Food and Recipes while under Coronavirus quarantine #8

[BetteDavisEyes]

While taking pantry inventory last weekend, I found a small jar of creamy peanut butter that I used to make Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms last year. I had planned to make a second batch but didn't get around to it. I mixed the cookie batter yesterday while DH went swimming, and he agreed to do the baking. He formed the cookies and rolled them in sugar while I unwrapped the Hershey's kisses. The joint effort yielded 40 perfect peanut butter blossoms.

We are going to Shine Cafe for brunch today after we drop off a holiday gift for our hair stylist at the salon in the same shopping center. We have appointments at Meijer for our Covid shots this afternoon and will pick up a few grocery items while we're there. DH usually has a mild reaction to the injection (low-grade fever, fatigue), so we will probably stay at home for a couple of days. We don't have to go out anywhere until Sunday.

I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. Be well.

 

[slowpoke]

I’m currently reading a book that briefly mentioned Amish Haystacks for dinner. It sounded interesting so I found a recipe:


Amish Haystacks

• 1 ¾ cups soda crackers, crushed
• 3 pounds hamburger, browned, and 3 tablespoons taco seasoning added
• 4 cups lettuce, shredded
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cups green peppers, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Spaghetti, rice, or both — cooked until soft

INSTRUCTIONS​

• Put some of each on your plate, onelayer at a time.
• Top with shredded cheese or a homemade cheese sauce.
• Also,salsa or ranch dressing is a good addition.
• . This will serve a family of six, but amounts can be adjusted

The article mentions that you can substitute any of the ingredients, and also that it is perfect to feed a crowd.

A Haystack Buffet is for a crowd, just put bowls of various ingredients on a long table and let everyone build their own haystack with ingredients they choose.

Very interesting—feels reminiscent of a taco salad?
When I saw haystacks, I thought it was going to be those peanut butter-butterscotch chips-crunchy chow mein noodles thingies that was so popular when I was young.

 

[Tricia]

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[BetteDavisEyes]

A really "nutty" story. Last week I ordered a holiday nut tray through Amazon. Received a shipping notice, and everything was fine - the package was actually delivered a day early. Problem is, it wasn't the nut tray that I had ordered. Instead, I was "gifted" with a Hallmark Keepsake ornament for which I have no use. We don't have a Christmas tree, nor do I collect (or even like) Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. But, I do like nuts and like to have a selection of nuts and dried fruits on hand over the holidays. I can't help wondering what became of the nut tray that I ordered, and I'm sure that the person who ordered the Hallmark Keepsake ornament wonders what happened to it. Perhaps it was a specially chosen gift for a collector who will probably not receive it before Christmas because Amazon told me to keep it. The ornament was $45, while the nut tray was only $36. I'm guessing that the individual who got my nut tray gets to keep it, too. Absolutely NUTS! I reordered the nut tray directly from "Oh, Nuts" yesterday. It has already shipped and is supposed to be delivered on Christmas Eve.

 

[acutename]

A really "nutty" story. Last week I ordered a holiday nut tray through Amazon. Received a shipping notice, and everything was fine - the package was actually delivered a day early. Problem is, it wasn't the nut tray that I had ordered. Instead, I was "gifted" with a Hallmark Keepsake ornament for which I have no use. We don't have a Christmas tree, nor do I collect (or even like) Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. But, I do like nuts and like to have a selection of nuts and dried fruits on hand over the holidays. I can't help wondering what became of the nut tray that I ordered, and I'm sure that the person who ordered the Hallmark Keepsake ornament wonders what happened to it. Perhaps it was a specially chosen gift for a collector who will probably not receive it before Christmas because Amazon told me to keep it. The ornament was $45, while the nut tray was only $36. I'm guessing that the individual who got my nut tray gets to keep it, too. Absolutely NUTS! I reordered the nut tray directly from "Oh, Nuts" yesterday. It has already shipped and is supposed to be delivered on Christmas Eve.

A lot of places do not want to take any food items back- they would just destroy them for health reasons anyway- we had a friend one year get lots of nuts she did not order and she was giving them away.

 

[acutename]

The kale looks OK but I haven't opened it yet... just in case anyone was wondering lol! Also regretting not buying the ginger bread loaf I saw at the grocery store

can't you just throw it in soup or stew or chili?

