Friends of ours started a tradition many years ago. Pie Brunch on Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. They invite literally everyone they know and have and open house. They provide coffee and other beverages, and guests bring their leftover pies and other desserts from their Thanksgiving feasts. It’s fabulous! Just sort of graze around for an hour or so, chat, swap recipes.
Weather Station
Up & Running!
The new site, The Old Books Blog, is live! There are still a few fine grained adjustments to be made, but it’s presentable. And there are posts and comments!
If you’d like to join in, c’mon over. And please help spread the word. Many thanks!
Recipe: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken Wings II
“These juicy wings have always been my star appetizer. Coated in a rich sweet-and-sour sauce, they’re also delicious served over rice as a main dish.”—Julie Eberhardt, Marysville, CA, Taste of Home Special Editions, Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook (2012)
“Editor’s Note: Uncooked chicken wing sections (wingettes) may be substituted for whole chicken wings.”
SWEET-AND-SOUR CHICKEN WINGS II
Makes: 32 appetizers
1 C sugar
1 C cider vinegar
½ C ketchup or chili sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce, preferably reduced sodium
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
16 chicken wings, each cut into 3 sections, tips discarded
6 Tbsp cornstarch, combined with ½ C cold water or stock until smooth
In a small saucepan combine sugar, vinegar, ketchup or chili sauce, soy sauce, and bouillon granules, bring to a boil, and cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Transfer wing pieces to a 3-quart slow cooker, add vinegar mixture, cover, and cook on Low for 3-5 hours or until chicken juices run clear. Transfer wings to a serving dish and keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices, transfer juices to a small saucepan, and bring liquid to a boil. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into sauce, bring to a boil, and cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve with a slotted spoon.
Recipe: Nashville Hot Chicken Wings
“For our version of this Nashville classic … chicken is tenderized in spiced buttermilk, twice-fried, and then slathered in a fiery paste. Adjust the heat by adding as much—or as little—cayenne as you like.”—Saveur 166 (June/July, 2014)
NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN WINGS
3 C buttermilk
¾ C cayenne
9 Tbsp granulated garlic
9 Tbsp paprika
6 Tbsp onion powder
3 Tbsp sugar
3 lb chicken wings
Salt (preferably kosher), black pepper (preferably freshly ground), to taste
Canola oil, for frying
2 C self-rising flour
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Sliced white sandwich bread, dill pickle chips, for serving
Combine buttermilk, ¼ C cayenne, 3 Tbsp garlic, 3 Tbsp paprika, 2 Tbsp onion powder, and 1 Tbsp sugar, whisk until smooth, add chicken, toss to coat, cover, and chill at least 4 hours up to overnight. Next day, drain chicken, rinse, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 inches oil in a 6-quart saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer reads 300˚. Stir remaining ½ C cayenne, 6 Tbsp granulated garlic, 6 Tbsp paprika, 4 Tbsp onion powder, and 2 Tbsp sugar together, transfer half of cayenne mixture to another bowl, whisk flour into one half of cayenne mixture, reserving other half, ad working in batches, dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture, reserving remaining cayenne mixture and remaining flour mixture after dredging chicken, and fry chicken until golden and almost cooked through, flipping once, 6 to 7 minutes, “or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh reads 150˚. Transfer chicken to paper towels. Increase oil temperature to 350˚. Stir together reserved remaining cayenne mixture and melted butter. Dredge chicken once more in flour mixture and fry until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes more, drain briefly on paper towels, and brush with cayenne paste. Serve with bread and pickles.
Recipe: Molasses-glazed Chicken Wings
From “Meats,” Cooking with Czech Recipes Cookbook, Texas Czech Genealogical Society (2021)
“Submitted by: JoAnn Krametbauer Pospisil**”
MOLASSES-GLAZED CHICKEN WINGS
Yield: 20 wings
20 chicken wings, 2 to 3 lb.
¼ C vegetable oil
1 C Molasses Rub
Preheat oven to 375˚. In a large bowl toss together wings and oil until wings are completely coated, add Molasses Rub and toss again until wings are completely coated. Place wings in a large roasting pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until wings are done.
MOLASSES RUB
1 C (packed) brown sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon pepper or seasoned pepper
1½ tsp black pepper
Mix together ingredients “by hand or in food processor until well blended.”
