For supper tonight I made ‘dipdip’
noodles for a side dish, basically just macaroni made with tomato sauce; ‘dipdips’
is our family name. I’ve been avoiding pasta rather regularly for my diet, but
as there was a cup of it left over and everyone had had their fill, I decided I
might indulge. Besides, it’s not at its best when eaten after saved by
refrigeration. I remarked to my sister that I was a little trepidatious about
it; it would be a shame if thanks to my medication my taste had changed, and I
no longer enjoyed the dish named after me. She showed some surprise. She
thought that I had only named the dish, not that it was named after me. That
surprised me, but then she only came on the scene when it had long been
established in family lore.
And thereby hangs a tale, of
sorts. It has nothing to do with dip of the chip dunking variety. When I was
very small, my nicknames abounded. One I remember that Mom was very fond of was
‘Bee Wee Bottow’, mimicking how I (BB), as a toddler, would ask for a bottle.
But all the ‘B’s in my name also got me ‘Bippity Boppity Boo’ (Bibbidi Bobbidi
Boo) from an old Disney record, or ‘Bippity’ or even somehow ‘Bip-Bip-a-Dip’.
Because tomato sauce noodles was one of my favorite dishes, they were called ‘Bip
Bip’ noodles, which morphed to ‘Dip Dip’ noodles or even just ‘dips’ in time.
The classic form of ‘dips’
is made with macaroni noodles, though egg noodles or shells are an acceptable
variation. A dash of parmesan cheese is a good addition, and there is even a
named variant, ‘dips with woost’ (Worchestershire sauce) which is how many of
the family like to eat them to this day.
The recipe makes one of the
simplest and most savory of comfort foods (of our family). For every one cup of
elbow macaroni (dry) you add one 8 ounce can of tomato sauce. For a ‘lighter’
version you can use one 8 ounce can to two cups of macaroni. After you’ve
cooked the macaroni, you drain, put it back in the pot, and add a couple of
tablespoons of butter. Stir, and when the butter’s melted you add the sauce, then
salt and pepper to taste. Thus is the alchemy performed.
There was a rather
unpleasant variant that happened in our childhood from time to time. This was
macaroni made with a can of stewed tomatoes seasoned with pepper and salt. I
remember picking out the seedy, stringy tomatoes with a shudder and moving them
to the side of my plate. It has not been made again since I started cooking for
the family. Canned tomatoes are acceptable but only in a spaghetti sauce or
chili if added to actual tomato sauce, but not otherwise.
PEA SALAD
3 cans of (this is very important) VERY YOUNG TENDER Peas
1/2 of a medium white Onion, chopped
3 Hard-boiled Eggs, chopped
16 oz. Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 cup (or so) Real Mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper (to taste, but not much salt, or even none)
There is no particular order to the ingredients, but I like to add the peas
last to keep from squishing them. Also, it's best to sort of lift the
ingredients gently together to mix them, rather than stirring, as this also
spares them a mashing. You can add another can of peas without increasing the
other ingredients; this especially helps if you have over-seasoned the dish or
added too much mayonnaise.
Here's the order I do things in:
Boil the eggs, cool, peel, chop. Put in bowl.
Chop the onion. Add.
Grate the cheese. Add.
Add the mayo.
Salt [optional] and pepper.
DRAIN the Peas. Add.
Gently lift to mix thoroughly.
Test for taste, and do any adjusting accordingly.
Can be eaten right away, but best with a few hours chill. Best in the first 3
days, but can last a couple days more.
I can not stress the need for young tender peas enough. Pop tried making it with dry soaked peas once (I'm sure they were cheaper) and the result was rare nasty. Even just regular peas aren't as good. Incidentally, did you know there was originally no single word for one pea? 'Pea' is back-formed from the term 'pease' (pease porridge hot), a type of dish made from the vegetable boiled into a mush and flavored with bacon or ham.
Yesterday I made the first batch of oatmeal cookies of the season; Susan says it doesn’t really feel like Fall until the first batch is made and one gets a chewy sample fresh out of the oven. To that end, I hauled out Mom’s old Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1953 Version, though it has been reprinted many times; it was one of Mom and Pop’s wedding presents). It is, as one might imagine, a little battered and yellowed from use over the years, and now it is bulging with extra recipes, from newspaper clippings to little cards to hand-scratched scraps of paper, including instructions for ‘refrigerator cookies’ that I made in Home Economics back when I was in middle school. The cookbook was always hauled out for at least three things: making a turkey, canning (putting up jelly or pickles), and making oatmeal cookies. Here is the simple recipe, which I still always check, just to be sure I'm not forgetting anything:
Oatmeal Crispies
1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 well-beaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups sifted enriched
flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon (baking) soda
3 cups quick-cooking oats
(nuts – chopped walnuts or
pecans - or raisins optional, ½ cup)
Thoroughly cream shortening
and sugars; add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir dry ingredients; add to
creamed mixture. (Now would be the time to add nuts or raisins and mix well).
The recipe says to shape it into rolls and chill thoroughly; I find it easier
to take about a tablespoon of dough and shape each one. Make them about ¼ inch
thick. It also says put them on an ungreased cookie sheet but these days I use
a foiled sheet with a spritz of Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. It
says it makes five dozen, but the way I roll them it comes out to more like 30.
And there you go.
2 lbs. Ground beef or turkey
2 bags Cole Slaw Mix
4 Green Onion, chopped
3 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp ground ginger
Instructions:
Cook Ground meat in pan as
you normally would.
In separate pan, put sesame
oil, soy sauce, chopped green onion and chopped garlic together and stir fry
until tender. Add the cabbage (cole slaw mix), crushed red pepper and ground
ginger and cook until mostly tender.
Once that is done, drain the
excess fat off the meat and add it to the pan with the rest of the ingredients
and stir. Add a touch more soy sauce for flavor but not much.
I found this simple 'wrapperless' recipe on Facebook, tried it, found it delicious, and am now considering making it for Friday movie night. I decided to post it here so it would be more easily accessible when on the go. I'm thinking it would taste good rolled up in a tortilla, too.
