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Cooking Tip #17
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Cooking Tip #17 |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US 
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When you poke a toothpick into a cake to see if it's done, make sure you do it in the center of the cake and not near the edges. You can refry beans and twice-cook potatoes, but baking a pineapple upside-down cake twice just doesn't work.  |
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Duncan Member Ascendant
since 2001-08-07
Posts 5455 |
Forgive me, I know this is your site and you could banish me to pip neverland...but no kiddin'? Guess ya write better than ya cook, huh? |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
It's so nice to know you're Human...  ...thanks for the early morning chuckles... |
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
Um... a better writer than a cook?.. I'd say that's definitely so... But Ron's a pretty darned good cook too... However.. Cooking Tip #18 - Don't leave the cutting board on a burner that's still 'ON'... and Cooking Tip #19 - Don't drop the coffee filters into the boiling spaghetti water. Oh... That wasn't you, was it??..  |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
Moth Cooking Tip # 20 .... Dont hard boil eggs and go get on the computer..... ( did you guys know eggs explode? )  Ron...dont feel bad...my sis has made Pineapple Upside Down JUICE for us several times now....you just tell your guests its the moistest cake they've ever had.  |
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Mysteria 
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada |
Cooking Tip #21 - Go to bakery, select, dig in wallet, pay, enjoy! (see the older you get the schmarter you get too) |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Cooking tip: If the smoke detector alarms goes off, the cake is done.  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Cooking Tip #251...don't put casserole dishes on burners.... |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
cooking tip for the memory impaired: If you should marinate meat on a plastic tray? DO NOT WRAP IN FOIL--it is entirely possible to forget that the tray is NOT a metal baking pan! (sigh...ever try to get melted plastic out of an oven?)  |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Does this mean writers are a bit ditzy? Hmmmm.... Another tip: When cooking for that special someone, grab her and plant a passionate kiss right on her mouth. When you finally get back to that upside down pineapple cake, it won't matter that it's a little underdone in the center! That's where the phrase 'heat and serve' came from! LOL [This message has been edited by Poet deVine (07-05-2002 08:33 PM).] |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Cooking tip #247... don't allow a turkey to defrost in the oven, when you want to keep it away from a cat who knows how to unwrap the plastic. IF you must hide the turkey in the oven to keep it from the cat, do NOT allow your wife to come home from a day at work and NOT listen to her when she says "I'm going to bake the Thanksgiving pies now..." EEEEYEWWWWWW........ |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
It's nice to have friends willing to make me feel a little less dumb. I was working and almost completely forgot the cake was in the oven. I opened the oven, stuck in a toothpick, and it came out dry. So, I pulled the cake, admired the way it had raised so beautifully, and went back to work. An hour or two later, when I went back to the kitchen, the center of my beautifully raised cake had collapsed like an inflated ego. No biggie. Not until a knife revealed the center was still more batter than cake. I could either try cooking it more or settle for eating it with a straw. It didn't work, though. Once yeast has done its job once, it's seemingly reluctant to hit the time clock again. Instead of a straw, I needed a leather punch. It wasn't a total waste, though, because I learned a new trick. The cake was impromptu, and only after it was mixed did I realize I was short a can of pineapple. I like one can of crushed pineapple and a second can of chunks for texture. All I had on hand was the crushed. But I did have a can of tropical fruit cocktail, and I figured that had at least some pineapple junks, right? It did. Along with papaya and guava, and I figured, aw, what the heck. And guess what? A tropical fruit upside-down cake ain't half bad. |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
So when is your next cookbook coming out? LOL |
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Gentle Spirit Member Patricius
since 2000-10-09
Posts 13989 |
cooking tip to keep from burns when you drop the spoon you forgot to take out of the sauce pan and let it burn you, don't bend over to pick it back up. {my sisters ex can explain this one...lol....} Enjoy life, this is NOT a dress rehearsal. {on the wings of words are spirits fly...and our souls are free~me} [This message has been edited by Gentle Spirit (07-05-2002 11:07 PM).] |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Sharon, a cookbook implies recipes, and that pretty much eliminates me. Following a recipe would be like writing the same poem twice. Safe, perhaps, but boring. BTW, I liked your "heat and serve" strategy, but find myself feeling a little confused over its implications. I, uh, was baking the cake for myself, so … |
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wranx Member Elite
since 2002-06-07
Posts 3689Moved from a shack to a barn |
cooking tip no.248 It's O.K. to put Egg in your Tuna Salad Not O.K. to put Tuna in your Egg Salad ~wranx |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Ah! I thought you were cooking for someone special...and you cleared that up...you WERE! LOL Next time, use the round slices on the bottom of the pan, pour the crushed over it, then when it's done, add a maraschino cherry to the center of the pineaple slice. |
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Skyfire
since 2000-12-27
Posts 3381Riding |
Always make sure there are no pans in the oven when you turn on the oven. (I always knew there was a reason my cooking teacher gave up trying to drill that one into my head) |
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Temptress
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-06-15
Posts 7136Mobile, AL |
