OT: but need help with cooking something

I actually used one of my christmas presents the other day - I used if for parmesan chicken - yummo. Finely grate 2 cups parmesan cheese (the best you can afford) and mix this with some pepper and garlic pepper spice mix. Lightly beat 2 egg whites. Coat your chicken bits (I used 4 breasts) in the egg white then roll them in the parmesan mix. Make sure you get heaps on there. Stick on a baking tray lined with foil and cook in the oven at 200 -

220 degrees celsius for 1/2 hour or until cooked and golden. Oh my lordy - just beautiful.

On Fri, 5 Jan 2007 00:43:10 -0600, Jacqueline in KY wrote (in article ):

Jacqueline,

I've never fried chicken, but from you description of your troubles I'd have to guess that your oil may not be hot enough. Sorry I can't be more help.

Maureen

Pepsid Complete works for me! KJ

Zantac. And get scanned for gallstones!

Jacqueline - I can teach you how to get a live chicken ready to cook. Email me off list, as some might not appreciate what might be perceived as gruesome details.

The way great grandma did it: You start with a good cast iron skillet and one whole chicken cut up. Something about the iron skillet makes a difference in the taste, but I don't know why. Put lard/Crisco in the skillet and wait 'til the lard is really hot before you add your coated chicken pieces. Once the chicken is in don't move the pieces. Let cook for half an hour, turn them over and cook until the meat is nearly falling off the drumstick bones.

BTW--Food Network has directions by Alton Brown of "Good Eats" here:

in VA See my quilts at

That may be because she tried to tell you exact measurements while she probably never used any. Try thinking of her recipe as a starting point and play with the ingredient amounts a little. Change one ingredient at a time until you get the results you are looking for. Maybe you are just needing a little more pickle juice and a little less of something else. That's what I had to do with my grandma's corn pudding recipe--and now mine tastes like hers did. (I needed half the butter and nearly twice the amount of lemon extract as her written recipe.) Potato salad, deviled eggs, soup, and meatloaf are all things that the women of my family just make without measurements and I'm not sure if we could write out a useable recipe at all because we just do it all by eye and taste. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Debra, Went to Alton Brown's recipe you linked to below and wow I can't believe it I have all the ingredients, well except the chicken, will buy some tomorrow when out. I even have the Kosher salt and Hungarian paprika, never knew why I even bought that paprika. Guess I do now. I have a sister that swears by Alton Brown and she can fry chicken too but she won't fry it for us.

Thanks for the page,

Jacqueline in KY

I remember following a Heloise hint years ago--she had tried a dozen different ways to fry chicken, and the absolute best way was to make sure the chicken pieces are quite wet, dip or shake them in flour, and let the pieces sit on a rack for some time. I think it was about half an hour, but will look it up. Would you believe I still have my Heloise books, and even refer to them for certain recipes?

Carolyn, I would believe it I think I still have every book I ever owned. I told a friend just a couple of days ago that one goal I had for this year was to get rid of some books. Our guest bedroom is full of them, under the bed, in the closet in boxes and then I have under our ping pong table in the basement full of boxes of books and well, you can't get in my room for the books either. I love books but they are starting to take over.

Jacqueline in KY

I do miss the Hints From Heloise in the paper every day... they were such a help.

We still get them in our paper--but am I correct that her daughter is doing it now?

HELOISE BOWLES CRUSE THE ORIGINAL HELOISE

Mother and Daughter

The original Heloise was born an identical twin, Heloise and Louise Bowles, in Fort Worth, Texas on May 4, 1919.

She graduated from Felt and Tarrent Business College and Draughn?s Business College in 1939.

In 1946 she met and married Marshal (Mike) Holman Cruse, a captain in the Army Air Forces. Cruse was then stationed in China and Heloise moved to Nanking in 1948. They left China and moved to Waco, Texas.

In 1951, daughter Poncé Kiah Marchelle Heloise, the current Heloise, was born and the family moved to Arlington, Virginia in 1953 and on to Hawaii in

1958.

Heloise has decided that she wanted to write a column in a newspaper for to help housewives, She marched to the office of the Honolulu Advertiser to see the editor to discuss her idea. She even offered to work for free for 30 days and the editor took a chance?The Readers? Exchange column began in

1959. It was such a success by 1961 that Time magazine did an article on Heloise.

Later in 1961, King Features Syndicate convinced Heloise to syndicate her column with a new title, Hints from Heloise. By 1962 it was running in 158 newspapers and in 1964 it was appearing 593 newspapers in America and abroad.

