tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39314463914926134702024-03-12T18:44:25.159-07:00Channeling HelenAll Matters Epicurean and Intoxicating. At home, out and about, and via the idiot box.Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-14233888975213213592011-05-06T14:50:00.000-07:002011-05-06T15:09:02.747-07:00The Pros and Cons of Unemployment<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wow, just over three months ago, I sung to the rafters my glee to finally be working in the Irish Pub I have loved for three plus years. Yet today, I find myself sacked, canned, and given the boot. The manager whose iconoclasm initially struck me as an asset turned out to be anything but; a liability who repeatedly told employees to "shut up", called customers cocks, bitches, and assholes behind their backs (though has still been overheard more than once), and referred to one attractive hostess as an "amenity' he hired for the male customers. In fact, he was the most unfriendly and ill-mannered in my employment history. And that's saying something. I <i>am</i> old, after all. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As part of dusting myself off and packing up my troubles in my old kit bag (smiles everyone), I've decided to compose a pro and con list about my new predicament/opportunity.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pro- I'll have more time for housework. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Con- I'll have more time for housework.</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Con- My beer budget has severely decreased.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Pro- My weight loss chances have exponentially increased due to lack of beer consumption.</i></span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pro- I'll no longer have to look at stringy, oily hair pulled into a ragged ponytail and meant to cover a bald spot.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Con- My own hair will become stringy and oily as I'll have nowhere I am meant to be other than home.</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pro- I won't have to deal with disgruntled customers (honestly, they were few and far between other than those who complained about the aforementioned manager).</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Con- I'll start talking to people in grocery store lines again due to lack of social interaction.</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Con II- My teenagers are far more disgruntled than any customer. I'd like someone to gruntle them now.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Con- Paying the mortgage will be challenging if not impossible.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Pro- Appreciating the ability to once again accomplish this feat will be that much sweeter when it reoccurs. And it will reoccur, damn it.</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Con- I'll miss my favorite Irish Pub, its atmosphere, and its people, those employed there and those who frequent there.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Pro</i>- <i><b>I really don't have a pro to this one, which hurts most of all.</b> I still love that place as if it were my own and am saddened that its owners have decided to stay with a manager that drives people away more than he attracts them.</i> Let's see... I'll save gas and vehicle wear and tear by not driving there and back. See? I can be practical when pushed into it!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That last one robbed me of the last of my inner steam so I'll leave it there. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My hopes? </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That I am wrong, completely wrong, about Unpleasant Manager. That O'Donoghue's thrives like it never has before and becomes a permanent and wanted part of the North Scottsdale social scene. That all the people I have met and grown to love remember me as fondly as I will them.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm going back to my art business for now, I already have orders within an hour of announcing </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">its reincarnation </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">via Facebook . Let's make that my final "pro" and end here.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Ádh mór a chara. Beidh tú i gcuimhne i gcónaí. </b><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><i>Good luck my friend. You will always be remembered.</i></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-48769397969274588112011-02-06T09:19:00.000-08:002011-02-06T09:34:59.150-08:00She's Happily Employed...<i><b>...But too busy to bake right now.</b></i><br />
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Over the years, I have tried to work in different fields, spent boring hours doing admin work, weathered months in cubicle hell, and created artwork in too many mediums. The truth of the matter is I like the restaurant business. It's fast-paced and profitable. The hours fly by as I meet and entertain a variety of people, serve yummy food and drinks, and listen to dance-inspiring tunage, some of it live. Running around for long periods of time forces fitness into my loathe-to-exercise form; joking around with customers and coworkers provides needed social interaction without the costs of entertainment. It's still work, mighty hard work at times; but, in the grand scheme of things, pretty darned fun.<br />
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<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=davenlar&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0500514283&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>My new place of employment is an Irish Pub, my favorite watering hole with Guinness on tap and fish and chips and potato leek soup at the ready. I've been frequenting <a href="http://www.scottsdaleirishpub.com/">O'Donoghue's</a> for the three years it has been open and have applied there three times now. The third time was the charm, as predicted by the superstitious sphere, and I am thrilled to be there.<br />
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In contrast to the staid golf club that was my last employer, where I had Evil Mr Monk as my direct supervisor, the atmosphere at the pub is easy-going and empowering. My pony-tailed laid back boss told me to take ownership of my tables, which translates to "make your own decisions and don't come to me for every nitpicking thing". He is the polar opposite of Evil Mr Monk who used his Napoleon-like wingspan to make sure each table was equidistant from the next, who hovered over me as I worked, and who repeated instructions often five times before each special event. Honestly, I don't know how I worked for him as long as I did. Oh, yes, the quest for filthy lucre.<br />
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The golf club provided a restrictive and staid working environment that I am glad to be free of. I just wish I had realized this sooner but sometimes this hard head of mine takes some drumming to learn its lessons.<br />
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<a href="http://www.defendmydomain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/guinness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.defendmydomain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/guinness.jpg" width="174" /></a>By the way, in addition to fun and money, I get a special treat at the end of each day, a pint of that cascading goodness that is Guinness on tap. Life is good. <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=davenlar&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000G6ONGK" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
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<i>An Addendum: When my brother-in-law, whose wife Linda is a confirmed shoe addict, learned where I was working, he exclaimed, "Lauren working in an Irish pub? That's like Linda getting a job in a shoe store. You may as well just sign your checks over to the place now."</i><br />
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<h1 class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-size: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><i>Sláinte!</i></span></h1><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-50434639888398603622011-01-30T14:36:00.000-08:002011-01-30T14:40:15.826-08:00"The Pastry Queen", Royally Untested for Home Kitchens<div><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=davenlar&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1580085628&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Okay, that is a premature judgment, one that may hold water in the long run or not. To date, however, I have tried two recipes from "The Pastry Queen, royally good recipes from the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe". Each produced far more than what the yield predicted and each produced mixed results. </div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://channelinghelen.blogspot.com/2011/01/fugue-at-350-degrees-fahrenheit.html">You may recall</a> that in the past week, my kitchen has hosted Muffinpalooza and, by request of the Pint-Sized Farmer and because I was bored with blueberry and strawberry, I searched online for a good orange muffin recipe. The one that sounded the best to me referenced this cookbook as its source. "<a href="http://annies-eats.net/2010/04/16/orange-muffins/">Essence of Orange Muffins</a>" contain fresh-squeezed orange juice, grated orange zest, and all things real (I have a personal rule against using recipes that call for Crisco or margarine or, though it does not apply here, canned cream soups). The predicted yield? 8 Texas-sized muffins, which I translated, incorrectly, as one dozen regular-sized muffins. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Yes, I should have known better when the recipe called for 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and a full cup of butter. My go-to blueberry muffin recipe calls for a scant 1 1/2 cups of flour and 6 Tbsp butter. But this was the seventh time I had made muffins in as many days. I, the Muffin Maker, was punchy and soldiered on without judgment until I realized I had enough for more than two dozen muffins. Since I have teenage boys in the house, this wasn't an issue of who's going to eat all these muffins, and they received glowing reviews; but, I am against prevaricating recipes. I'm the Congressman Joe Wilson of The State of the Kitchen Address.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Nevertheless, I ordered the cookbook. Last October, during a visit to Dallas and Austin, my friend Julie and I skirted Texas Hill Country and I wanted more. Creating desserts from a diner located in the German-immigrant-founded Fredericksburg gave me romantic visions of walking from a rustic kitchen onto a weathered front porch after spending the day hard at work baking for the ranch hands. As the screen door slammed, I would wipe my hands on my flour sack apron and, with the back of my hand, brush the mussed hair from my careworn forehead. Across the prairie, I would spy my burly man, quickening his pace as he saw me until he vaulted the porch steps and wrapped his sinewy arms around me.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Um, wait, where was I?