Text 7143, 171 rader
Skriven 2008-05-15 14:46:16 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 7055 av Carol Shenkenberger (13110.cooks)
Ärende: Meat Balls, Mamma Mia!                                   [1]
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Hi Carol,

 > My mom's main use of rice was in the turkey soup she made from the left
 > over holiday bird.  Other than the very rare chop suey (maybe every 3-4

 CS> I do not recall my Mom ever making a scratch soup which is odd as it's
 CS> one of the first things i learned to do reasonably well (and got

That was the only one my mom did--so she could stretch the bird even
further with the family.


 CS> better at over the years).  There was a turkey noodle dish she'd do
 CS> though with the leftovers that was pretty good.  Bland but tastey.
 CS> Most of the 'spice' came from canned cream soups and green bell
 CS> peppers as I recall.

Sounds like it was turkey tetrazzini; I've got some in my freezer now
but made with chicken instead of turkey.


 > rural area) so they were "spared" having to eat rice.  Rice a roni was
 > never in our house.

 CS> Hehe 'spared rice' oh my!  Mom was really set.  You got a meat, a
 CS> veggie, and a starch at every meal.  Sometimes the starch was in the
 CS> form of potatoes with the meat in a sort of cassarole.

Ninty nine point nine nine per cent of the time our starch was mashed
potatoes.  The rest of the time it was white spaghetti with a meat
sauce. I really don't recall any thing in the line of casseroles served
at home; my grandmother would have one we called "glop" whenever we'd
come down for a visit.  It was supper the night we arrived as it would
hold until we could get there (about 4 hours drive). I recall my mom
saying something to the effect of Dad not liking casseroles but would
eat that one to be polite.


 >  CS> leftovers (she'd make a little extra fairly often and sometimes we
 >  CS> didnt eat up the extras), she'd freeze it and then pull it out later
 >  CS> for the meatballs.

 > Makes sense; we rarely had left overs like that.  If it was just a dab
 > or two, it went into the dog's dish.  More than that and Dad would use
 > it as part of his lunch. Some meats had "planned re use" but a vegetable

 CS> No dog and we 3 kids handled the leftovers unless Mom said 'do not
 CS> touch these, they are for dinner later'.

We always had a dog; my parents still do--and he still gets table scraps
(and they wonder why he can't lose the weight he's supposed to).
Leftovers were always hands off for us as they woud be recycled into
something else or reheated and reserved.


 > My mom kept a can of the cheap ones on hand--still does.

 CS> I don't recall but rare times when she had that around.  She might
 CS> have refilled it with slightly burned toast bits (lol!).

Now that would have made some interesting crumbs.  A bit crunchier than
usual.


 > I think cooking was more of a job to my mom with the 5 of us kids.  We

 CS> Mine too.  There's but 3.5 years between us 3.

Steve's folks had 4 within 2 1/2 years but that included a set of twins.
Number 5 was born 4 1/2 years after Steve (he's #4).

 >  CS> night's chore to my brother and pick the little ones in exchange
 >  CS> (which he liked best).

 > Funny, you would have expected the boy to like the bigger ones. My

 CS> Naw, he loves spagetti.  To get that, you had to ask for the smaller
 CS> ones.

I understand.

 > I think jarred sauces have been around a good while but they've been
 > more expensive than the packet.  I ate my mom's spaghetti/sauce but knew
 > there had to be something better--and found it when I met/married Steve.

 CS> Dunno.  I do not recall them in 1978 when I moved out from home, but
 CS> may have missed them then.  This though speaks to 1960's and early
 CS> 70's with Mom's cooking.  To this day, I have many packets always on
 CS> hand for various things. I was just used to seeing same as a kid when
 CS> looking in the fridge and never really thought about it.

I don't use them, don't generally keep jarred sauce on hand either. I've
not found any that taste as good as what I make.

 >  CS> Italian, other than not growing up with it as a cultural influance.  I
 >  CS> 'fusion' it too much so the results though good to excellent, are not
 >  CS> at all authentic.

 > But Italian doesn't lend itself to some regional fusions that well, as
 > you found out.  It would go well with Greek or other Mediterranian but
 > not Japanese.  I didn't grow up with it as part of my cultural heritage

 CS> I've seen the one place do it well at the hotel, but agree.  A few
 CS> very minor influances work but not a full blown fusion of Japan and
 CS> Italian.  Patis flavored spagetti anyone?  Didnt think so...  Though
 CS> shiitake mushrooms would go nice in a standard one.

True, most any mushroom goes good in spaghetti sauce. (G)


 > You will learn, as we all do, in experimenting with new dishes, what
 > works well together.  Janis and I will jsut help you get a bit more of
 > the authenticity conquered.

 CS> Appreciated!

My in laws were just here for a couple of days--I'd made some pasta
fajiole (Italian peasant food--beans, sauce, pasta, garlic) a few weeks
ago and put a box in the freezer.  Pulled it out so Mom could try it
last night--she really liked it.  Yes, I'm not Italian but I can cook
like one. (G)


 >  CS> In fact, I have a recipe (will post it later if i remember to type it
 >  CS> up) Charlotte and Don want me to make.  It's a meat sauce but of a

 > That would go well in a move toward Italian cooking. Just change out a
 > few of the herbs probably.  Sounds good except the octopus & that is
 > basically a matter of a difference in "meat". If I knew it were coming,
 > I'd have no problems eating it; if I were surprised  by it, there might
 > be more of a mental adjustment before I could eat it.(G)

 CS> It's a sort of almost italian but from the 'medly of the Med' cookery.
 CS>  Now, in *my* house the 3-4inch baby octopii are being left whole
 CS> (cleaned of beak) and gonna be setting there spectacular over the top
 CS> of the spegetti sauce and lingiuni mound, but i can see for others i'd
 CS> probably wanaa chop'em up.

Some folks would absolutely freak out if they saw octopii draped over a
bowl of pasta. (G)


 > Just like so many things I've seen labeled as "Hawaiian" have pineapple
 > or coconut as an incidental ingredient and the total presentation is
 > nothing like would be found in HI.

 CS> Yeah, now and again I hunt for 'hawaii' in my MM base and clear that
 CS> catatory out from the stuff that just has a little pinapple or
 CS> coconut.

I don't have that category in MM but find it from time to time reading
cook books.


 >  CS> Yup!  I've been enjoying watching the cooking shows now that I have
 CS>  >
 > I'm picking up tips from the cooking shows too. It is fun to watch them;


>> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE <<

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... There cannot be a crisis today; my schedule is already full.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)