umm.. In an attempt to boil tea, don't put the pan on the uncovered electric burner only to turn on the covered electric burner that is in an entirely different corner of the stove. Grilled burner cover does not smell good and sets the smoke alarm off into a frenzy in a small apartment. ohh..and don't leave grits in the microwave for too long with some mildy insane thought that they won't begin to boil and explode all over the microwave. See the same for oatmeal. Or..when all else fails..cook the grits or oatmeal on the stove over the correct and uncovered burner.   I will not bend to the cowardice of a silent judgement. |
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Alicia Member
since 2002-03-22
Posts 279 |
~Cooking tip #??? : Never ever allow Alicia anywhere near the kitchen. |
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Elizabeth
Moderator
Member Ascendant
since 1999-06-07
Posts 6871Minnesota |
If you set your oven to 'preheat,' make sure to set it to 'bake' before you put the brownies in.  God bless America, my home sweet home. |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Sometimes, even preheat is better than nothing. True story. I bought a house in April, and when November rolled around my sister suggested I should host the family Thanksgiving dinner. The weather was still California perfect and the new house had a pool. She agreed to clean if I would do the cooking. Sounded good to me. Three hours after putting the turkey in the oven, I finally realized we had a problem. All the appliances were new and I had managed to live in the house eight months without ever having a reason to turn on the oven. I mean, heck, California has the best restaurants in the world. The 220 volt oven had never been properly wired and we had no heat. None. Nada. Zip. Fortunately, Boston Market was open. It wasn't exactly a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but it was good. And no one in the family has ever asked me to host a Holiday dinner since. |
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
Boston Market is in California too, eh? They've got some GOOOOD chicken. I once had a Thanksgiving turkey start on fire as it was roasting in the oven. I somehow managed to extinguish it without a fire extinguisher too.. so it was edible in the end... a bit charred around the edges, but edible... Of course, that beat the year my mom's was still raw in the center.... I had a good teacher, eh??...  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Cooking Tip 2,435.... Never cook Thanksgiving dinner when redecorating. During a stint in Modesto, we decided to remodel the kitchen. Apparently there are some houses with humor, and ours apparently didn't take lightly the idea of its' kitchen walls being stripped. So our house got even with us. We had worked the week of Thanksgiving, and for the one holiday, put everything aside to cook the traditional turkey. When we put the turkey platter with the great golden bird on the dining room table, the chandelier overhead decided to allow its holdings to become loose, and the chandelier made a nosedive onto the bird. Never mess with a house that has a sense of humor.... |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
quote: Nope. Ain't going there. |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
 sigh...my fingers itch! |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
Nan got every dirty mind working overtime without even trying. *G* Tip for suthern's dinner guests: When I meet you at the door and my greeting includes the words "don't let me forget I have bread in the oven"... pay heed! LOL Apparently, the part of my brain that thinks that buying and addressing cards somehow gets them stamped and mailed without further effort also thinks bread can open the oven door and take itself out in a timely manner?? Same with the very last batch of cookies, no matter how many of their buddies are on the counter cooling nicely... *sigh* |
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Bec Member
since 2001-02-23
Posts 475Canberra |
I got a really good recipe for roast chicken, but I guess it could be altered to do the Thanksgiving turkey... When I found this recipe I thought it was perfect for people, like me, who just are not sure how to tell when poultry is cooked thoroughly but not dried out. Give this a try. BAKED STUFFED CHICKEN 6-7 lb. chicken 1 cup melted butter 1 cup stuffing 1 cup uncooked popcorn Salt/pepper to taste Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush chicken well with melted butter, salt, and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn. Place in baking pan with the neck end toward the back of the oven. Listen for popping sounds. When the chicken's backside blows the oven door open and the chicken flies across the room, it is done. And, you thought I couldn't cook Bec "Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is to go where they can find you." -Winnie-the-Pooh [This message has been edited by Bec (07-15-2002 09:57 AM).] |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
Bec reminded me of another--there is a recipe for "drunken chicken" that involves about 1/3 of a can of beer, a barbecue pit, and said chicken. The idea is to um, insert the remainders of the can of beer into the chicken...and stand it up on the pit, and the beer bubbles and boils, both flavoring and tenderizing the boid. sigh...my bright idea, was to use a home-brewed, heavy "wheat/raspberry" beer...ugh, I forgot that the alcohol content of this particular brew was almost triple the average. So, yes, after a few of these homebrews, and the chicken was just bubbling almost as happily as the cook? That's right, Bec...CHICKEN GO BOOM. Serenity's Helpful Hints for the success of this dish? --the beer should go into the chicken, and NOT the chef. --if you are using a smoker/style, barbecue pit? open the vents. (DUH) --wear appropriate safey gear, including hardhat and protective eyewear.  or...just --DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! or... --don't try this ANYWHERE. sigh.   <---it could have been ugly... |
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Sven
since 1999-11-23
Posts 14937East Lansing, MI USA |
that. . . or, get someone else to do it for you. . . ------------------------------------------------------------ To the world, you may only be one person. But to one person, you may be the world. |
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