More stupid convert questions - food edition


dahlia
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I love watching cooking shows, from experts to home chefs. I know that we can use wine in cooking, but what about coffee? I just watched a show where the special ingredient was various flavors of coffee. One person recently turned 21 and had never had her ingredient - Irish creme - before since she wasn't legal to drink (truth in posting - I never drank much, but boy, did I love me some Bailey's). I was doing something else at the time, but I assume the bakers all had to taste their coffee to see how they could build a pastry around it. 

Also, what about the situation one year on Hell's Kitchen where the winner got the usual chef's prize, but also became spokesperson for a year for a winery. Could a Mormon do that? I'm not sure how much of a head's up the contestants get - they know the usual prize, but it seems they don't always know the restaurant and I doubt they knew about the winery - so they couldn't have opted out if they were chosen for that season. Also, any given season might have 1 episode that includes alcohol in some way. 

So - no Mormons on FoodTV - unless they have a special on funeral potatoes? :D

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It's up to the individual to decide. 

That being said, the use of alcohol in cooking *is* controversial due to the fact that it doesn't always cook out. Even some people who aren't members of the church avoid it for this very reason, and there was a "mini-myth" that the TV show "Mythbusters" did in which two of the hosts failed a breathalyzer after indulging in Christmas cookies made using alcohol. 

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On 11/25/2018 at 9:43 AM, Sunday21 said:

@dahlia I would not get too fussed about the food thing. There is a story about an apostle happily eating rum cake and saying, The Word of Wisdom is only about drinking! So if you like coffee cake, feel free! 

Never in a million years would I not eat coffee cake because of the coffee.  It wouldn't even have occurred to me. I was never a big coffee drinker, so that doesn't bother me, but I enjoy coffee flavor and eat coffee ice cream, etc.

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39 minutes ago, dahlia said:

coffee cake

Not sure what cake you guys are eating, but the only coffee cake I've ever seen (granted, made at home from a recipe) doesn't have any coffee in it.  My understanding is that the name is because you eat it with coffee (or not, as the case may be).  It's a cake with cinnamon / sugar topping / swirl - kinda like a cinnamon roll (but different consistency).

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I would say pray about it. I know that isn't always a well liked answer, but that is one reason why we have the Gift of the Holy Ghost. If you are doing something that is offensive to the Lord the spirit will let you know.

Personally, I do not cook with alcohol as it does not completely cook out...sometimes as much as 75-80% can be retained. There are charts online that detail the amounts. That being said, all foods that are made up of carbohydrates have trace amounts of alcohol in them...it is a natural part of the decomposition/fermentation process. Carbs change to alcohols which change to acetic acid/vinegar.

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On 11/25/2018 at 7:43 AM, Sunday21 said:

@dahlia I would not get too fussed about the food thing. There is a story about an apostle happily eating rum cake and saying, The Word of Wisdom is only about drinking! So if you like coffee cake, feel free! 

See, I actually agree (to a point) about cooking with alcohol. I have used wine and beer before in cooking various pasta sauces and doughs, and I haven't felt guilty about it. But I have never felt any need to brag about it or rub someone else's face in it. I'm quick to tell my bishop if the subject comes up, so that if he has any problems with it, he can tell me. Other than that, it's a private thing, not hidden shamefully away, but not widely talked about.

If my bishop told me I shouldn't use alcohol in cooking, I would stop. (I actually do very little cooking, and my wife only very rarely uses alcohol, usually in the form of vanilla extract. So it's not a huge issue for us either way.)

I guess what bothers me is people stamping their foot and insisting that there is nothing wrong with their favorite method of consuming alcohol. The whole mindset is rebellious, prideful, and kind of stinky, something I associate more with my preteen children than with adult Saints. Is it really that big a deal to sustain your leaders by e.g. avoiding rumballs? (Which are flat-out nasty, anyway. Good riddance.)

Edited by Vort
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I was raised in a NON-LDS home. Grandma was famous in the Faith, SD area (about a 100-mile radius) for her pies, cakes, cookies, cobblers, cake donuts and raised donuts. When she made fruit cake, she quadruples wraps it in cheesecloth & then aluminum foil AFTER she soaked it in rum. Then she set it aside to 'Cure' or until the rum was all soaked up. Children were NOT allowed to have any. But the adults were all encouraged too. Later as an adult, I didn't like it that way. Didn't like it soaked in whiskey, bourbon or vodka either.

I loved the non-alcoholic fruitcake that she soaked in apple cider or cranberry juice.

