I read the first paragraph, I was sorely disappointed. Here is a supposed Weight Watching Blog and the author begins by telling us:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Let me start at the beginning….<br /><br />I’ve had a long busy day, running here, running there, trying to squish too many things in 24 hour period as usual. There was no time for dinner so I decided the little guy and I would hit the drive thru on the way to the gym. I really wanted Chick-fil-a but Burger King was on the way so I settled. I should go on the record as saying I think Burger King has the worst options for anyone who is WeightWhatchen but that’s not he point. So I order the best I can…<br /><br />For the toddler - Kid’s Meal with 4 Chicken Nuggets, applesauce and a milk<br /><br />For mommy - A Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich no mayo and a bottle of water<br /><br />Not too bad for a meal on the run, although not my first choice. </blockquote>I scratched my head here. Most of the regular readers @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> know that I do not mind fast food from time to time, though I think it is mostly horrendous on the taste buds, on health and on everything else you can think of. But fast food is really part of our way of life and does serve a purpose from time to time.<br /><br />But what the hell is someone who is devoting a blog about Weight Watching talking about fast food for?<br /><br />It took me a minute to discover that is part of Roni's charm. She is HONEST. She is STRAIGHTFORWARD. She admits to the foibles and mistakes we all make in eating and would like to forget. That is really a plus.<br /><br />She ends the piece, <a href="http://weightwatchen.com/2007/11/fast-food-fiasco-rant.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Fast Food Fiasco – A Rant</span></a>, as follows:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">So that’s it. That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. I am TIRED of paying for bad (UNHEALTHY) food and bad service at these “fast” foods joints. I’m done.<br /><br />My husband is not going to like this, but I am starting a boycott of fast food restaurants that do not provide good service or good food. Life is too short to waste a meal on junk and deal with bad service.<br /><br />Will you join me? Can you do it? Can you vow to avoid fast food? Are you already doing it? Let me know and spread the word.<br /></blockquote>Well Roni, I wont vow to avoid fast food for the rest of my life. But I will avoid it as much as humanely possible. (Though I really have to remove Pizza from the list!)<br /><br />What makes Roni even more charming and certainly fun to read is her <a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://greenlitebites.com/">Green Lite Bites</a> blog. Here she has a constantly growing compendium of recipes, which include the "why" as well as the "how". And unlike yours truly @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> she has begun adding videos of herself making the recipes. (Don't even think it folks! I am not yet at the stage where I will do a video. Almost though. Sometime in 2008 I may surprise you!) Just for an idea take a look at her <a href="http://greenlitebites.com/2007/12/03/vegetarian-chili-over-spaghetti-squash/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Vegetarian Chili over Spaghetti Squash</span></a>. She also uses Cumin in the recipe so she made a fan of me right from the get go.<br /><br />Roni also offers nutritional information with her recipes. The following is from <a href="http://greenlitebites.com/2007/12/03/vegetarian-chili-over-spaghetti-squash/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Vegetarian Chili over Spaghetti Squash.</span></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://greenlitebites.com/2007/12/03/vegetarian-chili-over-spaghetti-squash/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/roni1.png" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />I also happen to like her humor which comes out not only in the recipes but even in her photographs. I ripped off one picture from the recipe <a href="http://greenlitebites.com/2007/12/03/vegetarian-chili-over-spaghetti-squash/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Vegetarian Chili over Spaghetti Squash</span></a> (and I hope Roni forgives me for this) just to give you an idea.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://greenlitebites.com/2007/12/03/vegetarian-chili-over-spaghetti-squash/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/veggieChili2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Roni also categorizes her recipes in interesting ways.<br /><ul><li>Bites By Meal</li><li>Bites By Type</li><li>Bites By Ingredients</li><li>Other Categories</li></ul>Of course, not all the recipes here are kosher, but Roni cooks healthy, and almost all of those that I viewed, can easily be made kosher with a bit of thought and inspiration.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">All in all </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://weightwatchen.com/index.htm">Roni's Weight Watchen Page</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> & the sister blog of </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://greenlitebites.com/">Green Lite Bites (spelled GreenLiteBites)</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> should not be missed. These are real good sites by a "real" person, not ashamed to admit her mistakes and her battle with the food monster.</span><br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-16445375932698102222007-12-03T06:51:00.000+02:002007-12-03T06:51:58.513+02:00Rib RoastMaking a rib roast can get to be a complicated affair. There is the matter of the cut, the actual meat you are using, the spices, and everything else involved. It can be daunting and then you worry if it will come out just right cause usually you are serving it immediately after cooking. Though it can also be very simple and as usual Paula makes it simple in the following recipe. (*Take a look at Teddy's Note below for some important directions.)<br /><br />Paula writes:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">I served this with Green Beans, Carrots and Butternut Squash</span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Rib Roast</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/RibRoast1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>4 pound Rib Roast</li><li>2 teaspoons Lemon Powder</li><li>2 Gloves Garlic (crushed)</li><li>2 Teaspoons Black Pepper</li><li>2 Teaspoons Celery Seed</li><li>2 Teaspoons Ginger</li><li>1 Teaspoon Sugar</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Roasting Pan</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:<br /><br /></span><ol><li><span>Make a beef rub for this using the following (from ingredients listed above)<br /></span><ul><li>Lemon Powder</li><li>Garlic</li><li>Black Pepper</li><li>Celery Seed</li><li>Ginger</li><li>Sugar</li></ul></li><li>Combine and rub on the roast before cooking.</li><li>Roast at 350º Fahrenheit<br /></li><li>1 hour 45 minutes for medium rare; 2 1/2 hours for well done</li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />One important note here. If you are dealing with a frozen piece of meat, take it out the day before and let it defrost. Then create the "beef rub" as described above and rub it into the roast. Then put it in the refrigerator overnight, and make it a couple of hours before you have to serve it. This will allow the spices to seep in overnight.<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-21042024241863240852007-12-01T17:18:00.000+02:002007-12-01T17:18:17.129+02:00The Secret Of Hawaj - Yemenite SpiceSometimes tracking down spices is difficult, especially when they are considered "regional spices" or only part of a very specific culture. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hawaj</span> is one of these spices. It is kind a mixture of some other, mostly not well known spices and outside of certain circles it would be rare to hear of this wonderful spice. In Israel, it is readily available.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hawaj</span>, has its roots with the Yemenites. Though Wikipedia makes mention of Hawaj in its article on the <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_the_Sephardic_Jews">Cuisine of the Sephardic Jews</a>, I would tend to guess that the person who included Yemenites in an article on Sephardic customs would have to run for his life from a group of Yemenites! The following is the mention from the article above about <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hawaj</span>:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Hawaj is a Yemenite spice mixture that comes into two varieties. One, a blend of powdered ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, is added to coffee and baked goods. The other, a blend of turmeric, black pepper, onion, cumin, cardamom and cloves, is added to soup.<br /></blockquote>This is basically correct. However, Hawaj is one of those spices, where you would have to be totally part of a Yemenite family to get the cook to give up the secret of making fresh Hawaj! Hawaj, goes in a great deal of dishes. From soup (a must in my home), to Cholent or Chamin, and as you can see above even coffee. It does demand a specific type of "taste-bud" to be totally appreciated. But on of the tricks of Hawaj is that it must be freshly made or have been made and kept sealed where it is still fresh. Anything else is just bland and bleh!