How do you make toffee popcorn? I was in Minnesota many years ago with a family and the mum used to make really sticky toffee popcorn. It was lovely! Here in England toffee popcorn is very plain...

And potato salad? I also tried it there, they used to put sugar, but one of the SIL made it without sugar (or maybe not too much) and it was really nice. How do you ladies do them?

By Missmudd on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 02:57 pm:

I dont know about toffee popcorn but for potato salad I use potato, egg, onion, sweet pickles, sweet pickle juice, mayo, mustard, parsley, salt and pepper. I couldnt give you amounts because I just throw it together.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 03:42 pm:

Carmelcorn? I'm not sure what you mean by "toffee" and a description would help.

By Alberobello on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 05:05 pm:

Yes, i guess she used to do it with caramel. All i remember was that it was sweet popcorn, very sticky and very sweet. I just thought it was an American thing because i haven't seen it again. But maybe it was just her special recipe. It was lovely though.

Thanks Kristin. Is that pickles from a jar? I am the same with quatities i just throw everything together.

Thanks again.

By Missmudd on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 05:37 pm:

Yes any sweet pickle will do, I personally like my own bread and butter pickles or Steinfelds sweet pickles. I dont know if you have that brand there but they are small about the size of your pinkie and dark green. They are tart in addition to being sweet.

If it is carmel corn that is pretty easy to do, try this:

Make 5 quarts of popped corn. Butter the sides of your sauce pan, in it combine 2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup light corn syrup, and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Cook to hard ball stage 250 degrees f. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour slowly over popped corn stirring just to mix well. Butter hands lightly and shape into balls or lay out flat and let harden. If this isnt the recipe let me know and I will see if I can find the recipe you are looking for.

By Tink on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 05:40 pm:

Maria, I don't know how it is in England but we have two main varieties of pickles, sweet (bread and butter) and dill (sour). I make my potato salad with dill pickles. Everything else is the same as Missmudd's recipe.

Here's a caramel corn recipe. It's all in American measurements so you'd have to convert it but it's so easy and tastes so good!

Caramel Corn *

-----
6 cups Popped popcorn
1/2 cup Almonds slivered -- toasted
3/4 cup Brown sugar -- packed
1/2 cup Margarine or butter
2 tablespoons Light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking soda

MICROWAVE: Combine popcorn and almonds in large micro safe bowl. In 4 cup micro
safe cup, combine brown sugar, margarine, corn syrup and salt. Microwave on
HIGH for 2 minutes; stir. Microwave on HIGH for 2-3 more minutes or until
mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Stir in baking soda; pour over popcorn and almonds.
Mix well; microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes. Spread on foil or wax paper to cool.

By Alberobello on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 05:48 pm:

Thanks Kristin,

I think that might be it. I'll try it...i suppose i need practice. I'll see how it comes out! I am not very good with sweet things, but the toffee popcorn they do here is just like plain popcorn only a bit sweet so i just thought i'd make my own.

I've tried doing caramel before (to do a Mexican desert called "flan napolitano"-i did it just once and it came out good, i suppose it was beginner's luck!). Thanks again!

By Alberobello on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 06:05 pm:

Thanks Cori,

I don't have a microwave! so i guess i'll try Kristin's first LOL ( i do need to get a microwave soon, at least to warm my caffe latte every morning!). Thanks anyway! I'll try the potato salad, but again don't know about the pickles, the only ones that i've seen are the big ones in a jar that come in vinegar. But i'll keep looking.

Maria

By Tink on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 06:10 pm:

Maria, I use the big sour ones, just dice them up. Now, I'm wanting some potato salad!

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 06:14 pm:

Here is a site which has more potato salad recipes than you would ever want to try:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/251/1.shtml

I suggest you look at the one named "Cold Potato Salad Recipe", which looks like the basic potato salad recipe to me. In my family we are very fond of hot or cold German Potato Salad, which has bacon in the recipe and no sugar.

By Alberobello on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 06:15 pm:

I'll definetely try then, because the potato salad i do is very boring! generally i put lots of black pepper and maybe onions to make it a bit more interesting, but had no idea that pickles were included in the recipe. It'll be great for a picnic (weather permitting...).

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 06:17 pm:

And yes, sweet pickles or sweet pickle relish is what most people use in potato salad. Bread and Butter pickles, for one, are sweet pickles (as opposed to dill or sour pickles). Don't know if you can get that in the usual food store in England, but who knows? Relish (in the U.S.)is just pickles chopped up very fine, with the pickle juice. I think "relish" is something different in England.

By Alberobello on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 06:20 pm:

Thanks Ginny! That sure is a lot of potato salads! I am lost again in cold potato salad recipe it says "relish", what is relish? Excuse my ignorance but here relish is some sort of tomato sauce with other things in it, so i guess that's not it because potato salad is whitish for what i remember...

By Alberobello on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 06:24 pm:

Ok then, pickles is definetely not the same (read my post above). I'll try it then, it doesn't sound too hard. And i'll try some of the other potato salads. It is the only way my dh will eat boiled potatoes!

By Missmudd on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 10:12 pm:

Oh another recipe that is super simple, I just came up w/ this myself and the kids love it. Make your popcorn like usual, melt butter or margarine, add some sugar and vanilla. It is super tasty and you dont have to worry about hard crack or anything. It isnt sticky like regular carmel corn but has close to the same flavor and is yummy.

