LC's famous ginger cookies~and more soupy-chicken recipes~

[Cracker]

I could almost live off good bread, cheese, salad, a few roasted vegetables, and a steak or scallops every now and then. I don't even know why I buy other stuff. I have always heard you should shop only around the perimeter of the grocery store because that is where all the fresh food is.

[sally]

actually you terrible person, Publix has some decent imported cheese, usually in a separate case. get some Locatelli brand romano, they may even have it already grated. or any parm from Italy.
i'll make a cheese snob out of you yet. heh

They have the real Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy in the cheese case at Publix. I love that stuff, I could eat the whole wedge of it just by itself.

[Lady Cop]

i had to show some of this Spode china...it's the Spode Woodland collection, and it has everything! all kinds of animals! it's beautiful! there is a horse series, dogs, wildlife, birds, i thought some people here might like them~~
the last thing i need is more china, but it's like art to me, i may get a few of these because they're so lovely.

[Duchess]

Those are lovely! You know I particularly like the horse & beagle.

[Lady Cop]

i actually like a dark dense fruitcake~~
buy a good one made by monks now.
then for the next few weeks, give it a shot of very good dark rum like meyers every couple days, or a good brandy...and keep it moist wrapped in cheesecloth.
serve Christmas with hard sauce (easy to make or buy Crosse & Blackwell). YUM~~

[Duchess]

I got majorly fucked up on hot rum toddies once & just seeing the word rum made me instantly recall a cold winters night spent on the bathroom floor.

[Cracker]

Gag, fruitcake. There isn't a fruitcake I like, even if God Almighty made it.

I make a fabulous rum cake in my bundt pan. I try to make one every year to justify having the pan.

[QueenBee]

Never developed a taste for the dark rum. Prefer the light. In Coke..not Pepsi.

[Lady Cop]

what are you making for Christmas dinner? i tried a traditional goose once long ago, and didn't like it at all. it was too greasy for me, or i didn't do it correctly. it just always sounds so good.
for years now i have preferred a British Christmas lunch, prime rib roast, brussels sprouts and yorkshire pudding. i made my own plum pudding one year, never again, too damn much work.
so what will you cook? having guests?

[Duchess]

We are not doing anything special for Christmas, no guests, no entertaining & I look forward to doing absolutely nothing. All I know for sure is that we are having seafood at some point that day.

[Cracker]

What time do you people get up in the morning? 4? 4:30? Holy shit.

We usually do a 5 bone primerib and all the trimmings. Because half of my family is far away this year, we decided to do an appetizer buffet on Christmas Eve and have a nice brunch on Christmas with eggs benedict, hashbrown casserole, asparagus, and fruit. This is the first year we can't all be together.

[Lady Cop]

well, off topic Cracker, but my internal alarm goes off at 0400 every morning. of course i'm beat by afternoon!
i have never been "normal" after years of night shifts and/or having to be at briefing by 0545 for day shift. we never just stayed on one shift, had to switch out every 6 weeks, and it played havoc with our sleep patterns.

[Duchess]

If I were to wake up to sun streaming in my bedroom window I would start moving like my ass was on fire while shouting FUCK! I'd feel like half my day was wasted & I have no doubt it would all go downhill from there.

As a small aside, do you know that by the time you die you will have spent, on or about, 20 yrs. sleeping?

[Lady Cop]

who likes real home-made eggnog? i love the stuff, Southern style~~

Traditional Eggnog Ingredients

12 eggs, separated
6 cups milk
2 cups heavy/ thickened cream
2 cups bourbon
1+ ¹⁄₂ cups sugar
³⁄₄ cup brandy
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

Traditional Eggnog Directions

In a large bowl and using a mixer, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar for approx 10 minutes (you want the mixture to be firm and the colour of butter).
Very slowly, add in the bourbon and brandy - just a little at a time.
When bourbon and brandy have been added, allow the mixture to cool in the fridge.
30 minutes before your guests arrive, stir the milk into the chilled yolk mixture. guests? what guests?
Stir in 1+ ¹⁄₂ teaspoons ground nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, beat the cream with a mixer on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks.
In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture.
After ladling into cups, garnish with the remainder of the ground nutmeg.

[QueenBee]

It will just be the two of us this year, but I am doing the whole turkey and stuffing thing. Yes, LC..there will be cranberries.
Bought a 12.5 pound one today. Will serve us nice, and give me some left overs for soup and stuff.

[Cracker]

who likes real home-made eggnog? i love the stuff, Southern style~~

Gag. Eggnog slides down your throat. I can't drink that fake chocolate milk they sell in the store, either. The viscosity is all wrong. Nassy.

Now if you cooked this and made a custard pie I would eat it.

[Lady Cop]

weirdly enough, i think custard pies go down like snot.
yet i like eggnog and yes, tapioca!

damn, these cookies look good, but i don't do all this work anymore. i always spent weeks doing cookies, baklava, fudge,
but not since my kids were little.


hmmmm...i think i will make baklava.

[FAHQTOO]

Ahh shit. Now I'm going to have to make some tapioca pudding.

[Cracker]

Have you tried the chocolate tapioca (just add cocoa powder)? It's awesome, too. I prefer the plain ol' vanilla red box tapioca recipe.

Fuck, I may go get some, too.

[Lady Cop]

i made my baklava today~~
it makes a nice little home-made gift in a pretty tin.