About four weeks ago our daughter moved out of home and into a rented
house she's co-habiting with her boyfriend of five years.
The last few weeks have been a trial - having to remeber to cook for
only three, not four - and reassessing vegetable quantities, after
being in 'auto mode' for the last 20 odd years! Inevitably there were a
few (read many) nights when a certain person had imbibed a little too
much Aussie red and we ended up with a mountain of food, which saw
judicious reheating the next day for AJ (son) who somehow always is on
the lookout for something specacular and edible.
Last weekend (Saturday) GJ (husband) & I were invited to Jess' for
dinner - the first time!
She spent the day cleaning, cooking & preparing... and even though she
and her BF and their friends don't drink wine, bought 2 wine glasses!!
and a bottle each of very decent red & white wine for us to enjoy with
dinner.
She made a delicious Beef Stroganoff, served with home cooked (shop
bought) crispy rolls, and steamed rice. Being a chronic sweet tooth
(she'd much rather have four desserts than ANY entree or main!!)
dessert was stunning - rich chocolate mousse served with fanned
strawberries & double cream.
They very proudly said during dinner that they had not had the same
meal twice in the four weeks since they'd left their respective homes.
Thanks in part to the compilation of favourite recipes of mine which I
bundled into a folder and gave them when they moved in (as well as a
dirth of kitchen appliances & gadgets!!!)
Although she only ever cooked at home on about three occasions, it was
very nice to know that another budding foodie has been born and she's
now taking an active interest in shopping for quality ingredients,
preparing scrumptuous food and expanded on her former 'sweet tooth'
restricted diet.
Every now and again it's nice to be needed - getting a call to ask how
such and such is made or prepared etc. The hardest thing both of them
have had to deal with is going from a gas cooktop/oven to a fan-forced
electric oven. (They were astounded when a roast chicken took a scant
45 minutes to cook...instead of the usual hour to hour and a half.
Burnt cake bottoms have also caused much grief.)

Ob food: here's the beef stroganoff recipe I gave Jess

Beef Stroganoff

olive oil
1kg beef strips
black pepper - (NOT optional if you want it to taste right Jess!)
3 large brown onions - finely sliced & diced
1 to 2 tubs (200-400ml) sour cream
500ml passata OR 1 jar Neopolitan sauce OR Red wine & garlic sauce
potatoes - optional

2 to 3 cups rice or 1 packet fettuccine pasta/noodles

Using either a large frypan or the or heavy based casserole dish, heat
2 tablespoons oil on medium to high heat.
Add the meat a little at a time and grind on black pepper and cook, in
batches, until browned. Continue until all meat has been peppered and
browned.
Remove meat and any juices to a bowl.
Heat a tablespoon oil and add the onion. Fry until soft and
transparent.
Return meat and toss with onions.
Add the jar of passata and sufficient water to just cover the meat.
Simmer for about 40 minutes on low heat. The longer it simmers, the
more tender the meat will be.
Just before serving, stir in the sour cream. DO NOT BOIL! Simmer until
cream has thickened the sauce.
Serve with steamed rice or fettuccine and a sprinkling of chopped
parsley.


At least she and the BF know how to cook from scratch - I must have
done something right!
hehehe

LadyJane
--
"Never trust a skinny cook!"

LadyJane wrote:
> About four weeks ago our daughter moved out of home and into a rented
> house she's co-habiting with her boyfriend of five years.

Very sweet post!...is that the young lady in your "mug shot" with you?

-L.

-L. wrote:

> Very sweet post!...is that the young lady in your "mug shot" with you?
>
> -L.

sure is.... and despite being able to use my phone whenever I want(and
not have to go searching for it in her room), and not having to share
feminine products, and dealing with her PMS... I do miss her company
and humour! (I do NOT miss the awful fights with her brother though.
That I am glad to forego)

hehehe

LadyJane
--
"Never trust a skinny cook!"

"LadyJane" > wrote

> At least she and the BF know how to cook from scratch - I must have
> done something right!
> hehehe

That's obvious! Thanks for a great story! So sweet.

nancy

What warm hearted sharing Lady Jane. When I was "once" a young bride,
I remember one of the first recipes I had was Beef Stroganoff. I
called it my "company" recipe. I haven't cooked it for awhile, because
I think I must have just worn it out.

