Top Holiday Food Countdown: List of Crap #77

[Johnny Unusual]

Welcome to this months slightly late list of crap.  Sorry 'bout that.  Been busy!  OK, lets get this meal started.

Number 50

Potato Salad

(16 Points, 1 of 10 lists, Top Vote #8 Thrifty Version II)

Holiday  Several

Potato salad is a dish made from boiled potatoes, the versions of which vary throughout different regions and countries of the world. Although called a salad, it is generally considered a side dish, as it usually accompanies the main course.

Potato salad is often served with barbecue, roasts, hot dogs, fried chicken, hamburgers and cold sandwiches. It is generally considered casual fare, and as such is typically served at picnics, outdoor barbecues, potlucks and other casual meals and events.

It is a popular menu choice of cooks preparing food for a large number of people, because it is easily made in large quantities, it can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until needed, and requires inexpensive ingredients.

Holiday Recipe
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/fTOWjYx5Jkg" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/fTOWjYx5Jkg</a>
Potato Salad Trivia

In Romania, potato salad is called salată orientala. The Romanian potato salad is made with potato, eggs, onions and olives or sometimes mayonnaise.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 49

Satsuma

( 16 Points, 2 of 10 lists, Top Vote #13 Johnny Unusual)

Holiday  Christmas

Citrus unshiu is a seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as cold hardy mandarin, satsuma mandarin, satsuma orange, Christmas orange, and tangerine. It is probably of Japanese origin and introduced elsewhere.
 
Its fruit is sweet and usually seedless, about the size of other mandarin oranges (Citrus reticulata), smaller than an orange. One of the distinguishing features of the satsuma is the thin, leathery skin dotted with large and prominent oil glands, which is lightly attached around the fruit, enabling it to be peeled very easily in comparison to other citrus fruits. The satsuma also has particularly delicate flesh, which cannot withstand the effects of careless handling. The uniquely loose skin of the satsuma, however, means that any such bruising and damage to the fruit may not be immediately apparent upon the typical cursory visual inspection associated with assessing the quality of other fruits. In this regard, the satsuma might be categorised as a hit-and-miss citrus fruit; the loose skin particular to the fruit precluding the definitive measurement of its quality by sight and feel alone.

Holiday Recipe
From Food.com

Ingredients:

Servings:
16

Dressing
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Topping
1 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup sugar

Salad
1 head iceberg lettuce
1 head romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped celery
2 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup thinly sliced red onion

Directions:
1
Shake first 6 dressing ingredients in a jar and refrigerate.

2
Stir almonds and sugar in a small pan over medium heat until sugar melts and starts to caramelize and almonds are very lightly toasted.

3
Scrape into metal bowl and cool to room temperature.

4
Break up and store covered at room temperature.

5
Just before serving, put chopped lettuces in a large bowl.

6
Add celery, oranges, onions and almonds.

7
Shake dressing well and pour over salad.

8
Toss to mix and coat.

Satsuma Trivia

One of the English names for the fruit, "satsuma", is derived from the former Satsuma Province in Japan, from which these fruits were first exported to the West.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 48

Gumdrop Cake

( 17 Points, 1 of 10 lists, Top Vote #9 Johnny Unusual)

   
Holiday  Christmas

Gumdrops are a type of candy. They are usually brightly colored gelatin- or pectin-based pieces, shaped like a truncated cone and coated in granulated sugar.

Gumdrops come in (usually artificial) fruit and spice varieties; the latter are also known as spice drops. Gumdrops, spice drops, and their variations are used in baking, candy crafting, decorating, and for eating out of hand. They are often used for decorating cakes and cupcakes. Around Christmas time, this candy is an ingredient used in making gingerbread houses.

