Cooking and Recipes IV, Hosted by Oiseau

http://www.seniorocity.com

The general TA discussion there can be found at Community/ThirdAge.

Hi,

Clearly, early July has come and gone and ThirdAge has rolled on unchanged. At the time I spoke to you last, we fully expected to have everything ready for you earlier in the month, but we came upon some unexpected delays and the timeline was pushed back. I can tell you for sure, though, that discussions are being shut off tomorrow (7/15) so we can begin migrating the active discussions into the new site. You will be able to pick up where you left off on these discussions when the new site launches. As for previewing the new site, we still very much want you to be able to do that. When everything is ready I will be in touch with the eleven or so people that indicated they would be interested. Again, my sincere apologies for the fluctuating timeline. We're doing our best to keep you informed as this project races towards a completion.

Best wishes,
Dan

was patented in France by Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés on this date in 1869. Responding to an offer made by the French emperor Napoleon III to award a prize to anyone who could come up with an inexpensive substitute for butter, Mège-Mouriés, a chemist, took clarified beef fat, removed the liquid under pressure, and allowed it to solidify. It was then combined with butyrin and water to make what was then referred to as oleomargarine. Today, in the US, mostly the more healthful polyunsaturated canola, sunflower and corn oils are used in margarine.

Happy Birthday!

I try never to turn my nose up at anything, until I at least try it first, and I guess if I was starving, I might be prone to eat things I would never think of. However if I could afford to buy 1.000 frozen crickets, I could afford a 2lb bag of rice.

I know there is no way I could catch 1.000 crickets to try this recipe. LOL

I know the local pet stores sell crickets as my Granddaughter iused to buy them for her lizard. They were live ones. Maybe 20 for a dollar or something like that.

Guess if I was really starving right now, I could go out and pick me some dandilion greens, and fix me up a small pot of those. LOL Nah, I'll eat rice.

Speaking of rice.....try making rice salad with leftover rice. Chopped onions, celery and hard boiled eggs, grated carrot for color, a shake of parsley flakes, salt and pepper and mayo. It's delicious. The more veggies the better in my book. Maybe some sweet red and yellow diced pepper too.

Here is a recipe for anybody who would like to try crickets.

What you need

For roasting the crickets:
1,000 frozen crickets
1 tablespoon of oil
1 teaspoon of salt

For the parantha:
11/4 cups whole wheat flour
11/2 cups cricket flour
1 tablespoon green chilies
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 cup buttermilk

What you do
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Spread the crickets on a large baking tray and mix the oil and salt to season them. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes. Bring them out and cool.

With a food processor, grind the crickets until they are fine, to make approximately 11/2 cups of cricket flour.

Kneed the parantha ingredients together and make sure that it is soft and dough-like. Kneading can also be done in a small dough mixer at a slow speed.

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes so the flavours can blend.

Roll out into small, round tortilla shapes.

Preheat a heavy-bottom pan or flat pan (please make sure that it is not smoking), put the parantha on it and let cook for a few minutes. Once the bottom is slightly brown, add a hint of oil on the side to make sure the parantha does not stick to the pan. Flip it over, add a little bit of oil again and let it cook for a few more minutes until browned.

The parantha as can be served with a vegetarian recipe like Jackfruit from our book, or any form of strong and spicy chutney.

Serves 7.

Hi,

Second, I have to announce a change in the schedule. Soon after I sent you the e-mail on Friday, we decided that it would be better to launch a bit later in July. As a result, current ThirdAge Discussions and Workshops will stay active until July 10.

Also because of the schedule change, I unfortunately can't tell you many more details about the previewing process at this time. But when everything is ready I'll be back in touch.

In the meantime, click here letter to read a letter that Sharon Whiteley, the CEO of ThirdAge, has prepared announcing the new site. You can get a little bit of a sneak, sneak peek there.

Thanks for your understanding on the scheduling.

Dan

OH, you have to join the group discussion, not just Seniorocity. When you go to a discussion, there should be a photo, graphic, whatever, in the general orchid box. Below that grapic/photo, there is a button that says "Join Group". Once your photo or avatar is up in the member place, you will be able to post.

If you are a member, then you should be able to post messages. You can post a new topic (top right side of the message boxes, or to reply to a message thread, you hit the Post Reply.
When you see the screen with the blank space for posting, and you see the cursor, you begin typing. BUT...to POST the message, Go to the bottom of the screen and go to the SUBMIT button. If you click on the post reply button, your post will disappear. I learned that the hard way.

Hi,

I know it’s been quite a while since I’ve checked in with everyone, but we’re in the final stretch of the re-launch here at ThirdAge and it’s past time to let you all in on some news.

First, the bad news: All discussion boards will be temporarily shutting down from June 27 through early July. So, for a few days you won’t have any access to the discussion boards. Workshop registration is also shutting down, and not all workshops will be moved over to the new site -- so if you're in the middle of one it's best to finish it as soon as you can.