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Oh yeah, fried pies. Today, on the Second Bake One's Frustrations Away Sunday, I planned on making fried pies, "Fourth of July Fried Pies" to be specific, only constructed on January 30th. For years now, I have been using <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pate-brisee-pie-dough">Martha Stewart's pate brisee recipe</a> for my pie crusts. Fail-proof and food-processor-friendly, it takes me all of ten minutes to make and roll. But, because I am a glutton for punishment, I followed Rebecca Rather's recipe instead and I'm sorry I did. Too voluminous to prepare in the food processor, calling for six, SIX cups of flour, I struggled to work in the butter, incorporate the ice water, and roll out the dough. Stiff and dry, it was difficult to roll to the called-for 1/16th inch thickness. After much huffing and puffing, and just when my triceps were about to retreat in disgust at their futile mission, I stopped at 12 6-inch circles with over half the pie dough unrolled. The recipe called for 12 5-inch pies in total. </div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmKlIVb9D7DQXkt-93LPVAXSn2ttHeZ3nAv3jVmfmJo8xRErV81NYXUgRoFylEo9Mu7-jMO7wLi-CI0RqcGhN2_tklmTcIxWiteTmiE5rb2UWBPWM45YVyvYW9l2wrmXU-8Gzj7cy6XR1/s1600/0130111417_edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmKlIVb9D7DQXkt-93LPVAXSn2ttHeZ3nAv3jVmfmJo8xRErV81NYXUgRoFylEo9Mu7-jMO7wLi-CI0RqcGhN2_tklmTcIxWiteTmiE5rb2UWBPWM45YVyvYW9l2wrmXU-8Gzj7cy6XR1/s320/0130111417_edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The results were good though not trailblazing. I filled each uncooked pastry circle with a heaping tablespoon of either a blueberry, boysenberry syrup mixture or a chopped strawberry, strawberry preserve mixture. After folding the circles turnover-style, I sealed them and crimped the edges with a fork. At this point, my energy reserves were near empty and my arms flat-out refused to lift the fryer from its cupboard. Rationalizing that baking was healthier anyway, I followed the alternate instructions, painted an egg wash on the pies, and baked them at 375 for 20 minutes instead of the called-for 12. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Will I make the pies again? Yes, but I won't use this Rather Untested in a Home recipe. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Don't expect another lick of accomplishment from this exhausted home cook today. My sinewy-armed man awaits and I need to reserve the little bit of energy I have left.</div><div><br />
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</div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-57088773001268860122011-01-29T16:51:00.000-08:002011-01-29T16:51:00.713-08:00Discovery Channel to Premiere Beer Special | Brewbound News<div>"How Beer Saved the World". If anything can, it is beer. Set your dvrs everyone!</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.brewbound.com/News/2011-1-27-How_Beer_Saved_the_World_debuts_Sunday">Discovery Channel to Premiere Beer Special | Brewbound News</a>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-77526913568348361592011-01-29T09:53:00.000-08:002011-01-29T11:43:40.324-08:00In Which I Get to the Vanilla Extract Eventually<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somewhere in my clouded memory banks, I recall tales of repressed fifties housewives, overwhelmed by expectations of perfection in all things, sneaking generous sips of vanilla extract, 35% alcohol by volume, to make their days bearable. While searching the internets for references to all things Mother’s-little-helper related, I came across <a href="http://aubreylondonpinup.com/the-glorious-1950s-housewife/">this blog</a> extolling “The Glorious 1950’s Housewife” and became so incensed that I almost forgot what I sat down to write about in the first place. This woman is deluded:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcRXKghCf1kH2_wgFBAAvP2l-1HyDg7i2FUczcbX7OJBKt-0w4T71wUPxwwoG7OfeBLlBC2dj91YJarstA6j9F2zSXEHnqxp1WCNvWhz_JGp5EWrK5Gcsv7yRCZBjQN-9zQ4wAXaNXjFe/s1600/housewife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcRXKghCf1kH2_wgFBAAvP2l-1HyDg7i2FUczcbX7OJBKt-0w4T71wUPxwwoG7OfeBLlBC2dj91YJarstA6j9F2zSXEHnqxp1WCNvWhz_JGp5EWrK5Gcsv7yRCZBjQN-9zQ4wAXaNXjFe/s320/housewife.jpg" width="309" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><b><span style="color: #111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“These housewives would always wake up at least two hours before their husbands, so they could shower, do their hair, put on make up, and wear really nice dress and high heels.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><b><span style="color: #111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“A belief of always looking their best, when “he see’ s you first thing in the morning”, was of utmost importance. They made it a point to never, ever have morning breath or look sleepy.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I won’t even get into her apostrophe catastrophes or other grammatical and spelling errors.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;">“</span></em><em><b><span style="color: #111111;">Men made the money back then and it was important for their wives to create a haven of peace once their husbands got home. Strong daily efforts to make him comfortable were routine. Like having him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.<o:p></o:p></span></b></em></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><em><b><span style="color: #111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It was also important to make the evening his, while still incorporating your relationship and keeping a budding romance alive. Complaining or arguments were very scarce or kept to a minimum. The obvious goal was to try to make your home a place of peace and order, where your husband can relax and be happy.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></em></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><em><b><span style="color: #111111;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe these housewives were strong, organized, respectable, and quite happy.”<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></em></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><b><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;">You’ve got to be kidding me.</span></b></em><em><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;"> This woman belongs in Pleasantville, broadcast in black and white before Tobey McGuire came along and turned the more progressive populace into living color. Maybe she’ll romanticize the Antebellum South next, comment that the slaves enjoyed picking all that cotton in sweltering heat because the gracious white folks put roofs over their heads and fed them almost as well as they fed the livestock. How they didn’t deserve being more than 3/5 of a person, after all, and how they needed a good whippin’ from time to time to keep their baser urges in check. Oh, and they hated their families so it was a good thing the plantation owners were kind enough to take those burdenous chillens away from them.<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><b><span style="color: #111111;">But I digress</span></b></em><em><span style="color: #111111;">, I came here to teach you people how to make vanilla extract at home, better tasting and less expensive vanilla extract. Now I’m afraid to do it without sounding like a fifties housewife, never mind the foolish woman who romanticizes her; but I’m going to tell you anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><b><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;">Almost a year ago</span></b></em><em><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;">, while perusing the aisles of our local big box warehouse store (read Costco), Hubby and I discovered vanilla beans in test tubes. Because I am drawn by all things unique, I had to purchase said vanilla bean encasing test tubes or live the rest of my life in denied misery. Once home, they sat in the spice cabinet for nine months. If I was younger and had more energy and untied tubes, I could have conceived and birthed a baby in the time those beans were wasting away in their adorable glass tubes. <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><em><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Then, one day,</b> <b>I ran out of vanilla. </b>And remembered the tales of miserable vanilla-swigging fifties housewives. This memory was joined by a vague recollection of making one’s own vanilla at home and the knowledge that my liquor cabinet was well-stocked (because I mainly drink beer and wine) and my course was set.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><b><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;">I rattled through the Corner Cabinet of Rampant Disorganization</span></b></em><em><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;"> and, just before Narnia, found an old maple syrup bottle to repurpose, dusted off the neglected test tubes, and pulled out the Absolut. <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #111111;">I suppose one could use inexpensive Vodka for this endeavor but, personally, I think life is too short to drink, or create vanilla from, cheap booze.</span></em><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYDfMjgCLBaDD5IryopXlsLIWg_AVbiyV2Sc-WTUs0Ul8ZCwVmGYKRErTzhSE_jRMWA62588Twl54Ys6pjqRORVLaoxjulLAnYwpSeOWbYbhD3TxPq6H0Dpyqt8XW62AXqen1jPoKjI6J/s1600/0129110915_edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYDfMjgCLBaDD5IryopXlsLIWg_AVbiyV2Sc-WTUs0Ul8ZCwVmGYKRErTzhSE_jRMWA62588Twl54Ys6pjqRORVLaoxjulLAnYwpSeOWbYbhD3TxPq6H0Dpyqt8XW62AXqen1jPoKjI6J/s320/0129110915_edited.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How to Make Vanilla Extract<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Split three vanilla beans lengthwise, leaving one end intact, put into a lidded glass jar or bottle, cover with vodka, and let sit for six weeks to two months, shaking two to three times a week.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seriously, that’s all there is to it. Why are we all not making our own vanilla? Are we afraid that, if we do, the bottom is going to fall out of the extract market, causing the recession to dip again never to recover? Because this is beyond easy. The hardest thing was washing the inside of the old maple syrup bottle. AND, like sourdough bread starter or that horrid fruit fermentation that my mother kept for years in my youth, it never runs out! But instead of feeding it, you just give it a little more vodka when the level of extract drops. And who doesn’t need a little vodka now and then? It makes the world a better place and, unlike <a href="http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Germantown-Woman-Charged-With-DUI-After-Drinking/Jukrn1Q55kae3AqXcdWKBA.cspx">this poor soul here</a> whose mother was probably one of those “<em><b><span style="color: #111111;">strong, organized, respectable, and quite happy” </span></b></em><em><span style="color: #111111; font-style: normal;">fifties housewives, you still have enough vodka to pour yourself a drink instead of emptying the spice aisle and making a spectacle of yourself.</span></em></span></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-25432132340870060762011-01-28T13:47:00.000-08:002011-01-28T13:47:25.191-08:00The New Rules of Beer: Dark Lagers - Craft Course - Eater National<div>Gramma was more of a Michelob over lunch beer drinker but, being up for anything other than travel to opposite time zones, I'm sure she'd give these a try. There's nothing like a flavorful dark beer on a cold winter's night. Or a cool summer morning. Or now.</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://eater.com/archives/2011/01/28/the-new-rules-of-beer-dark-lagers.php">The New Rules of Beer: Dark Lagers - Craft Course - Eater National</a>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-66270210925926080352011-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:002011-01-28T10:21:23.855-08:00Fugue at 350 Degrees Fahrenheit<div class="MsoNormal">In the past week, a week of emotional ups an downs as witnessed by yesterday’s morose posting, I have made a dozen muffins six times. For those of you who are rusty on your times tables, that is 72 muffins. All were eaten, none went to waste.