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Holiday Recipe Desecration

JudiAU | Dec 18, 200809:22 AM 11

So a dear childhood friend loves a family cookie recipe very much. We make them ever Christmas and she always calls me in advance to er, remind me, how good they are. I always drop some off.

She has asked me for the recipe many times and I have given her the recipe many times. T

his year she decided to make them herself and took them to a party. “Oh this JudiAU’s special family recipe.” Well I went to party and tasted the cookies. Disgusting.

I finally managed to corner to ask her er, what she had done with the recipe I gave her. “Oh, I made it.” “Hum I said, they don’t really taste the same.” “Sure they do.”

The recipe has five ingredients: flour, butter, egg yolks, sour cream, and a package of yeast. She substituted crisco, non-fat sour cream, and added 2 T. artificial rum flavoring.

If she can’t tell the difference between my delicious cookie and that horror I am not baking for her any more. ARGH.

My special recipe indeed.

Hungarian Kifli

Kifli

4 c. flour
1 pound butter
4 egg yolks
8 oz. sour cream
1 package regular yeast, bloomed in a little hot water

Cream butter and add yolks. Alternate flour with sour cream. Mix in yeast. Need ten times and chill overnight.

Dough is supposed to be rolled out in powered sugar. This can be difficult as the sugar collects moisture. You may need to add some flour to the mixture to make it manageable. Keep the proportion of flour as low as possible because you start to loose the lovely crisp shell contributed by the sugar.

Working with 1/4 of the dough at a time roll out 3/16 of an inch thick. Cut in 2x2 inch squares. Fill with prune, apricot, poppy fillings as Solo or raspberry jam. Don’t let the dough get too soft. You may need to chill them for a few minutes before baking if the pan takes awhile to prepare. We bake on a silpat. Bake at 375 for about 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar.

Note that the directions and baking time is aproximate. We don’t have a copy of the original recipe any more. I’ve seen very similiar recipes online, usually with a nut filling, but they generally don’t have the yeast. It provides a gentle lift.

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And the only decent recipe on Kitchen:

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound

ground beef

  • 1 teaspoon

olive oil

  • 1

medium onion, chopped small

  • 2

celery stalks, chopped small

  • 1

carrot, peeled and chopped small

  • 1

(8 to 10 ounce) package mushrooms (button or baby bella), sliced thinly

  • 2 cloves

garlic, minced

  • 1

(8-ounce) can tomato sauce

  • 1/4 cup

ketchup

  • 1 to 2 tablespoons

cider vinegar

  • 1/2 tablespoon

Worcestershire sauce

  • 1/2 tablespoon

sugar (optional)

  • 1 teaspoon

salt

  • 1/8

black pepper

  • 8

hamburger buns

GET INGREDIENTSPowered by Chicory

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a large skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat, brown the beef. Break it up into small bits as you cook. Once browned, transfer the beef and any juices to a clean bowl and set aside.

  2. In the same pan over medium-high heat, warm a teaspoon of olive oil. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and cook until the onions are translucent and the carrots look softened, about five minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are soft and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about thirty seconds.

  3. Return the ground beef to the pan. Stir in the tomato sauce, ketchup, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar (if using), salt, and black pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

  4. Taste the sauce, adding more vinegar, salt, or sugar if desired. If the sauce is too thin for your taste, simmer uncovered for another 5 to 10 minutes until the desired thickness is reached. (If you have time, you can continue simmering for up to an hour or more! The meat will just continue becoming more tender. Add extra liquid to the pan if the sauce starts to dry out.)

  5. Serve on hamburger buns. Don’t forget a napkin.

  6. The sloppy joe sauce will keep refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months.

RECIPE NOTES

Adapted from Favorite Recipes from First United Methodist Church of Still Water, Minnesota.

This recipe was originally published July 2008.

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Any chance you can find Sam’s “I Live in a Magical House” post?

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Am I the only one who lives in a magic house? A lighthearted look at ourselves & food safety

Sam Fujisaka | Nov 15, 200804:05 AM 331

I sometimes feel like I live in a magic house completely uncontaminated by food pathogens and in which food can be left out without spoilage or infection. Guests may come dirty, but walk through the front door and are magically sterilized. Although I keep a very clean kitchen and store things properly, I just don’t worry about food poisoning in my magic house.

What about you? How do you rate yourself, from food slob in a magic house to a follower of all the food handling “rules” in a dark, contaminated universe?

Please keep this lighthearted and fun. Just provide your approach. No citing of USDA or other rules and recommendations, please.

