AslansChild, I roll about half the batch in sugar. They're tasty either way. Hmm, good question about the shortening. I would go with what SnowAngel said, noting that they might not turn out quite as "puffy" with butter. Also, they'd probably have a richer taste, methinks.

Whoa, SnowAngel, those white chocolate-drizzled ginger snaps look awfully decadent. Re the decorative icing flowers, if you have the chance, look for a Wilton cake-decorating course near you. Or even an independent bakery may offer something. It's loads of fun, but it does require patience. Well worth it, though!

As for that list, fantasia, wow! I only recognize just over 1/4 of those items that I have eaten, but, as others have mentioned, I may have tried more, but possibly by a different name. Interesting!

This post reminded me of a caramel popcorn recipe that I make each Christmas season. It is fantastic *she says with all modesty*. I think I posted it on the old forum, but will do so here again. The key is the small amount of baking soda, which apparently is what causes the caramel-y sauce to stay un-sticky (as bought caramel popcorn often is).

8 quarts of popcorn, popped

In saucepan:
2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup maple syrup
Bring to boil, stirring at a rolling boil for 2 minutes.
Remove from stove; add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, stirring to a smooth consistency.
Mix popcorn and batter immediately. Spread mixture into flat pans (I use my huge roasting pan and its lid). Place in 225° oven for one hour, STIRRING EVERY 15 MINUTES.

SnowAngel, I also make a similar Party Mix, but we call it "Nuts and Bolts". It's soooo tasty! Here's mine:

Combine in large microwaveable bowl:
2 cups Shreddies
2 cups Crispix
2 cups peanuts
2 cups small pretzels
2 cups Cheerios

In glass bowl:
1/2 cup margarine
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. celery salt
1 & 1/2 Tblsp. lemon juice
2 Tblsp. Worcestershire Sauce

Microwave at HIGH for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for 4 or 5 more minutes, or until lightly toasted, giving a good stir once each minute. Cool.

Good grief, this thread is awful for the salivating glands and tummy rumbles.

See, I'm making them for someone who's rather health conscious: so I'll be using raw sugar, non bleached flour, and replacing the molasses with agave nectar.

Waaaait a minute. Don't fall prey to those advertisements that make things sound more awesome and "healthy" than they actually are.
"Raw Sugar" (is this what you're talking about?) is only slightly less refined than white sugar, and sometimes sprayed with molasses for color. There's no difference whatsoever chemically when you eat it. You're just paying more for "raw sugar" because it sounds cool. It's a big ripoff.
Molasses actually has some nutrients in it, unlike your sugars, and is less processed. The same is true for local organic honey and maple syrup.
But at the end of the day, sugar is sugar is sugar and there's little difference between any of them so I find substituting completely pointless. And in this case, removing molasses takes out one of the key flavors of Gingersnaps.
If you are that concerned about it, I would substitute Agave Nectar for the sugar and leave the Molasses in there. If you absolutely must substitute the Molasses, I'd suggest using Maple Syrup.

Be aware of flour as well. Non bleached is good, but if it says "enriched" on it, it just means they sucked all the good stuff out of it during processing and added other stuff back in at the end.

As to the Shortening, it's a fat and easy to substitute, but be sure to avoid anything with the word 'hydrogenated' in it. It's hard to find fat any more that doesn't have that label. Your best bet is low-salt butter, that's my favorite. (Second favorite is lard from my local meat market. ) If you can somehow find a vegetable fat (which is what shortening is) that's not hydrogenated, that's best, but I haven't seen one in years.

2 cups Shreddies

What are Shreddies? Oh, I suppose I could Google, but it's more fun to ask you.

Ah, good to know, fantasia. Thanks for pointing these things out.

You don't have Shreddies in the States? More info What would be a comparable cereal in the US?

SnowAngel & johobbit Well, it's decided then: I'll replace the shortening with butter. The recipe will commence!!! And richer is defiantly not a problem... Thanks!

Waaaait a minute. Don't fall prey to those advertisements that make things sound more awesome and "healthy" than they actually are.

...removing molasses takes out one of the key flavors of Gingersnaps.

If you are that concerned about it, I would substitute Agave Nectar for the sugar and leave the Molasses in there.

You remind me of my friend! I'm not as much of a health person as he is, I do admit to eating some "poison" ...not alot, but some the same.But I do have a basic knowledge on what's okay. Thanks alot for your information though, nice to know there's others who think that way...

As for the sugar, no, it's not that stuff. I've seen that before. This is the real deal: raw, UN-bleached, UN-sprayed, not your average raw sugar. Same with the flour.

As for the molasses, I didn't know that it had some good stuff in it, so I guess I can use it, I was just using the Agave because I don't really have any...molasses...on me...right at this moment in time...but I'm working on it! And if it adds that much to the taste - it's probably important.