In the United States, three other "old fashioned" gumdrop candies are also popular: Orange Slices, Licorice Babies, and Spearmint Leaves. All are larger in size than spice drops or gumdrops, are fruit slice, kewpie-doll, or leaf shaped, sprinkled with sugar, and are typically sold by the bag.
So a gumdrop cake is a cake with gumdrops

Holiday Recipe
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/gumdrop-cake/
Ingredients
Original recipe makes 10 servings
•   
1 cup butter
•   
2 cups white sugar
•   
3 eggs
•   
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
•   
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•   
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•   
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
•   
1 teaspoon lemon extract
•   
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•   
1 cup gumdrops, chopped
•   
1 cup raisins
•   
1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
Directions
1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 10 inch tube pan. Set aside.
2.   In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
3.   In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together and fold into creamed mixture alternately with water. Coat raisins and gumdrops with flour. Stir flavorings, gumdrops and raisins into creamed mixture.
4.   Mix well and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Gumdrop Trivia

The Apollo 9 Command module was nicknamed "Gumdrop" — not only did it have the appropriate stumpy cone shape, but it arrived at Cape Kennedy in a blue cellophane wrapper.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 47

Shortbread

(17 Points, 2 0f 10 lists, Top Vote #5 Goflyblind)

   
Holiday  Christmas

Shortbread is a type of biscuit which is traditionally made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour (by weight). The use o fplain white (wheat) flour is common today, and other ingredients like ground rice or corn flour are sometimes added to alter the texture. Also, modern recipes often deviate from the pure three ingredients by splitting the sugar portion into equal parts granulated sugar and powdered sugar and many further add a portion of salt.
 
Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture (from an old meaning of the word short). The cause of this texture is its high fat content, provided by the butter. The short or crumbly texture is a result of the fat inhibiting the formation of long protein (gluten) strands. The related word "shortening" refers to any fat that may be added to produce a "short" (crumbly) texture.  Alternatively, the name may be derived from 'shorts', the bran and coarse part of meal.

Shortbread is different from shortcake, which can be similar to shortbread, but which can be made using vegetable fat instead of butter and always uses a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder, which gives it a different texture.

Shortbread biscuits are often associated with normal egg-based biscuits, but they hold their shape under pressure, making them ideal for packed meals.

Holiday Recipe
from allrecipes.com
Ingredients 
Original recipe makes 2 dozen.
•   
1 cup butter, softened
•   
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
•   
1/4 cup cornstarch
•   
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
1.   Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.   Whip butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and flour. Beat on low for one minute, then on high for 3 to 4 minutes. Drop cookies by spoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3.   Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Watch that the edges don't brown too much. Cool on wire racks.

Shortbread Trivia

Shortbread was expensive and reserved as a luxury for special occasions such as Christmas, Hogmanay (Scottish New Year’s Eve), and weddings. In Shetland, it is traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the entrance of her new house, in order to annoy the fuck out of her.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 46

Fudge

( 19 Points, 2 of 10 lists, Top Vote#12 Johnny Unusual)

   
Holiday  Christmas

Fudge is a type of Western confectionery, which is usually soft, sweet and rich. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk, heating it to the soft-ball stage at 240 °F (116 °C) and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency. Many variations with other flavorings are made, such as chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, and maple fudge. Nuts can also be added, such as in the flavour "maple walnut", and some recipes call for candied fruit.

Holiday Recipe
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/candy-cane-fudge/detail.aspx
Ingredients
 
Original recipe makes 2 1/4 pounds
•   
2 (10 ounce) packages vanilla baking chips
•   
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
•   
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
•   
1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes
•   
1 dash red or green food coloring
Directions
1.   Line an 8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, and grease the foil.
2.   Combine the vanilla chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. When chips are completely melted, stir in the peppermint extract, food coloring, and candy canes.
3.   Spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Chill for 2 hours, then cut into squares.

Fudge Trivia

American-style fudge (containing chocolate) is found in a letter written by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, a student at Vassar College inPoughkeepsie, New York. She wrote that her schoolmate's cousin made fudge in Baltimore, Maryland in 1886 and sold it for 40 cents a pound. Hartridge obtained the fudge recipe, and in 1888, made 30 lb (14 kg) of fudge for the Vassar College Senior Auction. This Vassar fudge recipe became quite popular at the school for years to come.

[Johnny Unusual]

That's it for now.  I'll do some more next time I'm available.

[CJones]

The Romanian potato salad is made with potato, eggs, onions and olives or sometimes mayonnaise.