She also used coffee, strong, like three times the strength, to make gravy for baked hams. All she ever did to the ham was score it like a checkerboard and put whole cloves in the crossings, then bake it. All the drippings were then softened with the coffee. She then made the gravy using cornstarch rather than flour. When I wasn't allowed third and fourth servings of potatoes AND that delicious gravy, I had gravy over bread.

Mom added coffee to her Boston Baked Beans instead of water - then baked it in the oven. Same with her Chocolate Devil Cake, she used coffee instead of water or milk in her chocolate frostings too. I tried using coffee in place of the milk/water when I made Peanut Butter frosting for the Spice Cake I had made. It was okay, but I didn't repeat it.

Want a difference in your cakes, frostings, ham gravy? Use soda pop. Add cola drinks to the chocolate ones, 7UP, Sprite, Sierra Mist, etc. to the others. Orange to orange.

@Vort Rum balls are soaked in rum and not baked. So, the alcohol doesn't get cooked out. Here is a recipe that is similar to what my ex-mil used to make: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10211/chocolate-rum-balls-i/

Back in my *previous life* when I was really, really inactive and quite the drinker of alcohol drinks - I dearly LOVE Rum & Coke, Rum, Coke, lime squeezed in it aka Cuba Libre, Hot Buttered Rum, Bacardi 150% Rum on the rocks or in hot coffee or hot tea. BUT I detested Rum Balls. They are flat-out nasty.

I also loved me my Baileys, Kalua, Irish Creme, - - -  you know to save space let's just put down what I didn't like to drink, that list is much shorter: Tequila, Gin, Wines. If at a restaurant they add wine to a dish, I request that they substitute apple juice or grape juice. NOT because the latter is alcohol-free, but because the taste to me is infinitely better. IF the cook/chef says no, then I tell them the real truth, I am allergic to alcohol. Even one (01) swallow is enough for my throat to swell shut, the gums & cheeks to swell, and for me to pretty much start choking - to death. No, I don't carry an Epi-pen, because when the cook/chef AND the manager hear that - they quickly comply. Even substituting pineapple juice works great.

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8 hours ago, zil said:

Not sure what cake you guys are eating, but the only coffee cake I've ever seen (granted, made at home from a recipe) doesn't have any coffee in it.  My understanding is that the name is because you eat it with coffee (or not, as the case may be).  It's a cake with cinnamon / sugar topping / swirl - kinda like a cinnamon roll (but different consistency).

That's my understanding too, no actual coffee in coffee cake.

M.

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When I was growing up, my mom used to put out her cigarettes in her cold coffee.  Then I had to clean the coffee cup.  Honestly, neither the smell of cigarettes or coffee really do anything for me.  That's one way to keep the WoW - just be disgusted every time you see or smell something from which you're abstaining.

Edited by NeuroTypical
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18 hours ago, Iggy said:

I was raised in a NON-LDS home. Grandma was famous in the Faith, SD area (about a 100-mile radius) for her pies, cakes, cookies, cobblers, cake donuts and raised donuts. When she made fruit cake, she quadruples wraps it in cheesecloth & then aluminum foil AFTER she soaked it in rum. Then she set it aside to 'Cure' or until the rum was all soaked up. Children were NOT allowed to have any. But the adults were all encouraged too. Later as an adult, I didn't like it that way. Didn't like it soaked in whiskey, bourbon or vodka either.

I loved the non-alcoholic fruitcake that she soaked in apple cider or cranberry juice.

She also used coffee, strong, like three times the strength, to make gravy for baked hams. All she ever did to the ham was score it like a checkerboard and put whole cloves in the crossings, then bake it. All the drippings were then softened with the coffee. She then made the gravy using cornstarch rather than flour. When I wasn't allowed third and fourth servings of potatoes AND that delicious gravy, I had gravy over bread.

Mom added coffee to her Boston Baked Beans instead of water - then baked it in the oven. Same with her Chocolate Devil Cake, she used coffee instead of water or milk in her chocolate frostings too. I tried using coffee in place of the milk/water when I made Peanut Butter frosting for the Spice Cake I had made. It was okay, but I didn't repeat it.

Want a difference in your cakes, frostings, ham gravy? Use soda pop. Add cola drinks to the chocolate ones, 7UP, Sprite, Sierra Mist, etc. to the others. Orange to orange.