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Jessica started it all last Sunday.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“<i>I’d really love some blueberry muffins.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>“You would, huh? How do you plan on getting those blueberry muffins?”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>“Um, you’re going to make me some?”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So bake muffins I did. And cinnamon rolls. And popovers. I baked myself into a fugue state in which the memory of recent unfortunate job-centric events disappeared and were replaced by the scents of delicious fat and sugar-laden carbohydrates.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Have I mentioned that I am (was) following a slow carb diet on which I lost ten pounds in two weeks? Did you know a day of drinking beer and eating baked goods causes all that no-bread-allowed suffering to be for naught? I need my manna from heaven. Or the grocer's.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My yen to bake has passed for the moment but my family’s yen to eat has not. So I am off to the kitchen once more, not at five a.m. and not donning a white paper cap, but still feeling a bit like the dead doughnut man. “Got to make the muffins.” The pint-sized farmer has requested orange. Thanks be to the gods of variety. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For now, a roundup of recipes from last Sunday:<o:p></o:p></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cinnamon-Blueberry-Muffins-1222209"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins </span></a></span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7pt;">Gourmet | July 2006</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7pt;">Lillian Chou<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Thus far this week, I have substituted chopped frozen strawberries and a strawberry-banana mixture for the blueberries. I also added a skosh of vanilla because I like it. I’d photograph them but nary a one remains.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" valign="top" width="100%"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 4pt;">(photo by: Romulo Yanes)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Yield: Makes 12 muffins<br />
Active Time: 25 min<br />
Total Time: 1 hr<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled<br />
1 cup packed light brown sugar<br />
1/2 cup whole milk<br />
1 large egg<br />
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder<br />
1 teaspoon cinnamon<br />
1/2 teaspoon salt<br />
1 1/2 cups blueberries (7 1/2 oz)<br />
Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups; 12 foil or paper muffin liners<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Put liners in muffin cups.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Whisk together butter, brown sugar, milk, and egg in a bowl until combined well. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add milk mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries gently.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-size: 7.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 7.5pt;">Read More <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Cinnamon-Blueberry-Muffins-1222209?printFormat=photo#ixzz1CLsvMp76"><b><span style="color: #003399; text-decoration: none;">http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Cinnamon-Blueberry-Muffins-1222209?printFormat=photo#ixzz1CLsvMp76</span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 16pt;">Basic Popover<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs260.snc6/180855_1561239713277_1303837450_31317029_4451723_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs260.snc6/180855_1561239713277_1303837450_31317029_4451723_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">I didn’t change a thing. They were perfect as are all <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Alton</st1:city></st1:place> Brown’s recipes. He’s my geeky chef crush.</span></i></b><b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt;"><span style="color: black;">Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="border-right: dotted #DDDDDD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-right-alt: dotted #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 5.0pt 0in 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 11.25pt; mso-border-right-alt: dotted #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.0pt 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #2f2f2f; font-size: 8.5pt;">Prep Time: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;">10 min<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 11.25pt; mso-border-right-alt: dotted #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.0pt 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #2f2f2f; font-size: 8.5pt;">Inactive Prep Time: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;">--<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 11.25pt; mso-border-right-alt: dotted #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.0pt 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #2f2f2f; font-size: 8.5pt;">Cook Time: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;">40 min<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div style="border-right: dotted #DDDDDD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-right-alt: dotted #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 21.0pt 0in 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 11.25pt; mso-border-right-alt: dotted #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 21.0pt 0in 0in; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #2f2f2f; font-size: 8.5pt;">Level: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;">Intermediate<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt;"><b><span style="color: #2f2f2f; font-size: 8.5pt;">Serves: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;">6 large popovers</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt; margin-top: 10.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt; margin-top: 10.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Ingredients</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt; margin-top: 10.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: black;">1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 1 teaspoon room temperature for pan</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt; margin-top: 10.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: black;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;">4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -12.75pt; margin-right: 5.25pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"> 1 1/2 teaspoons <a href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/salt/index.html"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">kosher salt</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -12.75pt; margin-right: 5.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.75pt;"><span style="color: black;">2 large eggs, room temperature<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -12.75pt; margin-right: 5.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.75pt;"><span style="color: black;">1 cup whole milk, room temperature<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt; margin-top: 10.5pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Directions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/grease/index.html"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">Grease</span></a> a 6-cup popover pan with the 1 teaspoon of butter.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">Place all of the ingredients into a <a href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/food-processor/index.html"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">food processor</span></a> or <a href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/blender/index.html"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">blender</span></a> and process for 30 seconds. Divide the batter evenly between the cups of the popover pan, each should be about 1/3 to 1/2 full. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the popovers to a <a href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/cooling-rack/index.html"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">cooling rack</span></a> and pierce each in the top with a knife to allow steam to escape. Serve warm.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.25pt; mso-line-height-alt: 15.75pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;">Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Try not to eat them all. Especially when everyone is asleep and you’re afraid your family will eat all that remains the next morning before you awake so you devour two around midnight. Don’t do that! Better yet, pass them out to the neighbors and be thankful for the temporary memory loss that a day of hardcore baking provided.</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs898.ash1/180691_1561270754053_1303837450_31317090_1513696_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs898.ash1/180691_1561270754053_1303837450_31317090_1513696_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black;">1 cup water<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">1 large egg<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">3 ¼ cups bread flour<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">4 tbsp Sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">1 tsp salt<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">3 Tbsp dry milk<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">¼ cup butter <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">1 ½ tsp active dry yeast<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">Add ingredients to bread machine in the order listed and run under the dough cycle. Place dough on lightly floured board and divide into three pieces. Roll each into 8 x 9 rectangle, dot surface with butter, and sprinkle on a mixture of ¼ c brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon (divided into thirds as well). Sprinkle raisins as preferred.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">Roll jelly-roll style, pinch seam to seal, and cut each third into eight pieces. Place on greased baking sheet, cover with damp towel, and allow to rise in a warm place until size doubles, approximately 45 minutes to an hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 5.25pt;"><span style="color: black;">Bake at 375 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes. Glaze with a light mixture of confectioner’s sugar and milk. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Happy Baking!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-66977269795844655612011-01-27T12:25:00.000-08:002011-01-27T12:50:28.618-08:00Four Years and Counting<div class="MsoNormal"><i>Today, I'm not channeling Helen. I'm more Charles Bukowski than Helen Dorsee, dwelling and ruminating, regretting and welling. Gramma was not one to live in regret. I'm afraid I am.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Four years until I’m at the age Daddy was when he died, he was 52 and, in another month, I’ll be 48. This weighs heavily on me, more than it should. My inner self-loathing gets the better of me and I think of all the success he had, all the success I have not.