Mamacita

Hi Jake-- I'll read some of the true crime books if the case is one that interested me. I read Ann Rule's "Small Sacrifices" mainly b/c my sister's husband worked with the woman's father and also from time to time with her. It was interesting to me because right after "the incident", Jim said "she did it. She's just nutso enough to have killed her own kids." Sure enough, it turned out he was right. :shock:

I will not read horror. Period. There is absolutely nothing but trash between the covers (and on the covers ) of them IMNSHO. Same goes for the serial killer type books. I can't understand the allure of reading about someone's sicko proclivities (Silence of the Lambs is one that comes to mind). Not big on war stories, usually because they're written by some oaf with testosterone poisoning. The only bios that I'll read are those of persons with historical significance or someone that I've found fascinating for whatever reason. I read a really good one recently called "Founding Mothers" by Cokie Roberts. It told of what the wives, sisters and daughters were up to while the men of the house were plotting Treason against King and Country. Being the upbeat, happy individual that I am, I really enjoy reading books that reinforce those feelings. Books with satisfying, often happy endings. I don't like the syrupy Mills & Boon "doctor and nurse" type romances. Ugh! Those went out with disco. But I do really enjoy a lot of the new contemporary romances that are out these days. I feel I can identify with the strong alpha females who know what they want out of life and go after it. Or characters who have a bad experience, then learn and grow from it. Oh, btw, Lonesome Dove was written by Larry McMurtry and it was made into a television miniseries here in the US back in the '80's. It was very well made and if you can find it, it's very much worth watching.

Hmmm, maybe I need to learn some of that Old English...then I can be rude and my patients won't have a clue as to what I'm saying!

Absolutely! We are the imparters of wisdom. We are the I Ching of the Western World... and if these young whippersnappers don't toe the mark, we'll smack 'em with our canes and make them read Chaucer in the orginal English...or whatever it was written in! :rofl:

I'm not necessarily evil...but I probably qualify as an old crone. :rofl:

I'm not really sure how I got here...fell down a rabbit hole? Actually, it worked something like this: I'm a member of Southern Gazebo, owned by Liz aka Southernlady. Somehow, she knows Michelle. Michelle began posting on our daily thread. When she found out I was a writer, she asked me to come over here and start posting...so I did. So, you can all blame Michelle!

Ages ago, I worked with a gal whose husband was from Turkey. He made the most wonderful dolmades--stuffed vine leaves. If I remember correctly, she said he used rice and black currants rather than regular raisins/sultanas. They were slightly sweet with an olive oil undertone. Anyone ever taste anything like that...maybe have a recipe you'd like to share?

:rofl: Actually, Andy, I'm asking on behalf of my dog, Sunni. She needs some extra protein in her diet and since I'm the thrifty sort, instead of seeing this get tossed into the garbage, I figured if it could be used, why not let my little girl benefit? I certainly wouldn't eat it! I'm a carnivore--big time! :eat:

Textured Vegetable Protein. A meat substitute. Usually granules. Dried. You soak them in water and they plump up and resemble cooked ground beef (mince to you). You can then season it and use it to make tacos, use it in lasagna, spagetti sauce...anything you'd use ground meat in. Here's a link with more of a description that I just found: http://www.healthrecipes.com/textured_vegetable_protein.htm

I've been offered a very elderly can of TVP. Does anyone know if this stuff has a finite life expectancy? There's also a couple cans of dried potatoes, and dried egg powder. If this stuff is still useable I'll take it, but if not, then I think I'll give it a polite "thanks but no thanks".

I do love my comfort food! Mine tends to be of the Mexican variety quite often. Nothing like hot and spicy to warm the cockles of your heart. Now, dumplings...there's a subject. Here in the south, they are more like a big fat fluffy noodle, but the ones I was taught to make are more like a savory scone dough that is dropped by the spoonful into boiling liquid. I make very nice dumplings, especially when I make chicken and dumplings. Yum! Anyone care to share a beef casserole recipe?

You know what gets me? There are so many ill-informed, small-minded bigots over on this side of the pond who say that British cooking is BLAND!!! Can you believe that nonsense???? They are absolutely out of their ever-lovin' minds. Jo, I'm intrigued by the beef casserole...