@Vort Rum balls are soaked in rum and not baked. So, the alcohol doesn't get cooked out. Here is a recipe that is similar to what my ex-mil used to make: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10211/chocolate-rum-balls-i/

Back in my *previous life* when I was really, really inactive and quite the drinker of alcohol drinks - I dearly LOVE Rum & Coke, Rum, Coke, lime squeezed in it aka Cuba Libre, Hot Buttered Rum, Bacardi 150% Rum on the rocks or in hot coffee or hot tea. BUT I detested Rum Balls. They are flat-out nasty.

I also loved me my Baileys, Kalua, Irish Creme, - - -  you know to save space let's just put down what I didn't like to drink, that list is much shorter: Tequila, Gin, Wines. If at a restaurant they add wine to a dish, I request that they substitute apple juice or grape juice. NOT because the latter is alcohol-free, but because the taste to me is infinitely better. IF the cook/chef says no, then I tell them the real truth, I am allergic to alcohol. Even one (01) swallow is enough for my throat to swell shut, the gums & cheeks to swell, and for me to pretty much start choking - to death. No, I don't carry an Epi-pen, because when the cook/chef AND the manager hear that - they quickly comply. Even substituting pineapple juice works great.

I would not eat it now, but I have never really enjoyed fruit cake after becoming a member.  Some things NEED alcohol to taste better.

With Tequila, you normally need to blend it with something else to really enjoy it.  On it's own, it's rather nasty.

I don't eat or drink anything of that sort today, but I wasn't always a member of the Church.  Today I try to avoid thing that are even cooked with alcohol...speaking for myself.

The one thing I don't think many get over (including myself) is coffee.  Still (unrighteously) yearn for a cup at times, and love the smell.  I don't drink it, but if anything was the hardest for me to give up, that was it.

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When I left the church when I was 18 - I also moved out of my parents home. I began smoking cigarettes, pot, taking speed and drinking alcohol. Hated beer, tequila in all its forms and was allergic to gin - every brand of gin. Juniper berry actually. It tried it's best to kill me. The dark red wines trigger migraines - so they were easy to stay away from. I absolutely loved the smell and taste of whiskey. Good whiskey, top shelf stuff. Also loved the blends - either straight or made into the drink, Old Fashioned. From 1970 until 1983 I pretty much drank from 5 or 6 pm until 10 pm - 2 am.

I quit drinking alcohol cold turkey. When life hit me with hard knocks, I would think - Man, I sure need a drink. But then to think of what I had to do to get one, well that actually stopped me from drinking. I didn't crave alcohol - I craved sugar. Since I was a bartender, I would eat sugar cubes. Then I would nearly empty the candy machine in the lobby. Then I started bringing my own bags of M&M's. Love me my M&M's! Plain, peanut, almond!! 

I quit smoking in 1999. Had my last cigarette just before bed on 2 June 1999. From my birthday 3 June 1999 to date haven't had a cigarette. Yes, I craved them for about a month after I quit. But I was using the 3 step patch and was warned NOT to smoke while using the patch.

I was raised drinking coffee at an early age. Pretty much when we were weaned off of the bottle of milk, we were drinking half a glass of milk and half coffee. In reality, we had to drink up our 8 oz of 2% milk, THEN we could have 1/2 cup coffee topped with milk. When we started Jr. High (7th through 9th grade), we could now have 3/4 cup of coffee with 1/4 cup milk after meals and only after we drank our 8 oz of 2% milk. In High School, we could have a full cup of coffee, anytime during the day, with or without meals. 

Mom and Dad quit drinking alcohol pretty much when I was about 5 months old. The story is that they went out to a barn dance, got drunk and came home to their 4 kids who had chickenpox. I was the baby (bro. @ 8yo, sis # 1 @ 7yo, sis #2 @ 4yo). It wasn't until the following morning that they discovered just how sick us kids were. Both parents had killer hang-overs and then had to take care of feverish, miserable kids and a baby who also had diarrhea. Mom said what set her over the edge was the three buckets of crappies the neighbor brought over as a gift. Just looking at those little fish caused her to lose her cookies. She sent the girl who had babysat all of us, and who stayed overnight, to our Grandmother's home so she could come get those buckets of fish and clean/cook them.

Consequently, they didn't allow the relatives to enter our home drunk. Mom's brothers were the only relatives living near us, and both were mean drunks. Now, if their wives wanted a night out, away from their kids AND husbands to drink and dance, our folks had them bring the kids to our house to spend the night. The Aunts were to pick their children up the next afternoon. They pretty much came with awful hangovers, and Dad would make them a concoction to drink to clear it up and make it all better.

