OT: Recipe Help

It's not a dessert, BUT at all the picnics I like to have a platter of raw vegetables and a ranch dip. It seems to go with everything.and I never have enough I bring an empty plate home! Best of all, I fix everything the day before. Barbara in SC

Ranch dressing has been around more than 15 years, but yes, I like the onion dip with the veggies, too. Way back when, I mixed the ranch package mix with mayo to make the dip. Barbara in SC

That's exactly it. If having vinegar in a cake bothers anyone, substitute baking powder for the baking soda. Baking powder already has the acid in it, while baking soda needs an acid to produce bubbles.

Thanks, Kate! I'm sorry it was so hard to find. I have made it four times since Christmas and there has never been a crumb left. It is very rich and moist (unless you forget to put the sour cream in until it has been in the oven for 10 minutes already, but we won't talk about that one - its texture was a little "different" with the late addition).

I think that I might need to make another one soon...DH's birthday is tomorrow. Hmmm....

Rita L.

Kate G. wrote:

Howdy!

Every year our guild has a potluck dinner (and garage sale) at our June meeting. One year I filled a metal bucket w/ ice & little 3 oz cups of ice cream (Bluebell, of course ), and passed it around the tables. Almost everyone took one (what can one little 1/2 cup of ice cream hurt? ) and enjoyed it. "Reminds me of summer picnics when I was a kid." and "We always had these at our family reunion!" and "Oh, I remember these! You're supposed to eat them w/ a tiny wooden 'spoon'." Next week I'll be doing this again; it's easy w/ an ice chest on wheels. ;-) It's easy to serve, easy to keep cool, and you don't have to scoop ice cream, just pass out the little cups.

Cheers! R/Sandy

How could I forget that we have some fine chemists here? Only in the last decade or so have I learned some surprise great chemistry - for example, lemon zest takes canned green beans from dreary to fresh-tasting, and nutmeg does something wonderful to seafood. Since we've had to take care with out diet, special ingredients has been part of the journey. Polly

"Liz Megerle" Putting on my chemist's hat... I'd guess the vinegar is there to react

Howdy!

First had ranch dressing in 1975 at a restaurant in Austin, Tx.. Asked for the recipe, was given it by The Chef, who suggested ways to "cut it down" as his recipe made 5 gallons. He gave me a small jar of it to take home (I don't know which of us was flirting the most; to be wooed by ranch dressing...).

I'm all for easy recipes, esp. when eating outdoors (which I don't during the summer; good god, who comes up w/ these ideas? "Hey! It's 95°F: let's go COOK outside and EAT out there, too!"). Cold foods are easy to keep cold w/ buckets & tubs & chests full of ice (our neighbors have an outdoor 'fridge on their pretty patio). Outdoor cooking in Texas summer is highly over-rated; I let the guys do the big bbq thing (they make such a production of it) while I sit inside (w/ plenty of company) quilting in the a/c. LOL One more easy recipe: watermelon & cantaloupe.

R/Sandy - it's blueberry seas> Ranch dressing/dip hasn't been around that long. Did we all just do

I learn something every day.

All this talk about Ranch Dressing made me look up the Wikipedia article on it.

Apparently it's been around since 1954, and Hidden Valley Ranch was where it originated. Who knew? (Well, someone did, but it wasn't me!)

Your post brought back memories of a dear friend's unforgettable grandmother. Old farm gal from way back who still used a washboard and wood cook stove. Seldom ever even used the electricity in her house except for the "icebox".

My first encounter with this 'set in her ways' old woman was at a BBQ picnic in my friend's back yard. This woman was sitting and looking over the table and had a look on her face like everything smelled bad, then she blurts out....."Well, if this just don't beat all, they SH** in the house and eat in the backyard now!!" Thank goodness I wasn't one of the many to have had a mouthful of anything......definite spew alert! LMAO

Val

A friend gave me the recipe and she called it Wacky Cake...apparently because of no eggs and then the vinegar...haven't a clue what it does..Perhaps like those volcanoes you help kids make for school...baking soda and vinegar???... Is that what makes it rise???....LOL...Mary

Who was keeping it a secret from the rest of us?????...hmmmmm

I went to a dance at the local Grange Hall once and someone was mentioning how you could now drink inside but had to smoke outdoors...Just the opposite of what it once was ! Mary

And on tonight's tv news, they're warning that cell phones are much more dangerous than smoking or asbestos. Something's going to kill us all. I'm hoping to be run over by a motorcycle in the aisle at church. Polly

"MB" I went to a dance at the local Grange Hall once and someone was mentioning

How fun and so easy = more time for quilting! If I was there, I'd try to snack seconds on Bluebell. ;)

Kate,

Google Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding -- it is way easy to fix and a crowd pleaser.

Elzabeth in Soring, Texas