Eggs, Bread, Cheese and Pasta

If I were alone on a desert Island for a week, I’d want eggs, bread, cheese and pasta, plus some olive oil, garlic, salt and black pepper, if possible.  Whenever I’m cooking just for myself, these are the foods I turn to.  I may supplement them with salad and chocolate, but I could survive just on these four basics.

Question for Mom

Angel Hair Pasta (left), Vermicelli (right)

What’s the difference between angel hair pasta and vermicelli?—Julie P.

The thinness of the noodles.  Vermicelli is a skinny version of spaghetti and cooks in 6-to-7 minutes.  Angel hair pasta, which is known as Capelli d'Angelo in Italy, is even skinnier and cooks in 4-5 minutes.  Using a pasta measuring device, I found that 1 serving of vermicelli is made up of 130 dry noodles, while 1 serving of angel hair pasta is made up of 200 dry noodles.

Orange May Be the Best Color at the Table

I’m not just saying that because Halloween is coming up.  I do like pumpkins just fine—as long as I’m looking at them and not eating them. 

I’d rather fill my plate with carrots, orange bell peppers, cantaloupe slices, oranges, tangerines, apricots, mangoes or my latest discovery--honeyed sweet potatoes. 

Mom Cooking Tip 153

Sometimes a recipe calls for thickening a soup, sauce, pudding or other liquid.  You can do this easily with flour or cornstarch.  But you can’t just add it directly to a hot mixture or it will clump rather than thicken.  Instead, measure out a spoonful of flour or cornstarch and stir it into 1/4 cup cold water.  When it is completely dissolved, then add it to the hot liquid and stir until it is mixed in.  Bring the mixture to a boil and keep stirring until it thickens.

                                                   See all my Cooking Tips!

A New Use for Mozzarella String Cheese

Looking back I think my first mouthful of mozzarella cheese came from pizza.  Then I was introduced to lasagna and other Italian dishes that featured this somewhat bland cheese. 

Mozzarella string cheese recently entered my life when a nutritionist recommended it as a snack.

Salmon Spread Is Now a Family Classic

I started thinking about the Christmas holidays this morning for some reason, and the first image to pop into my head was Salmon Spread.  For the past few decades we have served this appetizer in the living room while those of us in the kitchen put the final touches on dinner.

By the time we popped in for a quick taste, there was usually nothing left.  It’s always been a win/lose situation.  We kitchen slaves won the chance to have the first bite of the turkey as we were doing the carving, but seldom did we get a mouthful of Salmon Spread.

Tangelos: What Are They and How Do I Use Them?

Tangelos are a citrus fruit—half tangerine and half grapefruit.  They have a funny knob at the stem end, which sets them apart from an orange.  They are easy to peel and make a wonderful snack.  If you’re into fresh orange juice, try squeezing tangelos.  They produce a lot of juice. 

Surprising Ingredient in These Mashed Potatoes

Lobster and Mashed Potatoes are two items I never expected to see served in the same bowl.  But there I was, standing in a buffet line, and in front of me was a big dish of mashed potatoes and a sign: Lobster Mashed Potatoes.  I couldn’t see any lobster in the potatoes, but it was 10 pm and the lighting was poor. 

Make Your Own Chocolate Pudding

Back in the dinosaur age, when Hershey Bars were just about the only chocolate bars available, my favorite dessert was Royal Instant Chocolate Pudding.  It was basically brown powder in a box.  You poured it into a large bowl, added cold milk, stirred a while and then refrigerated it until needed. 

Years passed and I moved to London. That’s where I discovered Chocolate Mousse,

Too Much Sliced French Bread?

I like my carbohydrates, so whenever I see French bread on sale I buy a loaf.  I tend to ignore the probability that I have three uneaten loaves in the freezer.

The Joy of Greek Salad

When I was a teenager, I spent the summer in Greece as an American Field Service Exchange Student.  I drank goat’s milk (not my favorite beverage) and picked fresh figs off trees (don’t eat too many at once because there are consequences).

The one thing I didn’t do was eat a Greek Salad.