 

[IceIce9]

A lot of places do not want to take any food items back- they would just destroy them for health reasons anyway- we had a friend one year get lots of nuts she did not order and she was giving them away.

The strangest mis-delivered item we have received was a large box that was filled with of back up cameras for RVs. It was addressed to our address but to the name of someone else. We tried to send it back to the company but they didn’t want it. We tried to locate the person it was addressed to.

I looked up the value of the cameras and they were very expensive. But when we couldn’t find the person whose name was on the package and the company didn’t want them back, I finally donated them to Goodwill.

 

[slowpoke]

A really "nutty" story. Last week I ordered a holiday nut tray through Amazon. Received a shipping notice, and everything was fine - the package was actually delivered a day early. Problem is, it wasn't the nut tray that I had ordered. Instead, I was "gifted" with a Hallmark Keepsake ornament for which I have no use. We don't have a Christmas tree, nor do I collect (or even like) Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. But, I do like nuts and like to have a selection of nuts and dried fruits on hand over the holidays. I can't help wondering what became of the nut tray that I ordered, and I'm sure that the person who ordered the Hallmark Keepsake ornament wonders what happened to it. Perhaps it was a specially chosen gift for a collector who will probably not receive it before Christmas because Amazon told me to keep it. The ornament was $45, while the nut tray was only $36. I'm guessing that the individual who got my nut tray gets to keep it, too. Absolutely NUTS! I reordered the nut tray directly from "Oh, Nuts" yesterday. It has already shipped and is supposed to be delivered on Christmas Eve.

That’s a fun name for the nut company: “Oh, Nuts!”

You reminded me—there used to be a brick-and-mortar old school type of nut store in the downtown Los Angeles area called “Nuts to You”, where you’d buy nuts by weight. I recall going there looking for unshelled pinenuts for a friend who liked to snack on them!

I think it used to be sold in small bags by a Mexican company, and easy to find throughout SoCal when I was young. Cracking them between our teeth one by one was tedious work to get to the tiny sweet morsel inside, but I guess that’s not too unlike eating sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

Thanks for your ‘nutty’ story , and for bringing out a memory I hadn’t thought about in like forever!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I have a pot of cranberry-apple sauce simmering on the stove. It will be a nice accompaniment for latkes that DH will make tomorrow on the first night of Hanukkah. The cranberry-apple sauce will also go well with turkey meatballs that I'll make later this week.

The replacement nut tray arrived yesterday - a day earlier than promised. It's the same nut tray that I ordered through Amazon, but this one is a covered tin instead of a plastic tray. Nice selection of nuts - almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios, mixed nuts, some salty, some spicy, some sweet.

Speaking of nuts, the company that DH uses to order whole walnuts for our squirrelly backyard friends raised their prices from last year, so instead of getting 20# he only got 18# (enough for free shipping). We started tossing them out on the deck around Thanksgiving, and it is fun to watch them eat the nuts on the railings or benches or scamper around to bury them. A flock of wild turkeys was hanging around the 'hood in mid-November, but they seem to have disappeared. We see an occasional deer come out of the woods behind our home, but when they know we're watching, they go back into the woods or into another yard.

We'll have a white Christmas here because we got some snow on Sunday and yesterday. It's cloudy and a little foggy - perfect for Christmas Eve. Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.

 

[killarney rose]

Merry Christmas everyone!

My house smells so good right now. I’m finishing the last of the Christmas baking this afternoon with my annual 13 layer chocolate cake. Currently there is hot dog chili in the crockpot for DGS’s birthday celebration Thursday. And a pot of chicken stock for tonight’s white chicken chili cooling on the stove. I’m about cooked out but ready for the celebration to begin starting with candlelight communion service, then soup supper here at my house.

 

[whiterhino]

My two "signature dishes" for this time of year: good wine and pie with whipped cream!

Happy Holidays to you all

 

[PayrollNerd]

I have been cooking, baking & candy making. I still have gluten free banana bread to make.
2 Zucchini Quiches plus the extra zucchini in a dish with cheeses and tomato slices.
Pumpkin Cookies with cream cheese icing.
M&M Cookies
Chocolate covered Gluten Free Oreo Lollipops
Chocolate covered Pea-Not Butter balls. I couldn't make them look like buckeye candy but they taste good! When you haven’t had a peanut butter cup in 12 years, they’re a great substitute. You’d never know it was chickpeas. Kiddo & I will keep most of them for us. We’re the only ones with a peanut allergy.