<br /><br />So for here I am going to lay out the basic ingredients of Hawaj, which has been mentioned in quite a few posts here at Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen, and sometimes explained as being Cardamom (sometimes also spelled Cardomom). These are the basics, NOT the secret stuff which a good Yemenite Cook will make in the black of the night and put a few good spells over.<br /><br />These are what you will need. Each image is linked to a corresponding Wikipedia article if you wish mor information on a particular spice:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >5 Tablespoons Black Peppercorn</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppercorn" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/peppercorn.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 102, 51); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">5 Tablespoons Cumin</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumin" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/cumin.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">2 Tablespoons Cardamom Pods</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamom" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Cardamom-1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">2 Tablespoons Coriander Seeds</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriander" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/coriander-seeds1.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriander" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/coriander-seeds2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">2 Teaspoons Turmeric</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turmeric" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/turmeric.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">1 Tablespoons Cloves (***Optional)</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Cloves.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><br />O.k. now for the normal list:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>5 Tablespoons Black Peppercorn</li><li>5 Tablespoons Cumin</li><li>2 Tablespoons Cardamom Pods</li><li>2 Tablespoons Coriander Seeds</li><li>2 Teaspoons Turmeric</li><li>*1 Tablespoon Cloves (Optional)<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Grinder (Coffee-Bean grinder is Perfect or some other grinder) Or a Mortar (hand grinding stick)<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Take the Peppercorn, Cumin, Cardamom Pods & Coriander (and cloves if you are using them) and put in the grinder and grind all up.<br /></li><li>After grinding now add the Turmeric.<br /></li><li>Mix Well.</li><li>Put in a sealed jar - make sure it is sealed well!</li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t1s.png" border="0" />This is the basics of making & mixing Hawaj. One Star for difficulty. Seriously though, for every Yemenite family you will find a different recipe. And it is a matter of taste-buds. However, I make sure I always have some Hawaj around. And try it in your Meat, Chicken or Veggie Soup. It really is a must!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-27808868500688873262007-11-29T08:27:00.000+02:002007-11-29T08:27:09.491+02:00Meat Stew - With Beef Stock or LeftoversMy kids hate leftovers. Indeed one of my sons, while I am sleeping, cleans my fridge out of leftovers and religiously checks the dates on processed foods, dumping all the stuff. It drives me crazy. The other day he went too far, and decided all the magnets covering my fridge had to go. What he did not know was that those magnets were collected over a period of seven years, and I just semi-collected them, not really needing them for any phone numbers. Grrrrrrrr! But in the end using leftovers is important and certainly there is nothing wrong with it. Actually, it is a smart thing to do.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">So Paula sent this one in, showing us how to make use of leftovers (in her case Thanksgiving Leftovers): </span><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">With all the veggies left over from Thanksgiving, I made a simple Stew. Quick and easy meal to use leftovers. I had beef stock in the freezer but you can use store bought. You can also adjust the quantity of ingredients for your needs.<br /><br />I didn’t need to add much seasoning as the vegetables had already been prepared. The carrots had a honey glaze and added a nice flavor.<br /></blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Meat Stew - With Beef Stock or Leftovers</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/Stew.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>3 – 4 Quarts of Beef Stock (<a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/01/beef-stock.html">You can view Paula's recipe for Beef Stock by clicking here</a>) Or: <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Use your Leftover meat</span><br /></li><li>2 Pounds Beef , cubed ( I used Sirloin Tips)</li><li>3 Cups Carrots and Green Beans</li><li>5 Stalks Celery , cut up</li><li>2 Bunches Scallions , chopped</li><li>5 Potatoes , cubed</li><li>1/2 Cup Worcester Sauce</li><li>1 Cup flour</li><li>3 Tablespoons Canola Oil<br /></li></ol><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Medium bowl</li><li>1 Large pot</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Place the flour in the bowl</li><li>Dredge the beef in the flour</li><li>Heat oil in pot</li><li>Place the scallions in hot oil and sauté for five minutes</li><li>Add beef</li><li>Cook for 10 – 15 minutes</li><li>Add broth</li><li>Add carrots, green beans, celery and potatoes</li><li>Add Worcester sauce (you can use your favorite seasonings)</li><li>Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes</li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />Giving this two stars for difficulty but if you make your own Beef Stock as in Paula's Beef Stock recipe it becomes more difficult. You can of course make the stew fresh as well. This kind of stew is excellent for leftovers as it has the look and taste of a "new" dish, and the family wont be saying, "Oh No! Not leftovers again!"<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-1094247139504965252007-11-27T14:19:00.000+02:002007-11-27T14:57:08.234+02:00Donuts & More Donuts...<a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/" target="_blank"><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/jugglingfrogs.jpg" border="0" /></a>One of the food blogs that recently came to my attention is run by Carolyn, a Mom of five kids. The name of the blog itself, <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a>, is enough to get your attention. Carolyn, mixes a heady amount of recipes with some personal tidbits. As readers of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> know, I tend to like reading food blogs from "real" people talking about "real" situations and "real" food. Carolyn also has some great pictures of her creations in some of the recipes.<br /><br />A few of the recipes over @ <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> caught my eye and I emailed Carolyn for permission to post one of them here to which she graciously agreed. (I am going to get her to give me a whole series she did, but shush don't tell her that yet!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Donuts & More Donuts...</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/05/recipe-for-donuts-dunkin-style-pareve.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/donuts.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />You can click over to <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> to see the recipe for Recipe for "<a href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/05/recipe-for-donuts-dunkin-style-pareve.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Donuts "Dunkin-style" (pareve)</span></a>" that we are presenting here. This recipe is for "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">fried donuts</span>" (and good for Hanukkah) .However, since @ Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen, we do not like to divide up processes and place everything in front of you at one time, we are going to do a bit more explaining.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients</span>: (1-7 for the dough to be made in the bread machine)<br /><ol><li> 7.25 fl. oz. soy milk (or water)</li><li> 1 egg</li><li> 2.5 T. margarine (= 1.25 oz. by weight)</li><li> 1 t. salt</li><li> 1/3 c. sugar (= approx. 2.25 oz. by weight)</li><li> 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (= approx. 13.5 oz. by weight)</li><li> 1 1/2 well-rounded t. yeast</li><li>Oil For Pan<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Bread Machine</li><li>Board for rolling out Dough</li><li>Frying Pan or Wok<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Put the ingredients above (except #8) in a bread machine on the dough cycle</li><li>When done roll them out to about 3/4 inch thick</li><li>Cut into donut shapes</li><li>Let rise (usually with a towel over them for around 15-20 minutes so the yeast can work)<br /></li><li>Fry in 350º Fahrenheit oil (in a wok) until golden brown.<br /></li><li>They should be drained on something absorbent, such as paper towels.<br /></li><li>Let them cool down.<br /></li><li>We like them sprinkled with confection sugar.