Because you want your Potato Salad to go bad as fast as humanly possible.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 45

Sweet Potatoes

( 19 Points, 2 of 10 lists, Top Vote#11 Goflyblind)

   
Holiday  Thanksgiving and Christmas
   
The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are a root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of Convolvulaceae, I. batatas is the only crop plant of major importance—some others are used locally, but many are actually poisonous. The sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum) and does not belong to the nightshade family.

The genus Ipomoea that contains the sweet potato also includes several garden flowers called morning glories, though that term is not usually extended to Ipomoea batatas. Some cultivars of Ipomoea batatas are grown as ornamental plants; the name "tuberous morning glory" may be used in a horticultural context.

The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose color ranges between yellow, orange, red, brown, purple, and beige. Its flesh ranges from beige through white, red, pink, violet, yellow, orange, and purple. Sweet potato varieties with white or pale yellow flesh are less sweet and moist than those with red, pink or orange flesh.

In certain parts of the world, sweet potatoes are locally known by other names. In New Zealand English, the Māori term kūmara (also spelled kūmera) is commonly used. Although the soft, orange sweet potato is often called a "yam" in parts of North America, the sweet potato is botanically very distinct from a genuine yam (Dioscorea), which is native to Africa and Asia and belongs to the monocot family Dioscoreaceae. To add to the confusion, a different crop plant, the oca, Oxalis tuberosa (a species of woodbind), is called a "yam" in many parts of Polynesia, including New Zealand. To prevent confusion, the United States Department of Agriculture requires sweet potatoes labeled as "yams" to also be labeled as "sweet potatoes".  The sweet potato is North Carolina's state vegetable.

Holiday Recipe
Sweet Potato Pie
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-pie-i/
Ingredients
 
Ingredients

Original recipe makes 1 - 9 inch pie
 1 (1 pound) sweet potato
 1/2 cup butter, softened
 1 cup white sugar
 1/2 cup milk
 2 eggs
 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust


Directions

Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.

Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.

Sweet Potato Trivia

Vardaman, Mississippi claims to be the Sweet Potato Capital of the World.  Probably because there really isn't anything else worth noting about Vardaman, Mississippi.   

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 44

Butter Tarts

( 19 Points, 2 of 10 lists, Top Vote#6 Goflyblind)

   
Holiday  Thanksgiving and Christmas
   
A butter tart is a type of small pastry tart highly regarded in Canadian cuisine and considered one of Canada's quintessential desserts. The tart consists of butter, sugar, syrup, and egg filled into a flaky pastry and baked until the filling is semi-solid with a crunchy top. The butter tart should not be confused with butter pie (a savoury pie from the Preston area of Lancashire, England) or with bread and butter pudding.

Recipes for the butter tart vary according to the families baking them. Because of this, the appearance and physical characteristics of the butter tart – the firmness of its pastry, or the consistency of its filling – also varies.
 
In general, the English Canadian tart consists of butter, sugar, and eggs in a pastry shell, similar to the French-Canadian sugar pie, or the base of the U.S. pecan pie without the nut topping. The butter tart is different from pecan pie in that it has a "runnier" filling due to the omission of corn starch. Raisins are in the traditional butter tart, but walnuts, or pecans are commonly added. However purists contend that such additions should not be allowed. Other additional ingredients may include currants, coconut, dates, butterscotch, chocolate chips, peanut butter, maple syrup orchai.

Holiday Recipe
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1837/canadian-butter-tarts
Ingredients
•   375g pack ready rolled shortcrust pastry (or 375g/13oz homemade)
•   2 large eggs
•   175g light muscovado sugar
•   100g raisins
•   1 tsp vanilla extract
•   50g butter, room temperature
•   4 tbsp single cream
•   50g chopped walnuts
Method
1.   Preheat the oven to fan 170C/ conventional 190C/gas 5. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface so it’s slightly thinner than straight from the pack. Then cut out 18-20 rounds with a 7.5cm fluted cutter, re-rolling the trimmings. Use the rounds to line two deep 12-hole tart tins (not muffin tins). If you only have a regular-sized, 12-hole tart tin you will be able to make a few more slightly shallower tarts.
2.   Beat the eggs in a large bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients except the walnuts. Tip this mixture into a pan and stir continuously for 3-4 minutes until the butter melts, and the mixture bubbles and starts to thicken. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Don’t overcook, and be sure to stir all the time as the mixture can easily burn. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts.
3.   Spoon the filling into the unbaked tart shells so it’s level with the pastry. Bake for 15-18 minutes until set and pale golden. Leave in the tin to cool for a few minutes before lifting out on to a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.