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Last week, my neighbor Michelle suggested that I need Ritalin. Ritalin, like I have ADD and can’t focus on anything. But that’s wrong. I can focus on a myriad of subjects, hobbies and creative interests, reading, knitting, farming, painting, sewing, glasswork, writing, computer programming for Chrissakes. I just can’t stay interested in them for long periods of time and I don’t know why. I tell people I bore easily and I do but it’s more than that. I’m interested in learning to do something, I figure out how, and then I am no longer interested. My intellectual curiosity has been met. I know a moderate amount about many, many things, Jack of All Trades, Master of None.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This flaw of mine has gotten worse in recent years. I’m afraid my time is drawing nigh and, if I can’t discover that one thing, all this life will be for naught.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yes, I have beautiful brilliant children who, without me, would not grace this world with their presence. Yes, I’ve made a lot of things that I have sold or given as gifts, objets d’art and craft that I’m reasonably confident are admired.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But honestly? I’m almost 48. Instead of a career, I pick up bartender and server jobs for needed household-running funds. I’m terrible with money management; I fail as a homemaker. Laundry piles flow like lava out the laundry room door, dog hair rests in clumps in the corners, windows are dirty, floors are worse. I’m a good but inconsistent cook. I have a good but inconsistent life.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When Daddy reached 50, and before he was diagnosed with the melanoma that would kill him, he commented that he had made it farther than his own dad, a binge-driven alcoholic who went to “dry out” and failed, no “rehab” in those days, at least not in its current incarnation. Part of my father doubted he would make it to 50. Perhaps, that is why he worked as hard as he did, became such an enormous success at a relatively young age. I haven’t done that.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Years move faster as one ages. Tempus fugit and all that. And I’m not afraid to die. I’m afraid to not live.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-90429160018630192152010-11-25T07:22:00.001-08:002010-11-25T07:22:36.040-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090503081509/friends/images/thumb/c/c9/5x08_Monica_turkey.jpg/250px-5x08_Monica_turkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090503081509/friends/images/thumb/c/c9/5x08_Monica_turkey.jpg/250px-5x08_Monica_turkey.jpg" /></a></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-51426197472324562732010-11-24T15:35:00.000-08:002010-11-24T15:35:37.461-08:00Turkeys Find Everything Hilarious, Including Own Mortality : Video Interlude : Eater NationalHappy Thanksgiving!<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://eater.com/archives/2010/11/24/turkeys-find-everything-including-own-mortality-hilarious.php">Turkeys Find Everything Hilarious, Including Own Mortality : Video Interlude : Eater National</a></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-7174012239650718362010-11-19T16:44:00.000-08:002010-11-19T16:47:45.558-08:00Give Me a Slug o' Booze!<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Technomic has come out with its <a href="http://www.nrn.com/article/top-11-restaurant-trends-2011">restaurant trend predictions for 2011</a>. Now, I've never heard of Technomics before but, by their name, I assume they have something to do with technology and economics. I'm clever that way. Why they're talking about adult beverages, I haven't a clue. But I like adult beverages so I'll bite. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.nrn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_image_slideshow/field_main_image/2010-11/stock_DrinksMotley_main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.nrn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_image_slideshow/field_main_image/2010-11/stock_DrinksMotley_main.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Adult beverages, from retro cocktails and high-end spirits to craft beers will get more play in appropriate markets." (Photo: Thinkstock)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">So the Mad Men craze is still going strong. And influencing what we drink. With the exception of craft beer, as every man in 1964 drank Pabst Blue Ribbon. Women did not drink beer at all and instead had to chug cough syrup and vanilla except for Betty Draper and her ilk, thin as rail women who could work some undergarments and pearls to their best advantage.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">I like adult beverages (yes, I am repeating myself). Sometimes I enjoy going to BevMo and fantasizing about all the high-end liquor and craft beer I would buy if money was no object. You see, the appreciation for alcohol was ingrained into me from youth. My Great Uncle Charles, Helen's brother, a crusty Baltimore born-and-bred codger who loved to drive his huge white Caddy with red leather interior and laughed in a way to betray that he smoked way too many cigarettes, taught me at two or three years old to ask for adult beverages. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>"Lauren, what would you like to drink?"</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>"Give me a slug o' booze!"</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">He thought it was really funny. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">At four or five, I could serve the Jolly Girls their cocktails made to order. I could also concoct an old-fashioned, muddling fruit with the best of bartenders. My parents often took me to their favorite piano bar, The Eager House, where special attention was paid to me, where I sat in a special bar stool, drank umpteen million Shirley Temples, and had songs sung just to me by the piano player. I was princess of the Eager House. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">As I light tonight's drinking lamp in preparation for Friday cocktail hour, why don't I share a few concoctions to ready you for 2011. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=davenlar&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0895260123&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">1. <b>The Classic Martini</b> </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: sans-serif;"><i>"I'm not talking a cup of cheap gin splashed over an ice cube. I'm talking satin, fire and ice; Fred Astaire in a glass; surgical cleanliness; insight and comfort; redemption and absolution. I'm talking a martini" --Anonymous</i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"></span></i></span><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">2 1/2 ounces top shelf gin </span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">1 1/2 teaspoons dry vermouth<br />
1 lemon twist or cocktail olive</span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the gin and vermouth. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the olive. I like a little olive juice splashed into the shaker and prefer my martini with a blue cheese olive. And, sacrilege, schmacrilege, I prefer substituting the gin with premium vodka as gin makes me mean and I am not a mean person. Belvedere works nicely. Absolut if you're slumming it.</span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><b>2. The Manhattan</b></span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">Although many legends exist as to the origin of the Manhattan, many involving Lady Randolph Churchill (Winston's mum), one</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"></span></i></span></span></i></span></div><div style="display: inline !important; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><i><i><i><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> urban legend suggests that the drink was named "Manhattan" after the city's sewage and water system, which ran brown at the time. Ew!</span></i></span></span></i></i></i></span></i></span></div><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">1 3/4 ounces Crown Royal Reserve (or other premium whiskey)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">1/2 ounce Sweet Vermouth</span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">1-3 dashes of Bitters</span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><i><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px;">Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, strain into a chilled glass, garnish with a Maraschino cherry, and serve straight up. A Dry Manhattan substitutes Dry Vermouth for Sweet and is garnished with a twist. A Rob Roy uses Scotch Whiskey rather than Canadian or Bourbon.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><i><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></span></i></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px;"><b>3. The Old Fashioned</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"></span></i></span></i></div><i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Old Fashioned first made its appearance in the 1880s at the Pendennis Club, a gentlemen's club in Louisville, Kentucky. Invented by a bartender at the club, it was popularized by Colonel James E Pepper who brought it to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.</span></i></i><br />
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</span></span></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;">3 dashes bitters </span></span></span><br />
<span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;">2 orange slices</span></span></span><br />
<span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;">1 sugar cube</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;">3 ounces blended whiskey</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;">1 maraschino cherry</span></span></span><br />
<span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<i><span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"></span></span></span></i><span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;">In an</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"> old-fashioned glass, muddle the bitters and orange into the sugar cube, using the back of a teaspoon. Almost fill the glass with ice cubes and add the whiskey. Garnish with another orange slice and cherry, Serve with a swizzle stick. Substitute brandy for the appropriately named Brandy Old Fashioned. The Old fashioned is a favorite of the hunky but flawed Don Draper on "Mad Men".</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><span font=""><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><span font=""><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><b>4. The Daiquiri</b></span></span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: italic; line-height: normal;"><span font=""><span font="" style="font-family: sans-serif;">The term daiquiri comes from a beach near Santiago, Chile. An urban legend suggests it was invented by a group of American mining engineers who ran out of gin. It is nothing like the sicky sweet frozen frippery ubiquitous on chain restaurant menus everywhere.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span font=""><span font=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"></span></span></span></div><ul style="font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: url(http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/vector/images/bullet-icon.png?1); list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span font=""><span font="">8 parts white Cuban rum</span></span></li>
