Question: Why is there West Nile virus in my county, when I finally put a birdbath in my garden, a birdbath that must remain empty to discourage mosquitoes?
Question: Why do the English bitch more about their hot weather and their snowy weather than we do (not that we don't bitch) when our weather is hotter and our snow deeper?
Question: What am I going to serve the picky eaters who are coming here on Sunday? I'm looking for something that is good hot weather food but doesn't necessitate buying a grill.
Question: Who wants this?
Drawn Thread: Birth Band * Alpine Garden
Both have bits of silk floss left in the kits as well, if you want them. I don't think there's really enough to use, and I should just let the neighborhood birds line their nests with it. You decide.
To enter, answer one of the first four questions. This post only. Drawing Tuesday.
A Note to the Clafouti-googlers: Clafouti, flaugnarde, crisp, crumble, cobbler, buckle, Betty, slump, grunt, and pandowdies are all variations on a theme: fruit dessert with some sort of batter or dough. Where you put the fruit, how you cook it, and what kind of batter/dough define which dessert you are making. Of course it is complicated by the fact that English is spoken around the world. (You say cobbler and mean meat pie, I say cobbler and mean dessert.)
clafouti -- cherries, with pits, over a thin layer of batter and under a thick layer or the same batter. It is described as being flan-like, but I don't like flan. I eat clafouti.
flaugnarde -- the clafouti with fruit that is not cherries. Most English speakers I've run across don't make this distinction.
crisp -- fruit under a crumbly topping made usually from flour, oats, and sugar (sometimes nuts). Oh, don't forget the butter.
crumble -- a crisp without the oats (or nuts)
cobbler -- deep dish of fruit under biscuit topping
buckle -- cake on the bottom, fruit on the top
Betty -- sort of a bread pudding with serious fruit
slump -- fruit (sometimes stewed rather than fresh) under a biscuit dough, somewhere between a cobbler and a pie, baked
grunt -- similar to a slump; steamed instead of baked
pandowdies -- dough on top of fruit, with the dough being broken up and partly pressed into the fruit goo before serving
I'm sure you disagree with one or more of the definitions but the point was "eh, you haven't heard of a clafouti; you've eaten something similar for sure."
20 comments:
BLT's and corn on the cob. Summery and no grill. Fresh fruit for dessert with some sorbet/ice cream. Nothing with mayo or anything that needs to be chilled!
Smiles - Denise
Really? Is someone making you keep your birdbath dry? Here - they encourage you to change water daily. That stops those pesky mosquitoes. But it doesn't do anything about the ones in peoples' gutters that they never clean. Sigh.
Please enter me. Drawn Thread is a fav of mine!
Now for something that everyone will rave about, is super easy to do, can be done ahead of time, the kids can do it for you and they will want your recipe - which is a total hoot. Read on
1. Buy the fancy party tooth picks. Either the plastic or longer wooden ones. You need at least 4 inches (that was she said!! I'm bad) 2. Get a jar of olives, pepperoni slices (somethings you are lucky and get get the 1/2 inch round ones) a block of cheese, a couple of pickle barrel pickles, and italian salad dressing. 3. Fold the pepperoni - if you can't get the tiny slices, cube the cheese into about half the side of an olive kind of size pieces, cut the pickles in slices and then in halfs or quarters to your liking. 4. Load the tooth picks with an assortment of pepperoni, olives, cheese and pickles. 5. Place in a shallow tupperware container, pour italian dressing over, cover and refridgerate til ready to serve. I have made these as much as two or three days ahead and they are fine. Everyone will ask you for the recipe and you will scratch your head like.......it's stuff on a toothpick??? Seriously, everyone will love them and there will be none left. We call them "Italian Sub Hors Doerves" (sp??)
Pick me! Pick me! Ahem. Please enter me in your drawing.
I think the reason people can't escape Costco without breaking the bank is because of the "It's a good deal" , and "well, I have a freezer, it will store" mentality. I know that whenever I go to there I always find things I never knew I needed.
Well, I can answer the Costco thing, at least from the perspective of my shopping. So many things at Costco are cheaper per unit than they are elsewhere, but those units are combined into much larger sizes so the final bill is larger.
For instance, I might pay 75 cents per roll for toilet paper at the grocery store and buy a couple of 4-packs. At Costco it's 65 cents per roll, but I have to buy 36 rolls at a time.
It doesn't bother me because I'm pretty sure I'm spending less overall.
Drawn Thread is a one of my favorites; I'd love to win these.
You'll have to disqualify me from the contest because I'm not playing by the rules, or you'll have to enter me twice because I'm going to answer two questions. You choose.