I quit drinking coffee once I came back into activity in 1998. Also went through migraines - again! So I started drinking coffee again. Once the migraines ceased, I then started the regime of reducing the caffeine-laden coffee with decaf. Took me months to get down to 100% decaf. Then I went to Pero. It has been years of drinking Pero and I still haven't found the right amount to add to the cup to keep it from tasting like badly roasted cereal, and no - I won't try Postum. There is no way I am going to pay the price they want for a 2-4 oz jar of floor sweepings! At least with Pero, the price is relatively cheap for the amount you get. AND it really does taste closer to coffee than Postum does. 

I never drank coffee hot. Always it has been warm to ice cold. Yep, in-the-cup-cold. My Dad was a cowboy in his youth. He worked for ranchers who drank boiling hot coffee made over an open fire. He never drank it hot either - that is where I learned it from. If there was a coffee cup or more of coffee left over, then we poured it into ice cube trays and froze it. At lunch, Mom, Dad, and Grandma would have iced coffee. Dad told me that those cowboys and ranchers who drank that boiling hot coffee pretty much cooked their taste buds and throats. He didn't enjoy his coffee that hot, and he sure as the dickens didn't want to scald his mouth & throat or destroy his taste buds. He enjoyed the flavor/taste of foods way too much.

For the past 8 years, I am back to drinking warm to cold coffee. *Leaded* coffee. With the level of arthritic pain, the meds I am taking, and the grand total of Aleve/Tylenol per day that I am allowed, drinking coffee aka caffeine helps with the pain management.  My Stake President is aware as is my Branch President. Both have signed off on my Temple Recommend.

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Guest Godless
4 hours ago, pam said:

You aren't drinking the right Tequila then.  :P  

I saw Pam's avatar and "tequila" in the same space on my unread content page and had to rush in to see what was happening. 

And she's right. There are some great sipping tequilas out there. Spoiler alert: none of them have "Jose" in their name. 

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So... yesterday... one of my kids' friends' parents stopped by to give us a gift.  It was this quite expensive Chardonnay named Louis Latour or something.  So, my husband was prepping dinner when they stopped by so we sat and chatted in the kitchen, we invited them to stay for dinner, and my husband popped open the bottle of Chardonnay, poured some into glasses for the guests,  and poured a generous amount of the bottle into the steak for dinner and the rest into the large mound of empanada filling that he was prepping for the rest of the week.  I have to say, it was yum.  Our guests thought it was genius that we used the bottle to cook with... even as I'm sure they gasped at $50 worth of wine "going up in smoke".  

In any case, I thought it was genius for my husband to spare our guests embarrassment to find out we don't drink.

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42 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

So... yesterday... one of my kids' friends' parents stopped by to give us a gift.  It was this quite expensive Chardonnay named Louis Latour or something.  So, my husband was prepping dinner when they stopped by so we sat and chatted in the kitchen, we invited them to stay for dinner, and my husband popped open the bottle of Chardonnay, poured some into glasses for the guests,  and poured a generous amount of the bottle into the steak for dinner and the rest into the large mound of empanada filling that he was prepping for the rest of the week.  I have to say, it was yum.  Our guests thought it was genius that we used the bottle to cook with... even as I'm sure they gasped at $50 worth of wine "going up in smoke".  

In any case, I thought it was genius for my husband to spare our guests embarrassment to find out we don't drink.

I just always re-gift those type of presents.  

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25 minutes ago, Iggy said:

So now they have NO idea you are LDS and really don't drink.

Uhm... they found out we don't drink when we poured the thing in the steak...  They knew we were LDS long before that.  They just didn't know LDS don't drink.  They're Hindu.

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21 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said:

I just always re-gift those type of presents.  

The normal thing for when you invite guests to dinner is to open the bottle they presented.  Hence, my husband poured them their glass.  In any case, we don't normally re-gift alcohol.  If it is not opened as they brought it, like, if somebody puts it under the tree or something... it just sits in the pantry until somebody comes to open it.  I have a Catholic family.  They like to drink.

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36 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said:

Did not know that.

I would have my eyebrows raised if you did... ;)

And just a story from my family... my parents (and consequently all their kids) don't drink except for very rare social occasions (like, if the President of the Philippines offer my dad a drink... he will not refuse)... and then I have an uncle that is a heavy drinker just shy of alcoholic such that he named his first-born son after Tanduay Rum, consequently, all his children are just like him too.

 

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