</li></ol>Carolyn adds:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><img class="rpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/cutter.jpg" border="0" />A few years ago I bought a donut cutter - it looks like an upside-down mini bundt pan - that cuts "O" shaped donuts quickly. Before that, we lived very contentedly with an upturned drinking glass and finger-poked-out holes.<br /></blockquote>There are a couple of utensils that will make your life easier here, especially if you make donuts more than a couple of times a year. The first as Carolyn mentions is a donut cutter. The second is donut pan which you can used if you are baking and not frying your donuts.<br /><br />Now we are going to add just a teeny-weeny bit here. You can always glaze these donuts of course. This is a fairly simple process and we have presented in @ <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> numerous times (<a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search?q=glaze">click here for the recipes involving glazing of food.</a>)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients For Glaze:</span><br /><ol><li>2 tablespoons lemon juice</li><li>½ cup confectioner's sugar.</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions For Glaze:</span><br /><ol><li>While the donuts are cooling, combine glaze ingredients – stirring until smooth and then pour it over the donuts.<br /></li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />First let me thank Carolyn @ <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> for her kind permission to repost this recipe here at <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>. This is really easy to make. You can of course make this a full "milk" recipe by changing the soy milk to real milk and the margarine to butter. The glaze is your option of course. Remember though, these are fried and not baked and you do require a bread machine.<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-20165328326934632692007-11-26T11:48:00.000+02:002007-11-26T11:51:57.565+02:00A Few New Blogs....Come And Join The Fun!This is just to announce a few new additions to my blog family, here at <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>. (Don't worry though we have loads of recipes and blog reviews ready and waiting!)<br /><br />Each blog has a different purpose and I hope you will enjoy them. All of them <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">welcome reader submissions</span>. Indeed, both <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/">Letters Never Sent</a> & <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/">Wish Upon Your Star</a> only consist of posts from reader submissions. So enjoy the fun and join in!<br /><hr /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/wishuponstar/storage/bazoodies600.png" alt="Go Bazoodies!" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Go Bazoodies!</span></span></a><br /></div><br /><a href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img class="lpic" src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/wishuponstar/storage/hairpull231.jpg" alt="Go Bazoodies!" border="0" /></a>Did you see something truly outrageous and crazy posted on the Internet? See a news story that is simply so out there in la-la land it demands to be reported? A new fad or craze that makes you laugh your ass off? Do you have a crazy, bonkers idea to share? Then <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">Go Bazoodies!</a> and Go For It! Read about everything you never wanted to know about the crazy ideas out there. Nothing is too crazy or silly for <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">Go Bazoodies!</a> Let it all out and tell us about it!<br /><br />"<a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">Go Bazoodies!</a>" will post all those crazy ideas, inventions, happenings, news stories and events. Whether you found them on the Internet or whether you are the one who is reporting them. <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">Go Bazoodies!</a> wants all those stories. From the bizarre to the truly outrageous, to the just plain dumb, to the incredible. <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">Go Bazoodies!</a> wants it all!<br /><br />You may be asking yourself, just what the hell is a Bazoodie? Well a Bazoodie is a concoction of the crazy, outrageous, dumb, bonkers, nutso, mishkabobble and truly out there!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;">So join the fun & <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">Go Bazoodies!</a> with us.<br /><br /></span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">Go Bazoodies!</a> @ <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/">http://bazoodies.blogspot.com/</a><br /></div><hr /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/wishuponstar/storage/letters600.jpg" alt="Letters Never Sent" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Letters We Never Sent</span></span></a></div><br /><br /><a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img class="lpic" src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/wishuponstar/storage/tweetyb.jpg" alt="Letters Never Sent" border="0" /></a>Did you ever want to say something to that special person write a letter and just not have the courage to send it? Ever want to express yourself, something intensely personal, and just not have anyone you know read it? Love, hate, laughter, tears, sadness and happiness are all emotions we experience. Loving someone from afar and not able to express it? Hate your boss and just want to get it off your chest? Sad by what your significant other said or did, and just need to write it down? Something critical or drastic happen in your life, and you really need to express it anonymously?<br /><br />"<a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Letters We Never Sent</span></a>" is here to help you express your emotions in your own way and with your own words without having to tell anyone who you are.<br /><br /><a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Letters We Never Sent</span></a> is about self-expression. Whatever emotion you feel,love, sadness, happiness, hope, hate, dark or simple - <a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Letters We Never Sent</span></a> wants your letters.<br /><br />*All letters, whether sent by email or in regular mail - are posted anonymously at <a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Letters We Never Sent</span></a>. The only thing that is posted is your Letter. No names, no addresses or email addresses.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/">Send Your Letter To Letters We Never Sent</a><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Letters We Never Sent @ http://lettersweneversent.blogspot.com/</span></a><br /></div><hr /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/wishuponstar/storage/wishes600.png" alt="Wish Upon Your Star" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Wish Upon Your Star</span></span></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Wishes are as endless as the stars in the sky and the sand upon the sea.</span></span><br /></div><br /><a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img class="lpic" src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/wishuponstar/storage/wishes50.jpg" alt="Wish Upon Your Star" border="0" /></a>"<a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Wish Upon Your Star</span></a>" was inspired by a combination of events but mostly to help renew our own faith in ourselves. Remember when you were in your early days at school and you drew those stick people pictures with a note or wish upon them? We all have wishes, deep inside of us. We look out upon the night sky, and find our star and make a wish. Wishes do come true! And <a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Wish Upon Your Star</span></a> is here to help you express them in your own way and with your own words without having to tell anyone who you are.<br /><br /><a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Wish Upon Your Star</span></a> is about self-expression. Whatever your wish is, light, hopeful, dark or simple, <a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Wish Upon Your Star</span></a> wants your wishes.<br /><br />*All wishes, whether sent by email or in regular mail - are posted anonymously at <a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Wish Upon Your Star</span></a>. The only thing that is posted is your Wish. No names, no addresses or email addresses.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Send Your Wish To Wish Upon Your Star</span></span></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/">Wish Upon Your Star @ http://wishuponyourstar.blogspot.com/</a><br /></div><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-51388633442035407692007-11-25T11:52:00.000+02:002007-11-25T11:59:40.071+02:00Yummy Pizza "Kosher style"Catherine Manna sent this recipe in, and was careful to make sure all the ingredients are kosher, which is greatly appreciated. Hang in there because there is a great deal to make and I will try to go step by step, adding a bit to Catherine's original instructions. We are actually going to learn how to make:<br /><ol><li>Pizza Dough</li><li>Cook Spinach Leaves</li><li>Roast Red Peppers (or any peppers)</li><li>Make Home Made Pizza</li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Yummy Pizza "Kosher style"</span></span><br /><br /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/pizza2.