Kell, I thought polenta was corn based. :? I've tried both (shouldn't eat either as they send my blood glucose levels soaring) and prefer the polenta in both texture and flavor.

Andy, take a look at the Random House list. Harry Potter isn't even listed, I don't think...

http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

I just learned what this is myself a few days ago. Skirlie is a Scottish stuffing made with--oats--naturally! I'm tempted to try it one of these days...maybe I can convince dh it's worth eating...he's such a bore when it comes to food...no sense of adventure at all.

:rofl: That's just too damn funny Maureen. But I feel the same way, unless it's a comedy. There's a Canadian writer named Lynsey Sands who writes these vampire romance stories that are side-splittingly funny. Imagine a vampire who's an aspiring Broadway actor. His show closes before it opens because of "galloping contagious anemia" among the other cast members. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Hee hee!!

Oh, Maureen, almost forgot to answer your question. My favorite thing to serve with cornbread is chili. Although it's really good with beef or lamb stew. If you have leftovers you can heat some milk up the next morning and pour it over a square of the cornbread and it makes a nice substitute for breakfast cereal.

:rofl: about the flaming kitchens. I did that the first year I was married, but haven't done it since. Dd ( the younger) however, managed to set fire to my range hood when she was sixteen and she and her gaggle of friends decided to cook burgers on the stove. :grr: Cream corn is corn cut off the cob and thickened with cornstarch and the corn "juice". It's pretty yummy but not exactly the lowest thing on the glycemic index. Here's a recipe for cornbread. This is a pretty standard recipe. 2 cups yellow cornmeal 1 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons sugar or honey, optional 3 eggs, beaten 1 tablespoon vegetable, for skillet 2 cups milk 1/4 cup melted butter melted butter for brushing top Preheat oven to 425

Not sure exactly what we're having...but it will include cornbread. I made some really yummy cornbread for the party last night and ended up bringing some back b/c the person bringing the chili arrived very late. :grr: Don't know if you have "Jiffy" cornbread mix over there, but this is the recipe: 1 can cream corn 1 can whole kernel corn 1 16oz sour cream 2 boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix Drain whole kernel corn. Mix together corn, cream corn and sour cream. Next mix up 2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix according to box directions in a large mixing bowl. Add the corn and sour cream mixture. Pour into a greased 9X13 casserole and bake at 400*F until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 35 to 40 minutes).

The hell's beef Rogan Josh????

I usually do this in the crockpot and use whatever meat I have on hand. Ground beef, ground venison, ground turkey, whatever...usually a couple pounds. Brown the meat in a skillet with a little olive oil, then throw the whole thing into the crockpot. Add cooked pinto, kidney or pink beans if desired...2 or 3 cups worth. Chop up a large onion and a couple large cloves of garlic (or to taste), and throw that in, along with a couple good sized pinches of whole cumin and a couple cans of chopped tomatoes. Add one or two cleaned ancho chili pods with the seeds and stem removed. Add enough beef broth to cover and cook on low in the crockpot 6 to 8 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with cornbread.

I read Outlander back in 1991 quite a while before it was actually released. Diana was considered to be the new "wunderkind" of the literary world, and she does, indeed, put a great deal of effort in her research. She's a very talented author, and while I enjoyed Outlander, by the time I'd finished Dragonfly in Amber I was really tired of the characters, wishing Diana would just finish the damned story and move on to something else. I stopped reading her after that.

The one book I read that scared the snot out of me was Stephen King's "Thinner". He wrote it under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman (I think that was the name.) It creeped me out so bad that I've never picked up another of his books except his non-fiction "On Writing". Then I tried my hand at writing some not so warm and fuzzy stuff. He has an exercise in the back of the book where he sets up a premise and asks the reader to finish it. I actually enjoyed letting my darker side out to play for a bit.

I'm guilty of being a schizophrenic reader, too. I get in these "moods". I'll want to read a mystery, then the next night, I'll pick up a women's lit, then grab a history to take to work, blah, blah... But--that's why God gave us bookmarks!