Col. Cruse and Heloise moved to San Antonio in 1966. Heloise?s daughter Poncé, who was majoring in math at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University), was helping her mother out with the column.

Heloise died December 28, 1977. Her tombstone read, "Heloise, Every Housewife?s Friend."

Her daughter took over the column and continues to write the Hints from Heloise column.

About Heloise aka Poncé Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse Evans

Born April 15, 1951, Waco, Texas

Home and Office Box 795000 San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000

Husband David Evans, contractor No children, 3 dogs, 1 parrot, 5 staff assistants

Syndicated Newspaper Column Hints From Heloise runs seven days a week in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and internationally.

Magazines Contributing Editor of Good Housekeeping magazine and monthly columnist: Good Advice: Heloise to the Rescue

Radio Interviews experts and posts on:

A frequent guest on local radio shows

Television Appears on national TV, including Late Show with David Letterman, Today Show, The View, Jane Pauley Show, CNN and local stations.

Books

*Get Organized With Heloise (2004) *Heloise Conquers Stinks and Stains (2003) *In the Kitchen With Heloise (2000) *Heloise?s Hints for All Occasions (1995) *Heloise?s Household Hints for Singles (1993) *Heloise from A to Z (1992, revised 2004) *Hints for a Healthy Planet (1990) *All-New Hints From Heloise (1989, revised 2004) *Heloise?s Beauty Book (1989) *Help! From Heloise (1982) *Hints From Heloise (1980)

Lecture Circuit Heloise gives numerous speeches to business and civic organizations in the U.S.

Charitable Work Heloise makes frequent appearances for Battered Women?s Shelters, the USO, The American Heart Association.

Awards

• Mental Health Mission Award, National Mental Health Association?s first award for outstanding contribution to mental health education

• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University)

• Headliner Award, Women in Communications

Education

*Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University), San Marcos, Texas, 1974 B.S. Education, a double major in Business Administration and Mathematics, with a teacher's certificate

Thanks, Val!

You're welcome! Debra in VA See my quilts at

LOL you are right Debra! The times I'd watch her make it she cooked just like me - a slurp of this, dollop of that, sprinkle of so and so. Gosh I miss her and those times in the kitchen. I remember coming home from primary school to her place sometimes and sitting at the kitchen table whilst being fed potato pancakes straight from the frying pan. Oh heaven they were good.

Sharon that's the only way to cook unless you are baking, then I try to be more exact but not to perfection. I have one sister that any time I try a new recipe and she likes it she asks how did you make this and I will either say, I just opened up the cabinet and put in what I thought it needed or here's the recipe but I adjusted things in it. She gets really upset with me at times because of this, because she will not experiment. I figure if it doesn't turn out today then tomorrow we will have something different that will work. I allow myself one mess up in the kitchen a week, of course there are sometimes we have more than that, but never that is not eatable.

Jacqueline in KY

Yup, my ma is like that too - for some reason she gets really irritated that I make things from scratch instead of using packet or store bought things which make life easier. I keep telling her that, for example, I way prefer my pizza dough and finished product to the local pizza shop or what you can buy from the supermarket. Not that I'm averse to eating their stuff I just can't see the point is spending $12 for a greasy, ingredient deficient one to spending $5 tops on one of my own with as much goodies as I can pack on.

Sharon, My Dad would die if he even thought I used a package something. Now he doesn't mind that I cook in bulk and freeze it for when I am in a hurry or something, or just don't feel like cooking but sometimes he does say, "Jacqueline, did you get this out of a package?" I say, "nope dad, I made it and had it in the freezer." He is OK with that but if he thought it came out of a package he would die. I do confess that I recently did something I had never done in my life and made instant mashed potatoes, only because he refuses to let me buy and what we have left from the garden are all quarter size and I am not peeling them. I use them on top of beans or throw them in the beef roast and stuff. If he wants to stand and peel them that is fine, but I have other things to do with my time.

I love to cook though, or I did, seems like I haven't had much time or energy since my knee surgery to do it.

Jacquel>Yup, my ma is like that too - for some reason she gets really irritated that