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li><img class="rpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/gadgets/Bread_Machine.jpg" border="0" />Pizza Dough (Using a bread machine)</li><li>Tomato sauce and Ranch Dressing mixed together</li><li>Grated cheeses Cheddar, mozzarella, feta, parmigiana<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.yvesveggie.ca/index.php?id=20">Yves Veggie Ground Round</a> (<img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/buttons/ou3.gif" border="0" /> - This product is certified kosher)<br /></li><li>Canned artichoke hearts</li><li>Cooked chopped spinach</li><li>Diced olives black or green (depends on your taste buds)<br /></li><li>Sliced hot peppers</li><li>Roasted red peppers sliced</li><li>Diced purple onions (Optional)<br /></li><li>Salt pepper and olive oil</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients For Pizza Dough:</span><br /><ol><li>1 1/8 cups water</li><li>1 tbsp Olive oil</li><li>1 tbsp Sugar</li><li>1 tsp Salt</li><li>1 cup Whole wheat or regular flour (depends on your own taste)<br /></li><li>2 cups Bread flour</li><li>1 1/4 tsp Yeast</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Pizza Pan</li><li>Skillet (frying pan) to cook the spinach leaves.</li><li>Bread Machine capable of making dough</li><li>Baking Sheet (for roasted Red Peppers)</li><li>Zip Lock Bags<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Recipe Directions:</span><br /><ol><li><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/gadgets/Bread_Machine_Control.gif" border="0" />Prepare dough in bread machine as follows:<br /><ul><li>Place all ingredients in the bread machine <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">in the order listed above</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">set it to create dough</span>.</li><li>When the machine finishes, roll out the dough on a floured cutting board.</li><li>Lay out the dough in the Pizza pan. You can use any pan actually, remember pizza does not have to be round! So shape the dough into the form you desire.</li><li>Cover the dough with a clean towel and let rise for 15 minutes (the yeast at work!)<br /></li></ul></li><li>The crust should be as thick or as this as you like it. 1/2 to 1 inch is great. (Remember thicker crust takes a longer time to cook!)<br /></li><li><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/vegspice/spinach.jpg" border="0" />Cook the spinach as follows:<br /><ul><li>Get Fresh Green Spinach (no yellow or brown leaves and if the bunch has some cut them away)</li><li>Wash the spinach well. Spinach can have dirt from the ground and some small bugs hanging on to those leaves.</li><li>Get rid of any hard leaves and any stems</li><li>Chop up the leaves (quarters or a bit smaller. No need to make itty bitty pieces.)</li><li>Put the spinach in a hot pan (skillet) with boiling water and keep on adding them.</li><li>In around 2-4 minutes the leaves should be wilted - but still bright green. This is when they are fully cooked.<br /></li></ul></li><li><img class="lpic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/vegspice/roastredpeppers.jpg" border="0" />Roast the Red Peppers as follows:<br /><ul><li>Cut the peppers in half and clean out all the seeds and insides.<br /></li><li>Place them on a baking sheet skin side up so the oven will "cook" that side.<br /></li><li>Place the sheet in a 350-400 degree oven and set it on broil.<br /></li><li>The skin will start to blacken and soften in 7-10 minutes.<br /></li><li>Once the skins are brownish-black, remove from the oven and immediately place the peppers in a large ziploc bag.<br /></li><li>Close and let sit for 20 minutes or so (or until the peppers have time to cool and "sweat").<br /></li><li>Once they have cooled you will be able to peel the skins right off.<br /></li></ul></li><li>Now we are ready for the Pizza! Take the dough you made above and lay it out in front of you.</li><li>Spread the sauce you mixed together evenly on the pizza dough.</li><li>Sprinkle some olive oil on the dough. Not too much..just one-two Teaspoon(s)</li><li>Sprinkle 1/2 of the amount of grated cheese you prepared over the pizza.</li><li>If you are using the "Yves Veggie Ground Round" place that over the cheese.</li><li>Remember in the following <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">lay it all out evenly over the dough</span>.<br /></li><li>Artichokes come next. (As many or as little as you like.)</li><li>Spinach leaves next.</li><li>Olives next.</li><li>Hot peppers next.</li><li>Roasted Peppers you prepared next.</li><li>Diced onions next.</li><li>Salt or pepper to taste.</li><li>1-2 more Teaspoon(s) of olive oil.</li><li>The rest of the grated cheese.<br /></li><li>Bake in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">pre-heated oven 400º Fahrenheit</span> bottom rack till bottom of crust is golden brown - about 20 to 25 minutes. - <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Pre-Heated oven is crucial to pizza. The heat should be even for that perfect pizza!</span> (Total Real Time depends on practice, experience, and checking it once in a while!)</li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/pizza1.jpg" border="0" /> <img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/pizza3.jpg" border="0" /></div><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t4s.png" border="0" />Because of the need to prepare the dough, spinach and red peppers this takes a great deal of work and a few utensils so it gets a four-star rating for difficulty. Of course you can shorten the time and difficulty by not using all these ingredients and vegetables or just not cooking the peppers etc. However, Catherine's recipe is a great one for home made pizza and well worth the entire effort. Remember add veggies and spices as you see fit and your taste buds desire!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-51511596211898813932007-11-22T15:30:00.000+02:002007-11-22T16:11:20.115+02:00One Year Old TodayIt was only a year ago when a wonderful woman suggested I open the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> Blog. It really had never crossed my mind before that point when on a Saturday night in November of 2006 she suggested the creation of this blog.<br /><br />In the year of writing about food and recipes I have met some wonderful people on-line. Some great cooks, some great story-tellers and some just plain great people. In truth, I never expected<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> to become as popular as it has within these past 12 months. I post the recipes but many personal emails come through which are wonderful to read and respond to.<br /><br />The Internet is a strange medium when you get down to it. But then again life is strange and always full of surprises. Sometimes things you think will never work, they don't have a chance in hell - become wildly popular. Other ideas you think are diamonds and full of possibilities simply languish on the by-ways of this virtual world.<br /><br />There are, as we all know, thousands of sites, and certainly thousands of Blogs devoted to the fine art of cooking and recipes. Food it seems is a never-ending fascination for many of us. How to make it, when to serve it, what traditions are involved in it. So the incredible success of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> never ceases to amaze me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> was begun from the perspective of a divorced parent who knows without a shadow of doubt, that there is a huge percentage of people who are interested in food and health. We often do not have the time to cook full meals for our children every single day. We admit to laziness and to a certain sense of saying "Oh NO! Not the kitchen again!" There are also many of us who just do not have any knowledge or information regarding the mysteries of the kitchen. Gourmet food is great for us - as long as someone else is cooking, paying and washing the dishes.<br /><br />You see it is fairly simple. There is usually a room in the house called the kitchen. Wonderful dishes <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">do not</span> magically appear in it. First one must shop for utensils and supplies and gadgets. Then one must shop for food and ingredients. Then one must make the food in question. Then one must clean the dirty plates, sweep under the table, wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen. We don't see any of those pictures in cook books. We see beautiful creations which are yummy and delicious and healthy for the most part.<br /><br />But we, we the people, we the plebeians who do not have full time cooks at our beck and call, we the parents, we the singles, we the married couples who have to work in other professions and not as chefs - get tired and frazzled and sad and hungry and need our sugar fixes and our carbohydrate highs and all the rest. We have moods. We get upset, we are ecstatic, we are full of life and from time to time we get a bit depressed when things do not go right. We need to deal with our children, our spouses, our dates (if we are lucky enough to get a date that is!), and all the rest. One child has temperature, the other needs some serious time alone with you, and the other needs to eat. NOW!