<span font="">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span font="">2 parts lime juice</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span font="">1 part simple syrup</span></li>
</span></ul><div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;"><span font=""><span font="">Shake with lots of finely crushed ice and strain well into a chilled cocktail glass.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;"><span font=""><span font=""><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. The Sidecar</span></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;"><span font=""><span font=""><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><i>The Ritz Hotel in Paris claims to be the origin of the Sidecar invented around World War I by Sam "Suck It" Treadway.</i></span></span></div><span font=""><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><ul style="font-style: normal; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: url(http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/vector/images/bullet-icon.png?1); list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">8 parts Cognac or Armagnac</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">2 parts lemon juice</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">1 part Cointreau or Triple Sec</li>
</ul><div style="font-style: normal;">Pour all ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist.</div><div style="font-style: normal;"><br />
</div><div><i><b>So there, make yourself a cocktail, sit by the fire, and discuss the future of plastics together. Cheers!</b></i></div></span></span></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-37373104593796943782010-11-19T10:29:00.000-08:002010-11-19T10:37:42.750-08:00A history of zombies in AmericaBecause we have to satisfy our zombie fetish. Also, it's a very interesting article.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><i>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;">Zombies are like the memories of terrible events that we've tried to stash away, tried to forget. And they're not just one memory - they're our mass memory of lives lost, homes destroyed, nations crushed. I think that's why zombies always come in hordes. They return to us the way traumatic memories always do, unbidden, in our fantasies, in a form even more distorted than the original. They're here to make us remember what we've been through and what we've done."</span></i><br />
<div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://io9.com/5692719/a-history-of-zombies-in-america">A history of zombies in America</a></div></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-84936409306262845952010-11-18T19:42:00.000-08:002010-11-18T19:46:52.914-08:00"Hell's Kitchen NIGHTMARES Iron TOP Chef Cafeteria THROWDOWN Ultimate Cookoff CHALLENGE"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.slashfood.com/media/2010/11/comedy-central-south-park-1414-creme-fraiche-590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.slashfood.com/media/2010/11/comedy-central-south-park-1414-creme-fraiche-590.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Last night, the often hilarious, always controversial South Park aired its season finale, a satirical and very blue skewering of Food Network, its celebrity chefs, and food porn (literally). As someone who watches my share of cooking shows, whether they're instructional, travel-based, or reality (Top Chef All-Stars starts December 1st!), I had to watch it. And I recognized all the chefs they lampooned, a bejeweled Guy Fieri (pictured here), an over-the-top ginger Bobby Flay, a nerdy Alton Brown, a Southern-accent-dripping Paula Deen, a stacked-with-"breasticles"giant-headed Giada De Laurentiis, a sobbing Jamie Oliver ("school cafeteria food should be healfy"), an orange-clogged Mario Batali, and a particularly funny Gordon Ramsay, impersonated by Eric Cartman.<br />
<br />
A clip to illustrate:<br />
<div style="background-color: black; width: 368px;"><div style="padding: 4px;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" base="." flashvars="" height="293" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:southparkstudios.com:360885" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="360"></embed><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 4px; padding: 4px;"><b><a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e14-creme-fraiche">Creme Fraiche</a></b><br />
Tags: <a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/" style="color: #ffcc00; display: block; float: right; font-weight: bold; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: -1.33em;">SOUTH<br />
PARK</a><a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/characters/randy-marsh">Randy Marsh</a>,<a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/characters/sharon-marsh">Sharon Marsh</a>,<a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/episodes/s14e14-creme-fraiche">more...</a></div></div></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/southparkep1414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/southparkep1414.jpg" width="320" /></a>Stan's father, Randy, has a food porn problem. He stays up late at night and watches what his wife refers to as the "no-no channel". He watches with a blanket on his lap, a blanket with one hand underneath. There is movement under the blanket. He knows what he likes. After his wife uses parental blocks to prevent his pleasure, he uses the very expensive "hotline" to <i>discuss</i> pan-roasting a chicken and deglazing the pan of its brown bits until his wife catches him.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://37prime.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/1414-sharon-work-out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://37prime.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/1414-sharon-work-out.jpg" width="320" /></a>In response, Stan's mom/Randy's wife decides to do something just for herself and buys the already pornographic in appearance Shake Weight. Honestly, the infomercials on this thing already look like hand job instructional devices so it didn't seem like much of a stretch until we learned the Shake Weight ejaculates "cool down liquid" when the workout is over and needs to be used (faster, faster, switch hands, put your finger there, we need to take your pulse) before it can go into sleep mode. And then there's the cab fare it discharges. Hilarious.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/assets_c/2010/11/IMG_9342v-thumb-576x432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/assets_c/2010/11/IMG_9342v-thumb-576x432.jpg" width="320" /></a> Cue Corona beer beach scene complete with teak chairs, Sharon in one, the Shake Weight in the other. I found this subplot smarter than the main Randy-centric one. The Shake Weight had a HAL-like voice and became more needy as the episode progressed. Yes, I am a scifi nerd.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://foodnetworkhumor.com/img/food-network-south-park-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://foodnetworkhumor.com/img/food-network-south-park-6.jpg" width="320" /></a> Meanwhile, in the school cafeteria, it was a "Hell's Kitchen NIGHTMARES Iron TOP Chef Cafeteria THROWDOWN Ultimate Cookoff CHALLENGE". Personalities were exaggerated. Jamie Oliver sobbed and sobbed. Paula Deen did things with fat and butter. Giada De Laurentiis smiled vapidly. Mario Batali flipped his shrimp. Alton Brown narrated.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/assets_c/2010/11/IMG_9349v-thumb-576x432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/assets_c/2010/11/IMG_9349v-thumb-576x432.jpg" width="320" /></a>Cartman as Ramsay yelled and cussed and said f*ck and wanker a lot. The competition was thrilling in a Food Network manufactured drama kind of way. Then, Randy could not find his secret ingredient, creme fraiche.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm not going to spoil the very end for you. Let's just say it was satisfying for Randy and Sharon in the end. In an Old Fashioned Way. And Randy slept for the first time in days. And I thought it was one of the most "wrong" South Parks after that contest with Slave and Paris Hilton or perhaps the Lemmywinks saga (still my favorite South Park episode ever). David thought it was funny and "not that bad". To which I exclaimed, "The Shake Weight splooging all over Sharon's face wasn't wrong? What about Randy masturbating to Food Network while the boys were still in the room?"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As usual, I was right and he was wrong. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e14-creme-fraiche">The full episode is here.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>What they (creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone) did right</i></b>: The characterizations of the celebrity chefs were dead on and honestly did not need much embellishment or exaggeration as they are all over the top to begin with.<br />
<b><i>What they did wrong:</i></b> Well, not much but they didn't include Rachel Ray. Though she is a strange animated person to begin with so I suppose they thought adding her would be redundant.<br />
<b><i>What I thought of it:</i></b> It made me uncomfortable and I thanked the Flying Spaghetti Monster multiple times that I was not watching it with my teens. I loved the Shake Weight subplot. As in any art form, there is something right about a device that makes its viewers both laugh, think, and feel uncomfortable regardless of the subject matter. South Park is one of the dumbest and, at the same time, smartest shows on television.<br />
.</span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-24971891759517322552010-11-18T11:42:00.000-08:002010-11-18T12:05:09.488-08:00Hey Sweet Potato, I could eat you with a spoon!When I was a little girl, Helen, or Gramma as I called her, would hug me tight and declare that I was so sweet, she could eat me with a spoon. Which, looking back, was very loving and wonderful in that way that only grandmothers can convey; but, at the time, it frightened me. I had all sorts of mental images of my grandmother, who was a tall, big-boned German woman, wielding a giant grapefruit spoon and plunging it into my short, small-boned American body like a deranged zombie.<br />
<br />
<i>I assumed it had to be a grapefruit spoon as it needed sharp edges and a point to really dig into my my flesh. Unfounded fear is all in the details. </i><br />
<br />
But we're here to talk about pie, aren't we? Thanksgiving is in exactly a week. And I am scheduled to work that day. Which does not please me. So let's pout and make sweet potato pie. With bourbon, some in the pie and a slitch on ice for the baker.<br />
<br />
Sweet Potato Pie is similar to pumpkin pie in the fact that is indeed orange and uses similar spices and flavorings in its recipe. But a sweet potato is a tuber while a pumpkin is a squash. <i>As an aside, sweet potatoes are not yams but were mislabeled as such by growers who thought we were too stupid to know a sweet potato was not the same as regular potatoes. Because there is nothing worse than baking what you think are russets and discovering that your chives and bacon bits are useless. Yams are a completely different genus and species, are native to Africa, popular in Latin American dishes, and very sweet. They can also grow over seven feet long which would be damned difficult to manage in my kitchen.</i><br />
<br />
To my taste buds, sweet potatoes are richer and slightly more sugary than pumpkins. But canned pumpkin puree is ubiquitous this time of year and one actually has to bake and mash sweet potatoes. How inconvenient. We're making pie with them regardless.<br />
