Hi Dave,

As my grandfather used to say when my grandmother (or my mom) did
things that way - "Use everything but the squeal". Bv)=

We were brought up to use every last little bit. Only one jar of
jelly/jam open at a time--"use up the old before you start the new" was drilled into us early on. Took a while to ease up on those standards
when Steve and I got married as his upbringing wasn't quite as strict.

My grands and my parents lived through both the depression and WWII.
So "waste not, want not" was sort of a watchword - not because of
money (my grandfather had his farm AND a union job as a coal miner)
but because
of availability. Especially during the war when rationing was the
order of the day.

Same with my parents; Dad was born in 1922, Mom in 1929. Dad was in the
Navy during WWII, by 1946 he'd transitioned from active duty to reserves
and went to college (where he met Mom). In late June, 1950 he picked up
his re-enlistment papers on his way to the Buffalo airport, stuck them
in his car visor. He flew to NJ to be in my aunt's wedding, next day
heard war broke out in Korea. He flew back to Buffalo and tore up the
papers; he and Mom then moved up their wedding from October to July.

I usually have plans for just about every bit of meat, again, thanks to
my up bringing. I did make the stock yesterday, both chicken and ham
for both soup (ham for lentil soup) and other uses. When I do a bit of
top of the stove dressing to go with chicken or cook kasha/rice to otherwise stretch out a meal, I'll generally grab a jar of stock
instead of just water for more flavor.

I don't do stuffing/dressing unless it's part of the "traditional"
meal or entree. More likely to make soup. And besides the home-done
stock or broth I've been adding miso paste for a nice flavour kick.

We like it as an easy side, don't do a lot of potatoes. Other
alternatives are couscous or kasha. Dad was a meat and potatoes for
supper man; most often the potatoes were mashed, sometimes with gravy,
other times plain. He didn't really like rice but ate it the few times
Mom made chop suey, ate it more often when a Chinese restaurant opened
up in town (after I left). He and my mom did take out from there
probably every other month.

Been ages since I had an Egg McMuffin. If I'm stuck with Mickey D's I
much prefer the Sausage-Egg McMuffin. More flavour. And if I make it
at home I use Italian sausage patties rather than the regular
"breakfast" sausage.

We've done our own "eggy muffin" at home but not recently. Used to buy Thomas's English Muffins until they tweaked their recipe and added in
some things we'd rather not eat. I need to make some English
muffins--in a quantity that a bunch can be frozen and pulled out from
time to time. I did do that years ago when we couldn't afford to buy
the commercial ones, just another bread to add to my usual baking.

I know that "English Muffins" are a version of the British crumpet. So
I went and dug out the story on my internet machine:

"English muffins are called so in North America to differentiate them
from sweeter cupcake-shaped muffins. The term likely originated from
the Low German word "muffen," meaning "small cakes." In 1874, a
British
baker named Samuel Bath Thomas moved to New York City and baked a
version of crumpets that were thinner, which he trademarked as
"English muffins" in 1894."

Depending on the intended use I may substitute a bagel in place of the more "usual" English Muffin.

Title: Crumpets
Categories: Breads
Yield: 6 crumpets

I've got plenty of similar and have made them from time to time, just
not recently.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28


... One of these days, I'll quit procrastinating.

--- PPoint 3.01
* Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)