Armchair Dining on DP

Well, I have been eating a ton of great food this looong holiday weekend. Pie is one of my favorite Thanksgiving desserts and pumpkin pie pretty much tops the list:



Note that I like pies with really, really thick crusts and with whipped cream on top. And, while Squash and/or Sweet Potato pies look very similar, I prefer pumpkin pies. My next three favorite pies, in descending order, are coconut cream (not coconut custard), chocolate cream, and banana cream pies. It is safe to say that all of my favorite pies include whipped cream. My wife prefers to have ice cream on the side of a slice of pie, but I prefer whipped cream.

What is your favorite pie?

 

Last night, had one of my favorite "starch" side dishes: sweet potato fries. Basically, they are French fries made with sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. I prefer them with sour cream to dip them in, but they are also good with ketchup:



For those of you who are health-conscious, note that these fries offer all of the beta-carotene and other benefits that orange vegetables are known for. Definitely worth a try!

 

I just want to share what I had for breakfast It's called the tocino

 

Wow, it looks wonderful! I love sticky, sweet stuff for breakfast. I assume that it is a sweet meal? What are the main ingredients?

 

Yeah they are sweet and sticky! I really dont know what the ingredients are tho since tocino are bought ready made from the market or groceries.

 

I will have to do some research. Thanks for posting it!

 

Okay, so it is official. My wife has agreed to make her chocolate brownies with white chocolate drizzle on top for Christmas. It was touch and go for a while there, but ultimately reason prevailed in the negotiations. While it may be boring to bake the same thing(s) every holiday, the argument of sticking with a winner won out. When available (probably not until Christmas Day) they will look something like this:



My wife's are absolutely the best brownies I have ever had. The combination of sweet and moist chocolate brownie cake topped by the solid sweet white chocolate is a wonderful experience. No nuts, of course.

Anyway, the countdown to some great foods begins. One week from today, the diet goes out the window and holiday eating begins. Won't take a breath or look up from food until 2016.

 

It has been a great Christmas holiday from a food perspective, so far. Lot's of good food and great desserts have been eaten with more to come. The diet is definitely off for now! This afternoon, I broke out a jar of my favorite trail mix to snack on while watching TV and thought that I would post it here:



Just the right combination of nuts, dried fruit and chocolate. And how can you not like an establishment named "Ann's House of Nuts"???

They used to be much easier to find around here, but lately have not been seen on the grocery store shelves. Found a jar recently at a store and grabbed it. Enjoying it today!

Any other favorite trail mixes out there?

 

This is a Kashmiri recipes. Sautee some onions, throw in cumin seeds, whole cloves, a couple of cinnamon sticks. added freshly ground ginger garlic paste. Add chicken and lightly brown. Make a spice paste with cumin powder, chilli powder and turmeric(best anti oxidant and anti inflammatory food) garam masala fry for a minute until spices become fragrant and roasted. Add a can of stewed tomatoes and fry at high heat. Tomatoes should get fried and shouldn't taste raw or ketchuppy. Add some youghurt and let it simmer. My quantity was large so I put the Karahi (big Wok) in the oven at 375F for an hour. Can eat with Naan bread or with rice

 

This is my better creation. Cedar plank Salmon, Tandoori Chicken, Saffron rice and roasted potatoes. She works me like a slave.

 

Wow, this looks really nice and a perfect compliment to some NaaN. Do you prefer it be very spicy or not so spicy? I like the idea of frying the tomatoes...will have to try that sometime.

 

As nice as your first dish looks, I have to say that this one really has me drooling. I love salmon and tandoori chicken, but have never had them on the same dish. We really need to add this dish to the Tour...

 

I like very spicy but for kids sake and their Canadian friends I have to tone it down a bit. This little Russian boy mistakenly bit into the Thai pepper and was screaming very loudly. In Morocco, I saw people just chewing on green chilli like it was candy.

 

LOL, that's funny. "Spicy" is certainly in the eyes of the beholder, much like beauty.

I like spicy food, but that is from an American perspective which I know is nowhere near as high on the spicy scale as some other cultures prefer. Anyway, you dishes look great and I hope you continue to post more as your stress levels dictate.

 

So, it is NFL Playoff weekend and the Patriots are hosting the Chiefs at Gillette Stadium tomorrow which just about 20 minutes from where I live. When I think of playoff or SuperBowl games in New England, I think of eating chili while we watch the game. And, since I am actually not that much into professional sports, I probably enjoy the chili more than the game.

Anyway, when I make a chili, it contains stew beef, Italian sausage, red kidney beans, white beans, onions, peppers, tomato sauce, molasses, and a bunch of spices including cumin and red pepper. I cannot give amounts of each ingredient as I make it by eye and taste. But, I like it to come out looking like this:



The key thing, after taste of course, is that it not be soupy. I like it to be thick and savory. Spicy and sweet. And very filling.

Would love to hear about others' favorite sports-watching snacks from around the world!

 

Favorite russian sports-watching snacks:



And I wish I was joking.

 

Hotdogs!

The coordinators gave us hotdog sandwiches and a soft drink after performing a cheer dance for a half time show. After the performance, we're like "WTF? This is it?" But then when we saw the talent fee, we are all delighted!

 

LOL. I don't drink very much because I inherited my mom's alcohol-intolerant stomach, so I get sick long before I get a good buzz. But, I would say that it is not really that much different here, except that you would replace your picture with this one:



I don't much care for beer, anyway, so I will focus on the food while everyone else gets drunk. It's a symbiotic relationship I have with sports-watchers. Not only do I stay away from their beer, but I also don't need a good seat in front of the screen because the game is not super important to me either.

 

I love hotdogs! And they are indeed perfect for games because you can hold and eat an entire hotdog with one hand! Such convenience has to be taken into account. Your picture seems to show cheese and ketchup on the frank and that is a great combination. I would add a line of mustard spread to it, as well. Or, I might do a mayonnaise and cheese only combo on the wiener. Great stuff. I am hungry again and it is 1.5 hours to dinner.

 

So, over the holidays, one of my nieces made a plate of chocolate cherry mice that looked an awful lot like this pic:



The ingredient are a Hersheys Kiss for the head; almond slices for the ears, and a chocolate-covered, maraschino cherry for the body. The cherry stem is the tail, of course. Basically, you dip the cherry into melted chocolate and then attach the ears and head while the chocolate covering the cherry is still soft and sticky. They are fantastic! The best (only?) rodent that I have ever eaten and they seem to be easy to make. I certainly had my fair share of them.