Food Basics

Carnival of the Recipes is up!

SarahK of Mountaineer Musings did a great job of putting together this week's Carnival of the Recipes!

Sadly, I missed it this time -- but only a few days til October is over!

Best of Me Symphony

The Yuma Tech Consortium will be hosting the next Best of Me Symphony.

If you're not familar with these kind of blogging community events, they're mainly to help bloggers let the world know they're there, and to give readers something new they maybe haven't seen before. There are no restrictions on subject matter other than the standard no commercials/no X-rated.

Here are the rules:

The Best of Me Symphony is built around the best posts from your blog archives. Post submission criteria are very simple. The post must be at least 2 months old and the submitter must think it is a very good post. How easy is that?

Submissions should be sent to the blog hosting that particular week's Symphony. Inasmuch as that's me for the week beginning Nov 1, 2004, please send entries to twschuett-at-peoplepc-dot-com by 11:59pm Eastern time Sunday, October 31
Submissions should include the following:

Post Title
Post Permalink
Author's Name (or handle)
Weblog Name
Submitter's Name/Handle (if different from Author)
Description of post and/or why this post is being submitted (That is, what about this post makes you think it is one of the best from the weblog).
The only absolutely required item is the permalink. Other items may be left blank on the Bestofme Symphony post if they aren't provided with the submission. That could mean less people will go to read the post so submitters are encouraged to include as much of the info as possible.

Note that a post does not have to be submitted by its author so readers and lurkers with or without their own weblogs may contribute.

My #1 Most Popular Post

You never know what your readership is going to like. That's why I tell new bloggers to try a variety of things, so they can get a feel for what works and what doesn't.

I've been keeping an eye on this -- best I can, that is, given Type Pad's limited tracking -- but it looks like the all-time favorite here is the entry on mayonnaise and Miracle Whip.

Go figure!?!

This one even has page rank on Google! right behind Kraft Foods and Cooks.com

Carnival of the Recipes #10

This week, the Carnival is hosted by Allan of Inside Allan's Mind

We appreciate your support and any links are even more appreciated!!

Thanks muchly, everyone!

Ain't it funny how time slips away...

Here it is Thursday already and I haven’t done jack here at Food Basics. I’m hoping things will slack off a bit after October is over. I’ve been working on a domestic violence activism project over at my other blog, the DesertLight Journal, and it’s taking an amazing amount of time.

For example, it’s almost 2pm local time, and I’ve just now finished what would normally be the morning’s work on the DLJ. I’ve been at it since 5:30am! Yikes! I think all the major and minor media are scrambling to get their DV stories published before the end of the month.

Thank God for crock pots and microwaves. I nuked myself a cheese sandwich for breakfast awhile back, and I’ve got some corned beef in the crock pot for dinner. So lives the gourmet cook when she’s engaged in other things. ;>)

This is about the only way you’re going to get a decent Reuben sandwich in this part of Arizona. You have to make it yourself! Same goes for bagels, and they’ve never heard of latkes around here.

In AZ’s favor, I do have to say we have great ground beef. Even the cheapest, and theoretically the greasiest variety is nearly as good as the best available in Michigan. And of course, there’s the Mexican food. Every year I promise myself I’m going to take a tamale class, and every year I forget.

Once, shortly after we moved out here, I got cocky and figured I could cook anything as long as I had a recipe. Not!! I tried tamales, and they were a mess. Just awful. Not only did they not taste like anything, I had globs of corn meal stuff everywhere – on the floor, stuck to the stove, etc. I found dried-out bits months later, when we moved the fridge out to make way for a new one.

I think it might be a matter of lack of courage. If I screw up another time, the dread of cleaning up the mess outweighs the possibility that they might come out OK. ;>)

HALLOWEEN!

COOL HALLOWEEN LINKS

Halloween Online Magazine - www.HalloweenOnlineMagazine.com
... This "Official" Halloween Magazine contains a crypt full of great Halloween how-to articles, costume ideas, crafts, tricks, tips and much more.

Pumpkin Carving 101 - www.Pumpkin-Carving.com
... A great source for pumpkin carving instructions and tips. Whether you're are beginner or expert Jack O' Lantern carver, you'll find something here.

