Oh this is a great and funny column, worth repeating. Because it sounds like me. I cook with what I have in the house. 🥰 I did make your black bean chili yesterday from Home Cooking with Kate McDermott. I couldn't use garlic or onions because I was feeding yogis. But it was excellent!!! Looking forward to leftovers today. 🥰
Hilarious. My husband cooks like this. Drives me bananas. He calls it “augmenting.” I constantly ask if he could please try a recipe as is just once before “augmenting.”
I’m making your Chai Pie today for NaNoPieMo, 30 Pies in 30 Days challenge. Maybe instead of cardamom I’ll try epazote. They’re kinda the same, right? 🤣
I sometimes find there is no reasoning with newbie or not well practiced bakers. I let them proceed as they want. When their bake is a fail then we can discuss the reasons why. Just went through this with a friend making whole wheat pizza crust. Enjoyed the post as always!
I use salt judiciously, but life without salt is awful! I might use less than a recipe calls for (though for cooking, I don't usually follow recipes anymore anyway) Interestingly, through trial and error, I found that neither my husband's nor my high blood pressure was influenced by salt. Cutting back on salt is good for a few reasons, but it does not always improve blood pressure.
I loved this post then, and now. I'm sure I told you back then about my friend who couldn't understand why her cookies didn't turn out like mine, when she had cut half the sugar out, changed which fat she used, and had carob instead of chocolate. But I also remember the first time you and I corresponded. It was in the FutureLearn class on Royal cooking through the centuries, starting with a hand-raised pie to celebrate the birth of King Henry VIII's only son. The recipe called for cheddar cheese, and you said that you had used (and of course I can't remember) something along the lines of camembert and gorgonzola, because that was what you had in the house. And I asked if you would please adopt me, because who wouldn't want to live somewhere when the pantry staples are such amazing cheese? I mean, I've lived in the house when you could always find Velveeta in the fridge, but not those wonderful cheeses. I made mine (not hand-raised, that's for sure) with Cambozola and aged Romano, and it was so good that it's now my go-to pot luck dish, and I wouldn't dream of following the recipe and using just plain old cheddar. (though I love a sharp cheddar)
I remember that class Julie and truly was just thinking about the pie we made there the other day! Cheeses in my fridge today are : an aged British sharp cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, Jarlsberg, pepper jack, and a goat. Looks like I need to up my game with a good blue and a soft spreadable camembert.
I think the combo of what you have there is great! After I "met" you there, I've been following you and learned how to make a really good pie crust. Before that, I was afraid to try. Your books and all you do online help so many of us achieve the perfect pies.
😅 So funny and SO true!! I too get aggravated when people post there displeasure with a recipe, only to say their silly substitutes they made and yet still don't know why it didn't come out as expected. Good one, Joe"! 😆
This reminds me of my sister-in-law, whom I dearly love. She would eat something I had made, ask for the recipe, make it at home and then say, "It was good, but not the same." I think she actually believed that people shared recipes but left something out intentionally to preserve their reputation as being the only one who could make that particular dish. Like Joe Yonan's fictitious friend, she would make her own "adaptations" to a recipe, like using margarine instead of butter. It got to be a joke between my mother and me.
Years ago I heard that theory about chefs leaving out a small but key ingredient when sharing a recipe for that reason, and then it being passed on again with another ingredient left out and so on, Marilee. If you know, cook, or bake something wonderful, share the love far and wide!
Agreed. Plus I have several recipe cards in my box that give credit to the person who handed it on to me. Not that it immortalizes them, just a nod of appreciation. Even though she is long gone, Jean Jewett's Sloppy Joe recipe lives on in my family and I understand they have handed it on to others. And so on.
Toppings: Chopped sweet onion, cheddar cheese and hamburger dill slices.
Crumble and brown the ground beef in a fairly large skillet. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent. Add catsup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Mix well and cook over low heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. Salt if necessary. I use Trader Joe's Ketchup and it's plenty salty.
I serve as open face sandwiches on hamburger buns as they are REALLY sloppy. When my kids were little they wanted "fake cheese" but we grown-ups always went for a good crumbly cheddar.
NOTE: It's so simple and tasty you will never want to open a can of the commercially made again. It's also a great to make a big batch for the soccer team party, or a 1950's gathering. Have lots of napkins or paper towels handy.
And NOW, Jean Jewett is immortalized. Thanks, Jean, wherever you are.
Lol! 😂😂😂
Oh this is a great and funny column, worth repeating. Because it sounds like me. I cook with what I have in the house. 🥰 I did make your black bean chili yesterday from Home Cooking with Kate McDermott. I couldn't use garlic or onions because I was feeding yogis. But it was excellent!!! Looking forward to leftovers today. 🥰
Hilarious. My husband cooks like this. Drives me bananas. He calls it “augmenting.” I constantly ask if he could please try a recipe as is just once before “augmenting.”
