My Quiz Answers

1. How will you/did you spend Father's Day? Cookout, picnic, restaurant? Any special food traditions?

Our tradition of the last few years (hmmm... how old does something have to be to qualify as a tradition?) has been to play a round of miniature golf. Actually, this is my youngest brother's tradition. Originally it was just he and my dad, but now I'm invited join in the festivities along with my mom, sister-in-law and Cassidy. This year David and Stephanie spent the weekend with her parents, so our miniature golf game is scheduled for next weekend. My personal tradition, as I've mentioned before, is to make my dad a batch of fig bars (Maida Heatter's "Big Newtons"). I delivered those to him on Father's Day, had brunch with my parents, and played a few hands of Flinch. It was a very nice day and I'm looking forward to Father's Day part II next Sunday!


2. Do you know what the odds are of having more than one double-yolked egg in one carton of eggs?

OK, I have to apologize on this one. It was obviously a setup, but the least I could have done was word the question more clearly. I don't know what the odds of getting more than one double-yolked egg in a carton are - as you all guessed, they're probably quite low. What I should have asked was, if you find a double-yolked egg, what are the odds that you'll find another in the same carton? I presumed, as you might, that they would be *really* low, but that is apparently not the case. I bought a carton a couple of weeks ago and upon using the first egg, saw my very first double-yolked egg. I was amused and not at all alarmed to see one double-yolked egg, but by the time I'd cracked open the third or fourth I was a little freaked and was wondering what kind of mutant chickens were making my eggs. I was thinking of firing off an email to Jen, who is blogdom's resident expert on eggs, but decided to first consult Google. I learned that the large eggs layed by young hens are likely to be double-yolked. So, that means that if your carton of large eggs came from a young flock, there's a good chance you'll have more than one double-yolked egg. In my case, every single one of them was double-yolked. I know they're supposed to be lucky, but still... I was never so glad to finish a carton of eggs!


3. Do you have any "cooking cheats"... shortcuts you take because it's easier and no one will ever know the difference?

Now with this question, lazy cook that I am, I was really hoping to get some good tips! Using canned tomatoes is such a normal thing for me that I had never even thought of it as a cheat, but I may avoid a future emergency run to the grocery store the next time I'm a little short on milk thanks to Mari! My cheats have to do with sifting. These days I seldom sift flour before measuring, instead just fluffing it up a bit with the scoop. I used to have just the teensiest guilt pangs when I'd do this, but then one day saw Ina Garten doing the same thing. Now I know I'm in good company and the guilt is gone :) Usually, when a recipe says to sift ingredients together I'll go along with that, but if I need to put those dry ingredients in a bowl anyway, I'll just whisk them together rather than dragging out the sifter or strainer.


4. If you were to indulge in a peanut butter sandwich, what would you have with it? Strawberry jam? Grape jelly? Cheese?

Mmmm... so many possibilities! I'd have trouble picking just one. At the moment it would probably be strawberry jam, since I just made some recently. In the past I always enjoyed my homemade apricot jam and another favorite is apple butter. I love Chuck's idea of bananas and will have to give that a try soon. Here's one that might not have occurred to you, but which is (trust me) delicious: thinly sliced dill pickles. Really!

5. When loading the dishwasher, do you think the spoons and forks should go up (handle down) or down?

I think we're all in agreement on this one - handles down!


Thanks to Mari, Leigh, Zarah, Nupur and Chuck for taking the quiz - I've really enjoyed reading your responses!

The Sunday Quiz

The Sunday Doodle

Just curious, wondering, need to know...

1. How will you/did you spend Father's Day? Cookout, picnic, restaurant? Any special food traditions?

2. Do you know what the odds are of having more than one double-yolked egg in one carton of eggs?

3. Do you have any "cooking cheats"... shortcuts you take because it's easier and no one will ever know the difference?

4. If you were to indulge in a peanut butter sandwich, what would you have with it? Strawberry jam? Grape jelly? Cheese?

5. When loading the dishwasher, do you think the spoons and forks should go up (handle down) or down?

Leave your answers in the comments... I'll post mine on Tuesday. Have a great week, and happy Father's Day!