<br /><br />I am sure, if you are a real person this all sounds familiar. Parents are by nature the greatest multi-taskers this universe has. And even if we only have one child, or we are grandparents and the years of child rearing are basically over, it really never ends. We are humans and thus for the most part relationships are part of life. They take work and time. So who the hell has time for the kitchen in the end result?<br /><br />We also have to make money to pay our bills. We have to buy the ingredients and food we use to feed ourselves and our families. We need to plan, think, wonder and pray all the time so we can continue to offer the best possible environment for ourselves, our spouses and our children.<br /><br />So <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> was born from reality. The recipes are never rated by how good they may be (as usually that is a matter of taste anyway) but how difficult they will be to make. And that includes the shopping for ingredients, the number of pots, pans, mixers, spoons and gadgets needed to create the dish.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> was never about gourmet cooking though I welcome gourmet recipe submissions. Nor was it ever about purely "healthy" dishes (according to the current diet fad of the year). It is about maintaining our sanity, specifically in a place where it is so easy to loose it - the kitchen!<br /><br />So on this day, a day which I celebrate with the rest of the United States, the holiday of Thanksgiving, where we look around and give thanks for all that we have and all that we are blessed with - is actually without planning, the birthday of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>.<br /><br />I look forward to the coming year. Making more friends, seeing more recipes, reading more stories, reviewing more books and writing about food.<br /><br />My wish to all of the readers of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>. May you have much to give thanksgiving for. May your lives be blessed with true fulfillment. May you achieve all you desire. May your prayers all be answered for the good. May we continue to grow and watch the world around us grow with wonder and beauty.<br /><br />Take a moment and look at your family, your loved ones, your significant other. Take a moment and smile at life. Forget the dishes and the sweat, the aggravation, the burnt rice. Forget it all. Remember - Count Your Blessings. And in counting them give hope and kindness to others.<br /><br />For one thing I have learned in life. When your heart is full of love - whatever dish you make in that kitchen will radiate the love in you.<br /><br />Thank you to all the readers of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen </span>for making this an incredibly successful and really fun place to be in virtual land. That too, has been a blessing for me.<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-2788551046837799842007-11-20T07:43:00.000+02:002007-11-20T08:03:26.939+02:00White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/truffles1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />For this, make a pound cake (Recipes for <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/02/pound-cake.html">Pound Cake</a> or <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/08/flavored-pound-cake.html">Flavored Pound Cake</a>). You can use a store bought cake if you choose<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>Pound Cake ( or any vanilla cake)</li><li>1 Package Sugar Free White Chocolate Pudding ( I used instant)</li><li>1 Package Non Fat – Dry Milk (powder)</li><li>1 Cup Water</li><li>2 Pint Raspberries</li><li>1 Quart Heavy Cream</li><li>1/4 Cup of Sugar</li><li>1 Bar White Chocolate</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>Mixer</li><li>Truffle Bowl or Pretty Glass dish</li><li>2 Medium Bowls</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Variations:</span><br /><ol><li>Use Non Dairy Whipped Topping</li><li>Use any flavor of pudding</li><li>Use any berries</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Prepare the pudding using the dry powdered milk and 1 Cup of water.<br /></li><li>Mix on high until blended and chill for 30 minutes.</li><li>In a large bowl, whip heavy cream on high, gradually adding sugar</li><li>Best results come from chilling the beaters and the mixing bowl for twenty minutes prior to whipping cream. </li><li>Starting with slices of pound cake, layer the cake, pudding, whipped cream and raspberries in the truffle bowl. </li><li>Be sure and reserve a few raspberries for the top</li><li>Using a grater, grate white chocolate bar to garnish the top. </li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />Paula has done it again with this sumptuous desert. Easy to make, and white chocolate is a favorite of mine (though some of the commercial stuff is way too sweet!). Gets a two star for difficulty.<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-62866422436079355402007-11-18T13:25:00.000+02:002007-11-18T13:26:03.033+02:00A Full Thanksgiving Dinner Menu<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/thanksgiving.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />I was musing on the Thanksgiving Dinner, when this submission came in, so it actually saved me a great deal of work! There are quite a few full recipes in this posting, and some links, so pick and choose what you like.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Thanksgiving Dinner</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/ThanksgivingFeast.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />From Paula who submitted this full Dinner Menu:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Some are intimidated with the thoughts of making a complete meal for a holiday such as this. My niece asked me to give her a menu plan for her first attempt at making Thanksgiving Dinner. I share the following with you as well.<br /><br />I start a few days before and prepare what can be made ahead. Items such as Cranberry Relish can be made weeks in advance.<br /><br />Some vegetables can be made a day ahead as well as desserts.<br /><br />The best way to approach is to start with a meal plan. Figure exactly what you want to serve your guests. Go through your list and see what can be made ahead. </blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 51);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Turkey</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/makeover1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />Keep in mind, if your turkey is frozen, you will need to allow enough time for it to thaw.<br /><br />Depending on the number of guests , the size of the turkey will range from 10 pounds to as large as 30 pounds. The cooking for the turkey is as follows at <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">325º (Fahrenheit) degrees</span>:<br /><ul><li>10 – 18 pounds cook without stuffing - for 3 – 3.5 hours<br /></li><li>10 – 18 pounds cook stuffed - for 3.5 – 4.5 hours</li></ul><ul><li>18 – 22 pounds cook without stuffing - for 3.5 – 4 hours</li><li>18 – 22 pounds cook stuffed - for 4.5 – 5 hours</li></ul><ul><li>22 – 24 pounds cook without stuffing - for 4 – 4.5 hours</li><li>22 – 24 pounds cook stuffed - for 5 – 5.5 hours</li></ul><ul><li>24 – 30 pounds cook without stuffing - for 4.5 – 5 hours</li><li>24 – 30 pounds cook stuffed - 5.5 – 6.5 hours</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Other Ingredients For Turkey:</span><br /><br />(The amount used below depends upon the size of the turkey, so plan accordingly. Numbers below are suggestions.)<br /><ol><li>6 Celery sticks</li><li>6 Carrots (peeled and cut into halves or thirds)</li><li>4 Onions (peeled and optionally cut into halves or quarters)<br /></li><li>2-3 Tablespoons of meat/chicken/turkey seasoning inside the cavity<br /></li><li>Some fresh sage</li></ol>Most people prefer to cook the turkey without the stuffing inside. After cleaning the inside, let it dry and add celery sticks, carrots and onions (peeled) with a little bit of seasoning inside the cavity and pat the outside with sage.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A trick for white meat that does not dry out, cook the turkey Upside down on a Rack inside the roasting pan. This allows for all of the juices to run down , into the white meat.</span><br /><br />The turkey will take up the oven for a good portion of the morning , unless you have another oven, it will take some planning to make sure all of your items are done and ready for dinner.<br /><br />Now we have finished with the Turkey, let us move on to the rest of the meal:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Typical Menu For Thanksgiving</span></span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Apple.