Columbo Cooking

Those of a certain age, or possibly even those who are younger, since it ran off and on for 32 years, probably remember Columbo, the LAPD TV detective who gave every impression of being slightly bumbling and unorganized, but who in reality was sly as a fox and way ahead of the criminals he pursued. He never lost his temper, even when criminals underestimated him, jeered at him and basically called him an idiot to his face. He always got his man or woman in the end. I LOVE Columbo!  So imagine how excited I was to learn that there is a Columbo cookbook coming soon, by Jenny Hammerton, of Silver Screen Suppers! Best of all, I was given the opportunity to test a recipe for the book - Theodore Bikel's Glorified Meatloaf! Bikel played an insufferable genius on the show, but he did know a thing or two about meatloaf. It was delicious!

Theodore Bikel's Glorified Meatloaf. Slightly purple, owing to A LOT of wine.

I hear Jenny is still looking for recipe testers, so be sure to visit her blog and get in touch if you're interested! 

Burger and Hot Dog Creativity, Mid-Century Style

Burgers and hot dogs are summer traditions for a reason, but what if you're feeling creative and want to try something different? Here are some ideas you probably hadn't thought of for summer entertaining (or entertaining during any other season, for that matter). These appetizers all feature hot dogs. Have you ever minced hot dogs before? Get ready to mince and grind! Frankly (you should pardon the expression), I want to pass a tray of these appetizers at a party so that I can say "Chunkette?" and watch the reactions!

Chunkette?

For the main course we move on to ground beef, which 1967's Ground Beef Cookbook calls "one of the most 'talented' of meats," (sic), with a couple of meat loaf recipes that promise to be real conversation starters! You don't have to use beef for these recipes - I won't tell! First up: Unusual Ground Beef Loaf, courtesy of Mrs. Fred Merk of Drain, Oregon:

Not to be outdone, Mrs. Herbert Laroche, of Domremy, Saskatchewan, Canada, offers us her Piquant Meat Loaf, complete with Piquant Sauce:

I'm positive these ladies had first names, but, alas, we'll never know them. One day I will serve Unusual Ground Beef Loaf so that I can answer "Unusual Ground Beef Loaf" when asked what we're having for supper. By the way, you're invited for supper!

Bon appetit!

Mocktail Monday: Spring Shower

It's Monday, which means mocktails! Today's is perfect for a gloomy May morning (at least in our part of the world), the Spring Shower!

Spring Shower

4 oz Twinings Honeybush, Mandarin & Orange tea, brewed

1 oz blueberry juice

1/4 oz fresh lime juice

4 dashes of Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Have a fabulous week!

The Man In The Kitchen Recipes

I was browsing through my cookbooks and came across this masterpiece, which I adore on so many levels that I just had to share. It's The Man In The Kitchen Recipes, by actor Van Johnson, and is a tie-in with Kmart and their Kmart K-lectables line of kitchen appliances. There is no publication date, but Kmart filed for a trademark on the K-lectables name in 1980, which dovetails with Van Johnson's dinner theater period, which is when this book was published. Also, as you'll see, the K-lectables SCREAM early '80s. Mr. Johnson claimed to love cooking and eating (he explains that he'd stopped smoking and couldn't stop eating) and he certainly amassed quite a collection of fascinating recipes here! It's a challenge to find any without meat, but I did find one for the vegetarians, plus booze-spiked coffee because, well, booze-spiked coffee! Without further ado, The Man In The Kitchen!

That jacket!

K-lect them all for your '80s kitchen!

St. Patrick's Day Eats, 1954-Style

If you have plans for St. Patrick's Day there just might be a bar or pub involved. Don't forget to eat! Here are a few ideas for unexpected St. Patrick's Day nibbles from The Holiday Cookbook, published by the Culinary Arts Institute. They won't see these dishes coming!

These sandwiches "spell real eating enjoyment." It must be the MSG!

It's a 1950s salad, so naturally gelatin is involved. 

It's called Dublin Pineapple Salad, so it must be legit! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cocktails for Coping: Laurice's Choices

Yesterday we asked what everyone is drinking to cope with election anxiety and, as I expected, we got some fabulous responses! Laurice even got us some shots of her choices, so, without further ado, here are two easy cocktails for coping!

Kamikaze

1 1/2 oz vodka

3/4 oz orange liqueur (Laurice has gone with Cointreau - nice choice!)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass!

Black Russian

2 oz vodka

1 oz coffee liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or do like Laurice and serve on the rocks.

Thanks, Laurice! Now, what are you drinking?

Homemade Strawberry Liqueur

I'm already planning our crawl room for next year's Ohana Luau at the Lake and the cocktail experiments have begun! I'm making a strawberry liqueur for the occasion, so that I have lots of time to tweak the recipe, if necessary. Here's where I found the recipe, if you'd like to try making your own. Three days until we can try it out! I'll let you know how it turns out!

Strawberry liqueur, part 1

"Saucy" Baked Beans

And by "sauce" I mean that kind of sauce. As in hooch!

Let's face it: we don't always have all day to let beans cook in the slow cooker, or all night to let them soak. Sometimes you just need to eat dinner, soon. Here's a, dare I say it? hack for a can of baked beans that will feel special, especially if you're pairing it with a nice ale or glass of wine.

