1+1+(1+1+1) things make a post

[shewhomust]

1. Happy birthday, helenraven! I hope you are celebrating in whatever way you choose...

2. What I should have said in my previous post: GirlBear was home for Christmas, and (despite anxiety beforehand that she should not leave hospital prematurely, however understandable the desire to clear the wards for Christmas) is making good progress and happy to be home.

3. weegoddess, who knows what I like, has brought me gifts from the US:

3a) Thrift shop cookbook, Betty Crocker's Mexican Made Easy (includes recipe for Strawberry Margarita Pie)

3b) Thrift store book not about cookery, Growing Up in Coal Country about children's life in the Pennsylvania coalfield around the turn of the twentieth century (and goodness, it's a signed copy!)

3c) Cookery book not from a thrift store, Centre County Amish Cooking, one of those wonderful spiral-bound cookbooks to which a community contributes the recipes they actually use (such as a recipe for Kosher Dill Banana Pickles - bear in mind that that's Amish Kosher Dill Banana Pickles - which contains no bananas, but does require kosher dill mix)

Comments

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

There is no guarantee that kosher dill mix is actually kosher - it's a description of a pickle style, alas, not a rabbinical guarantee - I do love this aspect of kosher dill pickles.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes senxse. It's always disappointing to have a promising mystery clarified, but it is good for me. In which spirit, can you explain about the bananas?

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

I can give you a picture. It leaves no mystery, but at least you'll be able to make the pickles at home. http://www.flickr.com/photos/yes2art/2558080978/

[helenraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm having a very pleasant day so far, and a friend is coming around this evening to help me celebrate.

I am glad to hear that all worked out well in the end with GirlBear and hospital and Christmas.

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

Hee! Catching up in bits and starts. Glad to contribute to the kitchen mischief!

For what it's worth, kosher dill mix is available in the same Mennonite grocery store as that which sold the local recipe book. If you have need, I'm sure that we could find a way to supply you.

::schemes evilly::

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Mennonites keep kosher? Who knew...?

So apparently 'kosher' is another word which doesn't mean what I thought it meant.

(I like my dill pickles sour-salt rather than sour-sweet; the brand I buy describes the style as 'heimishe')