Take Wing!
Mr. Big Food found chicken wings on sale for $1 per pound! So he bought some. It is getting to be wings season afterall–football, casual holiday entertaining, more football.
I posted three recipes, three more to come later in the afternoon. Enjoy!
Recipe: Chicken Wings Pacifica
CHICKEN WINGS PACIFICA
Makes 24-30 wing sections
12-15 chicken wings, tips removed and separated into sections
1 C soy sauce
1 C brown sugar, packed
1 stick butter
1 tsp dry mustard
¾ C water
Arrange wing sections in a shallow baking pan. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan, and heat until sugar and butter dissolve. Cool mixture and pour over wings. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours, turning wings occasionally in marinade. Preheat oven to 350˚. Bake wings in marinade fro 45 minutes, turning once and spooning marinade over wings occasionally. Drain on paper towels, and serve hot or cold.
Recipe: Cajun Chicken Wings II
“An Oregon Muse family favorite for 25 years. We really don’t know where this came from, maybe the newspaper cooking section, back around 1992 or so. But I notice there’s a nearly identical recipe on food.com for “awesome cajun chicken wings.” But I swear our recipe did not come from there.”—Posted by: Oregon Muse, The Deplorable Gourmet by The Horde (2017)
CAJUN CHICKEN WINGS II
Yield: servings for 4-8 morons
Prep time: about 2 hours
24 whole chicken wings, disjointed, separated, tips discarded
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp onion powder
½ Tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
¼ C olive oil
Water if necessary
Celery stalks, blue cheese or ranch dressing (the latter preferably homemade—see recipes in this section)
Combine cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a blender, mix, then slowly add oil to make a paste, adding water if necessary. Combine paste with wings in a bowl, toss until wings are coated, dump everything into a ziplock bag, and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, preheat broiler. Broil wings 4 inches from heat source for about 10 minutes, then turn and broil on other side for 10 minutes. Serve warm with celery stalks and dressing.
Recipe: Buffalo Wings I
BUFFALO WINGS I
Makes about 32 wing sections
3 lbs chicken wings (about), disjointed into sections, wing tips discarded
12 oz (1 ½ C) chili sauce
3-4 Tbsp Tabasco (or to taste)
Blue Cheese Dip )
Preheat broiler. Place wing portions on unheated rack of a broiler pan, and broil 4-5 inches from heat source for about 10 minutes or until chicken is browned, turning once. Transfer chicken to a 3 ½ or 4 quart slow cooker. Combine chili sauce and Tabasco, and pour sauce over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 4-5 hours, or on high heat setting for 2-2 ½ hours. Serve sauced chicken wings with Blue Cheese Dip.
Recipe: Delicatessen Rye Bread
Going to try something different for bread this coming week. Not that I haven’t made rye bread before, but I’ve never converted a regular bread recipe to a bread machine recipe. Fortunately, my now go-to bread cookbook, Best Bread Machine Recipes (Better Homes and Gardens Books, 1997) has pretty detailed instructions on how to do this. Meanwhile, here’s the regular recipe.
Confession. I miss the “knead until smooth and elastic” part of homemade bread.
DELICATESSEN RYE BREAD
Makes 2 round loaves
2-2 ¾ C flour (unbleached is good in this)
2 C rye flour
2 tsp salt
2 packages active dry yeast
1 Tbsp caraway seed
1 C milk
¾ C water
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp oil
Combine 1 ¾ C flour, salt, yeast, and caraway seed in a large mixing bowl. Heat milk, water, molasses, and oil in a saucepan over low heat until very warm (120˚-130˚). Add liquid gradually to flour mixture, beating with electric mixer on high speed and scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 C rye flour or enough to make a thick batter, and beat at high speed for 2 minutes. Stir in remaining rye flour and enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough out on floured surface, and knead about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Cover with a bowl and let rest for 20 minutes. Divide dough in half, shape into 2 round loaves, place on greased baking sheets, cover, and let rise 30-45 minutes or until double in bulk. Preheat oven to 375˚. Bake loaves 35-40 minutes or until done.
As good as it gets
Powerline’s The Week in Pictures. And that will do it for this week. Not that there weren’t some marginally humorous ones, but this was the only one I deemed blog-worthy.
