Roses... a lovely greeting!

Welcome to ~ this-n-that ~

to     ~ this-n-that ~

A little of this-n-that

Here is today's table decoration.

This is a dated (1999) Noritake porcelain Easter Egg.


I love to collect porcelain and bone china decorations for
the table, too! I selected this one because it is for this season.

Weight & Measures

Information about the measurements used in this cookbook follows. The equivalent size of the American tsp and metric were approximately set as:

Measurements:

--	1 Tbsp	15 mL
--	1 tsp	5 mL
dash	1/8 tsp	0.6 mL
pinch	1/16 tsp	0.3 mL
smidgen	1/32 tsp	0.15 mL
1 pound (Lb)	16 ounces (oz)	454 grams (g)
--	1 ounce	28 grams
--	0.03 ounce	1 gram
2.2 pound	1000 grams	1 kilogram (kg)
1/5 pound	3 1/2 ounce	100 grams
6 3/4 tablespoon (Tbsp)	0.1 liter (L)	6 3/4 tablespoon (Tbsp)

Measurement terms:

scant	not quite
heaping	almost overflowing

Some approximate equivalents are:

sifted flour	4 Tbsp	1 oz
granulated, superfine sugar	2 Tbsp	1 oz
sifted icing or confectioners	2 Tbsp	1 oz
margarine or butter	2 Tbsp	1 oz
rice - whole	2 Tbsp	1 oz

About recipes in this cookbook

When using the recipes in this cookbook, remember to follow these points:

Always use only one set of measurements in your selected recipes. The recipes are listed in American, metric, and Imperial measurements and sometimes they are not exact equivalents.

Measuring spoons have different capacities from those of ordinary teaspoons and tablespoons meant for use on the table, so you will need a set to ensure that your recipes can be followed precisely.

Scales are used in Europe and Asia (in place of the American cup system) to measure ingredients. Scales are useful in every kitchen to weigh foods in bulk. Never overload your scales or store anything heavy on top to keep measurements accurate.

Please note that not all recipes note the number of portions prepared.

British recipes often mention minced meat, which is, ground beef. The term minced is equivalent to ground.

Salt and pepper seasoning can always be adjusted at the table. It is better to add only a little salt and pepper when cooking.

Emergency Substitutions

These substitutions can help when you realize you are missing an ingredient...

ingredients	substitutions

4 Tbsp cocoa
3-4 Tbsp cocoa plus 1 tsp shortening
4 Tbsp cocoa
1 square chocolate and omit 1/2 Tbsp fat
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp flour
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks, plus 1 Tbsp water (in cookies)
or 2 egg yolks (in custard mixtures)

1 cup fresh sweet milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk plus 1 cup water
or 1/2 cup powdered milk plus 1 cup water

mirin
sweet sherry
sake
dry sherry or dry white wine
daikon
raw turnip
shirataki noodles
vermicelli (fine spaghetti)
1 cup honey
3/4 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup liquid
1 cup canned tomatoes
about 1 cup cut up fresh tomatoes,
simmered for 10 minutes

1 cake of yeast
2 tsp dry yeast
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup light corn syrup plus 1/2 cup molasses
graham crackers (crushed)
vanilla cookies or digestive biscuits (crushed
sultanas)
large raisins
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup milk plus 1 tsp of vinegar or lemon

Oven Temperatures

Centigrade..............................................Fahrenheit
121-149..............very slow......................250-300
163.....................slow...............................325
177-191..............moderate......................350-375
204....................moderately hot............400
218-232.............hot.................................425-450
246-260............very hot.........................475-500


Note: It is always best to check your oven (if it is the first time you use it) with a thermometer to check the temperature.

Correcting cooking errors

Soup

If soup stock turns sour 24 hours after it was made, it was probably left in its saucepan all night, or covered and put away when still warm.

When a thick soup is lumpy, the thickening was probably added too hastily. Correct by beating well with a whisk.

When stock is cloudy that should be clear, you may have cooked it too quickly - it needs a long, slow cooking time. It may not have been completely skimmed. Before straining, let the stock settle. Do not stir before straining.

If your vegetable purée is too thick, too many vegetables may have been added in proportion to the liquid. This may be remedied by adding more stock or milk, stirring to keep the purée smooth.

~~~~~

Fish

When boiled or steamed fish breaks during serving, you have cooked it too fast. Small fish should be steamed.

When boiled fish is hard and very salty, it was not soaked sufficiently to remove the salt before it was cooked. Soak it in cold water or milk for at least 6 hours, changing the liquid several times.

~~~~~

Meat

When boiled meat is tasteless though cooked gently, too much water was probably used. There should be only just enough to cover the meat. Also, a root vegetable such as carrot or turnip should have been cooked with it and a tiny bunch of sweet herb.