Butter Tart Trivia

Butter tarts are an integral part of Eastern Canadian cuisine and are objects of cultural pride of many communities across Ontario and indeed Canada. This cultural and community connection with the tart has spawned butter tart themed tourism such as the Butter Tart festival at Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, the trademarked "Butter Tart Trail" at Wellington North, Ontario and the competing "Butter Tart Tour" in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. The two competing associations have since resolved their dispute through the mutual agreement to modify Kawartha Lakes' "Butter Tart Tour" to "Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour".  Only a Canadian would consider a rival butter tart tour a "dispute".

[Quantum Vagina]

Sweet potatoes are my single favorite food of ALL time. They're friggin' amazing!

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 43a

Apple Sauce

( 20 Points, 1 of 10 lists, Top Vote#6 CJones)

   
Holiday  Thanksgiving, I assume
   
Apple sauce or applesauce is a purée made of apples. It can be made with peeled or unpeeled apples and a variety of spices (commonly cinnamon and allspice). Flavorings or sweeteners such as sugar or honey are also commonly added. Apple sauce is an inexpensive and readily available food.

Apple sauce is made by cooking down apples with water or apple cider (fresh apple juice) to the desired level. More acidic apples will render a finer purée; the highly acidic Bramley apple is popular for creating a very fine purée. Apples may or may not be peeled; sugar, spices, or lemon juice may be added for flavoring. Apple butter is similar to apple sauce, but has a high cider to apple ratio, of 8 liters to 100 kilograms.

Holiday Recipe
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/10-minute-apple-sauce-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients
3 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
3 Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
2 tablespoons cognac or brandy
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
In a sealable microwave-safe container, combine apples with all other ingredients. Close lid, leaving one corner of lid open to allow steam to escape. Microwave on high for 10 minutes.

Using a hand blender or potato masher, blend to desired consistency. Serve hot immediately or chill for later use.

Apple Sauce Trivia

Since it is high in pectin (more of which can be added during the cooking process), apple sauce is a homemade remedy to combat diarrhea.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 43b

Toll House Cookies

( 20 Points, 1 of 10 lists, Top Vote#6 Tyrant)

   
Holiday  Christmas
   
A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that originated in the United States and features chocolate chips as its distinguishing ingredient. The traditional recipe combines a dough composed of butter and both brown and white sugar with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Variations include recipes with other types of chocolate or additional ingredients, such as nuts or oatmeal.

The chocolate chip cookie was accidentally developed by Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1930. She owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts, a very popular restaurant that featured home cooking in the 1930s. Her cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was published in 1936 by M. Barrows & Company, New York. It included the recipe "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie", which rapidly became a favorite to be baked in American homes.

Wakefield is said to have been making chocolate cookies and on running out of regular baker's chocolate, substituted broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate from Nestlé thinking that they would melt and mix into the batter.[citation needed] They did not and the chocolate chip cookie was born. Wakefield sold the recipe to Nestlé in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.[citation needed] Every bag of Nestlé chocolate chips sold in North America has a variation (butter vs. margarine is now a stated option) of her original recipe printed on the back.
 
During WWII, US soldiers from Massachusetts who were stationed overseas shared the cookies they received in care packages from back home with soldiers from other parts of the US. Soon, hundreds of soldiers were writing home asking their families to send them some Toll House cookies, and Wakefield was soon inundated with letters from around the world asking for her recipe. Thus began the nationwide craze for the chocolate chip cookie
 
A different history of the cookie derives from George Boucher, who was at one time head chef at the Toll House Inn, and his daughter, Carol Cavanagh, who also worked there. Contradicting Nestlé's claim that Wakefield put chunks of chocolate into cookie dough hoping they would melt, the daughter stated that the owner, already an accomplished chef and author of a cookbook, knew enough about the properties of chocolate to realize it would not melt and mix into the batter while baking.

