Weekly Cooking Thread - February 10, 2017

Our Kitchens ^ | 02/10/17 | The Freeping Cooks

[Yaelle]

Lol! It means maybe you don’t get enough sleep, you rush from dreamland to real life really fast, you don’t get enough REM sleep, and .... you don’t get enough of substances that can give you more vivid dreams.

For instance, some forms of magnesium can really give you deeper sleep and maybe better dreams. I use magnesium glycinate, taken before bed. Also, resistant starch is supposed to give you more vivid dreams. That would be either eating more resistant starch in your normal diet, or even adding some resistant starch powder to a glass of water or juice or milk, like potato starch, supposed to be one of the best sources. Start with just a teaspoon. Tasteless. The healthy gut bugs love it and their byproducts apparently do good things for the brain. Some bad gut bugs don’t love it and will give you diarrhea from it, as I learned years ago when my gut was not good. As your gut gets better you will be able to tolerate several tablespoons a day with ease. But there was a time when I could not handle one teaspoon. But people talk about the vivid dreaming that upping your resistant starch can bring.

[Jamestown1630]

We have our cats on ‘Beyond’, which we mix with a little Cat Chow. They don’t seem to have any problems with grain, but it’s good that they’re making better cat foods now.

[Jamestown1630]

I love potato salad :-)

Melatonin will do this, too; but the effect seems to calm down with routine use. The first time I used it I had startlingly vivid and very interesting dreams.

[who knows what evil?]

It is a good thing that cat food ingredients are being ‘upgraded’ from corn meal and such...cats aren’t designed to process grain. After all...when is the last time you had to chase cats out of your corn patch?

[Liz]

I remember a religion class taught that “dreams reveal subconscious desires.”

[Liz]

CHOCOLATE CHERRY BOMBS / makes about 3 doz

PREP Blend cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl until moistened. Using a hand held mixer , beat on medium speed for two minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan/s. Bake for 29-35 minutes (see package for specific times for each pan size). Cool cake completely.

ASSEMBLY Crumble cooled cake into a large mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup frosting and mix until well combined. Add more if needed. Scoop mixture out by the tablespoonful or use a small ice cream scoop. Roll each scoop into a ball. Drain maraschino cherries and pat dry with paper towels. Press one cherry into the center of each cake ball. Bring the cake mixture up and around the cherry. Roll in between your two hands to form a nice ball.

FINAL Melt and temper semi-sweet chocolate or melt confectionery coating/candy melts. Dip cake covered cherries in chocolate. Set on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate if using tempered semi-sweet chocolate until set, about 10 minutes. If using dark candy melts, place your cherry bombs in the freezer until set, about 5 minutes.

SERVE at room temperature.

ING Pillsbury Devil’s Food Cake Mix 1 1/4 cups water 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3 eggs 1/4 cup from tub Pillsbury Classic White Frosting* 30-48 Maraschino Cherries with stems* 16-22 oz. tempered semi-sweet chocolate (or dark confectionery coating/candy melts)

[Trillian]

Happy Birthday to your son, Yaelle!
When I went to the grocery store yesterday, I was surprised at how much they are charging for chocolate covered strawberries ($17 for a few). They are so easy to make homemade.
I've got heart shaped cupcakes planned, a heart shaped anisette cake with cocoa whipped cream and if I'm feeling up to it, some cookies.

[DollyCali]

oh what a fun thread this week.. pretty stuff

Taking a break from the Trump Train Dose thread to see what was in latest posts and came across this..

Hi to all..

[DollyCali]

oh what a fun thread this week.. pretty stuff

Taking a break from the Trump Train Dose thread to see what was in latest posts and came across this..

Hi to all..

[Liz]

A chocolate anisette cake iced w/ chocolate whipped cream.........sounds luscious.

[Trillian]

Here are some recipes on my to make list. They all sound like they’d be great for Valentine’s Day:
http://sugarspiceandfamilylife.com/2017/02/hidden-heart-chocolate-cupcakes-recipe.html
http://www.averiecooks.com/2017/02/peanut-butter-brookies.html
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/double-chocolate-mousse-torte/
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/white-velvet-sugar-cookies/
http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/yeast-donuts-with-fresh-raspberry-glaze-recipe/
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/strawberry-chocolate-cake/
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/mini-chocolate-pecan-cheesecakes/
http://mystylespot.net/valentines-day-recipe-chocolate-mocha-bundt-cake/

[Jamestown1630]

Probably both; a way of working things out on a symbolic level.

[Jamestown1630]

When I was a kid, I routinely dreamed that I was flying; it was very exhilarating, but stopped as I grew older. A few months ago I was reading a book, ‘Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self’, by Robert Waggoner, and remembered those flying dreams.

After just reading a few chapters of this book one day, I went to sleep that night, found myself aware that I was dreaming, and said, “I’m going to fly!”. I flew again - making the very mistake that he mentions in the book, of trying to fly by using your arms, or swimming motions, to lift you up - so my flying was bumbling, not the effortless thing it was in childhood. I realize now that the ‘movement’ properly comes as an impulse from inside, and is a mental/feeling ‘movement’.

The point is that just thinking and ‘intending’ about this can cause you to be ‘awake’ in a dream. One of the most interesting things he talks about in the book is the possibility of ‘asking’ the dream, or people in the dream, questions; trying to find out what the dream is about, or just any old question. Dreaming must be a way of knowing deeper layers of ourselves, can be a problem-solving method, etc. But we generally just let dreams ‘happen’ to us.

I’m sure that most people have had the experience of going to sleep with a depressing problem, and waking up feeling much better about it, or even having found a solution; and then there’s the story of Kekulé and the benzene ‘ring’. That seems to have been more a ‘vision’ from imagination, than a dream; but it seems that we have all sorts of problem solving skills and knowledge that operate or are revealed when the conscious mind is somewhat in abeyance...

[Liz]

........go to sleep with a depressing problem, and waking up having found a solution....

Yes, that's a very helpful thing to know.

[Liz]

Another tidbit about dreams....if you dream in color, it means you’re very creative.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve never understood when people say they ‘dream in black and white’. You don’t have/use eyes in dreams. If I “see” a red rose in a dream, it’s the *idea* of a red rose, and it says ‘red’ to me...

I think when people say they dream in black and white, it’s the same as when they say they don’t dream at all - they’re just not remembering, or not retaining, the entire experience after they awaken.

[Yaelle]

Hi Dolly! Come eat!

[Liz]

Valentine's-Day appropriate.

STRAWBERRY PINA COLADA / creates flowing lava effect.

Blender 2 oz rum, 1/2 oz coconut cream, 2 oz strawberries to smooth paste. Pour into Collins glass.

Separately, blender smooth 2 oz coconut cream, 2 oz pineapple juice, crushed ice.

ASSEMBLY Pour coconut mixture atop strawberry mixture very slowly; strawberry mixture oozes to top along sides of the glass creating flowing lava effect.

SERVE Garnished w/ pineapple wedges or a stemmed strawberry.

[Liz]

Jest sayin'.......this might fan the flames of love.

Flaming martini.

[Liz]

I also think our dreams are responses to our moods. Sometimes we’re sad b/c of illness, death in the fmily....then dreams reflect that.

Seems to me when you dreamed of flying, you must have been a happy little girl....exuberantly spreading your wings..... fearlessly taking on the whole wide world without trepidation.