Everybody's hands are different, n'est pas? So she would measure into her hand and then we'd put it in a measuring cup. Sometimes we'd actually make the recipes with me watching and if she said, "Put in enough until it looks/feels right", I could measure that amount also. I am so glad I spent the time doing this, otherwise many of her recipes would be lost to us now.
| Mamah's Potato Salad Make early in the day or the day before you want to serve to give the flavours time to meld. 2½ quarts peeled, cubed potatoes salt 4 hard cooked eggs 2 Tbsp chopped pimientos ½ cup chopped sweet pickle 2 Tbsp or so dill pickle juice or vinegar 1 cup good mayonnaise, approximately Put potatoes in 3 qt. pot, salt and cover with water. Boil till tender, but not mushy. Chop eggs. Mash the potatoes slightly, leaving some lumps. Stir together the potatoes, eggs, pimiento, sweet pickle and some pickle juice. Fold in the mayonnaise. Adjust salt, mayonnaise and pickle juice to desired seasoning and consistency. Notes: 1. Mamah always said that if you made this ahead of time you could bury a quarter of an onion in the middle of the salad and take it out before serving or you could stir in some chopped green onions. That's what her mother always did. 2. Sometimes I vary the recipe by adding mustard. The Guy's current favourite is a jalapeño flavoured one. 3. Adding fresh chopped dill is good, too. |
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| Perfect Roast Chicken 3½ - 4 lb broiler/fryer ½ lemon seasoned salt (I normally use Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning) freshly ground black pepper 1 small celery stalk, with leaves 3 sprigs parsley 1 bay leaf 4 thin slices fresh ginger 1 Tbsp black peppercorns 1 tsp fresh thyme 2 green onions, chopped 1 large clove garlic, slivered ½ stick (4 Tbsp) butter, melted Mirepoix: 1 medium onion, diced 1 carrot or bell pepper, diced 1 celery stalk, diced ½ cup chicken stock ½ cup dry white wine 1 Tbsp paprika (regular or smoked or a combination) Sauce: ½ cup dry white wine kosher salt freshly ground black pepper Rinse the chicken, drain and pat dry. Rub the skin and cavity with lemon half. Sprinkle the inside of chicken with seasoned salt and pepper. Stuff with the lemon half, small stalk of celery, parley, bay leaf, ginger, peppercorns, thyme, green onions and garlic. Truss the chicken - tieing with string to hold wings behind the back and legs together. Be sure not to tie string across the breast. Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush the outside of chicken with melted butter (reserving the remainder for later) and sprinkle generously with seasoned salt and pepper. Place in roasting pan, breast side down and cook for 15 minutes. Turn chicken breast side up and roast 15 more minutes, brushing once with pan drippings. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 425°F. Mix together the vegetables for the mirepoix and place on roasting pan. Set the chicken on top (breast side up). Pour chicken stock and ½ cup wine over the chicken and return to oven. Cook about an hour, basting occasionally with pan juices. Stir paprika into the remaining melted butter and brush on chicken skin during the last 15 minutes of cooking. When the chicken is done, remove to platter and tent with foil. Let set for 10-15 minutes. Remove accumulated grease from roasting pan. Add the other ½ cup of white wine to the pan drippings and vegetables. Place pan over medium heat and cook for 1 minute. Scrape bottom of pan to incorporate browned bits. Use a blender to purée the vegetables and liquid; then bring to simmer in a small saucepan. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove string from chicken and discard the vegetables inside the cavity. Carve and place sliced meat on serving platter. Spoon sauce over and serve immediately. |
Everybody's hands are different, n'est pas? So she would measure into her hand and then we'd put it in a measuring cup. Sometimes we'd actually make the recipes with me watching and if she said, "Put in enough until it looks/feels right", I could measure that amount also. I am so glad I spent the time doing this, otherwise many of her recipes would be lost to us now.| Mamah's Potato Salad Make early in the day or the day before you want to serve to give the flavours time to meld. 2½ quarts peeled, cubed potatoes salt 4 hard cooked eggs 2 Tbsp chopped pimientos ½ cup chopped sweet pickle 2 Tbsp or so dill pickle juice or vinegar 1 cup good mayonnaise, approximately Put potatoes in 3 qt. pot, salt and cover with water. Boil till tender, but not mushy. Chop eggs. Mash the potatoes slightly, leaving some lumps. Stir together the potatoes, eggs, pimiento, sweet pickle and some pickle juice. Fold in the mayonnaise. Adjust salt, mayonnaise and pickle juice to desired seasoning and consistency. Notes: 1. Mamah always said that if you made this ahead of time you could bury a quarter of an onion in the middle of the salad and take it out before serving or you could stir in some chopped green onions. That's what her mother always did. 2. Sometimes I vary the recipe by adding mustard. The Guy's current favourite is a jalapeño flavoured one. 3. Adding fresh chopped dill is good, too. |
You might have heard of this popular homeschool book, 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. Math Mammoth has been included as one of the top picks for the newest edition of this book, just coming out!
