Iconic American

Giusi said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not all
American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Everything needs to be able to be made in quantity ahead of time and not
need much last minute fiddling. It is to be good American food and not a
joke. I will be serving American wines, which here means Gallo, but the
higher end Gallo!

I always like rice with a pot pie. Perhaps a rice pilaf with some wild
rice (classic American food!) mixed in? Cooked in stock, perhaps some
mushrooms and green peas also added?
I've never actually made a molded gelatin salad and thankfully only see
them at church supper type events. Would a gelatin salad be a bit
redundant after the frat house style Jello shooters? Jello shooters are
great fun and at a party where getting a bit schnockered is a plus...but
is that your goal?
What about a good apple pie for dessert? Served with cheddar cheese.
Goomba (who may be missing the point of this meal?)

"Giusi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not all
American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Corn on the Cob

Quoted message said:

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Apple Pie w/ ice cream. or not the ice cream if you don't have the time.

Quoted message said:

Everything needs to be able to be made in quantity ahead of time and not
need much last minute fiddling. It is to be good American food and not a
joke. I will be serving American wines, which here means Gallo, but the
higher end Gallo!
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Giusi said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not
all American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Everything needs to be able to be made in quantity ahead of time and not
need much last minute fiddling. It is to be good American food and not a
joke. I will be serving American wines, which here means Gallo, but the
higher end Gallo!

I always like rice with a pot pie. Perhaps a rice pilaf with some wild
rice (classic American food!) mixed in? Cooked in stock, perhaps some
mushrooms and green peas also added?
I've never actually made a molded gelatin salad and thankfully only see
them at church supper type events. Would a gelatin salad be a bit
redundant after the frat house style Jello shooters? Jello shooters are
great fun and at a party where getting a bit schnockered is a plus...but
is that your goal?
What about a good apple pie for dessert? Served with cheddar cheese.
Goomba (who may be missing the point of this meal?)

While I thought of makng various immigrant foods for each course and saying
"That's really American," I decided not to. I always think of pilaf as sort
of middle-eastern, am I wrong?

I, unfortunately, do not have enough pie pans for 20 people, and of course
that is THE iconic American dessert. They don't sell our kind of pie pans
here and I made the mistake of using a [censored] pan once. You can still smell
burnt sugar sometimes.

They will get one shooter each, since Italians rarely drink cocktails
anyway--- it was just the most American drink I could think of and someone
sent me Jello!

Thanks for the input.

--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

"Woolstitcher" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Giusi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.

Quoted message said:

Corn on the Cob

I haven't had that in seven years. It is sold overripe and precooked for a
few months of the year and it's nasty.It's vacuum packed and comes from
France, where, of course, all the best corn comes from. Irony meter on.

Giusi said:

While I thought of makng various immigrant foods for each course and saying
"That's really American," I decided not to. I always think of pilaf as sort
of middle-eastern, am I wrong?

I, unfortunately, do not have enough pie pans for 20 people, and of course
that is THE iconic American dessert. They don't sell our kind of pie pans
here and I made the mistake of using a [censored] pan once. You can still smell
burnt sugar sometimes.

They will get one shooter each, since Italians rarely drink cocktails
anyway--- it was just the most American drink I could think of and someone
sent me Jello!

Thanks for the input.

Rice is a strong American grown crop, grown in the south. I don't think
of pilaf as middle eastern when it just includes some celery, onions,
chicken stock and perhaps mixed with the peas and sauteed mushrooms. The
wild rice is an even older American grain than the white, I'm sure? I
like them mixed together.
Instead of apple pies, what about baked apples?
I'm sure there are better "American" cocktails out there. Jello shots
aren't even a very classic cocktail are they? I only know them as
something college age kids toss back for fun. Something like a mint
julep would be more so since it uses KY bourbon. And it is more grown up
tasting 🙂

Goomba38 <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Giusi said:

While I thought of makng various immigrant foods for each course and
saying "That's really American," I decided not to. I always think of
pilaf as sort of middle-eastern, am I wrong?

I, unfortunately, do not have enough pie pans for 20 people, and of
course that is THE iconic American dessert. They don't sell our kind
of pie pans here and I made the mistake of using a [censored] pan once.
You can still smell burnt sugar sometimes.

They will get one shooter each, since Italians rarely drink cocktails
anyway--- it was just the most American drink I could think of and
someone sent me Jello!

Thanks for the input.

