Friday Fritto Misto - Slashfood Ate (8) (DiceFood.com)

Friday Fritto Misto - Slashfood Ate (8)

Filed under: Slashfood Ate

It’s Friday afternoon, which means it’s time for another assortment of links that have been catching my attention. This week, I’m grooving on booze and baking. The holidays are near!

1. I’ve adored Pecan Tassies since the very first time I tasted one, but I’m wondering if Hazelnut Tassies might just be even better.
2. How about Overnight French Toast with Bacon for a holiday morning meal?
3. Your liquid smoke questions answered.
4. Lance J. Mayhew posts The Best Hot Buttered Rum Recipe.
5. Love No-Knead Bread but wish you could make it totally out of whole grains? The Seattle P-I has a recipe from Mark Bittman that gets it down with the good stuff.
6. Marie has made homemade chocolate dipped candy canes, which are perfect for stirring hot chocolate or coffee. Give them as gifts or add them to your holiday buffet.
7. Design*Sponge has posted instructions on how to make your own chinese papercut spice jars. Think of it as a non-edible holiday gift for the kitchen.
8. Looking for a good recipe for Gingerbread Men? How about Thomas Keller’s!

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If you haven’t already tried these Extra Smokey Beef Sticks from Buffalo Bills, you might wanna. They’re are indeed “extra” smokey.

They have a great smokey flavor to them, and a somewhat spicy flavor as well, though I don’t see anything in the ingredients list suggesting anything spicy. This even has some slight chocolatey notes to it, perhaps indicating something roasted, I dunno.

Unlike other meat sticks, these are very meaty. I mean, it’s almost like eating a stick of salami, where you can see the meat fibers pulling away as you bite off a piece. In fact, this has a rather dry taste to it, kinda like salami.

My only “beef” with these beef sticks is they’re rather salty. They’re not too bad in the first several bites, but when you towards the end, the salt wears me down. I need some swigs of drink, and about 10 minutes of rest, before attacking another stick.

But mind you, these are beef sticks for real beef stick lovers. They’re extra thick, the same width as a wine bottle cork, and about five inches in length. They might actually make a great cure for a hangover.

Comparison

I brought a bag of these beef sticks to a get-together that my friends and I attended last weekend. It was at the Long Shadow Ranch Winery in Temecula, where they have a “bonfire” every Saturday night. Another friend brought several sticks of Slim Jims in a variety of flavors.

I handed out these Buffalo Bills, and people thought they were pretty good.

But when they sampled the Slim Jims, they about ralphed. No one else could finish their Slim Jim samples. One guy said it was eating “meat flavored toilet paper”. I mean, it actually did feel as if you were eating a chunk of toilet paper (not that I know from experience, mind you).

After the Slim Jims, my friends really loved the Buffalo Bills.

Funny how the best things in life are not readily available. The worst stuff is always easily found at a convenience store, but the better stuff you have to order online. It’s just one of those things.

Get your Buffalo Bills Extra Smokeys here…

http://www.choochoorsnacks.com/
Source: www.junkfoodblog.com

Betty Crocker’s Guide to Easy Entertaining - Cookbook of the Day

Filed under: Cookbook of the Day

I love vintage cookbooks. I enjoy the way in which a quick glance through an old cookbook can transport me directly to a different era. Looking to understand the austerity of World War II America? Take a look at Thrifty Cooking for Wartime. Want some early seventies celebrity kitsch? Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah is sure to fit the bill. I could go on and on.

Sadly, reprints of vintage cookbooks have never been able to fill me with the same joy and interest as the originals of the same volume. There’s something a little too winky-winky, isn’t this fun and retro! when an old book gets reprinted. However, a copy of the the recently reprinted Betty Crocker’s Guide to Easy Entertaining landed on my stack of cookbooks late last week, and it’s beginning to grow on me (despite my previously registered reservations).

It’s an absolute facsimile of the 1959 original, from the cover art down to the a list of prices for other Betty Crocker publications inside the first page. The section of photographs has been faithfully reproducted, showing off trays of cake and platters of unnaturally colored appetizers and nibbles. The recipes have also been untouched, leaving the reader with an eclectic assortment of dishes made from scratch as well as those that call for Betty Crocker branded ingredients.

This would be a fun holiday gift for a friend or family member who finds old cookbooks appealing, but doesn’t enjoy the mustiness of older volumes. Personally, I’ll take the signs of age and use any day.

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vegatarian cooking, vegatarian, vegan cooking, ethnic foods, indian food