Nana's Onion Salad

My Mom's Mom, or Nana, always brought this tasty salad to Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners.

It's very tasty and smooth not what you would expect from uncooked onions.

Here is the original recipe that was published in the Church Women's Cookbook.

Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies

These are the real deal...
I was going through my old recipe binder that my Mom gave me back in December 87
and found the original recipe for Date Filled Cookies.

Frequent readers of this kitchen rag will remember that I published an internet version of this
in February of this year. I did promise to keep searching and I did found it.
As so often is the case when you make something for years and years you leave out
the " common sense details that everyone should know" Please read the details at the bottom
where I will fill you in on what I found missing.

The recipe is a follows,


Oatmeal Cookies- Grandma G
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup margarine a little water (12 tsp)

Date filling
1 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon butter ( I don't remember using lemon juice + butter DMG)

Cook slowly until thick (can mash).

All this is my take on it...

Mix the sugar and room temperature margarine, I used butter, add the soda and salt.
Use unsalted butter or margarine or it will be too salty.
Once that is creamed add the flour and then the instant oatmeal.

I rolled them on parchment paper and put them on a cookie sheet to cool in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 350, and cook for 15 min.

I used the compressed packet of dates (they are a dry staple on the Prairies).
Fresh Mejoule dates were unheard of.
Slowly heat and reduce the dates until they are thick like a stiff jam.
This will scorch if you let it.
Use a knife to spread a thick dollop of date in the centre of the cookie and screw them together.

The results are in the picture.

I had mine with a cup of tea in the " Weekend Morning Show" mug that Ron Robinson
mailed to me. I can't remember the question that I had to answer to win it.
I miss listening to Ron every weekend with his tales of walking in to work on
Portage Ave.
BW

Wafels & Dinges Truck Food VII

The Wafel & Dinges Truck has archived mythic proportions
among Truck Food fans. They even have their own web site
to keep track of their locations!



On a cold day in Green Point few treats could rival their
sweet hot wafel! The coffee hit the spot too,
just great hot coffee!


(Will return for the pulled pork wafel)

BW

Oatmeal Cookies with Coconut , Circa 1952

My Nana used to make these for us when we were children. They are good with milk. I have reviewed, and made these several times and they are exactly as I remember them.
If you leave them in longer than 15 min you get them just a bit too brown, which is the way
I like them.

Oatmeal Cookies, Ester Findlay's Circa 1952

1 1/2 cups margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Cream these three and add,

3 eggs,

Mix thoroughly and add,

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
4 cups rolled, oats quick cook kind
1 cup coconut sweetened

Roll into small balls and refrigerate, press onto a greased cookie sheet with a fork,
place in a preheated 350 oven for 15 to 20 min.


This produces a bake sale amount of cookies. I used a
melon scoop to put the chilled dough on the trays.

Truck Food 7

I have been getting a number of emails and comments pointing out
interesting and delicious Truck Food locations.

This one came in from a traveling Truck Food fan.
I was excited to bring the two worlds together, BBQ and Truck Food

I was not disappointed and the value and hospitality can't be beat!


Kings County BBQ
168 Quincy
Brooklyn NY.

Their website is here

Enjoy this latest quest
BW

Matrimonial Cake

Matrimonial cake a sweet treat with a strange name. It's defiantly not a wedding cake , some have suggested that its name comes from " a metaphor for marriage because it has a rough top but a sweet filling and a firm base". Pretty clever, I can't take credit for making this batch but I was a willing participant!

It seems to have Western Canadian origins. I just call it delicious.

My sister sent me a scan of my mothers original recipe hand written in two colours.

She gives credit to her mother on the top corner.

It still tastes great even frozen!

Click on this image to make it larger!

Truck Food IV

Thats Truck Food 4, not Truck Food intravenous ;-)

This episode is shot in Harrison New York Just off the Saw Mill on Saw Mill River Road near

Farragut ave.



I had heard tails of this Taco Truck from several people, my mechanic and a local firefighter as

well. It's only open day time up till 5pm. Took a chance on a Saturday and was rewarded with

delicious chicken taco's! The price is a treat and they were very

fresh and spicy. They also serve Beef and vegi tacos as well as

hot dogs. Well worth the effort to find it.

BW

TRUCK FOOD III

As we continue on this culinary tour de farce its time for another Truck Food.

We have been stalking this truck for a while.

The first time I went to its usual location it had moved.

Truck food is by its nature mobile.

When you see one you must eat while the truck is hot!

My second journey was more successful and delicious too. BW

Truck Food 2

When you have a series you have to have more than one.
This is the second truck food video.
This taco truck has great carne de chivo tacos.
The horchata was great to and the price was muy bueno.
Enjoy the video and feel free to leave comments or suggestions.

I enjoy the former and may consider the later.

BW

I Have A Dream

I used to listen to Danny Finkleman on Saturday Nights filling up my Volkswagen in Ponton.
Usually it was 50 below zero.

That's not my dream, but he would always have " money making idea # 347" or some thing like that.
I don't know if this would top #347 but here's a shot
In my dream I would travel around the world tasting food that is produced on trucks.
I would of course be paid well for this valuable service to humanity.
My crew and I would document it and it would look some thing like this....