Rice is a strong American grown crop, grown in the south. I don't
think of pilaf as middle eastern when it just includes some celery,
onions, chicken stock and perhaps mixed with the peas and sauteed
mushrooms. The wild rice is an even older American grain than the
white, I'm sure? I like them mixed together.
Instead of apple pies, what about baked apples?
I'm sure there are better "American" cocktails out there. Jello shots
aren't even a very classic cocktail are they? I only know them as
something college age kids toss back for fun. Something like a mint
julep would be more so since it uses KY bourbon. And it is more grown
up tasting 🙂

More in an American theme for me would be Bloody Marys, Corn on the cob,
grits, BBQ hamburgers/hotdogs or anything BBQed, Boston Baked Beans, a
wild rice casserole, a roast chicken with coenbread stuffing. Just a few
jumbled thoughts on the subject. To me, American and Canadian cooking is
a mish-mosh of imigrant foods.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore

Giusi said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not all
American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Everything needs to be able to be made in quantity ahead of time and not
need much last minute fiddling. It is to be good American food and not a
joke. I will be serving American wines, which here means Gallo, but the
higher end Gallo!

What about cupcakes for dessert?
I just came across a recipe for vanilla cream filled, ganache frosted,
chocolate cupcakes. I think it was on the foodnetwork website.

-Tracy

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Giusi" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I, unfortunately, do not have enough pie pans for 20 people,

You can make twin-crust apple pie on a dinner plate or wide soup dish.
4 would serve 20 easily..

Janet.

"Giusi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not all
American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Everything needs to be able to be made in quantity ahead of time and not
need much last minute fiddling. It is to be good American food and not a
joke. I will be serving American wines, which here means Gallo, but the
higher end Gallo!
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

If you serve enough jello shooters nobody will care what the rest of the
meal is!! Hot dogs and apple pie!!

Ms P

Giusi said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not all
American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Sweet-potato casserole?
Oven-baked French fries?
Twice-baked potatoes?
Mashed potatoes and gravy?
Regular baked potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits?
A relish tray?
Macaroni and cheese?
Macaroni or potato salad?
Cole slaw?

Quoted message said:

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Apple pie?
New York cheesecake?
Strawberry shortcake?
Homemade ice cream?
Ice-cream sandwiches?

Serene

Janet Baraclough <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Giusi" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I, unfortunately, do not have enough pie pans for 20 people,

You can make twin-crust apple pie on a dinner plate or wide soup
dish.
4 would serve 20 easily..

Janet.

Consider a Apple Brown Betty...or a Apple Crisp

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:52:54 -0600, "Ms P" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

If you serve enough jello shooters nobody will care what the rest of the
meal is!! Hot dogs and apple pie!!

The only problem with jello shots is keeping the kids away from them.

Lou

Ms P said:

"Giusi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not all
American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Everything needs to be able to be made in quantity ahead of time and not
need much last minute fiddling. It is to be good American food and not a
joke. I will be serving American wines, which here means Gallo, but the
higher end Gallo!
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

If you serve enough jello shooters nobody will care what the rest of the
meal is!! Hot dogs and apple pie!!

Who needs shooters to like hot dogs and apple pie? 🙂

--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project - http://improve-usenet.org

On 27 Nov 2007 21:11:57 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you serve enough jello shooters nobody will care what the rest of the
meal is!! Hot dogs and apple pie!!

Who needs shooters to like hot dogs and apple pie? 🙂

I've been served cheapo hot dogs with crappy condiments. And store
bought apple pie. Shooters can't hurt. LOL

Lou

"Serene" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Giusi said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not
all American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Sweet-potato casserole?
Oven-baked French fries?
Twice-baked potatoes?
Mashed potatoes and gravy?
Regular baked potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits?
A relish tray?
Macaroni and cheese?
Macaroni or potato salad?
Cole slaw?

Quoted message said:

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Apple pie?
New York cheesecake?
Strawberry shortcake?
Homemade ice cream?
Ice-cream sandwiches?

Serene

Nice foods indeed! With some, however , there are seasonal problems. Lots
of things are only available one season of the year, like no broccoli all
summer, what a shock to an American. Sweet potatoes very hard to find and
usually those nasty white ones. They're called American potatoes, like any
potato isn't. Strawberries? Fuggedaboudit.