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><ol><li>2 – 24 -30 pound turkeys</li><li>Sweet Potato Casserole (can be made the day before) - Recipe Below or <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/02/sweet-potato-pancakes.html">Click Here For The Recipe @ Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen for Sweet Potato Pancakes</a> or for the Recipe of <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/sweet-potatoes-yams-with-twist-of.html">Sweet Potatoes (Yams) With A Twist Of Orange & Marshmallow</a><br /></li><li>Green Beans ( can be made the day before)</li><li>Butternut Squash (can be made the day before)</li><li>Carrots with Honey glaze (can be made the day before)</li><li>Bread Stuffing (can be made the day before)</li><li>Cranberry Relish (can be made weeks ahead)</li><li>Olives (purchased)</li><li>Apple Pie (can be made the day before) - Some Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen for Apple Cake & Apple Pie - <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/apple-cake.html">Apple Cake #1</a>, <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/10/apple-cake.html">Apple Cake #2</a>, <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/fruit-pies-apple-pie.html">Fruit Pies (Apple Pie)</a>, <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/10/apple-turnovers.html">Apple Turnovers</a><br /></li><li>Pumpkin Bread - <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/11/pumpkin-bread.html">Click Here For The Recipe @ Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen for Pumpkin Bread</a> or <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2006/11/banana-bread.html">Click Here For The Recipe @ Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen for Banana Bread</a> (if you prefer something different)</li><li>Fried Rice<br /></li><li>Lemon Meringue Pie ( can be made the day before) - <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2007/05/lemon-meringue-pie.html">Click Here For The Recipe @ Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen for Lemon Meringue Pie</a><br /></li><li>Variety of Cookies and Cupcakes for the children (can be made a day or two ahead)<br /><a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Cookies">Cookie Recipes @ Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</a><br /><a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Cakes">Cake Recipes @ Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</a><br /></li></ol><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Cranberry Relish</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/cranberry1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />*This is best made at least two days ahead<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Grand_Manier.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>2 pounds Fresh Cranberries</li><li>2 Cups Sugar</li><li>1/2 Cup Cranberry Juice</li><li>1/4 Cup Grand Mariner (you may substitute orange zest and orange juice)</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:<br /></span><ol><li> One Large Pan</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Combine Cranberries, sugar and cranberry juice</li><li>Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes (cranberries will open)</li><li>Skim foam from the top and discard</li><li>Remove from heat and add Grand Mariner, stir to blend in</li><li>Allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate.</li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sweet Potato Casserole</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Casserole2.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />*you can increase the amount depending on your needs<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>4 – 5 Large Sweet Potatoes</li><li>1/2 Pound Margarine</li><li>Salt and Pepper to taste</li><li>1/4 Cup Maple Syrup</li><li>1/4 Cup Honey</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Large bowl</li><li>Masher</li><li>1 – 9 x 13 Baking dish</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>You can either peel, cube and boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender, (approx 20 minutes)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Or</span>: Bake them for an hour (wrap in aluminum and bake at 375 degrees<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Or</span> *YIKES* Microwave them.. be sure and wash them, poke with a fork and micro for 7 – 10 minutes </li><li>Once they are cooked, place in a bowl</li><li>Add margarine , honey, salt and pepper</li><li>Mash until lumps are gone</li><li>Place in baking dish and drizzle maple syrup over them.</li><li>You can refrigerate them now and heat in oven the next day for 35-40 minutes (350 degrees)</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Green Beans</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Green_beans.jpg" border="0" /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span>*Use a steamer for making green beans. Make them fresh, right before the meal, otherwise they will become limp and soggy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>1 – 1.5 pounds Green Beans</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><ol><li>Vegetable Steamer</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Snap off ends </li><li>Place in Steamer and steam for 10 minutes</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">If you do not have a steamer</span>, you may cook them in a pan of water until tender. It will take a bit longer this way ( approx 30 minutes)<br /></li></ol><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Butternut Squash</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/squash.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>2 Squash, peeled and cubed </li><li>1/2 Cup Brown Sugar</li><li>1/2 Cup Margarine</li><li>Salt and Pepper to taste</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>1- 4 quart pan </li><li>1 – Baking dish</li><li>Masher</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Place cubes of squash in 4 quart pan, cover with water.</li><li>Cook over medium heat until boils</li><li>Boil for 10 minutes ( just fork tender)</li><li>Drain and add margarine, brown sugar, salt and pepper</li><li>Mash until blended</li><li>Pour into baking dish</li><li>Refrigerate (if made the day before)</li><li>Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes prior to serving</li></ol><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Honey Glazed Carrots</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/honeyglazedcarrots.jpg" border="0" /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br />Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Package Baby Carrots (16 oz)</li><li>1/4 Cup Honey</li><li>1/4 Cup Margarine</li><li>1 /4 Cup Bourbon</li><li>1/4 Cup Water</li></ol><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>A Large Sauce pan</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>In a large pan , place honey, margarine, bourbon and water </li><li>Heat over high heat and bring to a boil</li><li>Add Carrots and reduce heat to a simmer</li><li>Stirring occasionally</li><li>Cook for 15-20 minutes (until carrots are tender)</li><li>And liquid is reduced.</li><li>You can store in the refrigerator and heat in casserole dish just before serving.</li></ol><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Bread Stuffing</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/stuff3.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br />*Best to make the night before and bake the next day<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Loaf Oatmeal Bread</li><li>1 Loaf Wheat Bread </li><li>3 Red Peppers (diced)</li><li>3 Italian Green Peppers (diced)</li><li>2 Apples (peeled, cored , sliced)</li><li>6 Stalks Celery</li><li>2 Bunches Scallions</li><li>2 Eggs</li><li>1/2 Cup Seasoning ( I use a blend of rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme and pepper)</li><li>4 Tablespoons Olive Oil</li></ol><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>A skillet</li><li>Casserole Dish</li><li>A large Bowl</li><li>Small bowl of water</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Heat oil in skillet</li><li>Add peppers, celery, and scallions.</li><li>Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of seasoning</li><li>Saute until tender, set aside</li><li>Take a few slices of bread, dip in bowl of water, squeeze out exess, place bread in large bowl. Continue this until all the bread is in the bowl</li><li>Add two eggs and the rest of the seasoning</li><li>Mix with your hands until well blended</li><li>Add sauté mixture (cooled) and continue to mix with your hands</li><li>Place in Casserole dish and bake for 1 ½ hours at 350 degrees.</li><li>I add a little of the pan drippings from the turkey over the stuffing before baking. It adds a nice flavor and keeps the stuffing a little moist.</li></ol><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Fried Rice</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/Rice1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><br /> 1. 2 Cups Rice<br /> 2. 1 Cup Celery ( chopped small)<br /> 3. 1 Bunch of Scallions (chopped small)<br /> 4. 1 Red Pepper (chopped small)<br /> 5. 1 Green Pepper (chopped small)<br /> 6. 1 Cup Bean Sprouts ( cut in half)<br /> 7. 1 ½ Cups Warm Water<br /> 8. 1 Stick of Margarine (as usual Teddy's kitchen would use Extra Virgin Oil here and not margarine - but that is up to you.)<br /> 9. ½ Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce<br /> 10. 2 Eggs Scrambled (optional)<br /><br />***Rice is made while raw. Do not pre-cook.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><br /> 1. Melt stick of margarine in pan (with deep sides) over medium heat.<br /> 2. Add Celery, Scallions, Peppers, and Bean Sprouts.<br /> 3. Saute until veggies become transparent or less crisp.<br /> 4. Add Rice and mix well. Add water and mix well.<br /> 5. Lower heat and cover pan.<br /> 6. Checking rice frequently, cook until water is gone.<br /> 7. Add Soy Sauce (and scrambled egg) and mix well.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/MyPics/sesame_street_thanksgiving.