My Quiz Answers

1. Do you know the difference between "Crushed Tomatoes" and "Ground Peeled Tomatoes"? Muir Glen sells both and to my eye they look exactly the same.

I've been wondering about this for quite some time, but it didn't occur to me until just a couple of weeks ago that I could email my question to Muir Glen. I got a speedy, albeit to-the-point, response: Thank you for contacting us. Because of the higher solids content (higher Brix), the Crushed product is a thicker product. If there is anything else we can do concerning this matter, please let us know. I wasn't familiar with the term, Brix, but I've now learned that it is a measure of dissolved solids, or more specifically dissolved sugars. I compared the nutrition labels on the Muir Glen site and the crushed tomatoes are indeed higher in calories (25 calories per serving vs. 20 calories) and sugars (3 grams vs. 2 grams).


2. Do you eat breakfast cereal? For breakfast? Do you have a favorite?

Cereal is my breakfast mainstay. In warmer weather I have cold cereal with milk and (usually) fresh fruit just about every morning. In cold weather I switch to hot oatmeal with a little brown sugar. My favorite cold cereal seems to change every few years, but for the past several years it has been Nature's Path Multigrain Oatbran Flakes. I like the taste and I like that it's slightly sweet, so I don't need to add sugar. Bonus - the flakes are very sturdy and don't get soggy in milk. :)


3. You're channel surfing and come upon the Food Network. Who would you stop for? A. Emeril, B. Bobby Flay, C. Giada De Laurentiis, D. Ina Garten, E. Alton Brown, F. Oh please, I'd be on the next channel so fast...

Like so many others, I'm of the opinion that the Food Network has gone seriously downhill (it started when they took Sara Moulton's Cooking Live off the air), but hope springs eternal, so I still check the line-up from time to time. I used to really enjoy Alton Brown and didn't mind Giada De Laurentiis, but sort of can't be bothered with either any more. I still stop for Ina Garten though.


4. How much time do you typically spend fixing dinner (not including clean-up) on a weeknight?

Except on very rare occasions, 15 to 30 minutes, tops. It's rare that I do much more than heat up some leftovers on a weeknight. If I'm out of leftovers, it's got to be something I can throw together pretty quick because I'm usually ravenous by the time I get home.


5. I recently came across a recipe that calls for "4 to 5 fresh sage leaves, peeled and finely chopped". Any ideas on how to peel a sage leaf, or do you think it's a mistake?

I was hoping one of you would know the answer to this. I have plenty of sage out in my garden, so gave peeling sage a shot and failed miserably. I can't imagine that it's worth the trouble, even if it is possible, but I'm still curious to know. I'm thinking about sending a letter off to the publisher to see if I can get to the bottom of this.

Thanks to Rachel, Stephanie, Nupur, and Anonymous for playing along! See their answers here. Unfortunately, no one came up with a way to peel sage :) but they had some good guesses on crushed vs. ground tomatoes and I enjoyed comparing notes on cereal, food TV, and preparing weeknight dinners.

The Sunday Quiz

The Sunday Doodle

Just curious, wondering, need to know...

1. Do you know the difference between "Crushed Tomatoes" and "Ground Peeled Tomatoes"? Muir Glen sells both and to my eye they look exactly the same.

2. Do you eat breakfast cereal? For breakfast? Do you have a favorite?

3. You're channel surfing and come upon the Food Network. Who would you stop for? A. Emeril, B. Bobby Flay, C. Giada De Laurentiis, D. Ina Garten, E. Alton Brown, F. Oh please, I'd be on the next channel so fast...

4. How much time do you typically spend fixing dinner (not including clean-up) on a weeknight?

5. I recently came across a recipe that calls for "4 to 5 fresh sage leaves, peeled and finely chopped". Any ideas on how to peel a sage leaf, or do you think it's a mistake?

Leave your answers in the comments... I'll post mine on Tuesday. Have a great week!