I know about your empty nest thing. . .It's really bitter sweet. Back
in the Fall of 1987, one of my daughters married, and moved near
Detroit, to be with her husband, who was stationed at the SANG base
there. My son, joined the Navy, which he now has served nearly 19
years. My youngest daughter started college.

There is only one thing worse than turning 40, and that's having three
of your children fly the coop at the same time.

I look back at that time nearly two decades ago and remember that empty
feeling inside. I'd look at the kitchen table, and it would look so
vacant. The "morning" noise, of having them all rumble through the
house trying to get off to school, and to their activities was gone. .
..It was so quiet.

Over this 4th of July my kids came home. They brought their husbands
and wives, they brought the grandkids. The house was fuller than ever.
.. .What a difference a few years can make.

Myrl Jeffcoat
http://www.myrljeffcoat.com

LadyJane wrote:


>
>
> At least she and the BF know how to cook from scratch - I must have
> done something right!
> hehehe

Great story LJ. My son also enjoys cooking. And his GF also likes to
"cook from scratch". She phones me up to ask how to cook stuff she
hasn't tried before, and then tells me all about how it turned out
afterwards I have given them some of the recipes from this group to
try too.

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

LadyJane wrote:
> About four weeks ago our daughter moved out of home and into a rented
> house she's co-habiting with her boyfriend of five years.

so your daughter shackin up and you got the nerve to post a strokenoff
recipe?

what's that got to do with cooking

you're just using this filthy place to TALK


talk talk talk
talk talk talk

chat chat chat

jabber jabber jabber

chit chat chit chat

beep beep beep beep beep

noise noise noise

LadyJane wrote:

>
>
> At least she and the BF know how to cook from scratch - I must have
> done something right!
> hehehe
>


It sounds as though you have done everything right.
Congratulations.

gloria p
whose daughter is a better cook than I am

LadyJane wrote:

> She made a delicious Beef Stroganoff, served with home cooked (shop
> bought) crispy rolls, and steamed rice. Being a chronic sweet tooth
> (she'd much rather have four desserts than ANY entree or main!!)
> dessert was stunning - rich chocolate mousse served with fanned
> strawberries & double cream.
> They very proudly said during dinner that they had not had the same
> meal twice in the four weeks since they'd left their respective homes.
> Thanks in part to the compilation of favourite recipes of mine which I
> bundled into a folder and gave them when they moved in (as well as a
> dirth of kitchen appliances & gadgets!!!)

I share your pride and joy in your daughter's accomplishments
Knowing they can eat *well* somehow eases the pain of them leaving,
doesn't it?
Goomba

On 10 Jul 2006 00:02:12 -0700, "LadyJane"
> wrote:

>She made a delicious Beef Stroganoff, served with home cooked (shop
>bought) crispy rolls, and steamed rice. Being a chronic sweet tooth
>(she'd much rather have four desserts than ANY entree or main!!)
>dessert was stunning - rich chocolate mousse served with fanned
>strawberries & double cream.
>
>They very proudly said during dinner that they had not had the same
>meal twice in the four weeks since they'd left their respective homes.
>Thanks in part to the compilation of favourite recipes of mine which I
>bundled into a folder and gave them when they moved in (as well as a
>dirth of kitchen appliances & gadgets!!!)

You must be so proud of her! And of yourself. Ya done good!

Carol

Angel-
I'm willing to guess that you aren't a Pisces, Cancer, or Gemini???

Thanks Nancy, Myrl, Cathy, Gloria, Goomba & Carol!

One down.... one to go!
(Twin brother of aforesaid daughter STILL at home although we are
getting along much better these days!)

My Mum made her regular batch of cumquat marmalade 10 days ago (she
bought a 10kg case of the suckers!!!!!) & she kindly gave me 6 jars.
Gave a few of them away to two of her (and my) mutual friends, one of
which came back with a 4kg bag of fresh cumquats as a thankyou and for
ME (or her... yeh...fat chance after hand slicing a zillion billion
little suckers!!) to make more marmalade.... gads!
Mum uses the laborious task of halving, squeezing then finely slicing
all the tiny, ripe cumquats. 40 cumquats per batch. No idea sugar
content. Tastes wonderful though.