 

[weepingangel]

FYI re Costco egg recall

FDA raises recall alert to highest level on Costco eggs over risk of severe illness or death due to salmonella

No illnesses have been reported yet. It can take several weeks for cases to be identified as part of a food outbreak.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[snooptroop88]

I was still exhausted from Thanksgiving, but got a good amount done so far. Made batch chocolate chip cookies; made bananas foster (first time); Chantilly potatoes (first time/awesome); spiral ham (came with caramel glaze, too sweet/did mustard and homemade Chinese five spice instead); the pearl onions I was supposed to make on Thanksgiving, lol. Doing the dressing now (pretty standard, sage & chicken stuffing w/veg), tomorrow's hopefully more of the ham, maybe creamed spinach, Alton Brown Hail Caesar salad, AND ham Yorkies-- I hope! Happy Holidays!!!

 

[iamshadow21]

I bought a pack of lamingtons in 'christmas' flavours (berry, lemon, gingerbread, and pistachio and vanilla) and can report that they all taste like (admittedly pleasant) basic b*tch vanilla sponge, except the lemon, which tastes like vanilla which once got told what a lemon was at a party years ago.

I mean, they're lovely sponge for supermarket cake, but if you promise big flavours, you could at least deliver!

 

[IceIce9]

Visiting friends in Florida today and we are going to spend the day at the beach. So no fancy cooking for us today.

 

[iamshadow21]

I just realised that you all probably don't know what a lamington is. I think it's an Australian thing.

Lamington - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The general thing is to use sponge, but my mum always used butter cake. She didn't fill hers either, but it's common for them to have a thin layer of jam and cream at the midpoint.

The chocolate on the outside isn't buttercream. The process is more like, say, crumbing a piece of meat. The cake goes into a liquid mix of cocoa powder and water, when all sides are covered, it immediately goes into dessicated coconut until it's covered in that, and then it goes on a wire rack to dry. So you have a wet hand and a dry hand, like you do for crumbing a piece of meat.

 

[Tricia]

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[PayrollNerd]

So we have this random chicken strolling thru the ‘hood lately. I think it’s a runaway. If it happens to stroll into my yard, while the gate is open….. I might become an accidental chicken owner. I’m allowed to have 4 chickens per the county. Not that I want chickens…..

Anyway, I put blueberries in the GF banana bread this time. I haven’t tasted it yet because we had so much food.

I finished my own apron (turtles) on Christmas Eve and all the kids loved theirs.
L to R
Youngest daughter a wolf print (vet to be)
Oldest daughter a turtle print (marine scientist)
Oldest daughters boyfriend an Air Force dog tag print (helicopter pilot)

 

[snooptroop88]

So we have this random chicken strolling thru the ‘hood lately. I think it’s a runaway. If it happens to stroll into my yard, while the gate is open….. I might become an accidental chicken owner. I’m allowed to have 4 chickens per the county. Not that I want chickens…..

Anyway, I put blueberries in the GF banana bread this time. I haven’t tasted it yet because we had so much food.

I finished my own apron (turtles) on Christmas Eve and all the kids loved theirs.
L to R
Youngest daughter a wolf print (vet to be)
Oldest daughter a turtle print (marine scientist)
Oldest daughters boyfriend an Air Force dog tag print (helicopter pilot)

OMGosh, that bread looks so good, seriously. And getting you on the chickens, I'd love, love to be able to have chickens, have always wanted them.

Did ice cream with a chocolate ganache from dark chocolate chips mixed w/cream, pretty basic but came out nice. Got the dressing made. I STILL have to do the mac n cheese and creamed spinach! And I've got to bag and freeze the leftover ham. I never got my Yorkies yet, but I may still get them because I saved everything and am monitoring to make sure I can still use it all. I got to do the turkey Yorkies for T-giving and I'd love to try a ham Yorkie. I'm wondering if I'll bother w/the pasta salad at all, it just seems too cold out for pasta salad.