So, all things considered: I'll replace the shortening with butter, forget the Agave, use the sugar & flour and molasses, if I can get some...and I should be fine.

Thank you so much everybody, I'll let you know how it went...when I make them.

Good grief, this thread is awful for the salivating glands and tummy rumbles.

Ditto. I was already hungry, so........this is NOT helping.
FEED ME!!!

_____________________________________________________________________

On a side note: Anyone here have a vast knowledge on tea? I wanted to learn more about it, the real stuff, that is.I love tea, but I recently learned that the tea I'm accustomed to is

During these refinements, the valuable whole leaves are removed from lower quality tea dust and fannings. Unfortunately, much of the tea we are exposed to is made from these leftovers. Once you have experienced a true cup of tea, the harder it is to drink tea dust...

Dust? Gross.

I was on here:

http://planet-tea.com/

And just wanted to learn some more. Just wondering... Also, where can I buy a bunch of samples of the real stuff to try without spending alot? I have a little tin of white tea that's orange/apricot flavored, but the contents of the tin are rapidly receding due to my...tea...toting... What can I say?

...takes deep breath and runs off after viewing length of post... ...WOW...

Oh, johobbit! That wasn't nice. I can't make anything that we don't have the ingredients for and right now I really want to try some new recipes. Your recipes look really good, I'll have to try them after we move and get settle.

I think I need to go bake cookies one more time before we move.

SnowAngel

You remind me of my friend! I'm not as much of a health person as he is, I do admit to eating some "poison" ...not alot, but some the same.

Haha, I'm not a super healthy eater either. I'm just very mistrusting of labeling and advertising and paying more for it (read: I'm cheap). For me, it's all about balance. I still eat the occasional Big Mac from McDonalds, but the key word there is 'occasional.' Most of the time, I behave myself and eat the healthy food I've made myself.
And the reason I know a lot about sugar is because I have hypoglycemic tendencies so I steer clear of a lot of sweet stuff, unless it's with a full meal.

Anyone here have a vast knowledge on tea?

Not particularly, but there is a place here in town that makes their own tea and coffee. You walk in there and you start sucking in air three times as fast cause it smells so often. Their tea is usually made up of dried leaves or orange rinds and stuff. Big pieces, not "dust." You might try checking your yellowpages in a phone book or online for 'tea' to see what comes up. I don't think real tea shops are super rare, but unless you know about them, you're unlikely to come across one.

Once you have experienced a true cup of tea, the harder it is to drink tea dust...

@SnowAngel, so what food do you have available? Maybe we can come up with something awesome for you to make. (Have you ever seen Chopped? That show is the epitome of creative cooking.)

So I made my Tuna Puttanesca with Linguine last night (recipe a couple posts back) and it turned out really good. If I make it again I'll use the correct amount of pasta (I put in an extra 4oz so I could use up the box) and add another can of tuna (but without the extra oil). I had never had capers before so there's something else I can check off. Anyways, big thumbs up from me. And really easy to make.

We have been discovering the joys of crock pot recipes this year. Our latest recipe was Santa Fe Chicken: Rotel, corn and black beans put in a crock pot with some chicken and seasonings and served over rice. It was pretty good, but we had way more veggies than chicken, so in the future I'll need to change the proportions a bit. This weekend we're planning on making chicken enchilada soup (which we've made before and enjoyed) and homemade bread bowls (which we haven't and will be a fun, new challenge).

Crock pots are awesome. As I told you yesterday, shastastwin, I'm not the greatest at planning meals in advance and you kind of have to be able to do that with crock pot recipes. But the advantage of putting everything together in the morning, and then coming home and having dinner ready to go...
There's one recipe that I made a couple times over the winter that I thought I'd share with you because it's sooooo good.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooke ... etail.aspx
It's really juicy, I recommend toasting the buns before you put the pulled pork on them or else they'll get soggy.

My mom's birthday was last week and there's a rather amusing story involving a birthday cake for her. My sister and I had not communicated at all about my mom's party so we both decided separately to make her a cake. Ara was going to make a German Chocolate Cake and I was going to make a Carrot Cake (which both happen to be a couple of my mom's favorites). Well we found out what was going on when my sister called me from the store to find out what food I had at home. Long story short, I had the brilliant idea of attempt to find a recipe for a Chocolate Carrot cake.... and I did!
http://sweetandnatural.wordpress.com/20 ... -frosting/
(AslansChild, this recipe has your friend's name written all over it. )
I did make some substitutions on it, I used honey instead of agave nectar and regular chocolate chips instead of grain-sweetened chocolate chips. (I've never even heard of grain-sweetened chocolate chips!!! Anyone know what they are?) It came out pretty good. But everyone commented on how healthy it tasted and I'm not sure that's the compliment you want to hear about a birthday cake.
So there you go everybody, if you want to eat a guilt-free "healthy" cake, this is the one for you.