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This is a copy and paste of what I just pasted there; I’m going to have to go back and harvest a few things before it’s gone.

Good times! I’m going to have to find my favorite threads from the good old days. The meatball thread, the tuna salad thread, the macaroni and cheeses thread, the Thanksgiving blow by blow, coming back every year for the beginning of the SF crab season, and Melanie’spost about steaming Dungeness crab. My annual preserved lemon, spiced nuts, and whole preserved fig experiments. The “Just got braces and everything hurts” thread! I’m glad there’s HO. I’ve posted links there in the past, but I’m guessing they won’t work.

Oh, and the trip reports!

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And don’t forget the Mooch and Hooch thread from JanetfromRichmond, @shrinkrap. Janet is a friend of mine, so that thread was a fun one, since I knew the restaurants she was talking about. (Thankfully I never mer Mooch and Hooch!) Janet had another one that was a total WTF? thread, but I can’t remember the topic.

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OMG @LindaWhit forgot the Mooch and Hooch thread and it was a classic.

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I do! Although much less frequently during these 2 years of the pandemic. Only two or three times during 2021, if I recall correctly. :disappointed_relieved: Definitely NOT enough! I’ve actually been craving their warmth and hospitality, and am hoping to get in there in the next week or so. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I haven’t figure out how, but I was reminded of the “View from the Kitchen Window” thread. How can I find that one?

Found it! @Harters !

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The kitchen window thread was utter magic.

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JanetfromRichmond’s Mooch & Hooch thread:

How to tactfully avoid inviting others.

Janet from Richmond | Jan 19, 200909:44 AM 217

We are friends with two other couples. Nearly every Friday night, we go to dinner with one of the couples and often with both. There is another couple who shows up at our watering hole and expects to be included. In the past we have, but it is always an added stress to the evening.

Last Friday I just pretended they were not at our watering hole and avoided them and therefore the subject and the woman asked why I am mad at her/them. I’m not angry, I just don’t want to go to dinner with them.

In the past they have gone so far to ask the bartenders where we are having dinner if they arrive after we’ve left the bar and headed to dinner elsewhere. We also have a newer watering hole and they followed us there. I am not good at tactful confrontations and would prefer not to be a full out bitch this coming Friday. Any advice is welcomed.

The thread is long (SEVENTEEN CH pages long!) and jfood is credited with coming up with the Mooch and Hooch names. Although he never did copyright the name! LOL

YayaDave summarizes it with his song lyrics:


yayadave jan 21, 200909:45 am

Mooch and Hooch went up a hill
To see what they could find.
Bumpt into Janet of Richmond
And her Chowhound friends behind.

No dice, you mice,
It’s been fun, but we’re done.
Look elsewhere to Mooch and Hooch,
Go elsewhere Mr. Mooch and Mrs. Hooch

But OBTW Mooch and Hooch,
You’ll be gone but not un-read.
Now you’re a Chowhound Classic
Subject of a remembered thread.

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I used to love jfood’s posts. So funny.

I took me ages to realise that he was writing as though he was the family’s dog.

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I can’t seem to copy a whole thread discussion easily. For now, here’s my post on a custard vs bechamel macaroni and cheese thread

Custard. But I do a hybrid.My Aunt Helen meets Cooks Illustrated meets Alton Brown meets Patti LaBelle meets John Thorne. And uncooked elbows, stirred intermittently. Lately I am leaning toward shorter baking times for a looser finish.

http://www.thebittenword.com/thebitte…

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/din…

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/1…

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Great story! Are you still in touch with Janet? Is she doing well?

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We are FB friends, and yes, she’s doing very well!

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That was a great thread! I love how the whole community came to her defense with some clever ways to get her out of the sticky situation. Was Janet ever able to ditch Mooch and Hooch? If yes, what method did she use? Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to read all 17 pages to see if the issue was ever resolved :slightly_smiling_face:

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Greatest thread ever . IS A HOT DOG SANDWICH.

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She did. They worked with the bartenders at several of their restaurants who let them know when M&H were in looking for Janet and her husband the night before. IIRC, there eventually was an occasion when Janet’s party of 4 was having drinks pre-dinner when M&H came in. The bartender immediately told Janet “Your table of 4 is ready for your group!” And hustled them to their table. And then there was another instance where Janet and her group were able to avoid having M&H join them. They got the idea after that.

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I was SO disappointed when CH removed the April 1st Banana thread instead of just locking it after everyone had their fun. I forget the premise, but it was a GREAT thread.

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