When pork crackling is hard and non-edible, it was not brushed over top with salad oil before it was cooked. This makes it crisp and delicious.

When grilled meat is dry though not apparently overdone, you have either stuck a fork into the meat and the juices escaped, or you put it under high heat while dry and lean. If you do not posses grilling tongs, use two forks, a spatula, or a palette knife. A fork can be used if it is put into the fat only. When lean meat is to be grilled, it should first be brushed over with liquid butter or drippings.

~~~~~

Frying

When pancakes or fritters are heavy: (1) The batter has not been beaten sufficiently. The word batter means “to beat” and so beating is the main point. (2) The fat is not hot enough. Thin blue smoke should be rising when your fritters are put in. (3) The batter was used immediately after being made. It should stand for at least one hour.

~~~~~

Chicken

When chicken lacks flavor, the oven was not hot enough when the bird was put in and the goodness escaped instead of being sealed in the bird, or the bird was overcooked.

When a bird is dry, it was not larded on the inside, and it is also a good plan to put a piece of butter or dripping inside the bird before it is cooked; or maybe the bird was not basted sufficiently. A piece of greased paper placed over the bird when it is brown enough also helps to keep it moist.

~~~~~

Sauces

When white sauce is lumpy, the fault was with the mixing. Butter and flour must be cooked gently to a perfectly smooth paste before any milk is added - then the milk stirred in gradually and kept perfectly smooth. Lumpy sauces may be strained and reheated or taken off the heat and beaten furiously with an eggbeater.

When sauce that should be white has a fawn tint, the butter and flour were cooked over very high heat and just began to brown, thereby causing the discoloration.

A sauce curdles most often when an egg has been included in the sauce and is allowed to boil. A sauce containing eggs should be cooked in a double-boiler saucepan and never allowed to boil after eggs have been added. Another cause is adding acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar too quickly.

~~~~~

Vegetables

When boiled green vegetables are a bad color, they were not put into rapidly boiling water or the lid was kept on while they were cooking or they were overcooked. All green vegetables should be served as soon as they are just cooked through.

When fried potatoes are greasy, they were too wet when put into the fat. Lightly press them in a paper towel before cooking, and be sure the fat is hot enough and that there is plenty of it. Deep-frying is best for potatoes.

When a boiled cauliflower is not white, the stalk was placed downward in the water and the scum settled on the flower. This will not happen if the stalk points upward.

~~~~~

Eggs

When an omelet is dry and very fluffy, you will know that you have beaten the egg too much. Eggs for omelets need very little beating. Beat yolks and whites together and then only lightly if you prefer a moist omelet. Beat eggs separately but still only enough to froth if you prefer the lighter kind.

When however long you whip the egg whites, they will not stiffen: One reason could be that they were stale or too fresh. Eggs should be newly laid but not just laid. The white of an egg that has only been laid a few hours is almost as difficult to whip as a stale one. Another cause could be that there was just a trace of grease on either the bowl or the beater.

~~~~~

Pastry

When pastry is heavy you may have used the rolling pin with a heavy hand. Pastry should be rolled lightly with short, rapid movements. Don’t roll out over the edge or you will force all the air out. For puff pastry you need a very hot oven and it is a good idea to refrigerate the pastry for a short while before putting into the oven.

~~~~~

Desserts

When the fruit in a gelatin all rises to the top of a mould - a layer of gelatin should have been put in the mould and allowed to set before any fruit was added to it.

~~~~~

Fruit

When apples in a pie have remained in slices and are rather hard, the apples were sliced too thinly - thin slices take a long time to soften. Cut the apples in small pieces. Slices are suitable for a flan.

If the fruit sinks in gelatin, the fruit was too wet. Dry thoroughly after washing fruit by spreading it out in a warm place.

When fruit sinks in a cake, the oven door was opened while the cake was rising or too much baking powder was used.

~~~~~

Cakes

When a cake, though containing several eggs, is not light, it was not beaten sufficiently. Cakes that depend upon an egg for their lightness need to be well beaten to aerate the batter.

When a cake sticks to the tin, either the tin was not sufficiently greased or it was not perfectly dry when greased.

When shortbread is rough in texture, the flour and sugar were not sifted, or it was not kneaded sufficiently. It should be worked until it will roll out without cracking or breaking.

When shortbread is greasy, the butter was warmed and became oily. It should have been warmed so gradually that it softened without becoming greasy.

An uneven, textured cake with holes was either unevenly stirred when mixing in flour, or spooning mixture into the tin created pockets of air which were trapped during baking.

When cake forms a dome or lots of cracks after baking, either oven temperature was too high, mixture was too stiff, cake tin too small, or cake was placed too close to top of oven.

When cakes sink in the middle, either too much baking powder was used, mixture may have been too soft, oven temperature was too low and center of cake did not rise and cook, or oven temperature was too high and the cake rose on the outside before it cooked in the middle.