Boucher said that the vibrations from a large Hobart electric mixer dislodged bars of Nestlé's chocolate stored on the shelf above the mixer so they fell into the sugar cookie dough it was mixing, then broke them up and mixed the pieces into it. He claimed to have overcome Wakefield's impulse to discard the dough as too badly ruined to waste effort baking them, leading to the discovery of the popular combination.
 
Although the Nestlé's Toll House recipe is widely known, every brand of chocolate chips, or "semi-sweet chocolate morsels" in Nestlé parlance, sold in the U.S. and Canada bears a variant of the chocolate chip cookie recipe on its packaging. Almost all baking-oriented cookbooks will contain at least one type of recipe.

Practically all commercial bakeries offer their own version of the cookie in packaged baked or ready-to-bake forms. There are at least three national (U.S./North America) chains that sell freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in shopping malls and standalone retail locations. Several businesses—including Doubletree hotels, Citibank, Aloha, and Midwest Airlines—offer freshly baked cookies to their patrons to differentiate themselves from their competition.

There is an urban legend about Neiman Marcus' chocolate chip cookie recipe that has gathered a great deal of popularity over the years.
 
To honor the cookie's creation in the state, on July 9, 1997, Massachusetts designated the chocolate chip cookie as the Official State Cookie, after it was proposed by a third-grade class from Somerset, Massachusetts.

Holiday Recipe
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18476/original-nestlÉ-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/detail.aspx
Ingredients
•   2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
•   1 teaspoon baking soda
•   1 teaspoon salt
•   1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
•   3/4 cup granulated sugar
•   3/4 cup packed brown sugar
•   1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•   2 large eggs
•   2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
•   1 cup chopped nuts
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.

SLICE AND BAKE COOKIE VARIATION:
PREPARE dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.* Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

* May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks.

FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING (5,200 feet): Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.


Toll House Trivia

The Toll House Inn was originally an actual toll house 200 years prior to the invention of the cookie.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 41

Rum Balls

( 20 Points, 2 of 10 lists, Top Vote#7 Pak Man)

   
Holiday  Christmas
   
Rum balls (German: Rumkugeln, Punschkugeln) are a truffle-like confection of sweet, dense balls flavoured with chocolate and rum. They are roughly the size of a golf ball and often coated in chocolate sprinkles, desiccated coconut, or cocoa. As their name implies, these cookies contain rum. Because they are not baked, the alcohol flavour and kick are not lost during baking. This cookie is especially popular during the holiday season.

Rum balls are a popular Christmas snack in England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Denmark (called Romkugle, but is enjoyed all year round), Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

There are many different ways to make rum balls, as recipes vary from region to region and family to family. All rum balls must include chocolate and rum, but the rest of the ingredients vary in kind, form, and amount.

To make a rum ball, the cake (or biscuit) material is crushed and mixed with cocoa and a moist binding ingredient, such as jam or condensed milk. Other optional ingredients can also be added, such as nuts. When the mixture holds together firmly, it is rolled into balls and then coated.

In Hungary they are made in a similar way, but usually rolled in sugar. Ground walnut and raisins are sometimes added to the rum ball ingredients. Some Hungarian rum balls are made with whole cherries placed inside the balls, and then rolled in coconut flakes (Hungarian: kókuszgolyó).

Holiday Recipe
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/rum-balls-recipe3/index.html
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup dark rum
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers
1 cup finely chopped, toasted walnuts
Directions
Into a large bowl, sift together 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the cocoa powder and allspice. Stir in the rum and corn syrup. Stir in the vanilla wafers and walnuts, and mix well. Place in the refrigerator to firm up slightly, about 30 minutes. (The mixture may appear crumbly and dry; this is O.K.)

Place the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl or dish.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out portions of the chocolate mixture and press into 1-inch balls. Using your hands, roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar, coating evenly.

Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, placing waxed paper between the layers to prevent sticking.