I’m making your Chai Pie today for NaNoPieMo, 30 Pies in 30 Days challenge. Maybe instead of cardamom I’ll try epazote. They’re kinda the same, right? 🤣
🤣
Thanks for the morning giggle, Kate! A great way to start the day 🤣
I sometimes find there is no reasoning with newbie or not well practiced bakers. I let them proceed as they want. When their bake is a fail then we can discuss the reasons why. Just went through this with a friend making whole wheat pizza crust. Enjoyed the post as always!
I was asked to use a specific while wheat flour at a demonstration years ago and created cardboard!
That should say WHOLE wheat. 😉
I tried to explain that possibility to no avail.
thanks for a laugh, and the reminder that salt matters, even if we have high blood pressure
I use salt judiciously, but life without salt is awful! I might use less than a recipe calls for (though for cooking, I don't usually follow recipes anymore anyway) Interestingly, through trial and error, I found that neither my husband's nor my high blood pressure was influenced by salt. Cutting back on salt is good for a few reasons, but it does not always improve blood pressure.
Priceless, indeed! Memories of years as a food editor and occasional reader responses a bit like Joe’s imaginary one!
Oh I would imagine that you have a some choice stories, and I've always been grateful that you made the intro between Joe and me.
I loved this post then, and now. I'm sure I told you back then about my friend who couldn't understand why her cookies didn't turn out like mine, when she had cut half the sugar out, changed which fat she used, and had carob instead of chocolate. But I also remember the first time you and I corresponded. It was in the FutureLearn class on Royal cooking through the centuries, starting with a hand-raised pie to celebrate the birth of King Henry VIII's only son. The recipe called for cheddar cheese, and you said that you had used (and of course I can't remember) something along the lines of camembert and gorgonzola, because that was what you had in the house. And I asked if you would please adopt me, because who wouldn't want to live somewhere when the pantry staples are such amazing cheese? I mean, I've lived in the house when you could always find Velveeta in the fridge, but not those wonderful cheeses. I made mine (not hand-raised, that's for sure) with Cambozola and aged Romano, and it was so good that it's now my go-to pot luck dish, and I wouldn't dream of following the recipe and using just plain old cheddar. (though I love a sharp cheddar)
I remember that class Julie and truly was just thinking about the pie we made there the other day! Cheeses in my fridge today are : an aged British sharp cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, Jarlsberg, pepper jack, and a goat. Looks like I need to up my game with a good blue and a soft spreadable camembert.
I think the combo of what you have there is great! After I "met" you there, I've been following you and learned how to make a really good pie crust. Before that, I was afraid to try. Your books and all you do online help so many of us achieve the perfect pies.
🥰
This is great! Thank you for such good humor!! 🥰
Spot on!
😅 So funny and SO true!! I too get aggravated when people post there displeasure with a recipe, only to say their silly substitutes they made and yet still don't know why it didn't come out as expected. Good one, Joe"! 😆
This reminds me of my sister-in-law, whom I dearly love. She would eat something I had made, ask for the recipe, make it at home and then say, "It was good, but not the same." I think she actually believed that people shared recipes but left something out intentionally to preserve their reputation as being the only one who could make that particular dish. Like Joe Yonan's fictitious friend, she would make her own "adaptations" to a recipe, like using margarine instead of butter. It got to be a joke between my mother and me.
Years ago I heard that theory about chefs leaving out a small but key ingredient when sharing a recipe for that reason, and then it being passed on again with another ingredient left out and so on, Marilee. If you know, cook, or bake something wonderful, share the love far and wide!
Agreed. Plus I have several recipe cards in my box that give credit to the person who handed it on to me. Not that it immortalizes them, just a nod of appreciation. Even though she is long gone, Jean Jewett's Sloppy Joe recipe lives on in my family and I understand they have handed it on to others. And so on.
Oh a good Sloppy Joe is wonderful! If you might be interested in sharing it here, just let me know!
Here it is, Jean Jewett's Sloppy Joes (serves 4)
1 # ground beef
1/2 C chopped sweet brown onion
1 can Campbell's Chicken Gumbo Soup
1/3 C catsup
2-3 T mustard
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1/3 C brown sugar
Salt to taste.
Toppings: Chopped sweet onion, cheddar cheese and hamburger dill slices.
Crumble and brown the ground beef in a fairly large skillet. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent. Add catsup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Mix well and cook over low heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. Salt if necessary. I use Trader Joe's Ketchup and it's plenty salty.
I serve as open face sandwiches on hamburger buns as they are REALLY sloppy. When my kids were little they wanted "fake cheese" but we grown-ups always went for a good crumbly cheddar.
NOTE: It's so simple and tasty you will never want to open a can of the commercially made again. It's also a great to make a big batch for the soccer team party, or a 1950's gathering. Have lots of napkins or paper towels handy.
And NOW, Jean Jewett is immortalized. Thanks, Jean, wherever you are.
OK! Thank you, Marilee!