Wouldn't that be cool...BW

Jerk Chicken

Summer is here and that means one thing... Plenty of grillin!

Here is a simple feast that even the most unaccomplished chef can pull off.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken.

I took the chicken out the day before and marinated it in Presidents Choice Memories of Montego jerk sauce. Leave it in the fridge covered in the sauce over night.
A word of caution use rubber gloves while massaging the sauce onto the bird.

3 hours before your ready to bbq take the marinated bird out of the fridge keep covered, and allow it to come to room temperature.

The squash was painted with olive oil with a bit of garlic salt sprinkled on.

The rice is just rice.

Cook the chicken right through and put the squash on in the last part of the Q to just lightly grill it.

Enjoy the season !

Good enough for the President!

BW

SIMPLE

Simple

Sometimes you just want a cup of coffee black.

Some places this means something, you order it and it comes to your table.

“ a cup of coffee black “

What a marketing concept, this could keep, say 600 stores open.

And you wouldn't have to learn another language.

The brownie was strangely just a brownie.

And all for less than the price of one ven-teh LA-teh.

BW

Breakfast al a Carte

The only thing better than breakfast is breakfast delivered.



On the road this weekend in Montreal.

Now I know how to post on the fly!

Does food taste better 16 floors up?

BW

Taco Time - Food Pioneer

When I was growing up we would infrequently visit my grama's sister in California.
In the late 60's California was the place to be and the food to eat was Mexican.

My aunt would send care packages to the frozen north so we were able to have
exotic taco's long before they appeared on the shelf at Safeway.
My mom was quite the food pioneer! Taco's in the Canadian prairie in 1969.
It was a big step from seven layer dinner!

I stuck pretty well to the original ingredients, substituted vegi ground round for
ground beef. I find ground turkey a bit metallic.

It turned out pretty much as I remember.


Buy the ingredients as pictured, follow the directions on the package of seasoning,
heat the shells in the oven to soften them up.

We would have the ingredients prepared on a plate and assemble them yourself.

This still works for me!

BW

Breakfast Special Classic

Shouldn't every breakfast be special.
Went to MUM'S restaurant in a blizzard
had the classic. It was good. The vid shows the details.

Care Package

Haven't got one of these for ages.
When I lived in Churchill they were a life saver.
Here they are just a nostalgic indulgence.
Already hit the PC " Montego Bay " pretty hard :-@
BW

Snackfast

If you can have Breakfast in the morning why not Snackfast for that post 5pm
time when your deciding what to make for dinner.

Interesting idea I wonder if it will stick!

This is a savory treat I threw together to test the concept.

The picture below shows my ingredients use your own stock to come up with

creative Snackfast ideas.

BW

Decadent Variations

If variety is the spice of life then chocolate must fill in the bits between!

I used the exact same recipe as the peanut butter squares and substituted

chocolate chips for the butterscotch chips.

The results were very good, I chilled the marshmallows as well.

This link will take you the old recipe.

CLICK HERE X

Enjoy this decadent variation in moderation.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares

My Nana used to make these for us when we were children...and adults too.

The key to getting it right is to take time to let the mixture cool. I think Kraft

smoothie peanut butter would work best but I used Jiff as it was available.

Not sure if organic only peanut type would work. This is so sweet it made my

teeth hurt. ( Had to give most away and didn't have time to freeze them)

They taste best if you sneak them out of your grandma's freezer and eat them frozen...

right out of the ice cream pail.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 packet butterscotch chips
1 bag mini marshmallows

Melt butter over medium heat.

Add peanut butter and butterscotch chips; stir until melted. I used a makeshift double boiler.

Remove from heat allow to cool so you don't melt the marshmallows

Stir in the marshmallows gently yet quickly

Pour into a 9x9 pan , 9x13 if you like them thin and refrigerate until set.

Pork Chop Magic

This is a time honored favorite.
Lemon Brown Sugar Pork Chops

The ingredients are basic,

two pork chops with bone
one lemon sliced thick
brown sugar
tomato catchup

That's it!

Pre heat the oven to 375 and line a pan with foil.


Trim the fat off if you want I think it adds flavor and keeps it moist.

Place the pork chop in the pan and put about 1 -2 tablespoons of brown sugar on top.

use the back side of the spoon to spread it thickly around.

squirt a few swirls of catchup on the brown sugar.

Put two thick slices of lemon on each chop.

Bake in the oven until brown , @45 min

I served mine with steamed green beans and carrots

make sure you cut the carrots to the same size as the beans or the won't cook

at the same rate.

Oh yeah, I served it on top of rice and you should start that cooking first.

Date Filled Oat Cookies

In our family we used to make great date filled oat cookies.
I tried to make them but these were not great, only ok.
I used this recipe from " about.com" it was not what I wanted but the filling was right!
Could have used some Jack...

Short on Grandmas right now. Will have to keep searching. I seem to remember a folded cookie.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. brown sugar

• 1 c. butter

• 3 eggs

• 2 c. oatmeal

• 2 1/2 c. flour

• 3/4 c. sour milk

• 1 tsp. soda in flour

• .