Everybody's hands are different, n'est pas? So she would measure into her hand and then we'd put it in a measuring cup. Sometimes we'd actually make the recipes with me watching and if she said, "Put in enough until it looks/feels right", I could measure that amount also. I am so glad I spent the time doing this, otherwise many of her recipes would be lost to us now.| Mamah's Potato Salad Make early in the day or the day before you want to serve to give the flavours time to meld. 2½ quarts peeled, cubed potatoes salt 4 hard cooked eggs 2 Tbsp chopped pimientos ½ cup chopped sweet pickle 2 Tbsp or so dill pickle juice or vinegar 1 cup good mayonnaise, approximately Put potatoes in 3 qt. pot, salt and cover with water. Boil till tender, but not mushy. Chop eggs. Mash the potatoes slightly, leaving some lumps. Stir together the potatoes, eggs, pimiento, sweet pickle and some pickle juice. Fold in the mayonnaise. Adjust salt, mayonnaise and pickle juice to desired seasoning and consistency. Notes: 1. Mamah always said that if you made this ahead of time you could bury a quarter of an onion in the middle of the salad and take it out before serving or you could stir in some chopped green onions. That's what her mother always did. 2. Sometimes I vary the recipe by adding mustard. The Guy's current favourite is a jalapeño flavoured one. 3. Adding fresh chopped dill is good, too. |
Making French bread is quite the thrill!!.. HA.. no.. not really. It's actually quite boring. The only fun part of it is the shaping aspect. The dough is so soft and easy on the hand to play with. I started yesterday with a poolish, which in simple terms is just a starter dough that will give you a boost of flavor in your bread with early fermentation. What is interesting about the Poolish or starter dough is that, it is actually ALIVE! Yup, it's alive. Like frankenstein alive. And just like all living organisms, you need to feed it food to keep it alive and healthy. As for the Poolish, it eats flour, so every morning you feed it with some flour and it's happy. There are stories of crazy bakers, mostly frenchies, where they would bring their poolish around as they travel. This way they can feed it everyday and also make delicious bread where ever they go. It's pretty neat. I think. 
As boring as making bread is for me, I still admire the process of making it. It makes me happy to see perfectly shaped dough, ready to be scored and baked. The feel of working with lots amount of flour, eggs, yeast and salt.. getting messy with your hands, sometimes it's annoying but there are times, where you just feel so relaxed with kneading all the ingredients together into a soft dough. The feel of your hands and finger tips, crusty with the bits and pieces of dried dough, yes.. it's quite annoying also but hey! It's well worth the effort and the mess. 
So sometimes we would make up to 40-50 loaves a day of french bread or other types of breads, pastries and desserts, but by the time I get home, I only have 1 loaf of bread in my hand. Yes, I give them all away to people I see. People who I don't even know that I bump into, people who happen to sit next to me on the train, or neighbors that just happen to walk in the elevator when I'm in it. 
Final note. People are always so surprised when I offer food to them, and although I'm shy and I don't really like confrontation of such behavior from strangers. I know this loaf of bread, cake, or pastry will make the rest of their night a more positive one. They will go home and say, " Hey honey! guess what.. some asian kid just gave me a free loaf of bread ! " .. lol. strange.. but is it? Should it be? It makes me wonder.. what has this world become to when the thought of giving without asking for anything in return is a suspicious motive. But I'm not going to let that thought stop me from sharing what I love the most. Making YOU happy by doing what I love to do. Sharing the food that i make DUH!!!
