Autumn Rose

I posted this in the drinks section, but it wasn't getting much of a response, so I decided to repost in a new category to see if I had better luck.

So, I've never been much of a coffee drinker unless it's coffee that doesn't taste like coffee, haha. But I'm very slow to wake up and get started in the morning, which is really hard, as I have a new puppy that needs walked in the morning. So I was thinking maybe a cup of coffee in the morning would help perk me up, but I don't like traditional coffee. So does does anyone have any suggestions about good coffee? Also, it has to be a variety that doesn't require a fancy coffee machine, as I don't have one of those new fangled things. Lol.

So, I've never been much of a coffee drinker unless it's coffee that doesn't taste like coffee, haha. But I'm very slow to wake up and get started in the morning, which is really hard, as I have a new puppy that needs walked in the morning. So I was thinking maybe a cup of coffee in the morning would help perk me up, but I don't like traditional coffee. So does does anyone have any suggestions about good coffee? Also, it has to be a variety that doesn't require a fancy coffee machine, as I don't have one of those new fangled things. Lol.

I'm an aspiring writer (I've had a couple of small publications), and I would really like to produce a cook book of some kind for possible publishing. I want it to be something that is useful and appeals to other people, so I thought I'd do a little research and ask: if you were browsing a cook book isle at the book store, what would catch your eye? What would interest you? What would you love to read and learn about? A couple of ideas I've had are: Cooking for kids (as in, teaching children how to prepare food, safely of course) and a recipe book that features beauty recipes that can also be altered a bit to make something edible as well (for example, a mayo hair mask that can be made into a salad dressing... weird, perhaps, but it'd be something I'd read!). Any thoughts are appreciated!

I was wondering if anyone can give me some information from their own personal experience. I don't have large pimples, once in a while I'll get a small one, but my main problems are black and white heads, which also make my pores large. I was wondering if anyone knows if proactive would solve these skin problems as well? Thanks for any help!

Hiya, everyone! I'm hoping to get my hair cut soon, so I was hoping to get some input. The hair styles I always choose are ones that I have to work really hard to achieve through flat-ironing and such. My hair is REALLY wavy when it dries naturally. This time, I was thinking it might be best to try to find a style that will work WITH my natural hair, instead of against it, that way I don't have to heat-style so much. I would appreciate any links to pictures or website with hairstyles for wavy hair (wavy, mind you, not curly). Thanks!

This year, since my boyfriend and I spent Thanksgiving with my family, we're planning to spend Christmas with his family. But of course, I wanted to see my family for Christmas too, so we'll be spending some time with my family on Christmas Eve. We decided not to have a huge, traditional meal since the event with my family is smaller this year, but we still wanted to do a little something for food. We decided on small finger foods and hor dourves, buffet-style. Any ideas? Thanks!

My grandmother (who has passed away) use to make home made noodles in turkey broth for Thanksgiving every year. She never gave anyone the recipe and all attempts to duplicate it have failed. The texture of the noodle was not like egg noodles or standard pasta, but what I refer to as "home style", which are a little more doughy, I guess you could say. If you've ever had Bob Evan's chicken and noodles, they are very similar. I tried to look up a copy cat recipe for their noodles, but it just has frozen noodles used in the recipes I've found, and I want to know how to make my own. I'd really like to be able to bring back some memories of my grandma by learning to make a similar dish. Please help! :-)

Traditionally, a pumpkin pie is made in the regular flour based pie crust. I would like to change it up a bit, and put it in a crust similar to graham cracker, but made out of crushed ginger snap cookies. However, the pumpkin pie filling usually bakes in the flour crust for quite a while. Does anyone know, if I put the pie filling into a ginger-snap crust, if it will burn during baking the filling? Also, will it become too soggy and fall apart? If so, how would I remedy that problem? Thanks!

So, I am hoping to make chicken tikka masala in the near future. I would like some suggestions on side dishes that would go well with it, other than rice or noodles. I was thinking maybe some type of cucumber salad? Any ideas are appreciated!

This may seem like a goof-ball question, but I'm more of a chef than a baker, and I've always wondered: When a baking recipe calls for "shortening", what exactly do they mean? What qualifies? Vegetable oil? Crisco? I know it's not just plain old butter, as I've seen recipes that call for one part butter, one part shortening. Thanks!

I forgot to ask this in my previous questiom, so:

If I make my own sausage gravy, is it safe to freeze for future use?

So, breakfast around here is crazy, and often missed, which is not a good thing. So I am trying to come up with ideas for quick breakfast items, so that people can at least grab a little something in the mornings. We really like those little Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits (I know, not the healthiest thing, but better than nothing), but they're kinda pricey. So I thought about making my own. So here's the questions:

If I bring the ground sausage directly home (without freezing it), make it into patties and cook them, can I then freeze them? And if I bake some biscuits, split them, and put the cooked sausage patty in it, can I freeze them that way as well? And if anyone knows, if it IS safe to do those things, can I just microwave until thoroughly thawed and heated, and then eat?