<br />
<i>Or irregardless as Helen would say. She loved collecting malapropisms and using them for her own amusement so that someone, meeting her for the first time, would not realize that she knew the correct word or phrase.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<b>Let's bake!</b><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>This recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen and FoodNetwork.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 15px;"></span></i><br />
<div class="recipe-meta clrfix" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><h1 class="recipe-title" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: 21px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie</i></h1><div style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Recipe courtesy Paula Deen</i></div></div><div class="recipe-summary clrfix" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; float: left; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-top: 7px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 428px; zoom: 1;"><br />
<dl class="times" style="border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 0px; width: 200px;"><dt style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; clear: both; color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; float: left; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 110px;"><i>Prep Time:</i></dt>
<dd class="prep-time" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>20 min</i></dd>
<dt style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; clear: both; color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; float: left; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 110px;"><i>Inactive Prep Time:</i></dt>
<dd class="wait-time" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>--</i></dd>
<dt style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; clear: both; color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; float: left; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 110px;"><i>Cook Time:</i></dt>
<dd class="cook-time" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1 hr 55 min</i></dd></dl><dl class="level" style="border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 28px; padding-top: 0px;"><dt style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Level:</i></dt>
<dd class="difficulty" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Easy</i></dd></dl><dl class="serves" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 0px;"><dt style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Serves:</i></dt>
<dd class="yield" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>6 to 8 servings</i></dd></dl></div><div class="recipe-image" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i><img height="120" src="http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2010/08/12/FN-Thanksgiving-2010_Sweet-Potato-Pie_s4x3_med.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="160" /></i></div><div class="rcp-wrap clrfix" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><h2 style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 14px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Ingredients</i></h2><ul style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 0px;"><li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1 1/4 cups sugar</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1/2 stick melted butter</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>2 eggs</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1 teaspoon <a class="crosslink" debug="117 123" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/vanilla/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">vanilla</a> extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons <a class="crosslink" debug="155 161" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/bourbon/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">bourbon</a></i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1/4 teaspoon salt</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1/4 teaspoon ground <a class="crosslink" debug="211 218" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/cinnamon/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">cinnamon</a></i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1/4 teaspoon ground <a class="crosslink" debug="245 250" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/ginger/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">ginger</a></i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>1 cup milk</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>9-inch unbaked pie crust</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>3 egg whites</i></li>
</ul><h2 style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 14px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Directions</i></h2><div class="instructions" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.</i></div><div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>For the filling, using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, 1 cup of the sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and <a class="crosslink" debug="173 178" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/spices/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">spices</a>. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pie on a rack and cool to room temperature before covering with meringue.</i></div><div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i>For the meringue, using an electric <a class="crosslink" debug="487 491" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/mixer/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">mixer</a>, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy and stiff, but not dry. With a rubber spatula, spoon the <a class="crosslink" debug="723 730" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/meringue/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">meringue</a> onto the pie, forming peaks. Make sure the meringue touches the crust all around. Sprinkle with a <a class="crosslink" debug="830 834" href="http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/pinch/index.html" style="color: #2f2f2f; cursor: default; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">pinch</a> of granulated sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until delicately browned. Cool and serve.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i></div><div style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>What I did right</i></b>: I added extra vanilla, a dollop of bourbon and a generous pinch of nutmeg. It seemed sacrilege to not use nutmeg. When beating the meringue, I added a 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, doubled the amount of egg whites, and beat them to soft peaks with a hand mixer in my clean copper bowl. Nice and high, that's how I like my meringue.<br />
<b><i>What I did wrong:</i></b> <a href="http://channelinghelen.blogspot.com/2010/11/pie-week_15.html">See Butterscotch Cream Pie</a>.<br />
<b><i>What I thought of it:</i></b> Yum. More complex than pumpkin pie, different in that it's topped with meringue instead of whipped cream. It's lighter and better for you. After all, nutritionists at the Center for Science and the Public Interest <a href="http://www.foodreference.com/html/sweet-pot-nutrition.html">ranked sweet potatoes #1 in nutrition</a>, outscoring the next highest vegetable by over 100 points.<br />
<i><b>How I'll tweak it next time:</b></i> I think I'll make two. Teenage boys, you know.</span></i></div><div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div></div></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-68985614140621253902010-11-17T07:56:00.000-08:002010-11-17T07:56:44.344-08:00Innovative Pies From a New Generation of Bakers - NYTimes.com<div>Who knew pies were trendy? </div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/dining/17pies.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a210">Innovative Pies From a New Generation of Bakers - NYTimes.com</a>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-20732574963190223412010-11-16T18:06:00.000-08:002010-11-16T18:06:16.260-08:00Tomorrow Night South Park Takes on the Food Network : Video Interlude : Eater National<div>Must-See TV! Better than microwaved balls! More fun than Big Gay Al! (Too much? Let's watch it and see for ourselves.)</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://eater.com/archives/2010/11/16/tomorrow-night-south-park-takes-on-the-food-network.php">Tomorrow Night South Park Takes on the Food Network : Video Interlude : Eater National</a>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-25134846957342581642010-11-16T16:04:00.000-08:002010-11-16T16:19:32.270-08:00The Channeler is Not Baking Today<i>Why, you may ask? Well, she's damned tired as she is still working in the often menial, typically Sisyphean food and beverage industry and has been on her feet for far too many hours in the last several days. Her dogs are barking and we are not referring to the puggle, the bloodhound, or the little brown mutt. </i><br />
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Oy, my feet hurt, my legs ache, and I got a little thing ya know, a little scratchiness. And heavens to Mergatroid, I cannot afford to get sick.<br />
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So I have an assignment for you. Make some pie crust for this week. It will make the pies go faster. If you have a food processor, which I do because I am a kitchen gadget whore, use it to make your pie crust. If you don't, use two knives or a pastry blender. If you buy a pre-made pie crust, don't tell me. I can't bear to know these things.<br />
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For two 9" pie shells, mix or pulse together 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cut in or pulse 2 sticks (1 cup) of very cold butter cut into pieces. Into a 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup, add an egg yolk, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, and a little crushed ice. Add water until the mixture reaches the 1/2 cup level. Mix and add to your flour and butter mixture, either with your hands and forks or by adding a slow stream through the feed tube of the food processor while it is running (<i>quick, catch it!</i>). You may not need to add all the liquid as you only need enough until it almost gathers into a ball.<br />
<br />
Divide the dough in half. Stick each into a gallon ziploc bag, smush into a flat disc, seal and put it into the refrigerator until later. There, you're done. Go watch Glee and The Fashion Show with <a href="http://projectrungay.blogspot.com/">TLo</a>. Beware Iman.<br />
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<i>Oh, if you were one of those extra credit overachievers in school and want to do more to get ahead, you can bake some sweet potatoes, enough for approximately two cups of mashed sweet potato. I used four medium sweet potatoes.</i><br />
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That is all. I will try not to be so punchy tomorrow. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><b><i>Sláinte!</i></b></span><i> </i>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-38789398924539918182010-11-15T19:45:00.001-08:002010-11-15T19:45:47.331-08:00Pie Week!<i><b>Just like Shark Week but sweeter!</b></i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLSYH4IoAwubEZdpDREVH1ECSZwooKV8Y77ZZPt6YMcgL27XOJ4azEYVjcG6uahNPWZCNe9SYQESOsdJSs7M20u1dYyGbTHCO0TrOvotGG3f3cgx5z_PJDNNvdZmSRLM16LAwb4K_smyF/s1600/100_1850_edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLSYH4IoAwubEZdpDREVH1ECSZwooKV8Y77ZZPt6YMcgL27XOJ4azEYVjcG6uahNPWZCNe9SYQESOsdJSs7M20u1dYyGbTHCO0TrOvotGG3f3cgx5z_PJDNNvdZmSRLM16LAwb4K_smyF/s320/100_1850_edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Eons and eons ago, when I was but a mere teenager, I spent a summer working at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. I was there to play nanny to a young baby, the son of the hotel manager, and to free my parents, who were living in North Carolina, of my presence so they could have sex anytime they damned well pleased.<br />