The Yard Haunter - www.YardHaunter.com
... This site is completely dedicated to haunting your front yard for Halloween. Everything from building a realistic graveyard to adding spooky sound effects.

Fearful Films - www.FearfulFilms.com
... Whether its Halloween night or your just in the mood to watch something scary, let this site recommend something from our spooky movie reviews.

The Halloween Card Shop - www.Halloween-Cards.com
... Send your friends and family a unique ecard for Halloween.

The Pumpkin Patch - www.Pumpkin-Patch.com
... Want to know all about pumpkins? This is the place. Find listings for local pumpkin patches as well.

Halloween News - www.Halloween-News.com
... Trade, business, entertainment and industry news relating to Halloween. All kinds of information.

Carnival of the Recipes #9

The Carnival of the Recipes #9 is up!! This time it's hosted by She Who Will Be Obeyed.

Geek Dinner – An Open Source Recipe

The Basic Platform
1 lb. ground beef, browned
1 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained
1 11 oz. pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Add-ons
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 pkg taco seasoning + ¾ cup water
8 oz shredded cheese (whatever kind you prefer)
Tortilla chips
1 jar chunky salsa
Hot sauce to taste

Methods
Top of stove – brown burger, add the rest of desired ingredients, let it heat through for about 20 mins.
Crock pot – brown burger on stove or in microwave, add the rest of desired ingredients, 4 hours on High or 6 hours on Low.
Microwave – brown burger on High 3-5 mins, add the rest of desired ingredients, cook another 3-5 mins.
Some people want their burger drained, some don't.

The Food Basics Usual

I use everything but the chunky salsa most of the time. I mix up everything but the chips and cheese and heat it up.
I spread the chips on individual plates, spoon the burger mixture over that, and garnish with the cheese. If you want to get fancy, you could put a little pile of shredded lettuce, topped with a glob of sour cream and a couple of olives at the edge of each plate.

The Backstory

We first got the core recipe in the early 1960s from a cousin of my dad’s who lived in Albuquerque. Then it was only the burger, veg, and beans. In those days anything with Worcestershire sauce was about as “spicy” as you were going to get and with the addition of garlic – whoo! Spicy to the max. My mother thought it was pretty daring to serve this.

Later on, of course, tastes changed, and so did the recipe. It’s so flexible and versatile, I figured it was worthwhile to make it Open Source and see what other interesting things can happen to this humble dish.

Let me know if you come up with other interesting configurations!

OCTOBER IS NATIONAL PIZZA MONTH

* Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza EACH DAY, or about 350 slices per second.
* Pizza is a $32+ BILLION per year industry.
* There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States.
* Pizza restaurant growth continues to outpace overall restaurant growth.
* Pizzerias represent 17% of all restaurants.
* 93% of Americans eat AT LEAST one pizza per month.
* Each man, woman and child in America eats and average of 46 slices (23 pounds) of pizza per year.
* Approximately 3 BILLION pizzas are sold in the U.S. each year.
* According to a recent Gallop Poll, children between the ages of 3and 11 prefer PIZZA over all other food groups for lunch and dinner.
* A study done by a U.S. Department of Agriculture statistician and home economist found that in a three-day survey period, 42% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 has eaten pizza.
* 94% of the population of the U.S. eats pizza.

The Ultimate Apple Pie

Ever make an apple anything, only to find your apples shrink down to nothing? Hey, no sweat -- this has also happened to Julia Child, no less! The problem is in the apples -- good cooking apples don't keep their volume under heat. Eating apples, on the other hand, lose their flavor and turn into a tasteless mass. The answer is to use half of each kind. That way you get both flavor and volume.

Here's the recipe:
3 high-flavored cooking apples ( Jonathon, Macintosh, Granny Smith)
3 eating apples (Delicious, Fuji)

Peel and slice apples, mix with 1 cup sugar and 3 Tablespoons flour. Pour in bottom crust.
Crust recipe here
Sprinkle apples with a little cinnamon and nutmeg, dot with 3 tablespoons butter. Add top crust, seal edges and poke holes in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake at 375 degrees for 60-75 minutes.

Pie is done when juice bubbles out the vent holes.