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USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

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Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

leswp1 said:
Brined, fresh from the farm turkey. COnvection oven. Anyone have experience? I asked last yr but I think it was in the other thread.
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Ask me Saturday afternoon. Haha. I am brining a turkey myself using the Alton Brown recipe. But not using a convection oven. I have never brined a turkey myself so this will be a new experience for me too. We are doing our Thanksgiving on Saturday.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

walrus said:
My mom stuffed the bird right from the get go, no one ever got sick.
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So did mine... except it was awfully soggy.

I'm going to make the bread pudding first thing tomorrow afternoon, and before I serve dessert, I will start the caramel sauce. And yes, I've learned to add butter or cream to the sugar to keep it from hardening.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

I made the cranberry maple pecan tart and it was delicious. Might be a keeper for future Thanksgivings. Pretty easy to make, too.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Bread pudding was spot on, so was the roasted chicken. Rest of the meal... not so much.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Thanksgiving was good, the only cooking I did was to fry up some bacon and put it in a broccoli salad. So, while most houses smelled like turkey on Thursday, mine smelled like bacon.

I did not get a Kitchenaid mixer on Black Friday. But this is a happy story. I was talking to my parents on Thanksgiving and told them my plans to buy one and they said not to, as they were planning on getting me one for Christmas. So, I ruined the surprise (and good thing too, 'cause mom was gonna buy me an icky green one instead of a pretty blue one). Anyway, it's nice having awesome parents that spoil me, even at the age of 31.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

wolverineTrumpet said:
Thanksgiving was good, the only cooking I did was to fry up some bacon and put it in a broccoli salad. So, while most houses smelled like turkey on Thursday, mine smelled like bacon.

I did not get a Kitchenaid mixer on Black Friday. But this is a happy story. I was talking to my parents on Thanksgiving and told them my plans to buy one and they said not to, as they were planning on getting me one for Christmas. So, I ruined the surprise (and good thing too, 'cause mom was gonna buy me an icky green one instead of a pretty blue one). Anyway, it's nice having awesome parents that spoil me, even at the age of 31.
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:)

My dad spoiled me, too. We were in Meijer Saturday, looking at food processors. And a Hamilton Beach 12-cup one was on sale, so he went ahead and bought it. Now I can make mayo, Hollandaise, pesto, and my own nut butters. Maybe even my own Nutella. :D
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Finished all the Christmas cookies I had planned for this week. Baked 728 cookies and only had one disaster - gingersnap palmiers. I didn't read the recipe closely enough, and used too much sugar and syrup on the first day, then didn't have enough left for the second day. Will give it another shot later with a half recipe. I added two more kinds to make next weekend - <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/features/recipes/234284961.html">brandy bites</a> (a no-bake), and some kind of chocolate mint thing, since I have a bunch of Andes candies left. Still have to make brandy snaps and the barks.

Also, my gingerbread bars with hot buttered rum glaze won a runner-up spot in the holiday cookie contest in the newspaper.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Took a French pastry class in Chicago - we made eclairs, gougeres and macarons. Well, sort of. We worked in groups (which I hate in baking classes) and the instructor did some of it for us, since the other people did not seem that interested in actually doing the work (when asked what we were making, one lady answered "bread?" :rolleyes: ) Anyway, I'd never made macarons, and they were pretty easy, so I'll be trying those again. The eclairs weren't too bad either, so I'll give those a shot again. We started late and finished early (and then are expected to tip the instructor), so I wasn't too impressed with the course or venue. Zingerman's spoiled me.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Anyone have any experience freezing quiche? I usually have the week off before my open house and now it is 2 weeks away. Need to make and freeze but don't know if there are any tricks to it.

Been baking. Pepparkauka cookies- total of 1000 or so cookies. I am a bit tired of rolling dough. Next few batches are drop cookies. Thank goodness!!
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Just got some Christmas silicone molds for making bark. Dark Chocolate Buttercrunch, Cranberry-Apricot Pecan Bark, Peppermint Bark (with Andes candies and Thin Mints) and possibly Chocolate Ginger Bark. I usually just use pans for bark and break it up, but the molds are a cute idea.

Also, I have extra egg whites, and these are cute: <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/296264/mini-peppermint-meringue-cups-with-ganac">Mini Peppermint Meringues with Ganache</a> - but look a little labor intensive. Painting the pastry bags? Very Martha. We'll see how it goes. I might be a little overly ambitious. The palmiers were a Martha thing too, and they scarred me (not literally, though).

leswp1 said:
Been baking. Pepparkauka cookies- total of 1000 or so cookies. I am a bit tired of rolling dough. Next few batches are drop cookies. Thank goodness!!
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This makes me tired reading it. One thing I don't do is rollout cookies. Can't stand making that many of them.
 
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Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

leswp1 said:
Anyone have any experience freezing quiche? I usually have the week off before my open house and now it is 2 weeks away. Need to make and freeze but don't know if there are any tricks to it.

Been baking. Pepparkauka cookies- total of 1000 or so cookies. I am a bit tired of rolling dough. Next few batches are drop cookies. Thank goodness!!
Click to expand...

Quiche actually freezes very well. After you cook it let it cool down before freezing it. I wrap mine in a double layer of plastic wrap and then put it in a gallon sized ziplock bag for added protection.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Made grilled bacon, pear and cheddar sandwiches last night. Tasty! Those green, non-soft winter pears get old after a while; this was a great way to have them a little differently.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Suze said:
Quiche actually freezes very well. After you cook it let it cool down before freezing it. I wrap mine in a double layer of plastic wrap and then put it in a gallon sized ziplock bag for added protection.
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Thanks!
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

hi, my name is jen, and I can't seem to stop baking cookies.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

jen said:
hi, my name is jen, and I can't seem to stop baking cookies.
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Has there been a parental intervention yet, with your parents in tears, asking you to please put down the beaters?
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

St. Clown said:
Has there been a parental intervention yet, with your parents in tears, asking you to please put down the beaters?
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nobody seems to want an intervention, as it would result in fewer cookies.

I just added another one to the list last night: salted caramel hot cocoa cookies with marshmallows on top. **** you pinterest.
 
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Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

jen said:
nobody seems to want an intervention, as it would result in fewer cookies.

I just added another one to the list last night: salted caramel hot cocoa cookies with marshmallows on top. **** you pinterest.
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I think this will require changing your environment and lifestyle. Have you considered the possibility that you will never again be able to visit your old food porn haunts without being triggered? ;)
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

FadeToBlack&Gold said:
I think this will require changing your environment and lifestyle. Have you considered the possibility that you will never again be able to visit your old food porn haunts without being triggered? ;)
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But the <a href="http://momof6.com/celebrations-and-family-traditions/christmas-tree-meringue-cookies-i-pinned-it-and-i-tried-it/">meringue trees</a> are so cute! and I have egg whites to use! and it's good piping practice!
 
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Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

jen said:
But the <a href="http://momof6.com/celebrations-and-family-traditions/christmas-tree-meringue-cookies-i-pinned-it-and-i-tried-it/">meringue trees</a> are so cute! and I have egg whites to use! and it's good piping practice!
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I don't think that means what you think it means.
 
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