Your thoughts on a new project?
I wonder, Dear Readers, if you’d mind taking a minute and giving me some feedback?
A couple of years ago, I found an abandoned group on a social media platform. Old Books. With the help of one other person, and as we went along several more, we build the group from eight members to over 400. We were scrupulous about keeping bot (fake) accounts out so these were real people. There are about a dozen or so who regularly posted, and probably 2-3 times that many who frequently commented and sometimes posted. Rest were lurkers.
For reasons which don’t matter here, I am leaving that social media platform. When I told those dozen or so “friends,” to a person they asked to be told if I landed someplace else, and several suggested other sites where we might keep our group together.
After some thought, I decided to do it myself–that is not to do social media but to put together a multiple-author blog, The Old Books Blog, at a domain name I already owned (but had done nothing with).
So here’s where you come in, if you will. The beta version of The Old Books Blog @oldschoolhouseroadpublishing.com is up and running.
Would you mind taking a quick look and letting me know what you think? Most interested in what you think about appearance and navigability. The content is nearly all mine but as other author-posters come on, that will change. (It was a diverse group with antiquarian booksellers, collections curators, people into the history of bookmaking, etc.) Also–I know the subscriber form isn’t right; I’m working on it.
Comment here or there. Thanks!
The Blame Lies Not with Brave Men
This post was listed among those with views yesterday. It happens. People search for things and someone will look at random post from Big Food. This is not a political blog, but in the 11 years I’ve been doing this, every now and again a current event gets my knickers in a knot. The shut down of the Federal Government in October, 2013 and the subsequent closing of war memorials, parks, and such was one of those times. Seemed appropriate to repost today.
The Blame Lies Not with Brave Men
Originally published on October 2, 2013
Ernie Pyle was an American journalist and war correspondent. A quick perusal of Brave Men confirms that he wrote from the perspective of the common soldier.
A few snippets from Chapter 35, “A Last Word”:
This final chapter is being written in the latter part of August, 1944; it is being written under an apple tree in a lovely green orchard in the interior of France. It could well be that the European war will be over and done with by the time you read this book. Or it might not be. But the end is inevitable.
It will seem odd when, at some given hour, the shooting stops and everything suddenly changes again. … odd not to listen with animal-like alertness for the meaning of every distant sound; odd to have your spirit released from the perpetual weight that is compounded of fear and death and dirt and noise and anguish.
The end of war will be a gigantic relief, but it cannot be a matter of hilarity for most of us. Somehow it would seem sacrilegious to sing and dance when the great day comes– there are so many who can never sign and dance again.
[snip]
Thousands of our men will be returning to you after Europe. They have been gone a long time and they have seen and done and felt things you cannot know. They will have to be changed. They will have to learn how to adjust themselves to peace. Last night we had a violent electrical storm around our countryside. The storm was half over before we realized the the flashes and the crashings around us were not artillery but plain old-fashioned thunder and lightening. It will be odd to hear only thunder again. You must remember that such little things as that are in our souls, and it will take time.
[my emphasis]
Pyle himself was among the brave men who died during WWII. He was shot by a Japanese sniper and died instantly. He was one of few civilians to be awarded the Purple Heart.
405,400 American men died during WWII. Let that sink in.
Many more brave men, of course returned home after Europe, the Pacific, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
~~
To be sure, you’ve now read or heard about the manner in which a bunch of infirm old men were treated when they attempted to visit a war memorial yesterday. And of course you’re seeing the same old blame game play out this morning.
And to be candid, Mr. Big Food and I had fun watching this story unfold. Seriously? But the more I thought about it, the less inclined I was to laugh. We are supposed to be the land of the free and home of the brave. Where was just one brave soul willing to announce that he or she was not going to be putting a road block up at a war memorial?
So you know who I’m blaming for this shameful treatment of brave men?
I’m blaming the cowardly men and women of the National Parks Service. Those men and women– in uniform no less!– who drove the trucks with the barricades stacked in the bed, who unfolded them and set them up.
I’m blaming those cowardly men and women who just followed along, whose conscience didn’t compel them to say, “This is stupid. This is wrong. I will not participate.”