"Saucy" Baked Beans

1 28 oz can of vegetarian baked beans (I used B&M in this case)

1/2 tsp ground garlic

1/4 tsp onion powder

Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

1 1/2 oz bourbon

3/4 oz Ancho Reyes liqueur

Combine all ingredients and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Booze, is there anything you can't improve?!

Make Your Own Cocktail Syrups!

Have you ever looked at a cocktail recipe and thought "I can't make that! I don't have (fill in the blank) syrup!" Yes, you can! Cocktail syrups are easy to make, which means that not only do you not need to source specialty syrups or order online, you can save lots of money!

The syrup called for the most in cocktail recipes is simple syrup, which is nothing more than sugar and water. Combine one part sugar to one part water. I like to melt mine on the stovetop (don't boil - it's ready as soon as the sugar is melted), but you can also shake vigorously until they're completely combined. If you prefer a richer syrup you can use two parts sugar. You can also use a brown sugar, such as turbinado or demerara, if you're looking for variety.

For easy passionfruit, tamarind and other exotic syrups, simply combine one part simple syrup to one part frozen fruit pulp. If you have a 14 oz packet of passionfruit pulp, melt 7 oz of sugar in 7 oz of water, add your pulp and melt. That's it! We also use this technique for grenadine: one part pure pomegranate juice to one part simple syrup.

There are many fancy syrups out there, such as chili lime syrups, ginger,  cinnamon, etc. Those are practically as easy to accomplish as the syrups above! Steep herbs or spices in water until you have a flavor you like (letting them sit overnight really brings out the flavor), then proceed as you would for simple syrup, using your flavored water in place of plain water. Try it with  herbal teas, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks and more!

If you're concerned that you might not use your syrup quickly and would like a preservative, a shot of light rum or vodka will help to prolong its life. Be sure to store your syrups in the refrigerator!

There is a world of easy cocktail syrups at your fingertips! Play around with your favorite flavors and, when you have a syrup you really love, send us the recipe! We'd love to feature it!

Vintage Recipes & My Daily Hustle

I just posted a new batch of vintage recipes on our website! Here's a little teaser of what you'll find - click here to visit the page!

July means BBQs and picnics!

Now that we've passed 5000 Facebook followers (and, if you're one of those followers, thank you!) we're trying to push our YouTube channel past the 1000 mark. We are so close. It is truly driving me bonkers! If you're not subscribed to our channel, please subscribe! It only takes a moment and you'll see our videos at a much higher quality definition than on Facebook, plus we post extras there that don't always make it onto Facebook. Click here to visit our channel and subscribe! You have no idea how much we appreciate your support! And sharing is caring - please tell your friends!

Really, YouTube People?

I recently tried two recipes I saw on YouTube that failed spectacularly. Crucial steps were left out of the process and/or ingredients were identified inaccurately. And a YouTuber I follow tried a recipe on her show that actually worked, but she intimated that she'd seen several recently that had not. As someone who posts recipes on YouTube, I find this highly disturbing. Presumably you post recipes on YouTube because you want to provide value or a service to viewers. They're just going to hate you if your recipes fail! I don't know what possesses people to post sloppy or inaccurate recipes, but I promise you here and now: we test our recipes before shooting them and, frankly, we toss any idea that isn't super easy or pretty much guaranteed of success. If you ever try something you see on our show and it doesn't work, please let me know! We will fix it! We want you to succeed!

Island Nut Bananas: so easy you could make them after SEVERAL lovely libations!

Pieathalon 2016: Heathen Cake!

Pieathalon 2016 is here, where bloggers submit a vintage pie recipe, then are assigned another participant's recipe by organizer Yinzerella, of the fabulous food blog Dinner is Served 1972! This is my second year and my second savory pie - the oddly named (since it's absolutely a pie) Heathen Cake (or Heidenische kuchen). I guess my heathen reputation precedes me. 😏 It's a medieval recipe, which means the vintage aspect is fully covered. You can find the recipe here. I even made the crust (the Paest Royall), which is something I avoid like the plague, having neither a working rolling pin at the moment, nor a large space for rolling such things out. But I love a challenge!

It isn't beautiful, but it tasted good and got the job done.

The rest of the recipe was really easy. All you do is chop veggies and beef, cook in water with spices until the meat is fork tender, combine with crumbed bacon and sautéed apple, add six beaten eggs and pour into your crust. 

It's already disappeared, which is a testament to the fact that it was pretty good! I, of course, added red pepper flakes and served it with a selection of hot sauces, since we drown everything in hot sauce. It's particularly good with sriracha. If you're looking for an easy meat pie, this one will fill the bill nicely. Use a rolled refrigerator pie crust and it will be a breeze! Pair with a nice dry red or Pilsner or, if you're looking for a cocktail pairing, a dry Manhattan would be lovely!

Thank you to Yinzerella for once again inviting me to participate in Pieathalon and for putting together such a fun event and thanks to The Hedonist (www.foodandwinehedonist.com) for submitting this recipe! I can't wait to see everyone else's pies!