Anyone in the building knows my favourite time of day is mealtime (breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper). I've been able to "log on" to an internet "community" and share some of my experiences with food (72 years: I think you could say I've "acquired" a lot of taste over the decades!).
Here's some of the 'hot topics' we're discussing in my community:
(By the way, when you see Charlie1250840 it's me: seems there's a lot of other Charlies in my foodcommunity, that was what they said I should call myself!)
TOPIC: FISH
alibella:
This year my husband and i decided that our family is going to eat more healthy. We really want to start eating fish something i have never made. My question is how long should i cook it for. A lot of recipe says to cook it for 7 minutes on each side. Is that enough???
Charlie1250840:
Once the batter is golden brown, pull it out of the grease vat and it's ready to go!
Culeen1:
I don't have much experience with fish. Can I use Crisco or lard in the grease vat?
t.boisterous:
Using a "grease vat" of any kind- totally destroys the health benefits of eating fish in the first place. Preferably fish should be baked, broiled or poached until easily flakes with a fork (generally about 10 minutes per inch). If you must fry it- pan fry it in a small amount of olive or canola oil over medium (to medium-high) heat, in a non-stick skillet. Please don't dip your poor little healthy fish into a "grease-vat"- unless you happen to work at Long John Silvers (in which case you have no choice)
NEW TOPIC: Quick Comfort Food
Sus1986:
Hi, this is Sus from Kraft.
What is your favorite way to cook up comfort food quickly? Share your favorite tips here!
Charlie1250840:
Cooking in the microwave is a great way to heat up food really fast, that's one of my favorite ways to do snacks and comfort food. Some have buttons that say "baked potato" and pop"corn" but these don't affect the flavour of your food.
NEW TOPIC: Mommy playdate
SubmarineWife9:
I am hosting my daughter's first playdate in our home and I am so confused as to what to serve for the mommies. Most are watching what they eat so any ideas or recipes are greatly appreciated!!
Charlie1250840:
A quick and easy snack is Lunchables, just buy 1.5 per mommy
Culeen:
I especially like the hot dog Lunchable. Teeny tiny dogs with teeny tiny buns. And always a candy treat at the end!
NEW TOPIC: A Black Walnut Warning!
Helium:
I have some black walnuts that were harvested in October, cracked open and picked out early January 08, then placed in my freezer for a couple of weeks. I made a "black walnut" pie today, using the walnuts instead of pecans. The recipe called for 1/3 cup of butter or margarine. I added the butter without thinking of what the walnuts would do. After a half hour of baking, I tested it and found it needing more time. After forty-five minutes, I took it out to have a look at it. Usually, these pies are done in 25-30 minutes so something had to be up. What I found was a puddle of oil sitting on top. I grabbed a turkey baster and drew off as much oil as I could, and then sopped up more oil with four or five paper towels. Then I stuck it in the oven for eight more minutes. It finished baking, I let it cool down for several hours. It was a mess because of my fooling around with it, but it was sooooo good! I tasted the oil; it was heavily walnut flavored. All I can guess is that the nuts were very oily to begin with and the baking let the oil out. I wrote a note above the pie recipe to NOT add butter if I am going to make a black walnut pie instead of pecan. I don't know if this is a typical thing with black walnuts or not, but I thought I should pass it along.
Charlie1250840:
A good story! You really drew me in when the character decided to make a pecan pie out of walnuts. I wondered where it was going at first and then all this oil started to show up! It's good the leave with a cliffhanger ending but I hope you'll add more to the post, maybe with a bit of the science behind the oily pie.
The title "A Black Walnut Warning" is great and I think could even be expanded into a series
NEW TOPIC: Pakistani Recipes
lejfluf:
I am a Girl Scout Leader and we are coming up on Thinking Day next weekend. We pick a country that has Girl Scouts/Guides and research that country. We need to cook a food fron that country that is very simple to make. We share this food with other G.S. Troops. I have printed out "Fruit Chat" from adnanbaig68. Any other ideas? It must be made 24hrs ahead of time and needs to be served cold (have no way to keep food hot). It needs to be simple that 9-11 yr olds can do. Thanks Rita
Charlie1250840:
Rice (from China) is a simple food to cook, which I believe you boil or "steam' and can be eaten cold.
Another simple food from another country is nachos, from Mexico which should be easy to do, you can just have the troops dip the nachos in salsa for the "cooking" part.
Finally, my last suggestion is from England, a mashed potatoe. I'm not sure it would taste as good if cold, but the kids would sure have fun "mashing".
Tamire:
Charlie.... all good suggestions but I think this poster was looking for easy recipes that can be served cold from Pakistan... I got nothing, sorry to say. But you done good for the other countries they might pick next time around...
Okay, that's it for now, Melvin's been standing BEHIND ME for TOO long but I know he doesn't like to sit in a cold chair so up I get.