Rum Ball Trivia

The word rum is probably derived from the word “rumbullion,” an archaic term for a big noise and/or uproar.  And ball means balls.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 40

Fruitcake

( 20 Points, 3 of 10 lists, Top Vote#5 Quantum Vagina)

   
Holiday  Christmas
   
Fruit cake (or fruitcake) is a cake made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and (optionally) soaked in spirits. A cake that simply has fruit in it as an ingredient can also be colloquially called a fruit cake. In the United Kingdom, certain rich versions may be iced and decorated. Fruit cakes are often served in celebration of weddings and Christmas. Given their rich nature, fruit cake is most often consumed on its own, as opposed to with condiments (such as butter or cream).

The earliest recipe from ancient Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into barley mash. In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added.

Fruit cakes soon proliferated all over Europe. Recipes varied greatly in different countries throughout the ages, depending on the available ingredients as well as (in some instances) church regulations forbidding the use of butter, regarding the observance of fast. Pope Innocent VIII (1432–1492) finally granted the use of butter, in a written permission known as the ‘Butter Letter' or Butterbrief in 1490, giving permission to Saxony to use milk and butter in the North German Stollen fruit cakes.
 
Starting in the 16th century, Sugar from the American Colonies (and the discovery that high concentrations of sugar could preserve fruits) created an excess of candied fruit, thus making fruit cakes more affordable and popular.

Holiday Recipe
The White House Fruit Cake!  The only fruit cake that Barack can legally eat until 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/962/White-House-Fruitcake.html
INGREDIENTS
•   1 15-ounce package raisins
•   2 cups golden raisins
•   1 cup currants
•   10 ounces mixed candied fruits
•   1 6-ounce mixture of glazed pears, peaches, apricots, figs and dates, cut up
•   1/3 cup candied pineapple
•   1 cup chopped pecans
•   4 ounces slivered almonds
•   1/2 cup bourbon or Port
•   1/4 cup brandy
•   1/2 pound butter
•   1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
•   1/4 cup granulated sugar
•   2 tablespoons honey
•   1 1/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
•   Grated rind of 2 lemons
•   1/4 teaspoon almond extract
•   1/4 teaspoon vanilla
•   5 eggs
•   1 cup sifted cake flour
•   1/2 teaspoon salt
•   1/4 teaspoon baking powder
•   1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•   1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
•   1 12-ounce jar apricot preserves
•   1/2 cup rum
•   6 to 8 tablespoons bourbon
•   1 pound confectioners' sugar
•   2 tablespoons softened butter
PREPARATION
1.
Combine the raisins, currants, candied fruits, glazed fruits, candied pineapple, pecans and almonds with the bourbon and brandy in a large bowl. Refrigerate overnight, or if possible, for two days.
2.
Beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, honey, one-third cup of all-purpose flour, grated lemon rind, almond and vanilla extracts until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3.
Sift together one cup of all-purpose flour, one cup of cake flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon together. Add to the batter and beat until well mixed. Combine batter with the fruit and nut mixture, mixing well.
4.
Grease three 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch pans. Line the bottoms and sides with aluminum foil; grease the foil. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing tops.
5.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until the centers spring back when lightly pressed. If tops are browning too fast, cover lightly with buttered foil.
6.
While the cakes are baking, bring the apricot preserves to a hard boil and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to reduce.
7.
Remove the cakes from the oven and while they are still hot, sprinkle with the rum. Then brush with the hot apricot jam.
8.
Mix enough bourbon with confectioners' sugar and butter to make a frosting that is thin enough to spread on top of the apricot jam while the cakes are still warm.
9.
Cool cakes in pans on wire rack. Allow frosting to dry. Remove cakes from pans; peel off foil. Cool completely. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Cake should be sliced chilled.
YIELD
3 loaf cakes


Fruitcake Trivia

If a fruit cake contains alcohol, it could remain edible for many years. For example, a fruit cake baked in 1878 is kept as an heirloom by a family (Morgan L. Ford) in Tecumseh, Michigan. In 2003, it was sampled by Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. Sadly, he still lives today.  Wrapping the cake in alcohol-soaked linen before storing is one method of lengthening its shelf life.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 39

Ravioli

( 21 Points, 1 of 10 lists, Top Vote#3 Thrifty Version II)

   
Holiday  Not Sure.  Italy Day?      
   
