Deep-fried everything!

Check out this insane blog post about foods at state fairs. I think most of them must be in Texas, though only a couple say they are. The featured treats include:

1. Krispy Kreme Burger
2. Kool-Aid Dill Pickles (Koolickle)
3. Deep-Fried Drinks
4. Donkey Tails
5. Fried Cookie Dough
6. Cool Dog

Oh, the hankering.

Not even kidding.

I found this in a cookbook from our church in South Dakota. Thank you, Phyllis Kruiter.

Velveeta Cheese Fudge

1 lb. butter
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
1 c. cocoa
4 lb. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
walnuts, as desired

Mix butter and Velveeta cheese; melt in microwave. Add 1 cup cocoa and 4 pounds powedered sugar. Then add vanilla and nuts. This makes 2 9x13 inch pans of fudge.

Then I did an image search, and there are lots of results. Could this actually be good? It's even on the Kraft website! The cream-of-what New Year's challenge : make and eat Velveeta Cheese Fudge, and like it. We could all do it on the same day (or in the same week) and blog our reactions. Eh?

Congealed cocktail

from the 2006(?) edition of Joy of Cooking:

Broth on the Rocks

A salty-sweet refresher with a beautiful tangerine color. Be sure the broth is not too rich in gelatin, or it may congeal. For each serving, combine equal quantities of:
Chicken broth or beef consomme
Tomato juice
Orange juice

Pour over ice cubes and add:
A squeeze of lemon juice


And now a holiday beverage for those of us who aren't 97 years old, or who require vegan drinks:

Across the globe, there are very few people who take Christmas as seriously as the Germans do. Germans gave us the Christmas tree (Tannenbaum), the advent calendar, and Silent Night. Unfortunately, they also gave us...fruitcake. Perhpas in recognition of the dyspepsia often caused by ingesting rocklike fruitcake, Germans have also given us another holiday tradition: Glühwein, "glow wine" - their version of mulled wine. Grandmother's punch (Großmutters Punsch) is an elaboration of tradional glow wine, which is nothing more than heated red wine with cinnamon, lemon, sugar, and cloves. Rich, smooth, and strong, this very special punch is traditionally served at midnight on Christmas Eve.

Serves 12

1 cup packed brown sugar
25 whole cloves
25 allspice berries
1 cinammon stick
2 vanilla beans, finely chopped
2/3 cup loose black tea
Two 750 ml bottles red wine
1/2 cup dark rum

In a large pot, combine the sugar, spices, and vanilla beans with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes or until half the liquid has evaporated and teh remainder is syrupy. Remove from the heat, stir in the tea, and allow to steep for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into another large pot and stir in the red wine and rum. Warm over medium heat until steaming, about 7 minutes. Serve warm, garnishing each glass with a cinammon stick stirrer, or chilled, over ice.



-Punsch recipe from Hot Toddies by Christopher B. O'Hara. New York : Clarkson Potter, 2002. This book has nice pictures. I recommend.

Edible (?) Mashup

A guest post from Dan. He also wanted to mention that you can basically use any kind of canned vegetable for this. It's all about using what's been sitting in your cupboard for way too long collecting dust (or, you know, buying really cheap nasty canned foods):

"I created this as a way of getting a filling meal in little time, with no necessary trips to the grocery store. The most recent version went as follows:

1 can sliced carrots
1 can corn
2 cans grean peas
2 cans whole new potatoes
1 can roast beef
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can turkey gravy
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
salt, pepper to taste

Throw everything together in a pot and heat over medium high heat, stirring often." When hot, eat.

Frito Pie

About three weeks ago I had my first Frito Pie. Down here in the borderlands, Frito Pie is sold at many roadside stands, at carnivals and fairs, and yes, it is even served as the entree in school lunches.

In summer 2006, Miss Diana and I often fantasized about how great it was going to be eating school lunch when I became a teacher. I was genuinely looking forward to this because I love all food, and I especially loved school lunch as a child. Sometimes I would pretend I didn't like it, because all the cool kids made faces at the pizza casserole and said the cheese tasted like plastic and that the hot dogs were floating in duck pee. But really, I loved and relished it.

Now I'm confronted with the grim reality of school lunch. It is almost without fail, really gross. And causes me digestion issues during 5th period that are potentially embarrassing. But I am with school lunch the same way Marlowe is with omelettes. So on the rare occasion that I forget to bring a lunch, I get excited about buying school lunch, and then as soon as I have it I can't eat it because it is so so bad.

This is getting unnecessarily long so I will skip to the punch. I ate Frito Pie for lunch, and this is what it was:

A bag of Fritos, slit on the side of the bag to form a sort of bowl/pouch.
Chili (with beef and pinto beans) poured into bag
Nacho cheese sauce poured into bag
Served with a plastic fork

It was................delicious. Not really delicious, but the novelty of eating it right out of the Frito bag made it delicious. I may be wrong but I don't think this taste sensation exists all over the United States and I think it could be a viable business opportunity if the whole grad school/Fullbright bullshit doesn't work out for y'all. Granted, the Frito pie did give me a near instant case of diarrhea, but it was temporary and easily forgotten.

Because you eat it right out of the bag guys.