Tuesday, July 11, 2006

It's just cole slaw





Cabbage Slaw
Holiday Gift of Recipes, 2005

½ cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs. vinegar
1 carrot, shredded
3 Tbs. sugar
½ head cabbage, shredded
salt to taste

Mix together mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Add to shredded cabbage and carrots. Add salt to taste.
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I was in the mood for some good old-fashioned cole slaw. I tried a recipe last week that was awful - it ended up in the trash. The recipe was from a vintage cookbook and it seemed basic enough - evap milk, sugar, vinegar. It was an unexpected failure but I had half a head of cabbage left to try again. I considered a few fancier slaw recipes but I really just wanted a simple cole slaw, one with real Hellman's mayo this time. Here it is - simple, delicious, mildly-creamy cole slaw. Even using a hand grater I was able to put this together in just minutes and it's so much better than the cole slaw from the supermarket deli. I served it with sloppy joes and fries but I love it on pork barbecue sandwiches and also on turkey, roast beef or ham sandwiches too. I've even been known to scoop up cole slaw with Pringles. Actually, I do that when no one is looking so no one knows I do that. Well now you know, but I'm sure you won't tell anyone.

I made the sloppy joes using a jarred sauce from Del Grosso's and it was really good. They make spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, sloppy joe sauce and they have their own amusement park, of course. Makes perfect sense, right? I can't believe Ragu never thought of that.

This 'cookbook' was actually a pamphlet with about 50 pages that a local Christian bookstore gifted to the public by including it as an insert in the local weekly newspaper around the holidays last year. What's special about this booklet is that it includes one of my husband's 'not-really-a-secret' family recipes. Every year at Christmastime, my mother-in-law makes 'dip'. That's all they call it, just 'dip'. Although, honestly, it's more of a spread but who am I to argue with family tradition? We get a container of it to take home on Christmas Eve and then sometimes, not every year, we get more about a week later. Then dip season is over. My mother-in-law is not so secretive as her mother so she would probably give me the recipe but as long as she keeps making it, I don't really need it. But I like knowing I have it 'just in case'. It seems the rest of the world calls this stuff Lulu paste. Without knowing that, I was never able to Google the recipe, but this little freebie cookbook unlocked the mystery. Now, if I could only find out why it's called 'Lulu paste'.

Question of the Day: Do you know anyone who is stingy about sharing recipes?

9 comments:

Rebel In Ontario said...

YES! My MIL is the worst! The last recipe I wanted from her was the one for her pickled eggs (gross but DH loves to take them hunting for him and his buddies). I ended up having to STEAL it! DH and I went over one day and they weren't home, so I got out her recipes and found it, copied it, and brought it home! I told her I had done it and all she said was "all you had to do was ask!"...which I had done about 50 times and it never materialized!

Anonymous said...

I've never had a problem with this. For example, at our family reunions, the recipe exchanges flow freely and I'm always happy to share recipes with anyone.

Jan

Annie said...

Not really. Mostly everyone I've ever asked for a recipe gave it to me. I kid with my mom about her "secret recipes" but she never holds out. Plus she can't keep a secret!

ThursdayNext said...

I got a baklava cheesecake recipe I want to be stingy with, but the person who gave it to me chastized me. He said food must be like people: FREEEEEE!

Must try this cole slaw with Pringles thing.

Anonymous said...

Thursdaynext, we would love it if you would FREEEELY share that recipe for baklava cheesecake. That sounds fantastic. And I could possibly impress my daughter's Greek in-laws with it.:)

Jan

Unknown said...

I don't know about with ALL his recipes, but there is a professor at MC who makes his "famous" fudge at Christmas and won't give the recipe to anyone!

Anonymous said...

JCM says ...

I knew a woman who had a secret NY style cheesecake recipe. People would Oh and Ah over it, yet she wouldn't relinquish the recipe and she died not ever sharing it with the people who loved it.

Anonymous said...

So sad! People WAAAAAaY overestimate how often someone else is going to make "their" recipe, and also forget that most of us can eat the dame great thongs repeatedly and love them every time anyways! Even if it is your signature dessert, it does not minimize it if someone else makes it once or twice. It just seems so selfish to me. Knowing that somone would rather get "me me me me me" credit would definitely stand out more to me than their food. Might even make the food taste less appealing to be honest! Ok off the soapbox now :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, dame great thongs! Lol. Meant to be same great things!