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Beside the perks of being able to use the spa free of charge, to eat anything on the premises I desired, and to spend hours hanging poolside with hunky teenage lifeguards, all while getting paid, I got to play Suzie Homemaker and bake during the baby's naptime. On one such magical afternoon, and after searching for recipes which I had the ingredients to make, I discovered the glory that is Butterscotch Cream Pie.<br />
<br />
Although a butterscotch pie is not traditional for Thanksgiving, and, in fact, no pie that I feature this week will be, it is a delectable dessert treat. Not too sweet, the richness of its pudding filling is balanced with the lightness of meringue cradled in a flaky pie crust. It's ready for its closeup, Mr DeMille. Just bake and devour.<br />
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<a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Butterscotch-Cream-Pie/Detail.aspx"><i>Recipe</i></a><i> was submitted by Colleen on the <a href="http://allrecipes.com/">allrecipes.com</a> website. The photos are my own. </i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJu6IHTNYdiKV12dO6NhIAVltE0nDXTI3U4TusGMNrOhpdsPaAAgMuQdMud8ErGb4PgnxzmuPKexArm3YiQrtnl_pC0n6x-7Rf2PfP9mSUhBxWGJVLu_fkijMdCFPaOUzPKpWVfyq_eefS/s1600/pie_edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJu6IHTNYdiKV12dO6NhIAVltE0nDXTI3U4TusGMNrOhpdsPaAAgMuQdMud8ErGb4PgnxzmuPKexArm3YiQrtnl_pC0n6x-7Rf2PfP9mSUhBxWGJVLu_fkijMdCFPaOUzPKpWVfyq_eefS/s320/pie_edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>And, no, I am not a photographer. If Barry or Julie visit, you'll be able to see some quality food porn.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"></span><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Butterscotch Cream Pie</div></td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="102"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: 36px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 102px;"></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><br />
</span></span></td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Rated:</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="rating" height="14" src="http://images.media-allrecipes.com/global/print/color/FB6400/4.0.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="82" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Submitted By: </span>Colleen</div></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Prep Time: </span>5 Minutes</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cook Time: </span>40 Minutes</div></td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ready In: </span>45 Minutes</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Servings: </span>8</div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 12px;">"This recipe has been a favorite of mine and my family for over 50 years. The meringue topping with the butterscotch filling makes for a very rich dessert, eat it warm."</div><div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 8px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">INGREDIENTS:</span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">2 cups milk</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/3 cup all-purpose flour</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1 cup brown sugar</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/4 teaspoon salt</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">3 egg yolks</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">3 tablespoons butter, melted</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract</div></td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">6 egg whites</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 8px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">DIRECTIONS:</span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">1.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Brush pie crust lightly with egg white to seal. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until light brown and crisp. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">2.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">In a small bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and salt; set aside. In the top of a double boiler over medium heat, scald the milk while stirring with a whisk. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened; remove from heat.</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">3.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Stir in 1/3 of the milk mixture to temper the yolks, Then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan. Return to the stove and cook, stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Pour into baked pie crust.</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">4.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, covering completely.</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">5.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 15 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown in spots.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 14px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i>What I did right</i></b>: As I don't cotton to tempering egg yolks (pathological fear of scrambling), I performed my Time Saving Superhero Pudding and Pie Filling Shortcut. After whisking the dry ingredients together in a heavy bottomed saucepan (I prefer All-Clad Master Chef), I mixed in the egg yolks and then drizzled in the milk before heating the pan. After about ten minutes of stirring with a whisk, the mixture thickened and came to a full boil. I took it off the heat, added the butter and twice the vanilla called for, and, shazam, butterscotch pie filling. Also, I used a clean copper bowl and a handheld mixer to beat the egg whites, giving me picture-perfect meringue.<br />
<b><i>What I did wrong:</i></b> I <i>could</i> say I did nothing wrong though I did insist on using my favorite Emile Henry 10" pie plate which was a tad large for this recipe. My 8" Pyrex would have made a high and perfect pie but it's boring glass and I like pretty dishes. <i>I am a girl after all</i>.<br />
<b><i>What I thought of it:</i></b> Delicious! There I was right back at The Greenbrier all over again, poolside with hunky teenage lifeguards. Then, I started to feel pervy because I am 47 and my twin boys are the same age as those lifeguards were so I just ate quietly and minded my own beeswax while my waistline expanded.<br />
<i><b>How I'll tweak it next time:</b></i> I'll search the internets for a smaller but still pretty pie plate or, sigh, use the Pyrex one. Other than that, I won't change a thing.<br />
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<i>Unless you all have a special request, tomorrow we'll talk dough and sweet potatoes. And ugly pie plates because the pretty one has a pie in it. </i><br />
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BTW, Helen would definitely enjoy a piece of this pie. She liked having "a little meat on her bones". In moderation. "Everything in moderation."<br />
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</tbody></table>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-80910344386113859682010-11-15T07:51:00.000-08:002010-11-15T08:25:07.503-08:00Get Thee to Tom and Lorenzo!When I started this blog, I had every intention of adding zombies to the food and drink. After all, a <a href="http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink624.html">cocktail</a> is named after them. Plus, I've been a fan of all things zombie since I was a wee bairn "sleeping" in the backseat of my parents' Thunderbird at the drive-in movie theater.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIz5HHisCnAn91jcE6BP6eaHOSp_JjvKyjsxBKnQDFGiHBnqeNXvDep4Rn6-VvOSv8RrflMCKe4dFIsNLch5GkgQo03G3nSF9bcmXufjLb1TqZA1E2YtlFkX4UoX-_u_0R-X4Y4aWhdmMr/s1600/Episode-1-WalkersA-760+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIz5HHisCnAn91jcE6BP6eaHOSp_JjvKyjsxBKnQDFGiHBnqeNXvDep4Rn6-VvOSv8RrflMCKe4dFIsNLch5GkgQo03G3nSF9bcmXufjLb1TqZA1E2YtlFkX4UoX-_u_0R-X4Y4aWhdmMr/s320/Episode-1-WalkersA-760+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>With the advent of the Best New Show on Television, <a href="http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/">The Walking Dead</a>, I planned on writing a weekly review. More than just camp or schlock, the series is full of character study and plot blended with a large serving of pathos. Last night's episode, the third of six, was outstanding. I think my favorite thus far. I wanted to share my enthusiasm with you all, my handful of readers who come for recipes, stories, drama, and humor and be able to say, "Surprise, I got you gore!"<br />
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The trouble/gift is that Tom and Lorenzo, my favorite gays in the whole wide world, <a href="http://tomandlorenzo2.blogspot.com/2010/11/walking-dead-s1e3-tell-it-to-frogs.html">beat me to it</a> and did a better job than I could ever manage. So surf there. Do not pass GO and do not collect $200.<br />
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You can thank me later.<br />
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<i>Today's Interesting-to-Lauren Trivia. In the series, the living refer to the zombies as "Walkers", the very same term we use at the golf club to describe players without carts. This amuses me. You can make your own judgments. </i>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-23210766963645138992010-11-14T13:23:00.000-08:002010-11-15T07:57:42.730-08:00The Rediscovery of Sweet Corn Cake<b><i>With many thanks to Julie Delio.</i></b><br />
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</div><div>Many moons ago, when we had fewer children and animals to husband, Hubby and I treated ourselves to the occasional brunch at Kiva Grill. This upscale New Mexico-style restaurant across from the no-longer-new Marriott in the La Jolla/UTC area of California featured amazing cuisine unfamiliar to me at the time. Amongst the delicious blue corn tamales, the red or green chiles, the posole, and the pork adovada, lay a hidden yet simple gem, Mexican Sweet Corn Cake. Not quite a pudding but not a bread either, it's sweetness provided the perfect foil to the spiciness of its accompaniments. </div><div><i><br />
</i></div><div><i>Note from Helen: "I don't like spice. All that pepper makes me choke." Coughs for emphasis.</i> </div><div><br />
</div><div>We loved the sweet corn cake. We emptied multiple chafing dishes of sweet corn cake. Because of that love, The Kiva Grill went belly up as their corn cake costs became too high to stay in business. I may be slightly exaggerating but they did, in fact, close down and I, in fact, had babies and sat on the bed for a year with a pillow on my lap practicing the football hold while nursing twins and never went to brunch again. But I digress.<br />