I am blaming those cowardly men women who are not worthy of the sacrifices brave men make.
[Updates photos of the cowards here.]
A lot can happen: I’ll say edition
Was searching around the blog’s November entries to find something other than leftover turkey recipes to post and found this.
A lot can happen
Published on November 21, 2014
I thought it might be a hoot to spend some time reading about the years leading up to the first Thanksgiving from the perspective of folks on the other side of the pond, so I pulled a few crappy old English history books off the shelves.
From pages 137-8 of A Manual of English History by Edward M. Lancaster (American Book Company, New York, 1905, 1st 1877) comes this about Utopia:
Thomas More– From the prophetic pen of More appeared a work entitled “Utopia,” or Nowhere, a satire on the times, especially the reign of Henry VII. Utopia was an ideal commonwealth which an imaginary companion of Amerigo Vespucci, deserted on the American continent, found somewhere in the midst of the wilds. It had wide and clean streets, comfortable houses, a system of public schools in which every child received a good education, perfect religious toleration, and universal suffrage, though with a family, and not an individual ballot; and the sole object of government was the good of the whole people, and not the pleasure of the king. Had More’s pseudo-voyager but wandered to the American continent a few centuries later, he would have found his model “Utopia” a real as well as an ideal republic.
(My emphasis)
Utopia was first published in Latin in 1516. It was first translated into English in 1551, about 20 years after the start of the Reformation in England– and More’s execution in 1535– and 70 years before the Pilgrims landed. The text from which that passage comes was first published in 1905.
A lot can happen in a few centuries can’t it?
Recipe: Leftover Baked Turkey Roll
Something different to do with the leftovers. I’d serve it with a salad and some leftover mashed potatoes heated in a skillet with lots of butter.
“Serve with cranberry sauce [preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section].”—Master Chef Louis P. De Gouy, The Gold Cook Book (1947)
LEFTOVER BAKED TURKEY ROLL
1 ½ to 2 C roast turkey meat, minced
2 tsp onions, minced (or more, to taste)
2 Tbsp (“more or less”) leftover turkey gravy or Kitchen Bouquet
Any desired seasonings
2 C flour, sifted
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp each of ground mace, ground nutmeg, and thyme
1/3 C shortening
¾ C (about) cold milk
Brown Sauce, to which a few cooked sliced mushrooms have been added
Preheat oven to 425˚. Combine turkey meat, onion, gravy or Kitchen bouquet, and desired seasonings. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and seasonings, cut in shortening, and add milk to make a soft dough. Knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured board and roll out to ½ inch thick or less. Spread with turkey filling, roll up jelly roll style, moistening edges to make them adhere, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes. Serve on a hot platter with Brown Sauce mixture.
Recipe: Club Sandwiches and Variations
If you ever come across The Encyclopedia of Cooking Complete in 24 Volumes, I recommend picking it up. It’s great!
More leftover turkey sandwich recipes: Turkey Stack, Turkey Club, Turkey (salad) Sandwiches
“A rich cheese sauce on the club sandwich gives a new angle to an old favorite.”—The Encyclopedia of Cooking Complete in 24 Volumes, Volume 14: 500 Ways to Make Tasty Sandwiches (1953)
CLUB SANDWICHES, VARIATION, AND TUNA AND TURKEY VARIATIONS
Serves 8
24 slices bread, toasted, buttered
8 slices cooked white meat of chicken
Mayonnaise
16 slices bacon, cooked crisp
16 slices tomato
Pickles, olives, celery curls or radish roses (for garnish)
Cover 8 buttered bread slices with chicken meat, spread with mayonnaise to taste, and cover each with another slice of bread. Spread top slice with mayonnaise to taste, place 2 slices cooked bacon and 2 tomato slices on each sandwich, and cover each with remaining toast slice. Fasten each sandwich securely with toothpicks, cut each sandwich diagonally into 4 triangles, and stand them upright on plate. Garnish with pickles, olives, celery curls, or radish roses.
VARAITION
Place a leaf of lettuce on top of tomato before covering with last slice of toast.
TUNA VARIATION
Omit chicken; drain tuna, slice or flake, and arrange on toast in place of chicken.
TURKEY VARIATION
Use turkey meat instead of chicken.
