What's your signature party snack that everyone expects you to bring?

You can easily sub in ground pork instead of the mackerel.

I would simply add in more minced ginger and perhaps more chives, given that pork has a bolder flavor profile than mackerel.

Enjoy!

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Deviled eggs. Mom used to be the deviled egg maker, but she used a funky bitter dried mustard some decades ago, and was promptly fired by my oldest sister, who appointed me the successor. I’ve been gifted deviled egg dishes for every occasion. My niece has even transported them to Colorado (from Philly) to prove to her roommates that her aunt makes the best deviled eggs. I wouldn’t know about that . . . I abhor mayo and don’t eat the things.

I’m not allowed to enter a house between Thanksgiving and Christmas without tins of my chocolate almond butter toffee. One BIL refers to it as candy crack; one sis takes a tin or two and hides it from the rest of her family. 2020 is so strange, I haven’t made a single batch.

My chocolate mousse pie is welcome at any gathering. At dessert time, BILs joke about the gaff girls’ affinity for dessert . . .the table is more overloaded than the dinner itself:cupcakes, pies, baked pears (mom has nailed that technique), cookies, cakes.

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Yum. Any recipes and tips you are willing to share?

This pandemic isn’t done yet… I would be happy using my cooking experiment time to get to a dumpling I’d like to eat!

ETA - ok I see it, didn’t read through :woman_facepalming:t2:. I’m more likely to try a pork or chicken version.

Any tips on filling not clumping into a ball? That’s what’s happened to me in the past.

I’m convinced that mustard powder from different manufacturers has a different texture, as if some of them use better grinding equipment than others. But I’ve also had the experience of buying prepared mustard from a usual famous brand (one that has always been good before) that had quite a bad taste to it. So I wonder if sometimes there can also be a bad crop of mustard that changes the taste, or whether (for example, I have no idea) grinding at too high a velocity might overheat it and ruin the flavor, or what.

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Thanks for the tips. I’ve made Cantonese wonton first time this year. Will like to try a different one, fish is a good challenge as it is easily overcooked.

Not to ding your tabbouleh - I’m sure it’s amazing - but I do miss nyc cabbies for their proposals and matchmaking offers :joy:

Probably, with a sprinkling of ā€œwhat is it?ā€

Cab drivers don’t interact with passengers anymore - they’re all on their phones, now. My most memorable cab driver conversation was during my freshman year of college. My sartorial choices at the time ran to leather miniskirts and 4" heels. When I got in a cab, the driver asked me if I was working that night, and I said no, I’m on my way to CBGB to meet my boyfriend. It wasn’t until I paid and got out that I figured out what he meant.

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Adjust the amount of oil you use, and whatever you do not overmix your meat (either pork or chicken).

Think of it as more an incorporation process and less one of a mixing process.

It’s really the same idea when we make homemade hamburger patties. You want to gently massage (and hence incorporate) your ingredients with the meat, and not simply work the ingredients like a Russian masseuse would on your backside after a full day sitting in front a computer screen trolling Hungry Onion. :slight_smile:

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Cranberry-Orange Relish. Other popular items are French Potato Salad and Quinoa Tabouli. One feature of all three is that they are gluten-, lactose-, and soy-free; my friends have an assortment of allergies and sensitivities.

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Traditional Spanish Tapas predominately based on the local season“s products.

Italiani Antipasti.

Fresh Shellfish in season …

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Please enlighten me as to the meaning of CBGB - no NYC experience here @small_h…

It was a nightclub at Bowery and Bleecker. The name stands for Country Bluegrass & Blues, which is how it started out. But by the early '80s, when I started going, it was a punk club, one of the most famous. The club is gone, but the ā€œbrandā€ is not.

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Thanks for the edification @small_h!

I could go on for about a month about the place (I probably went at least once a week for years), but that would be way off topic. There was briefly a CB’s pizza place next door, so that’s sort of food related. It was useful 'cause the bathroom was MUCH cleaner than the one in the club, and had stall doors, which the club bathroom did not.

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@small_h - you could post your recollections on the nostalgia thread - probably worth immortalizing it, as far as that goes. :upside_down_face: I missed out on that kind of experience, but did have my share of adventures, and equally important, misadventures - learning lessons all, especially the mis. Ha!

I think there are probably people who would consider that a higher price than the money it cost to get in.

No doubt. But it was like a Japanese bathhouse - people simply minded their business and did not stare. I usually brought a friend with me to stand in the doorway as a human shield.

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Not exactly a party snack, but over the last few years a group of my college friends has developed a tradition of meeting in NYC over President’s Day weekend, with the highlight of the trip being brunch chez moi. White pizza (my own recipe) and cinnamon rolls (from Saveur) are non-negotiable.

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Hmm. That’s what I was taught with ground meat, but many dumpling recipes (from different cultures even - I’m thinking of Kachka for example) call for mixing much longer, some with cold water, till the fat emulsifies. Confusing.