When the new site launches, you’ll be able to use the Discussion Boards again. We’ve done our best to move all the active discussions over, and the intention is for you to be able to pick up right where you left off. Of course, we might have accidentally left a few discussions out and there might be some bugs in the beginning, but we ask you to bear with us.

Now the good news: With only a matter of days remaining until the launch, we’re almost ready to let the public see the new site …

I know Irene has set up an alternate site for temporary (or longer) use, so if anyone wants to share the recipes and cooking tips, here is the link to the Seniorocity site. It is a free site, nothing to pay to join. We have several TA sites running to help with the hiatus and it is good to take advantage of them when TA will be down.

I finally find my way back here after a long absence, and what do I find but a tale of DG's grill falling off the cliff into the desert brush/bushes etc. Just so glad all is well with the "barbie" now.

I need to go back and read the whole story, but now I am hungry for some chicken on the grill. Luckily I do have chicken in the fridge, some for the spoiled dog and some for my daughter's and I salad.

I need to start visiting here more often, cause I will admit to not doing much cooking lately. Well except for the Memorial Day weekend at my sister's house.

That weekend I took it upon myself to make home-made mac and cheese for a crowd plus home made "doctored up baked beans". This was for the day before the regular picnic of hamburgers, hot dogs, and salads.

With the price of ground beef going up and up here, I was looking for a cheaper alternative to feeding a crowd that was staying the entire weekend. And who doesn't like mac and cheese?

It was a great idea, however it was very evident from the time the two heavy bubbling 9x13 pans were set out of golden cheesy macaroni, it wasn't going to be enough to feed that crowd. It went quicker than a wild turkey being chased by a pilgrim with a musket in his hand.

Know what I did? Threw some hot dogs on the grill to make do, and said thank goodness they liked my "recipe". The beans went quick too, and we had a huge turkey roaster full of them too.

Course I didn't use a "recipe". I just boiled off two 1lb boxes of macaroni, drained them, then started making my roux. Butter and flour.

After I got that flour and the butter all melded together and cooked, like a pig takes to slop, happily, I started adding milk till it thickened, then added all my cheeses, till I had a beautiful creamy cheese sauce.

Then we added the sauce to the macaroni and baked the two pans, along with the beans in the oven.

Lesson learned, if you are going to make something good make sure you make enough and lots of extra too. LOL

What cheeses did I use- a combination of good old velveeta, and some good sharp cheddar. I was trying to make it likable for both the kids and adults. It worked, cept for my Mom, who only makes her mac and cheese with extra sharp white cheddar, and adds canned tomatoes to the mixture too.

So Mom fed her plate of it to her dog, who lapped it up, and I was shaking my head, thinking why did you take so much, if ya knew you weren't going to like it, cause it's not like "how you make it".

The word cantankerous comes to mind. LOL Still love her though!

Okay back to what I was saying though about not cooking much anymore, I need to get back into it. Still trying to eat healthy, but it is so much easier to just bake a sweet potato or a white potato, then grab a piece of of the dog's sauteed chicken breast tender out of the pan for your protein.

My daughter and I had loaded baked potatoes for dinner the other night. Bacon, sour cream, fresh chives, shredded cheddar cheese. We both need some low calorie cabbage soup! LOL

(((Hugs)))

I've been marinating chicken thighs all day in a oriental ginger sauce. Making jasmine rice cooked in chicken broth with fresh mushrooms and green onions in it too. And a side of some steamed broccoli...

Will be using the barbie to cook the chicken on a low setting so as not to burn.

YUM!

by Molly Wizenberg; adapted from a version in The Way to Cook by Julia Child

Hi friends, I thought it was about time to get back to cooking. Mommy used to make this, usually on meatless Fridays. Served with a green salad and crusty bread it's a winner. Enjoy!

Servings: Makes 4-6 main course servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup whole milk

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of ground nutmeg

4 large egg yolks

5 large egg whites

1 cup (packed) coarsely grated Gruyère cheese
(about 4 ounces)

Preparation

Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400F. Butter 6-cup (1 1/2-quart) soufflé dish. Add Parmesan cheese and tilt dish, coating bottom and sides. Warm milk in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming.

Meanwhile, melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until mixture begins to foam and loses raw taste, about 3 minutes (do not allow mixture to brown). Remove saucepan from heat; let stand 1 minute. Pour in warm milk, whisking until smooth. Return to heat and cook, whisking constantly until very thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in paprika, salt, and nutmeg. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, whisking to blend after each addition. Scrape soufflé base into large bowl. Cool to lukewarm.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into lukewarm or room temperature soufflé base to lighten. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions while gradually sprinkling in Gruyère cheese. Transfer batter to prepared dish.

Place dish in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 375F. Bake until soufflé is puffed and golden brown on top and center moves only slightly when dish is shaken gently, about 25 minutes (do not open oven door during first 20 minutes). Serve immediately.

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