You might try checking your yellowpages in a phone book or online for 'tea' to see what comes up. I don't think real tea shops are super rare, but unless you know about them, you're unlikely to come across one.

...I had never had capers before so there's something else I can check off. Anyways, big thumbs up from me. And really easy to make.

Okay, thanks - I'll try that. Um...capers...aren't they salty? Is it a seasoning, like peppercorn?

And thanks so much for the cake recipe...sounds like a winner! Probably good and moist...mmmm........

Capers are little buds picked off of a plant and then pickled. They reminded me of a combination between green olives or artichokes maybe? Not something I would eat straight but they were good in the recipe.

So have I mentioned on here before that I'm a complete and total grilling addict? Probably. I've picked out a couple meals to make this week, both of which involve grilling cause, what can I say? I love it!
First one up is my mom's Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. I've had it many times before and it's so yummy. It's pretty simple too, if you're good at grilling that is.

1/4c olive oil
2tbs lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless chicken breast halves
2 tbs mayo
6 c torn romaine lettuce leaves OR 1 pkg Italian blend salad greens
1 c of this cheese (I think... can't find the exact one) which can be substituted for whatever kind of cheese you think is good on a Caesar salad
1/2 c croutons

Mix the first four ingredients together
Brush 2 tbs onto the chicken - grill and then slice into strips
Add Mayo to the remaining mixture
Serve (I usually do lettuce, chicken, cheese, dressing, but I skip the croutons cause I'm not a big fan. )

The other recipe I'm going to try is a Pork Chops recipe out of one of my Taste of Home magazines. I have almost all of the ingredients on hand already including a bunch of fresh herbs out of the garden. If it turns out good, I'll post the recipe on here.

We will have to try that sometime, FK. It sounds tasty and we love Caesar salad.

We are going to be grilling out with some friends of ours tomorrow, and I'm trying a couple of experiments. I've got two types of marinade going on steaks. The first is kind of basic: Worcestershire, soy sauce, garlic and onion powder and some brown sugar and ginger. No idea on the quantities and proportions. I made it spur of the moment and went until it looked right.

The second marinade is my attempt at a "sweet heat" (again, no recipe): soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, hot sauce, garlic and onion powders and some paprika. We'll see how they turn out.

I'm also going to be experimenting with grilled corn. We're going to make some with just salt, pepper, and butter, but I'm going to fiddle with a few ears and make some that (I hope) will be hot and some that will be Mexican-flavored (via our homemade taco seasoning ).

Well, the grill-out was postponed indefinitely, and we didn't get to grill the steaks until tonight. However, they turned out pretty decently given the fact that they marinated twice as long as I anticipated and our little George Foreman grill is impossible . I will definitely be using some form of the first marinade again in the future. (The corn we've saved for later. )

It's not that I don't appreciate George Foreman's signature donation to the culinary world, but grilling a steak on one feels almost sacreligious . Get a full fledged grill, my friend, and I would recommend one that uses charcoal as opposed to gas. Gas wins huge on convenience and doesn't take as much time to get ready, but with charcoal you definitely taste the difference in the food. The smoking coals add their own flavor to whatever it is your cooking and it's something that cannot be duplicated.

Tonight I cooked something new for Wifester. I took some polish snausage, cut off two 5 inch segments, butterflied them and then lightly fried them on med/high in a single pat of butter. When they were nicely browned I put some colby-jack cheese on them and got it good and melty, and then dumped them on some hamburger buns. Wifester initially distrusted them but after two bites she was sold and couldn't get over how good they were. I think I've just invented a new sandwich!

I'm hungry for steak - something I don't have very often - after reading these latest posts. And I'm contemplating a cookout of my own during the next couple days - gotta do it before the summer heat, humidity, and bugs show up - so steak it might be.

My favorite grilling heat source is wood fire. There's just nothing like it - not to mention you get to enjoy the campfire before the cooking starts! (The trick is to let the fire burn down to embers before cooking on it; in my experience people usually start cooking too soon and the flames scorch the food).

@SnowAngel, so what food do you have available? Maybe we can come up with something awesome for you to make. (Have you ever seen Chopped? That show is the epitome of creative cooking.)

Well, it's a little late now. But if we don't go to the store soon, we might be having some interesting meals. I hate Chopped, the judges are almost all snobs. I would to see them make a meal with the ingredients they put in some of those baskets.

Your sandwich sounds delicious, Shadowlander! I would like to make it sometime. But if you used 5 inches per person, I would need like 35 inches! (At the minimum and if small people ate halves.)

My cousin sent me this recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars that I made earlier this week. They're pretty good, but I think I can make them better. I plan to experiment with the recipe soon.

I'm currently trying to plan my birthday menu. I'm think hamburgers, chips, and maybe cole slaw for lunch and for dessert two pies- Butterscotch Pecan and Sour Cream Blackberry.

SnowAngel