Recipe: Turkey Celery Sandwiches
A good use for the celery you bought too much of!
More leftover turkey sandwiches: Turkey Stack, Turkey Club, Turkey (salad) Sandwich, Club Sandwich and Variations
TURKEY CELERY SANDWICHES
Makes 6
1 C minced cooked turkey meat
1 C chopped celery
1 Tbsp minced green pepper
¼ tsp salt
2 small pickles, chopped (optional)
1/3 C mayonnaise
12 slices bread, buttered
Lettuce
Combine turkey, celery, green pepper, salt, pickles (if using),and mayonnaise. Spread mixture evenly on half the bread slices, cover chicken mixture with lettuce, and top each with second bread slice.
Recipe: Turkey Stuffed Pitas with Yogurt Dressing
This does not use leftover turkey. But it’s interesting enough that if you’re not doing a whole bird, but still wanted turkey (a bit informally) it would be a nice twist on the tradition. Looks to also be a good way to put helping hands to work in the kitchen!
Leftover turkey sandwiches: Turkey Stack, Turkey Club, Turkey (salad) Sandwich
TURKEY STUFFED PITAS WITH YOGURT DRESSING
Serves 8
Working time: about 45 minutes; Total time: about 1 hour 30 minutes
Calories 368; Protein 27g; Cholesterol 44mg; Total fat 14g; Saturated fat 2g; Sodium 136mg
1 ½ lbs turkey breast meat, skinned, both sides criss-crossed with a sharp knife with cuts 1/3 inch deep and ¾ inch apart
2 tsp safflower oil
Juice of 1 lime
8 small whole-wheat pitas (pocket bread)
½ C lettuce, shredded
Dry Marinade
Vegetable Filling
Yogurt Dressing
Combine Dry Marinade ingredients. Rub Dry Marinade into prepared turkey breast, making sure seasoning fills the cuts, and refrigerate for 1 hour. While turkey is marinating, prepare Vegetable Filling. Preheat oven to 400˚. Prepare Dressing. Heat 2 tsp safflower oil in a large, heavy-bottomed oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat and sauté turkey on one side until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn breast, sauté 1 minute longer, then place skillet in upper level of oven and roast turkey until flesh is firm and springy to the touch, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from skillet, squeeze lime juice over meat, and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Slice turkey breast against grain into ¼-inch pieces, and cut each piece into strips. To assemble pitas, place pitas in hot oven for 1 minute to soften. Slice each pita open at the top, stuff shredded lettuce evenly inside pitas, and fill evenly with turkey meat and Vegetable Filling. Pass Yogurt Dressing separately.
DRY MARINADE
1 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp white pepper
½ tsp crushed fennel seeds
2 tsp fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried leaves
½ tsp dried oregano
Combine all ingredients.
VEGETABLE FILLING
1 large avocado, peeled, seeded, cut into ¼-inch cubes
Juice of ½ lemon
2 large tomatoes, halved, seeded, chopped coarse
2/3 C onion, chopped fine
1 large bell pepper, seeded, deribbed, cut into ¼-inch pieces
Sprinkle avocado with lemon juice and toss “to keep it from turning brown,” and combine with tomato, onion, and bell pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
YOGURT DRESSING
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
5 drops Tabasco (or more, to taste)
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
¼ tsp salt
2 Tbsp safflower oil
½ C plain low-fat yogurt
Combine lime juice, vinegar, Tabasco, honey, mustard, garlic, cilantro, and salt, and whisk vigorously. Whisk in oil slowly, then whisk in yogurt. Refrigerate.
Recipe: Turkey (salad) Sandwiches
As with the Turkey Stack, and Turkey Club Sandwiches, this one is a bit different as well.
From Mrs. Jane Hall, Jackson, MS, The Mississippi Cookbook, compiled and edited by the Home Economics Division of the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service (1972)
TURKEY (salad) SANDWICHES
Makes 6 sandwiches
1 C cooked turkey meat, boned, minced fine
1/3 C celery, chopped fine
1/3 C white grapes, halved
1/3 C pecans, toasted if desired, chopped
Mayonnaise “for spreading”
12 slices sandwich bread
Mix together turkey meat, celery, grapes, pecans, and mayonnaise, and spread mixture evenly on sandwiches.