Me? Dragged out my mandoline, grabbed the finest blade insert and
whizzed through the 4kg in no time.Only ended up having to slice the
'ends', which was no biggie.
Carefully plucked out all the seeds (and, groan, gumble,*&^%$, seed
segments which had ALSO been finely sliced.... maybe NOT such a
brilliant idea after all), set them in a small basin covered with
water, threw the rinds & pulp into a large pan, covered with water and
left to steep overnight.
Having spent best part of a half hour removing seeds, husband later
remarked I should have just put the whole lot in to steep - the seeds
would inevitably float to the surface. I felt like hitting him! (The
couple I missed did actually float... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
Next day measured out the pulp, added 2 cups sugar for every cup pulp
and boiled away on a high simmer for around 2 and a half hours. Bottled
once cool - made 6 largish jars.
Strangely my marmalade has a more citrusy flavour than Mum's and is
very, very nice.
It constituted our 'dinner' last night - had a lovely family lunch at
local Italian restaurant so we weren't feeling all that hungry at
dinner time. Took me back to my childhood days in England where we'd
have toast or crumpets or muffins and a large pot of tea & mug of cocoa
for me, for supper around 6pm.

(Note to self: choose to whom you give the bounty of your larder - it
may well come back to 'bite you on the backside'.... First time I've
ever made cumquat marmalade, sincerely hope it will be the last for a
while!)

LadyJane
--
"Never trust a skinny cook!"

Oh pshaw, On Mon 10 Jul 2006 02:54:44p, LadyJane was muttering about...

> Thanks Nancy, Myrl, Cathy, Gloria, Goomba & Carol!
>
> One down.... one to go!
> (Twin brother of aforesaid daughter STILL at home although we are
> getting along much better these days!)

Some day your princes will go. :-)

> My Mum made her regular batch of cumquat marmalade 10 days ago (she
> bought a 10kg case of the suckers!!!!!) & she kindly gave me 6 jars.
> Gave a few of them away to two of her (and my) mutual friends, one of
> which came back with a 4kg bag of fresh cumquats as a thankyou and for
> ME (or her... yeh...fat chance after hand slicing a zillion billion
> little suckers!!) to make more marmalade.... gads!
> Mum uses the laborious task of halving, squeezing then finely slicing
> all the tiny, ripe cumquats. 40 cumquats per batch. No idea sugar
> content. Tastes wonderful though.

Wonderful stuff!

> Me? Dragged out my mandoline, grabbed the finest blade insert and
> whizzed through the 4kg in no time.Only ended up having to slice the
> 'ends', which was no biggie.
> Carefully plucked out all the seeds (and, groan, gumble,*&^%$, seed
> segments which had ALSO been finely sliced.... maybe NOT such a
> brilliant idea after all), set them in a small basin covered with
> water, threw the rinds & pulp into a large pan, covered with water and
> left to steep overnight.
> Having spent best part of a half hour removing seeds, husband later
> remarked I should have just put the whole lot in to steep - the seeds
> would inevitably float to the surface. I felt like hitting him! (The
> couple I missed did actually float... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
> Next day measured out the pulp, added 2 cups sugar for every cup pulp
> and boiled away on a high simmer for around 2 and a half hours. Bottled
> once cool - made 6 largish jars.
> Strangely my marmalade has a more citrusy flavour than Mum's and is
> very, very nice.
> It constituted our 'dinner' last night - had a lovely family lunch at
> local Italian restaurant so we weren't feeling all that hungry at
> dinner time. Took me back to my childhood days in England where we'd
> have toast or crumpets or muffins and a large pot of tea & mug of cocoa
> for me, for supper around 6pm.

Was that from the same lot of kumquats?

> (Note to self: choose to whom you give the bounty of your larder - it
> may well come back to 'bite you on the backside'.... First time I've
> ever made cumquat marmalade, sincerely hope it will be the last for a
> while!)

I learned that a few years ago. I gave several pints of corn relish to a
friend for their family and grown children. A couple of weeks later they
stopped by with a bushel of corn!

--

Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________ ________________________

I often wonder ...
What do people mean when they say the computer went down on me?

wrote:
> Angel-
> I'm willing to guess that you aren't a Pisces, Cancer, or Gemini???

no, Im not any of those
you don't really believe in that stuff do you?