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t5s.png" border="0" />What can you say, except we should all be invited to such a sumptuous and great Thanksgiving Dinner! Enjoy, and count your blessings!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-84816066188013769192007-11-17T19:04:00.000+02:002007-11-18T20:03:13.070+02:00Cinnamon RollsThis is simply plain yummy and a weakness of mine actually. So when Paula sent this in with some great pictures as well - I had to post immediately. She wrote:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Bread Machines are one of the better inventions I ever invested in. It saves time and a lot of hand work. My father loves his sweets and this is one of his favorite desserts. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">It appears as a lot of work, but the machine does all of the work.</span><br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Cinnamon Rolls (Using bread machine)</span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/cr4.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />(Final Stage - Baked & Glazed)<br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Cup of Warm Water</li><li>1 Egg</li><li>3 Cups Bread Flour</li><li>1/4 Cup Sugar</li><li>1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt</li><li>5 Tablespoons Butter (Softened)</li><li>1 Teaspoon Instant Yeast</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients For Filling:</span><br /><ol><li>1/2 Cup Brown Sugar</li><li>3 Tablespoons Cinnamon</li><li>1/2 Cup Raisins (optional)</li><li>4 Tablespoons Butter (softened)</li></ol><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients For Glaze:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Cup Confectioners Sugar</li><li>4 oz Cream Cheese Softened</li><li>3 Tablespoons Butter (softened)</li><li>1 Teaspoon Vanilla</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need :</span><br /><ol><li>Bread Machine</li><li>Rolling Pin</li><li>Baking Sheet</li><li>2 Bowls</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">*Keep in mind, all bread machines will have their own instructions as to the order you place the ingredients in. I listed them in the order mine calls for.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Place all ingredients in bread machine pan and set for dough.</li><li>When it is done with the cycle ( approx 1.5 hours)</li><li>Place in a bowl and cover until dough doubles in size (about an hour)</li><li>Place dough on floured surface and roll out (Roll this out very thin because you are going to roll it and slice it - about 1/4 inch)<br /></li><li>Spread softened butter over rolled out dough</li><li>In small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon</li><li>Spread brown sugar and cinnamon over rolled out dough</li><li>Add Raisins</li><li>Start at one of the outsides and roll dough towards center and complete rolling until it is all rolled tight</li><li>Slice 1” slices</li><li>Place slices on baking sheet, close together and bake for 35 – 45 minutes at 350 degrees.</li><li>In a separate bowl mix confectioners sugar, cream cheese and vanilla and butter.<br /></li><li>Drizzle over rolls while they are warm.</li></ol><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/cr1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />(Dough Rolled)<br /><br /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/cr2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />(Pre-Cooked)<br /><br /><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/cr3.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />(Cooked Before Glaze)<br /></div> <hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t3s.png" border="0" />Love this one. Completely. Bread machines though, are not for everyone. However, this really makes it easy to make these delicious Cinnamon Rolls. These will be scarfed, stolen by the kids and eaten before you can blink! (If you use margarine instead of butter and leave out the cream cheese and you can keep them Parve as well!).<br /><br />ETA: Paula wrote back after this posting:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">You were right with your comment on the cinnamon rolls.. I made them Wednesday night for Thursday's gathering.. by the time I got home from work.. my sisters, their children and my parents had eaten them ALL..<br /></blockquote><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-48220308834458457832007-11-15T10:00:00.000+02:002007-11-15T23:06:00.425+02:00Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese FrostingPaula has been real busy in the kitchen lately.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">This is an easy recipe and don’t be surprised if the sides stick to the pan. I run a hot knife around the sides several times before attempting to transfer it to a cake dish. Also note for some reason this cake tends to sink in the middle which you can hide with frosting. </span><br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/menus04.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>4 Eggs (I use Jumbo)</li><li>1 1/2 Cups Canola Oil</li><li>2 Cups Flour</li><li>1 1/2 Cups Sugar</li><li>2 Teaspoons Baking Soda</li><li>2 Teaspoons Baking Powder</li><li>2 Teaspoons Cinnamon</li><li>3 Cups Grated Carrots</li><li>1 Cup chopped Walnuts or Pecans (Optional)</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Large Bowl</li><li>1 Electric Mixer</li><li>1 9 x 13 Baking (Cake) Pan</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Variations:</span><br /><ol><li>Add 1 Cup of Raisins</li><li>Use Zucchini in addition or in place of Carrots</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Combine Eggs and Oil and mix until blended</li><li>Add Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Cinnamon</li><li>Mix until well Blended</li><li>Add Carrots and Nuts and mix with a spoon until well blended </li><li>Pour into a greased baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients For Frosting:</span><br /><ol><li>1 pound confectioners sugar</li><li>8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)</li><li>1/2 Cup Margarine or Butter (Softened)</li><li>1 Teaspoon Vanilla</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions For Frosting:</span><br /><ol><li>Blend until smooth</li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t3s.png" border="0" />The cheese frosting from Cream Cheese can actually be used on any cake so it would be in place to remember it and put that away for any cake as well. It does make the cake a "milk" cake for Kosher people, but still it sounds delicious (and fattening as well!). Of course this gets 3-stars for difficulty though it is not an overwhelming chore. Enjoy.<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-75934920747160375092007-11-14T08:51:00.000+02:002007-11-14T08:51:28.199+02:00Vegetable Egg Rolls (Revisited)This recipe was submitted to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> before, but now pictures of the dish have been sent along to show off the dish as well.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >Vegetable Egg Rolls</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/VERollsuncook.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">(Before Cooking)</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>2 Cups Shredded Red Cabbage</li><li>1 Cup Shredded Green Cabbage</li><li>1 Cup Shredded Carrots</li><li>2 Cups Chopped Bean Sprouts</li><li>4 Chopped Scallions</li><li>2 Thinly sliced Red Peppers</li><li>2 Tablespoons Sugar</li><li>1/2 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce</li><li>1 Package Egg Roll Wraps ( 20 per package)</li><li>2 Teaspoons Olive Oil</li><li>Canola oil for frying</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>Heat olive oil in skillet or fryer with deep sides</li><li>Add both Cabbages, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Scallions and Peppers</li><li>Stir</li><li>Let saute for 5 minutes</li><li>Add soy sauce and stir</li><li>Add sugar and stir</li><li>Lower heat to low and cover for 5 minutes, stirring often</li><li>Drain off juice</li><li>Use 1/3 Cup of mixture in each Egg Roll wrap</li><li>Place mixture in the middle of Egg Roll wrap, fold bottom up , then sides over and roll</li><li>Using a pastry brush, moisten edge of Egg Roll wrap to hold in place. ( package shows directions)</li><li> Heat canola oil in large skillet or fryer to 375 degrees ( trick: end of wooden spoon placed in pan bubbles, oil is ready)</li><li>Fry until golden brown, turning once. approx 5 minutes.</li></ol><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/VERolls.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />Simple. Easy. Great Appetizer. Great for just a normal supper, or as an appetizer with a big meal. Home made are really much better than store-bought. And will get you out of the kitchen in no time!<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags" style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories" rel="t"></a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-15346280673671837372007-11-13T10:14:00.000+02:002007-11-13T10:15:10.856+02:00Pumpkin BreadWith Thanksgiving almost upon us - here is a recipe for Pumpkin Bread from Paula.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/fimk/UserPhotos/PumpkinBread1.