1. I can get out of Costco for under $200. You can't because you don't shop with me.
3. The English are weather sissies.
You've given me a goal: I'm going to make each of those fruity desserts by the end of September. There are plenty of people around to help eat them. I'm starting at the top of the list and working down to avoid any conflicts regarding what to make first or second or fifth.
This is going to be fun!
Blueberry clafouti coming up. Tonight. Really.
1. What is a costco?
2 I live in a city surrounded by marshes and swamps - throw caution to the wind and fill the birdbath.
No need to enter... just wanted to answer something.
I don't have a Costco account; instead I subscribe to Sam's Club. It's a dangerous place. I just spent a bit under $300 there. But I won't need toilet paper, detergent, olive oil or other frequently used items for MONTHS.
Thank you very much for the opportunity at this drawing.
We have always said the there is a subliminal message running in Costco -- "Have you spent your $100?" We can usually get out for under $200, but not always.
We had claufouti (with cherries, no pits, sigh) for dessert twice in San Francisco. Once was served too hot, should be room temperature. I always thought the batter was about the consistency of Dutch baby or German pancakes -- eggier than a regular pancake. I recently did a google lookup on all those desserts. Grunt? OK, whatever.
I gave up trying to feed the picky eaters last Sunday when our refrigerator died. We just took them to Claim Jumper which has a gluten free menu and servers that will check the box of dried cranberries to make sure there is no soy oil on them.
A tossed salad with cut up turkey breast, roast beef or salmon on it (or, of course, all of the above at once ;-)). It is my favourite hot weather food.
I don't even know what Costco is, so no opinion here.
The birds will eat the Mosquito larvae, so go ahead.
And yes, please include me in the drawing.
Have a great stitchy weekend!!!
Billie from Germany
Fruit salad is always a great thing to serve on a way too hot day! And since you can't use your birdbath, you have something to serve it in! Ingredients can of course be found in great quantities at Costco. (Not sure where England fits into all of this - perhaps you can serve tea?)
Thanks for the drawing!
~Kat
Just change the water in the bird bath every day and no pesky mosquitoes -- and don't forget to empty the trays under any flower potws daily also.
Please enter me in your drawing -- I love Drawn Thread.
Marcy
Don't need to be included in the drawing. I can't help the Costco issue because the last time I was at BJ's I spent $300. Yikes.
Don't forget the fritters/dumplings.
Ooooh! I'd like these.
Never having set foot in a Costco, I have no first had experience with this. I'd say, however, that the "treasure hunt" nature of the place spurs people to buy. I have the same problem with Target.
I wholeheartely agree with Denise's idea of BLTs. BEST. SUMMER. FOOD. EVER. If you can get heirloom tomatoes, even better.
Carol S.
I avoid costco for just that reason, I have a $80 a week budget for groceries, and will blow a months worth in that place. I thought I posted this before, but do you have a peach salsa recipe you recommend?
Antipasta (antipasto? you know what I mean, right?) is a sure-fire hit for a great hot-weather, easy meal. I'm making some now to take to a picnic tomorrow. A lot of people also like potato salad, but I think that's a little heavy if it's really hot.
Someone else mentioned all the natural breeding grounds for mosquitos ... I'd say a bird bath is pretty harmless in the overall scheme of things. ;)
Don't get me started on Costco!
For dinner on Sunday, purchase some pork ribs that are already cooked and have sauce on them. We have them vacuum packed or frozen here. All you do is heat. Add some barbecue sauce to canned baked beans and bake. For dessert wow them with a Watermelon boat filled with melon balls. (Cheat and buy the melon frozen and place in hollowed out half watermelon.) Add a tossed salad full of local veges and you have a meal.
Please add me to the draw.
Mary in TN
neonfrost jaxin @ hot mail dot com
I'm too late for a food idea, but Denise's idea got my vote. Yum.
I don't spend hundreds of dollars at Costco unless I get glasses there. You spend that much because there's so much good stuff and you can't help it. I used to be that way, but now I'm usually on my own ... not so much spending necessary.
Screw the birdbath rule. Just change the water a lot.
Weather is relative ... it all depends on what you're used to. We bitch a whole lot in Colorado about weather in the 90's and/or humidity. I've felt like I'm melting for a month. On the other hand, I rarely bitch about snowstorms.
Yes, I'd like those charts, especially the Birth Band. I have a young man in mind.
Bruchetta is a favorite summer food in our house, as well as gazpacho.
3. Because it's normally so temperate, the drastic change gives them something about which to blither.
No need to enter me. Thanks.
I would love to be entered. So guess that means I need to give an answer.
Costco... I can't because my son eats his way through the place and then goes on and on about how yummy this that or the other thing is... makes sure Dad gets a bite, and then we have to buy it.
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