~~~~~

Icing

When boiled icing is lumpy, you poured the syrup too quickly into the egg white.

Clever hints...

To prevent whole apples’ skins from bursting when baking, cut a slit around the middle just through the skin beforehand.

To prevent bananas or apples in a salad from turning a bad color, always use a stainless steel knife to cut them.

To bake potatoes in half the usual time, let them stand in boiling water for 15 minutes before placing them in a very hot oven.

To tint coconut, sprinkle a few drops of food coloring in a jar, fill half-full with shredded coconut and shake.

Cracked eggs can be cooked in water if a teaspoon of salt is added to the boiling water. This will keep the white from coming out in the water by helping the egg white to set.

To keep egg yolks fresh for several days, cover with cold water and store in refrigerator.

Eggshells can be easily removed from hard-boiled eggs if they are quickly cooled in cold water just after boiling.

Use clean kitchen scissors to cut marshmallows. Dip the scissors in hot water to prevent sticking.

Hard shell clams are easier to open if boiling water is first poured over them.

Remove the burnt taste from scorched milk by putting the pan in cold water and adding a pinch of salt to the milk.

To keep cheese fresh, wrap in a cloth dampened with vinegar and store in a cool place. It is not necessary to keep it in the refrigerator.

If you have cracked a dish, place it in a saucepan of milk and boil for 45 minutes. The crack will disappear and the dish will actually be stronger.

If the soup is too salty, slice a raw potato into it and boil for a short time. The potato will absorb the excess salt.

Adding a piece of apple to the brown sugar jar will keep the sugar from becoming dry and lumpy.

An apple cut in half and placed with the cake in the cake box will keep the cake fresh for a longer time.

When making a cake, add two tablespoons of boiling water to the butter and sugar mixture. This makes a fine textured cake.

Any cake will be improved if a teaspoon of lemon juice is added to the butter and sugar. The cake will be very light and shorter. Fresh milk tends to make the cake close-grained and more solid.

To cut a cake, use a wet knife.

To keep crisp cakes crisp, and soft cookies soft, place only one kind in a cookie jar.

A little cinnamon added to chocolate in cookies and cakes will bring out the chocolate flavor.

Tenderize chicken and other fowl by rubbing them inside and out with lemon juice after cleaning and before adding stuffing.

To clear fat of sediment, unwanted flavors and foreign matter, add potato slices to melted fat and fry until slices are brown. The potatoes will “sponge up” any unwanted flavors and most of the sediment.

Brewing a perfect pot of tea

Fill the teakettle with freshly drawn cold water and place the kettle on a burner bringing to a boil.

While the kettle is heating, pour some hot water into a teapot to pre-warm the teapot.

Pour the hot water out of the teapot and add the tea -- one spoonful of loose tea for each cup, plus one extra spoonful for the pot. (If you are using teabags, use one bag less than the number of cups.)

As soon as the water in the kettle comes to a rolling boil, remove from heat.

Pour boiling water into the teapot and let tea brew from 3-6 minutes. (Smaller tealeaves take less time to brew than larger leaf blends.)

If you gently stir the tea before pouring it through a tea strainer into the teacups, all teacups will be filled with an equally steeped tea. (Or remove tea bags by dipping them up and down to blend tea in pot.)

One cup of tea party

With your special friends, enjoy sharing a time together...

A special cup of tea shows how you will enjoy your time together. Use a lovely tea cup for each guest. There is no need to have every guest use the same patterened cup and saucer. Everyone will enjoy looking at the different cups at the table.

Serve lovely treats and time will pass by quickly. Mix up and use a different lovely plate for each guest.

Any mis-matched pottery pieces are what will make your tea party fun and your guests will have special memory of the time spent together...

Note: Show off and use the mix-matched set of dishes from a recent bazaar purchase... enjoy using that lovely piece of china from a yard sale... a set of dishes for your tea does not need to match... There are many older and beautiful dishes that just need to be loved more...

And best of all... chat with each other about your memories...

Your special teatime break

Pamper yourself by making a special time and prepare a teatime break. You do not need a lot of people to enjoy a lovely cup of tea.

Select your favorite teacup. Fill a creamer with milk and the sugar pot with sugar.

Before serving, lay a pretty cloth on a tray or on the table with a lit candle, a pretty small piece of lace doily, a lovely small bowl of herbs or potpourri for relaxation, a small bud vase with a tiny budding flower, and be sure to include a softly folded linen napkin for a touch of elegance.

Decorate your plates of favorite cookies or sandwiches with small colorful flowers. Enjoy a delicious treat...



Listen to your favorite music and be sure you have your book or magazine near you.

Sit down, pour yourself a cup of tea and savor the moments that will follow.

Remember happy moments and memories... you are creating one of those special moments for only you... a moment that you will remember... and, a time you will repeat because you are a special person...