The biggest problem is space. Kitchen is adequate for 6-8 easily, but more
than that and there's just no space to plate shortcakes, room for ice cream
sandwiches-- very American to me but I think Italians think they invented
them. My Italian stove is 24" wide, fridge the same, so I'm probably going
to end up with one of the piece in the hand kind of things, like a cookie or
brownie. I figure the oven will hold two huge pot pies only and anything
else will have to be ready and kept warm at the fireplace.

Somehow it didn't occur to me that Mexican and Indian had been so easy until
I started thinking about American.
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

"Ms P" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Giusi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm working on the menu for 20th December and would welcome some input.
This is how far I've come:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters

If you serve enough jello shooters nobody will care what the rest of the
meal is!! Hot dogs and apple pie!!

Ms P

You do have a point there.
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

Giusi said:

Raw veg with dips served with Jello shooters
Chicken pot pie
molded gelatin salad
green salad with "stuff" in it and with real dressing
biscuits

Any suggestions for non-salad sides? (Not green bean casserole.) Not all
American ingredients are available here in small city Italy.

Jeff Smith (the Frugal Gourmet) recommended fried corn with green chile
to be served with the chicken pot pie. Maybe you can find the necessary
ingredients. Here is his recipe, from _The Frugal Gourmet Cooks
American_:

Fried Corn with Green Chile

This is very quick and offers a most unusual combination of American
flavors. You need not just serve this with Mexican dinners, as it will
go well with many main courses.

3 cups fresh corn off the cob or frozen kernels, defrosted
1/2 cup peeled and diced yellow onion
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 can (4 ounces) diced green chiles (I like Ortega brand best.)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large frying pan sauté the corn and onions in butter until tender.
Add the chiles and check for salt and pepper.

Quoted message said:

Also an iconic dessert that can be made ahead.

Apple [censored], carrot pudding, syllabub, cheese curd pudding.

Quoted message said:

Everything needs to be able to be made in quantity ahead of time and not
need much last minute fiddling. It is to be good American food and not a
joke. I will be serving American wines, which here means Gallo, but the
higher end Gallo!

Can't you order American wines from an online source?

Victor

Giusi said:

Sweet potatoes very hard to find and
usually those nasty white ones. They're
called American potatoes, like any potato isn't.

Too bad. I was about to suggest mashed
sweet potatoes with mini-marshmallows
on top. It's the mini-marshmallows that
make it truly and completely American.

This one's too fancy. We don't furrow
the potatoes. And that's way too many
mini-marshmallows.

http://i.timeinc.net/recipes/i/recipes/sl/02/12/yam-casserole-sl-392646-l.jpg

This one's drowning in marshmallows,
and they're the regular size, not the
mini size.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/kuishinbo_meow/Nov%202006/Thanks30potatocasserole.jpg

Again, too many mini-marshmallows, and worse,
what are those pecans doing in there?
Must be a regional thing.

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/48/75/23047548.jpg

Still too many mini-marshmallows, and the
sweet potatoes don't appear to have been
mashed.

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/84/01/23220184.jpg

Don't know why I can't find a picture of
canonical American sweet potatoes.
The mini-marshmallows should be studded
on the top, not forming a continuous
layer. No more than about 20% coverage of
the surface of the mashed sweet potatoes.
It's okay if a few marshmallows touch
each other and melt together during baking,
but that should be avoided. They should
be spaced far enough apart that they don't
melt together.

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:55:07 +0100, "Giusi" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

While I thought of makng various immigrant foods for each course and saying
"That's really American," I decided not to. I always think of pilaf as sort
of middle-eastern, am I wrong?

Rice pilaf is also known as rice perlow, perloo, and pilau . It is a
very American dish. See here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061107120124AAMRSUw

Quoted message said:

I, unfortunately, do not have enough pie pans for 20 people, and of course
that is THE iconic American dessert. They don't sell our kind of pie pans
here and I made the mistake of using a [censored] pan once. You can still smell
burnt sugar sometimes.

I would try an apple brown betty, a peach cobbler, or a berry cobbler.
Any in season or preserved fruit prepared as a fruit crisp feels very
American to me.

Quoted message said:

They will get one shooter each, since Italians rarely drink cocktails
anyway--- it was just the most American drink I could think of and someone
sent me Jello!

Jello shooters are fun. By all means serve them, but please don't
pass along the idea that they are representative of American
cocktails. Maybe you could get ahold of some American beer or wine. A
mint julip, milk punch, or hurricane would at least be regional.

I would also think about serving biscuits -- these are good with ham
during cocktail hour -- and cornbread.

Tara