The earliest mention of ravioli appears in the writings of Francesco di Marco, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. In Venice, the mid-14th-century manuscript Libro per cuoco offers ravioli of green herbs blanched and minced, mixed with beaten egg and fresh cheese, simmered in broth, a recipe that would be familiar today save for its medieval powdering of "sweet and strong spices". In Tuscany, some of the earliest mentions of the dish come from the personal letters of Francesco di Marco Datini, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. In Rome, ravioli were already well-known when Bartolomeo Scappi served them with boiled chicken to the papal conclave of 1549.
 
Ravioli were already known in 14th century England, appearing in the Anglo-Norman vellum manuscript Forme of Cury under the name of rauioles. Sicilian ravioli and Malta's ravjul may thus be older than North Italian ones. Maltese ravjul are stuffed with rikotta, the locally produced sheep's-milk ricotta, or with gbejna, the traditional fresh sheep's-milk cheese.

Holiday Recipe
Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Butter
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pumpkinravioliwithsa_71558

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ingredients
•   450g/1lb piece of pumpkin
•   1 tbsp olive oil
•   large pinch of fennel seeds, lightly crushed
•   1 medium egg, yolk only
•   25g/1oz parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra to serve
•   pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
•   2 amaretti biscuits, crushed
•   15g/1oz fresh white breadcrumbs
•   salt
•   freshly ground black pepper
For the fresh egg pasta
•   225g/8oz plain flour
•   ¼ tsp salt
•   ½ tsp olive oil
•   2 medium eggs
•   4 medium eggs, yolks only
For the sage butter
•   75g/3oz unsalted butter
•   20 small sage leaves
•   1 tbsp lemon juice
Preparation method
1.   Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2.   Cut the piece of pumpkin into wedges and scoop out the seeds. Put into a roasting tin, sprinkle over the oil, fennel seeds and some seasoning and turn over once or twice.
3.   Roast for 30 minutes until tender. Leave until cool enough to handle and then scoop the flesh away from the skin.
4.   Put the flesh in a bowl and mash to a smooth purée with a fork. Stir in the egg yolk, parmesan, nutmeg, amaretti biscuits, breadcrumbs and seasoning to taste.
5.   For the pasta dough, put all the pasta ingredients into a food processor and blend until they come together into a ball.
6.   Tip the dough on to a work surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest for 10 - 15 minutes.
7.   Bring a large pan of well-salted water (one teaspoon salt per 600ml/1 pint water) to the boil.
8.   To make the ravioli, cut the pasta dough into quarters and, working with one piece at a time, roll out using a pasta machine, lightly dusting the dough with flour between rolls and finishing on setting number five.
9.   Place the piece of dough on a floured surface and make small indentations over the bottom half of it at 6cm/2½in intervals, 2½cm/1in from the edges.
10.   Place a teaspoon of the pumpkin filling on each mark and then brush lines of water between them.
11.   Fold over the top half of the dough and, working from the centre of the line outwards, press firmly around each pile of filling with your fingers to push out any trapped air and seal in the filling.
12.   Trim off the edges and then cut between the rows with a sharp knife or a fluted pasta wheel. You should make about eight or ten ravioli (5 x 5cm/2 x 2in each). Repeat with the remaining three pieces of dough.
13.   If you are not going to eat the ravioli immediately, drop them into the boiling water as you make each batch and cook for just one minute, then lift out with a slotted spoon and drop into a bowl of cold water.
14.   Drain and lay out on lightly oiled trays, cover with cling film and chill until needed. Then drop back into boiling salted water just before serving and cook for three minutes.
15.   Alternatively cook them all at once for a total of four minutes. Drain well and tip into a large, warmed serving bowl.
16.   For the sage butter, melt the butter in a large frying pan until foaming, throw in the sage and fry for a few seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice and some slat and pepper to taste.
17.   Pour the sage butter over the ravioli, with some grated parmesan cheese if liked.
18.   Serve immediately.

Ravioli Trivia

Ravioli was also the name of a German kids' show about a group of kids whose parents are gone on a three-week vacation and the kids decide to use their food expenses to do all the things they always wanted and only eat ravioli to keep down food costs.