LadyJane wrote:
> Ob food: here's the beef stroganoff recipe I gave Jess
>
> Beef Stroganoff
>
> olive oil
> 1kg beef strips
> black pepper - (NOT optional if you want it to taste right Jess!)
> 3 large brown onions - finely sliced & diced
> 1 to 2 tubs (200-400ml) sour cream
> 500ml passata OR 1 jar Neopolitan sauce OR Red wine & garlic sauce
> potatoes - optional
>
> 2 to 3 cups rice or 1 packet fettuccine pasta/noodles
>
> Using either a large frypan or the or heavy based casserole dish, heat
> 2 tablespoons oil on medium to high heat.
> Add the meat a little at a time and grind on black pepper and cook, in
> batches, until browned. Continue until all meat has been peppered and
> browned.
> Remove meat and any juices to a bowl.
> Heat a tablespoon oil and add the onion. Fry until soft and
> transparent.
> Return meat and toss with onions.
> Add the jar of passata and sufficient water to just cover the meat.
> Simmer for about 40 minutes on low heat. The longer it simmers, the
> more tender the meat will be.
> Just before serving, stir in the sour cream. DO NOT BOIL! Simmer until
> cream has thickened the sauce.
> Serve with steamed rice or fettuccine and a sprinkling of chopped
> parsley.
>
>
> At least she and the BF know how to cook from scratch - I must have
> done something right!
> hehehe
>
>
You've obviously done a great job with your offspring, and the BF is a
man of discriminating taste :-)

Just one little nit to pick. Doesn't beef stroganoff usually have
mushrooms in it?
christine

Old Mother Ashby wrote:

> You've obviously done a great job with your offspring, and the BF is a
> man of discriminating taste :-)

I think so too - IF he lasts the distance...

> Just one little nit to pick. Doesn't beef stroganoff usually have
> mushrooms in it?
> christine

MY strog recipe has mushrooms, but this is Jess' recipe - she loathes
mushys.
Silly, silly girl!

My version calls for 5 large field mushrooms, diced or minced and added
with the onions. In my opinion, no stroganoff is complete without them.
Jess has very different mores on this subject.
hehehehehe

(used to pulse mushrooms, zucchini, squash etc and add that to my
dishes, so the kids didn't know the difference. Sadly Jess is now able
to 'see' the difference. Still ate my strog w/mushies at home, but
would rather walk over hot coals than have them in HER strog! ROFLMAO)

LadyJane
--
"Never trust a skinny cook!"

LadyJane wrote:
> About four weeks ago our daughter moved out of home and into a rented
> house she's co-habiting with her boyfriend of five years.
> The last few weeks have been a trial - having to remeber to cook for
> only three, not four - and reassessing vegetable quantities, after
> being in 'auto mode' for the last 20 odd years! Inevitably there were a
> few (read many) nights when a certain person had imbibed a little too
> much Aussie red and we ended up with a mountain of food, which saw
> judicious reheating the next day for AJ (son) who somehow always is on
> the lookout for something specacular and edible.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Our youngest left the nest three
weeks ago to move 3000 miles away to find a job. He's 21 and we'd been
lucky to have him with us this long as he attended community college in
our town. The two oldest had left right after high school to go to
university and only returned a couple of times for the summer.
Actually, the oldest never even made the move here with us since we
moved only 6 weeks before she'd have had to return to the same town for
university -- we said goodbye at her apartment door. Watching them
leave is not 1/2 as hard as leaving them behind (oh the guilt!!)

I miss his weird sense of humor, his emptying the dishwasher, his good
natured smile. What I don't miss is his picky food habits. What I'm
relishing is not having to wonder what to cook based on his food
preferences. I can serve curry 4 times a week and hubby and I are
happy.

Gabby

On 11 Jul 2006 01:25:03 -0700, "LadyJane"
> wrote:

>MY strog recipe has mushrooms, but this is Jess' recipe - she loathes
>mushys.

Jess is a very wise woman. <EG>

Carol

"LadyJane" <snip>
> At least she and the BF know how to cook from scratch - I must have
> done something right!
> hehehe
>
> LadyJane
> --
> "Never trust a skinny cook!"
>000000000000000

Woo-hoo! I'm certain you taught her well!

--
Cyndi (again)