Tara picnic thread

Permanent dye, Marie? How are you going to explain a big splotch of red right in the middle of your forehead?

I'm bringing the ice cream.

Do you want vanilla or chocolate?

Carol

I love homemade ice cream. I'll have to bring the ice cream maker and ingredients.

I have to go to Madison to buy some more hats to cover my silly hair. I'll get one suitable for the picnic.

Don't forget the music!!

Someone just told me that everyone wears face masks, or protectors, so I guess you're safe from that red splat, Marie.

Homemade CHOCOLATE! I will also bring my rain gear!! (can't survive up here without it, even though I am often outside in the rain sans any outerwear.)

I have a super soaker, Marie. Is that what you're talking about?

Marie, what is the significance of the "TARA" in the title?

Being from near Jonesboro, of Gone With the Wind fame, I just had to ask.

Water battles, homemade icecream, and Zada with no outerwear... count me in!

Hey, I don't want to choose! I say paint balls AND water pistols!!

Does everyone like Cheetos? I love the way they turn my fingers orange.

Okay, I bought my hat. It is actually for the presentation my husband and I are doing on my book at the library on Monday.

It is kind of black knitted creation and I found a fancy clip to put on it that belonged to my husband's aunt. It is more 1930s than 1860s, but my great-grandmother born in 1861 lived into the 1930s, so it will work.

I could put a flower on it and wear it to the picnic.

Carol

Bring on the orange!! In fact, we could probably even HAVE oranges. Neatly cut and laid out for finger food, of course.

Can we have a bonfire? Maybe that isn't appropriate for Tara.

We always play the game around our campfire where someone says "I'm going on a picnic and bringing. . . . " They say food beginning with the letters of their name or with four letters or something unique that people have to figure out. When they have it figured out, the person who started it says they can come.

One time a man came to our cabin and fixed us wonderful meals all weekend. When it was his turn in the game, he would say he was bringing all sorts of wonderful food, but it didn't fit the pattern, so the person who started the game told him he couldn't come. The poor man. Finally someone told him to say sardines, and that was the correct answer and then he could come on the imaginary picnic.

I have no idea why I remember things like that, but we have fun.

Love, Carol

Good luck on the library presentation, Carol. Will you take photos to post?

As for finger food, how about fried green tomatoes? Bet most of you haven't had them, and they're delicious. To be proper, you're supposed to eat them with a fork, but I just pick them up and start munching.

And I love Cheetos, Merri, along with chocolate, ice cream, and everything else. That's why I'll never be slim.

Brilliant, Brenda! I would love to have some that were prepared by someone who knows what they are doing--I certainly don't!

We used to be able to have bonfires on the beach here, but I heard that someone wanted them banned. Fossil fuels and all that! But campfires are allowed. But if we are going to Tara, bonfires would be great fun.

Your game sounds like fun, Carol, but the only thing I would be able to say would be Zucchini!!

I know what you mean, Zada. They say bonfires and fires in fireplaces are polluting the northwoods.

Carol

Okay, Zada, fried green tomatoes it is! They'll go beautifully with Marie's pecan pie.

You know, thinking about this gathering makes me think that perhaps one day we really should pick a place and have a big gathering like that, sorta like a family reunion. Wouldn't that be grand?

Brenda, I think that would be delightful. Pecan pie and homemade ice cream? I would be in heaven! I don't fly well, however. And of course,we would have to plan far enoughin advence to allow us po'folks to save our pennies. That probably includes the majority of us.

Zada,
You can get around the z, by calling whatever you bring Zada's Famous (insert food title here). hee hee It's cheating, but just a little bit!!

Now you've got me thinking about my mom's macaroni and cheese recipe. Omigosh, it's delicious. And, since I'm on an orange colored food kick, it will go with my Cheetos!

Brenda,
I've always wanted to try Fried Green Tomatoes. I loved that movie. What was the name of the cafe? The Whistlestop Cafe, I think.

Carol,
Can't wait to see your hat!

With all this food we'll be eating, we'll have to get two airplane seats for the way back home! ** giggling madly **

And clothing that expands so we can be comfortable!!

I certainly couldn't go now, Zada. I'd have to save my pennies too.

Yes, I think it was the Whistlestop Cafe, Merri.

Thinking about all this southern food reminds me of an article I did for our newspaper. Several people had asked me about Southern fried chicken, so one week, instead of reviewing a restaurant, I wrote about fried chicken:

http://www.cuisinescene.org/thesouthernway.htm

You mean to tell me I have been doing 'Southern fried chicken' all this time and didn't even know it?! I'm flabbergasted!

Yes, I loved the movie and it was indeed The Whistlestop Cafe.

Another dish I have always liked is peach cobbler.

Brenda, did you ever put up the other recipes in the articles you wrote? I really enjoyed the one on chicken.

Glad you liked it, Zada. And if you've been preparing fried chicken the simple way, then yes, you've been making it my family's way. I'm curious as to how Marie makes hers.

Most of my articles are restaurant reviews, but I did a mushroom soup from a recipe I loved while living in MN. I'd brave forty below temps in a blizzard when the cafe would make it.

Oh! I also did a spinach quiche. I'd forgotten about that.

I was kind of hoping for the mud pie, or whatever it's called that you mention in the article.

I worked in a restaurant in Alabama when I was there, and the cook made peach cobbler. Instead of just a crust on top, she cut up pieces of dough and cooked them in with the peaches. I had never heard of doing it that way. It was wonderful.

My mom always used a thick biscuit style crust on top, and never 'dumplings' inside.

My mother always made cobbler with pie crust instead of biscuit dough, but didn't do dumplings inside.

I may have included the mud pie recipe with another article, not sure. If not, I'll send it to you.

I would really like that, Brenda. Thank you for your generosity!

Zada, I knew I'd written an article for something chocolate, but didn't find the mud pie. I'll look it up. In the meantime, here's a recipe I didn't include on my website. Can't remember why, I just probably got busy and forgot:

ARTICLE:

For you chocolate lovers, I have the recipe I promised last time for a fantastic fudge pie.

Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge, A 400-acre family-owned resort fronting a huge lake in north/central Minnesota, operates at full swing from June to October with boating, water skiing, tennis and golf. During the winter when ice covers Bay Lake, the chefs plan their summer menus. They also invent new recipes.

One such recipe is Bette La Mae, a sinfully delicious fudge desert so popular that the local casino tried to copy it. While it was good, it didn’t measure up to the original. I discovered a former guest, who lives in Texas, went online to unsuccessfully search for the recipe.

Well, I have it. I haven’t shared it with anyone else, but I’ll share it with you.


Bette le Mae

1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 oz bittersweet chocolate
8 oz butter
5 whole eggs

Bring water and sugar to a rolling boil. Add chocolate and butter. Melt. Add eggs.

Bake in a layer cake pan, 8 or 9 inch, lined with waxed paper on the bottom.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes in water bath*.
Cool. Remove from pan after 10 minutes. When completely cool, frost with glaze.

Glaze:

1/2 cup whipping cream, scalded
Add 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Top with melted white chocolate

*A water bath is a way to cook delicate items in even heat, such as cheesecakes and soufflés, so they cook with less chance of sinking, cracking or browning on top.

You simply place your dish of batter into a large shallow pan and fill with warm water to about two-thirds of the batter dish’s height. Bake.

This sounds absolutely decadent! Thank you for sharing it with us. You know I am going to have to try it at my first opportunity!