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</div><div>Years of fun and chaos passed with nary a thought to the aforementioned corn cake until a recent sojourn to Texas, state of great cuisine in which each and every Anglicized/mispronounced city demands in its charter that a Tex-Mex and a barbecue restaurant must exist for every 10,000 people at a minimum. The lovely and gracious Julie Delio served as hostess and, on my last day there and after an interesting tour of downtown Fort Worth, the cattleyards, and the barrio, we ended up at an upscale New Mexican restaurant serving Sunday brunch. And there, there amongst 10,000 salsas and meats aplenty, a beacon from my past shone. Right in front of me, Sweet Mexican Corn Cake. I did my Meg Ryan in Harry Met Sally impression right then and there but I was not, repeat, I was not faking it. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Home, I searched the internets and tubes and discovered the following recipe. Today, I tried it. What follows are my thoughts and critiques.</div><div><br />
</div><div><i><a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-corn-cake/Detail.aspx">Recipe</a> was submitted by Lee Ann Clarke to the <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Default.aspx">allrecipes.com website</a>.</i></div><div><i><br />
</i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal;"></span></i><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Sweet Corn Cake</div></td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="102"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: 36px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 102px;"></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top"><img alt="recipe image" height="140" src="http://images.media-allrecipes.com/site/allrecipes/area/community/userphoto/small/195113.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 12px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="140" /></td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Rated:</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="rating" height="14" src="http://images.media-allrecipes.com/global/print/color/FB6400/5.0.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="82" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Submitted By: </span>Lee Ann Clarke</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Photo By: </span>Christina</div></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Prep Time: </span>15 Minutes</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cook Time: </span>1 Hour</div></td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ready In: </span>1 Hour 15 Minutes</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Servings: </span>6</div></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 12px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal;">"Corn flour, or masa harina, is available at many larger grocers. Here it blends with corn meal, sugar, butter and cream in this luscious pudding-cake."</span></i></div><div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 8px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">INGREDIENTS:</span></span></i></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/2 cup butter, softened</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/3 cup masa harina</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/4 cup water</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1 1/2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn,</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">thawed</div></td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/4 cup cornmeal</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/3 cup white sugar</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/4 teaspoon salt</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1/2 teaspoon baking powder</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 233, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 8px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">DIRECTIONS:</span></span></i></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">1.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">In a medium bowl beat butter until it is creamy. Add the Mexican corn flour and water and beat until well mixed.</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">2.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">Using a food processor, process thawed corn, but leave chunky. Stir into the butter mixture.</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">3.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, sugar, cream, salt, and baking powder. Add to corn flour mixture and stir to combine. Pour batter into an ungreased 8x8 inch baking pan. Smooth batter and cover with aluminum foil. Place pan into a 9x13 inch baking dish that is filled a third of the way with water.</td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #fb6400; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">4.</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top">Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven F (175 degrees C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Use an ice cream scoop for easy removal from pan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 14px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><tbody style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">What I did right: </i>I didn't try to "healthy-up" the recipe. Helen always said butter makes it better and, pounds schmounds, she was dead right. I used polenta instead of regular cornmeal which I think gave it more bite and I used half and half because that's all I had and I was too lazy and unshowered to drive 16 miles to the grocery store.<br />
<b><i>What I did wrong</i></b>: I prepared it in the Kitchenaid stand mixer which was overkill, not enough batter for such a large bowl without the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Beater-KitchenAid-6-Quart-5-Plus/dp/B0015TMI28/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1289768767&sr=8-3-catcorr">handy dandy scraping beater blade</a> that I don't own. Next time, I will use one medium and one small bowl, my right hand, a fork, and a spatula. I suppose one could use a hand mixer if creaming butter with bare hands makes one squeamish. Personally, I need the extra moisture. Also, I did not use hot water in the water bath which prolonged the cooking time.<br />
<i><b>What I thought of it</b></i>: After I clean the corn kernels from behind my ears and in between my toes because I felt compelled to bathe in it, I'll let you know. In other words, Meg Ryan in Harry Met Sally all over again. And again without the faking it.<br />
<i><b>How I'll tweak it next time:</b></i> I don't need to do a damned thing to it but I might add chopped hatch chiles or bacon bits to add a little salt and spice but, as Helen was wont to say, that would be gilding the lily.<br />
<br />
BTW, another wonderful discovery in Texas? Shiner Bock. Which I could also bathe in but, for now, I think I'll drink some and watch football. It is Sunday, after all.</span></span></span></td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br />
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</tbody></table></div></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-27785244626236420462010-11-14T09:41:00.000-08:002010-11-14T09:41:34.325-08:00Turkeys Hate Facebook!<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/11/10/2010-11-10_scourge_of_staten_island_turkeys_terrorize_residents_as_they_roam_hospital_groun.html">Scourge of Staten Island: Turkeys terrorize residents as they roam neighborhood</a><div><br /></div><div>Apparently, turkeys hate Facebook and, in particular, Facebooking en auto, almost as much as Thanksgiving.</div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3931446391492613470.post-40076283592529102142010-11-13T11:08:00.001-08:002010-11-14T14:37:15.383-08:00Hunna, you should see his chest!<div class="MsoNormal">The year was 1985 and my then boyfriend/now husband and I traveled a route familiar to me since youth, the four and a half hour drive from <st1:state st="on">North Carolina</st1:state> to <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Maryland</st1:place></st1:state>. Through fields of cotton and soybeans, past disintegrating tobacco shacks, abandoned gas stations, and rusting farm equipment to the smoke-stacked freeway maze that was Richmond, across the Potomac in view of the Capitol, until we reached the beltway, Dulaney Valley Road, and the turnoff on Southerly to get to Gramma’s apartment. Even though it was November in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Towson</st1:place></st1:city>, David arrived sans shirt, wearing a slight pair of white shorts and sneakers. And he was in shape, the physical condition that arrives with jumping from air planes, running triathlons, and dating someone like me. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">After greetings were exchanged, suitcases stowed, and no less than five minutes had elapsed, we had cocktails in hand, de riguer for visits with Gramma. Honestly, I think we all stayed slightly buzzed during each visit. In between CC & water one and two, we discussed visiting Hunna, Gramma’s best friend since early youth. I was eager to see her again as she was an honorary great aunt to me and, of course, I wanted David to meet her as well. Gramma disappeared into the bedroom to call Hunna whereupon I immediately overheard her loudly and excitedly declare, “Hunna, you should see his chest!”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Plans made, we got ready to walk the half block to Hunna’s apartment. Gramma turned to me and demanded, “He IS going to put a shirt on, isn’t he?” And he did, though I half-thought she’d have him remove it again once we got to Hunna’s to preen and show off for her.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hours later, we were all “in the sauce”, having a wonderful time, laughing and carrying on, getting drunk and disorderly. Though the Jolly Girls could have kept going and, admittedly, were drinking us more than one for one and could easily have left us under a table while they continued their rabble-rousing, David and I decided to walk to a local bar and bid the ladies good night. The evening ended up with me chucking a tennis ball hard to David’s testicles but that’s another story for another day. The main point of the evening and a revelation to David, “I didn’t know old people could be so much fun!”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">My grandmother Helen was indeed fun. And hard-working and disciplined. And a wonderful cook and exceptional housekeeper. Yet, her one characteristic that everyone remarked on was her outspokenness, sometimes to a fault and oftentimes to its recipients’ embarrassment. In fact, the morning after David’s realization that the elderly could, in fact, be entertaining, she asked me, her granddaughter that she had played hours of Uncle Wiggly and gin rummy with, whom she had made untold pints of homemade applesauce for, for whom she had knitted countless sweaters, “Are you and he lovers? Because it sure seems like it.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">But that was Gramma and I loved her for it. To this day, when I let my own innate outspokenness show itself more than I should, I am accused of “letting Helen out”. With this new blog, I will do my best to do just that, concentrating on matters culinary and hedonistic but diverging to rambling paths as I choose. It is my blog after all. I hope you will enjoy its future as I do my best to entertain and to Channel Helen.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">BTW, to answer her question, yes we were and it was damned good. And we will be married 24 years come next May. I think Gramma would be pleased.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div>Lauren Dorsee Dillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12162879010179005782noreply@blogger.com3