• Filling:

• 1 pkg. dates, finely chopped

• 1 c. brown sugar

• 1 c. water

PREPARATION:

Cook filling until thickened. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour and soda alternately with sour milk, then add oatmeal. Roll out on floured board, cut with cookie cutter. Put one teaspoon of dough filling on cookie and cover with another cookie.

J-Rocks Approximately Seven Layer Taco Dip

This is a recipe that my friend J-Rock brought to a party.
I modified it and kicked it up a notch.

8oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
packet of taco seasoning red pepper spice
1/2 cup Paul Newman tequila lime salsa
1/2 a lb shredded cheddar cheese
1 green pepper
1/2 a large tomato green onion ( J- Rocks original blend)

My twist...
can of refried beans
can of black olives
one white onion
2 cloves garlic
3 avocados
1/2 a lemon

Take the time to prepare everything in advance so once you start assembling it your all set.

Mix the sour cream with the cream cheese and a couple of table spoons of the taco seasoning.
Fry half the onion until it caramelizes than add the can of refried beans

cube the tomatoes in to small 3/8 inch cubes

cube the pepper into 1/2 inch squares

cut the green onions into 3/4 inch pieces

Peel the garlic and the remainder of the onion cut real small
place it in your mortar and grind it to a paste.
Would a blender do this? I just like the primal pounding
its like Survivor Man!
Scoop out the contents of the tree avocados and throw that into the mortar.
Pound it as well. Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lemon and add some red pepper.
Guacamole happens.
Now you are ready for show time.... watch the action here...

I used a glass bowl a pie plate would work great.
Put the beans on the bottom layer
Guacamole next
Follow with the cream cheese
the green peppers
tomato layer
then the salsa
cheddar cheese
black olives
green onions

Serve with nacho chips. I bought the new whole grain kind and they broke too easy.
I ended up spooning it on to the broken chips!
BW

Chilli in a Hurry

If your crew is hungry this game day there is still time to get a big pot of chilli together!

I used all the ingredients below to make this $11 feast. 4-6 servings

That works out to less than $2 per person.

( Same price gets you a cup of java at the golden arches...)




Ingredients:

Three cans of pork and beans
One can tomato soup
One can Kidney beans
1/2 an onion
Package of chili seasoning
1 Lb lean ground meat

I used ground turkey as its not as greasy and has the added tryptophan kick.

The pack of seasoning was surprisingly good for the price.

I was looking for a different brand.

Cut the onion in half and brown it with a bit of oil and combine the seasoning.

Add the ground meat and brown. While you are browning the meat, dump all the other

canned ingredients into a large pot and bring to a slow boil. Be careful not to scorch it to the

bottom as it will be thick. When the meat is browned drain the fat and combine with the beans.

Let this heat together stirring with a wooden spoon. Don't scrape the bottom of the pan its sure

to have a bit of burnt stuff by this point. I poshed it up a bit with nachos and some paprika on

top.

BW

Game On! These Nuts and Bolts Please!

When I watch football, the real kind with three downs!
I like to munch on my favorite nuts and bolts. Salt, butter,
and garlic all kick this recipe into the end zone. Whether you are
watching the The Grey Cup or the Other Bowl this one won't
make it past the last quarter, maybe not even half time. Serve
with tasty beer or swank cooler, It's all good.
Mix it in a tub, trough or roaster that can fit in the oven. Serves lots
Make ahead it takes 2 weeks in a large popcorn tin to taste best.

Nuts and Bolts , Aunt S version

8 cups Shreddies
8cups crispix
8cups honey combs
8 cups cherrios
4 cups small caliber pretzels ( must fit in cherrios)
1 bag of small bread rounds
2 cups peanuts blanched unsalted

1 cup butter salted
4 tb Worcestershire sauce
2 tspns each of celery salt onion salt, garlic salt, paprika

Measure all dry ingredients into a very large vessel
mix thoroughly.

On the stove melt butter add seasonings and combine.

Pour hot liquid ingredients onto dry ingredients while
turning and mixing.

Bake at 200f for 2 hrs stirring frequently.
This will taste great when it comes out but wait till it
sits in the cupboard for a while....

BW

Holiday Entertaining

Nothing Brings back old memories of the holidays like a good spinach dip!

I used the recipe on the packet of Lipton's vegetable soup. The only changes

were to substitute low fat sour cream and light mayo. It turned out great.

1 Envelope Lipton vegetable mix

1- 8oz container sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1 -10 oz packet frozen chopped spinach

thawed and squeezed dry

1- 8 oz can water chestnuts drained and chopped to ¼ inch cubes

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients , chill 2 hrs ( overnight is better)

Carve out a round loaf of pumpernickel keeping the cubes for dip

( you will eventually eat the bread bowl in a frenzy at the end...)

Make night ahead and don't skimp on the bread as its the true star of the show.

All the calories I saved on the dip were sensibly wasted on California champaign product.












After watching a room full of Ph d's and lawyers pick this champaign in a blind test

with others 10x the price I decided to save some haruska ($).

BW