Also, any quick breakfast ideas are appreciated as well ;) Thanks!

Hi everyone! I tried making brownies from scratch the other night, and the results were more cake like in texture. What I would like is a chewy, moist, dense brownie. This is the recipe I used:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 tsp salt

5 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

chocolate chips, sprinkled on top.

I beat together the ingredients, and baked in greased mini muffin tins.

Can someone adjust my recipe so that I get a brownie texture, instead of cake? Please note that I also have the goal of keeping this recipe DAIRY FREE, so I can't use regular butter or milk. If that's the problem, can I sub something like soy or rice milk? Thanks for any help!

Ok, so, I would like to make brownie bites- by that, I mean, I'm thinking that instead of pouring my batter into a pan like usual and then cutting them into portions after they're done, that I could put some batter into mini-muffin tins and make little bite sized brownies. Has anyone else tried this, and does it work/turn out ok? Thanks!

I've never had parsnips before, and I'm thinking of giving them a try. I'd like to add them to my chicken and root-vegetable soup. But at 2 bucks a pound, I don't want to get some, and then not like them. Can someone give a detailed description of how they taste? Thanks for the input!

I have an Ipod nano 2nd gen, 8gb. This version requires that you click the "disconnect" icon located in itunes before unplugging it from the computer. I have the new version of itunes on one computer, but would like to be able to plug up my ipod into another computer, which doesn't meet the minimum requirements for running the new itunes. Does anyone know if it would be safe AND functional to use an old version of itunes that my system can run? Would an older version have the "disconnect" icon required to disconnect my nano? Thanks for any help!

I have southern roots (when I say southern, I'm talking Kentucky), and my family has a couple traditional recipes passed from my grandmother, but sadly, our family is pretty divided, thus making it difficult to have many authentic family recipes/dishes. Would anyone care to share any authentic, southern-food recipes from their own collection? Thanks!

With that said, what are your favorite picnic and barbecue dishes? Traditional or non-traditional, common or uncommon, feel free to share whatever floats your boat! If you have a special family dish, I'd really like you to share the recipe ;) And I'll share mine, too.

I have southern roots, so there are a couple staples and true favorites for summer get togethers. One being, of course, potato salad! Now, we used to always go the easy route (us lazy young people these days, haha) and buy already-made potato salad from the deli at the grocery store. And while this will do in a pinch, I really like the idea of family recipes and traditions and so I started make big batches of potato salad at home from scratch (it's more economical this way, too). I still haven't perfected the flavor to my liking, so I still intend to play around with the basic recipe. If anyone has an interesting recipe for potato salad or a particular special ingredient, I'm open for suggestions.

Other than the potato salad, we do like our fried chicken. This, of course, is either bought or pre-made on the stove top, and then taken to where ever it needs to be. My secret ingredients are lots of pepper and some paprika. Also, shaking it up in the paper bag- that's helpful, too ;) It absorbs extra moisture and helps to coat the chicken evenly.

Baked beans- I don't have a recipe for this, but I think of it as a southern-barbecue staple.

A while back ago, while researching southern food, I came across a delicious, but incredibly easy recipe for a salad. A bit different than collards, but so good, and it does have a southern-style to it. Chop up a whole head of lettuce and big, ripe tomato. Add in some chopped hard boiled eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together however much mayo you think you may need and enough milk to make a dressing (not too thin). Wait until just before serving, then toss the salad with the mayo dressing and season generously with salt and pepper. Don't add in the dressing until right before serving, I can not stress it enough! If you do, you will end up with a very squishy, wilted salad.

The other staple for get together is a dessert, which you've probably had or at least heard of, but it's a big southern favorite. Banana pudding! And not just any banana pudding, it's got to have whipped cream, real bananas, and Nilla wafers, of course! Now, there is some debate in my family as to whether the original recipe my grandma used was made with vanilla pudding, or banana. If you enjoy this dish as well, how do you make yours?

Other than that, at our barbecues, we always have standard "American" fare- hot dogs and burgers. We also have potato chips, macaroni salad, sometimes coleslaw, too. But what I am more interested in are things that are home made, with a personal touch. I think it makes things a little extra special :)

I'm totally addicted to the new grilled chicken from KFC. I like it even better than their fried original! But being so addicted, it could get expensive. Does anyone know what spices and marinades they use for their grilled chicken, so that I can make some at home? Thanks! :)

Can someone please provide me with a detailed recipe on how to make chicken and rice soup in a rice cooker? Other rice cooker soup recipes are also appreciated, but I would really like to know how to make chicken and rice soup :) It puzzles me- do I add all the ingredients at once, or in a certain order, etc, etc. I just don't want to end up with a pot full of mushy over cooked rice, or otherwise. Thanks a lot!