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>2 Cups of Pumpkin</li><li>2 Cups Flour</li><li>2/3 Cup Brown Sugar</li><li>2 Teaspoons Baking Powder</li><li>1 Teaspoons Baking Soda</li><li>2 Teaspoons Cinnamon</li><li>1 Teaspoon Nutmeg</li><li>4 Eggs ( I use Jumbo)</li><li>1 Cup Canola Oil</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">You will need:</span><br /><ol><li>1 Large Bowl</li><li>1 Small bowl</li><li>1 Whisk</li><li>Either 2 Loaf pans or 1 Cake pan, or 1 Bundt Pan</li></ol> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><ol><li>In a small bowl , mix Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Cinnamon until blended. </li><li>In large bowl, whisk eggs and pumpkin together until blended</li><li>Add in oil and whisk until smooth</li><li>Gradually add flour mixture and whisk until blended. </li><li>Pour into greased pan(s) and bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 55 minutes </li></ol><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Variations:</span><ol><li>Add 1 Cup of Nuts</li><li>Add 1 Cup of Raisins</li><li>Serve with Fresh whipped cream</li><li>Dust top with Powdered Sugar</li></ol><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t2s.png" border="0" />Not difficult to make and promises to be a hit at any Thanksgiving Meal. Really worth the time in the kitchen.<br /><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9012939966701352894.post-17402905983988413232007-11-12T13:53:00.000+02:002008-12-10T00:37:50.602+02:00Italian Meatballs Kosher StyleThe following recipe was placed in one of the comments by Catherine Manna. It is good, though you really have to deal with Catherine's refusal to measure out spices (I have tried to help a bit in that area.) She made it a great effort to keep this one kosher, however in her original submission she said she either used ground beef or buffalo meat... so we have to nix the buffalo! (ETA: Thanks to the comment by <a href="http://www.jugglingfrogs.com/">Juggling Frogs</a> in this recipe, buffalo meat <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">is</span> bison meat, and thus it is kosher. So no need to nix the buffalo!) I worked on the ingredients for approximately 2 pounds of ground beef. I left the directions alone, basically in Catherine's own format.<br /><br />She writes:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">I never measure anything, but it always turns out great!, {ok, 99 percent of the time!} First you need the right ingredients...Kosher that is..<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Note: Since I'm Italian i had to learn the Kosher ways, and one of the cheeses which you wouldn't use in this meal anyways, is that some cheeses has renet in it. and one of them is parmigiana Reggiano, i think most aged hard cheese may have this as well but check the labels. Because thats not Kosher.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">These meatballs go great with or without spaghetti, even in subs...No Cheese on these! make this meal a Kosher one Indeed!</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />I have Never felt better since I have learned the "Kosher ways" of eating and living. The No meat and cheese mixed together Rule!!! Proves a healthy one hands down!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">"Kosher Rocks" !!!</span><br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">Italian Meatballs Kosher Style</span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkba_zzla8BO9QDhW5lzTDSnTnrbMuiUMpolAhtby8zqUtQ05YaQZ3bhx6H2f8SnkLO-GDR28FYWQzLZS1XOOJAlxAI9bCc_CKBIgVTls-ljQAYsXgd6BUGkk1DxneuUnHt9mh6MCx6B5B/s1600-h/meatballs2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkba_zzla8BO9QDhW5lzTDSnTnrbMuiUMpolAhtby8zqUtQ05YaQZ3bhx6H2f8SnkLO-GDR28FYWQzLZS1XOOJAlxAI9bCc_CKBIgVTls-ljQAYsXgd6BUGkk1DxneuUnHt9mh6MCx6B5B/s400/meatballs2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131917909177685874" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span><br /><ol><li>Two pounds Ground Lean Beef</li><li>One large or two medium potatoes</li><li>One medium or large egg</li><li>Ketchup</li><li>One Finely grated onion</li><li>1 Teaspoon Pepper<br /></li><li>1 Tablespoon Salt</li><li>1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil<br /></li><li>1 Teaspoon Oregano</li><li>1 Teaspoon Dijion Mustard</li><li>1 Teaspoon Garlic minced if you like only</li><li>1 Tablespoon olive oil</li><li>4 Tablespoons bread crumbs</li><li>Homemade or store bought tomato sauce</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utensils You Need:</span><br /><br />1. Mixing Bowl<br />2. Frying Pan (suggested Iron)<br />3. Casserole Dish<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span><br /><br />Here I basically leave Catherine's directions as they are. These are obviously not in the normal <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span> format.<br /><br />A few pounds of Ground Lean beef - (let us make that <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">two pounds</span>)<br /><br />Then: In a big bowl, I mix the meat and I grate a large potato, or 2 medium ones {this will make the meatballs so tender and tasty}<br /><br />Then: add one egg<br /><br />Then: Since I don't measure anything, you'll have to use your "Good judgment" {in this case you're allowed to do that} and after mixing it good, your ready to spice it up!<br /><br />I use:<br /><ol><li>a little bit of Ketchup,<br /></li><li>finely Grated onion</li><li>pepper</li><li>salt</li><li>a little bit of bbq sauce</li><li>and spices like seasoning salt</li><li>basil fresh if you have<br /></li><li>oregano</li><li>this imporant ingredient just a bit of dijion Mustard - not too much though</li><li>Garlic minced if you like only</li><li>a bit of olive oil in the mix</li></ol>Then:<br /><br />add and mix really good enough bread crumbs {you might want to add spices to them yourself and salt first though} mix to make your meatballs.<br /><br />Then:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYgP8t-pgiQo7MrNv9tVTa4eVbftMiNNVhWoy8D2qKtCVdQpV7ADVmXh4cECMTNsjfckhT_N7XKTnDKTjSS4FMCZmligs8femTZI_dukbbnhh0SfP2dU8MPF2VFk8AgvUguNpLrjQTdMa/s1600-h/meatballs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYgP8t-pgiQo7MrNv9tVTa4eVbftMiNNVhWoy8D2qKtCVdQpV7ADVmXh4cECMTNsjfckhT_N7XKTnDKTjSS4FMCZmligs8femTZI_dukbbnhh0SfP2dU8MPF2VFk8AgvUguNpLrjQTdMa/s400/meatballs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131917471091021666" border="0" /></a><br />fry golden brown each side in olive oil, cast Iron pan if you have one, then bake in pre-heated oven 350 with your own homemade tomato sauce in a nice casserole for about and hour, or more check it, more you cook more tender, and the grated potatoes {unlike the eggs} makes these meatballs so tender they melt in your mouth! really truly and honestly!!<br /><br />Your kids will love them...bake in the middle of the oven...<br /><hr /><img class="leftmypic" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i315/teddygross/cookbook/t3s.png" border="0" />The recipe here is fairly easy. Once you have the ingredients and mix them together, the trick is to fry and then bake the casserole. I would say you can skip the frying part, but this is Catherine's recipe. She is also looking for more Italian Recipes - good recipes for <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search?q=meatballs"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kosher Meatballs</span></a> and <a href="http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search?q=Lasagna"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kosher Lasagna</span></a> (click on each to find all entries on meatballs or Lasagna in <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen</span>) <a href="mailto::timetobelievefoundation@yahoo.ca">To Email Catherine Click Here</a>. Catherine writes:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"am always looking to improve on that one with any new tasty ideas, actually any Italian foods..thanks"</blockquote><hr /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tags: </span><span class="tags"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baking" rel="tag">Baking</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Related+Appliances" rel="tag">Cooking Related Appliances</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Humorous+Stories" rel="tag">Humorous Stories</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ingredients" rel="tag">Ingredients</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Appliance" rel="tag">Kitchen Appliance</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Parve+%28Meat+or+Milk%29+Recipe" rel="tag">Parve (Meat or Milk) Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kitchen+Utensils" rel="tag">Kitchen Utensils</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher" rel="tag">Kosher</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meat+Recipe" rel="tag">Meat Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Milk+Recipe" rel="tag">Milk Recipe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kosher+Home" rel="tag">Kosher Home</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Spices" rel="tag">Spices</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Single+Parenting" rel="tag">Single Parenting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vegetarian" rel="tag">Vegetarian</a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking+Stories+" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cooking Stories</span> </a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen"
Ted William Gross
http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6