By Ginny~moderator on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 01:03 am:

What we usually mean by relish or pickle relish is a sweet pickle relish - sort of sweet pickles chopped up fine. My mom called it pickalilli. I did a google and found lots of recipes but didn't see any that sounded like it. I remember as a child my mom making pickalilli and it involved, among other things, pushing cucumbers through the grinder so it came out chopped very fine. I'll do a bit of checking and see if I can find a recipe that sounds right so you can see what it is, or check the label on a jar at the market. But we have lots of different kinds of pickles in the U.S. - dill, which are the large sour ones, sweet pickles, bread & butter pickles (slices of pickles in a sweet pickling juice), gherkins (which are miniature sweet pickles), and a whole bunch more. As I walk through the supermarket, sometimes I do believe we have entirely too many choices. But other times when I am looking for something very specific, I am really pleased at all the choices - like when I found the cajun spice mixture that Amy mentioned, in a Philadelpia supermarket.

I think part of it is that so many cultures are part of this country and each brought its own food history and preferences with it - all of which have found their way into the "mainstream" of our food life.

By Alberobello on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 09:31 am:

Thanks Ginny,

Today i bought a huge jar of pickles and they are called "Sweet sour pickled gherkins". It has vinegar, sugar, salt, spices: mustard seed, dill, onions and paprika). They smell really nice so i'll be doing the potato salad this weekend. I wonder what else can i do with such a big jar? Thanks everyone for your recipes, i'll be trying them soon! Kristin, the second recipe you mentioned sounds like the one the do here, i don't think they've ever tried the sticky one.

Thanks again everyone!

By Maddysmommy on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 10:43 am:

here's a recipe that we got from my sister it's called grandma's potatoe salad:
8 med. red potatoes, cubed
4 to 5 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise
2/3 cup of sour cream
3 tablespoon's of sugar
3 tablespoon's of cider or red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon's of prepared mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried minced onion
1 teaspoon of celery seed
salt and pepper to your taste
place the potatoes (with skins on) in a sauce pan w/ water and cover and bring to a boil ; cook until tender( about 15 to 20 minutes) , drain and place them in a bowl to cool, add the eggs. combine the remaining ingredients; pour over potatoes and toss to coat. 8 to 10 servings.

By Alberobello on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 01:23 pm:

Thanks Terri! I'll be nice with the sour cream.

By Phillygirl on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 11:31 pm:

Well here is the "African American" version of Potato salad:
Potato's (of course)
onion
mayo
sweet relish
egg
mustard
dash of hot sauce
seasoning salt
pepper

I cant give amounts either..it is always done by eye.

By Missmudd on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 10:36 am:

So did you try potato salad?

As I look at the recipes for potato salad I have to smile. We have been using my recipe for at least 3 generations. My grandma made sure everything was diced very fine, it tasted different, my mom uses less mustard, it tastes different, my brother uses dill pickles, it tastes different, I dice bigger and use bread and butters mostly, mine tastes different than THE recipe. It is funny that potato salad is such a "family" recipe but that there are sooo many variations and just having one person make it instead of another totally changes the outcome. My dh wont make it anymore cause he likes mine better and it is the exact same ingredients in the same kitchen. I guess as I ramble potato salad is the most personal recipe I can think of.

By Pixie on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 11:41 am:

Well it depends wether or not you like your potato salad slightly sweet or slightly tangy.

I never measure but here is was I use

Potatoes
Pickles (both Dill and Sweet chopped to the consistency you like best)
Onions
Hard Boiled Eggs
Mustard (both Yellow and Spicy Srown)
Mayo
Vinegar/and or dill pickle juice (a few spoonfulls depends how much you make, as with everything els it is done to taste)
Salt
Pepper
Natures Seasoning Blend by Mortons*

Thats for a tangy salad (what I prefer), we add everything to taste* never have a recipe

Now if you wanted a sweeter version use Miracle Whip instead of Mayonaise, sweet pickles only and a bit of sugar or sweet pickle juice if needed.

Potato Salad is very fun to play around with! Good Luck!

By Jann on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 11:42 am:

I think Haywrds Sweet piccalilli spreadables would be the same as our sweet relish. Probably just add in a spoonful at a time and then taste.

By Tunnia on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 12:38 pm:

Isn't it funny how everyone makes their potato salad differently?

I also never measure, but here is how I make mine with the measurements the best I can figure. Oh, and it makes a lot:

-5 pounds potatoes, baked in the oven, cooled, and peeled
-1 dozen hard boiled eggs
-1 large red onion, chopped
-3-4 ribs celery, chopped
-sweet pickle relish with juice, to taste
-8oz sour cream
-enough mayonaise to make it creamy (after adding sour cream)
-a squirt of yellow mustard to add a little color and as a flavor enhancer
-seasoning salt, we prefer Morton's Natures Season

mix it all together, put in a big container and refrigerator over night. It is good fresh, but much better after it's had time to sit and swap the flavors around. MMM! now I want potato salad!

By Alberobello on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 12:49 pm:

Not yet Kristin! i haven't cooked anything for three days, and yesterday went out for pizza! I got my pickles, eggs, mayo, mustard and vinegar. I just need the potatoes (and the rest). The pickles i bought are really nice and i have eaten 1/4 of the bottle so i need to do the potato salad before they are gone.

Thanks all of you for your family recipes, i'll have to do a mix'n match with all the ingredients you gave me. Thanks Jann, i've seen picalilli here somewhere so i'm sure i can get that. The African American sounds good with the touch of heat. Being Mexican i like my food a bit picante. I think i prefer the tangy salad too Pixie, and using the pickle juice instead of the vinegar sounds like a good idea.

Thanks everyone!

By Phillygirl on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 08:14 pm:

I just have one question....ummm....how can i sample some of what you make??? Air express mail? UPS? Maybe you can just drive it to me!

By Missmudd on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 08:30 pm:

Well if you have eaten part of the jar that is a good indicator that you will like it in your potato salad

By Pixie on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 01:12 pm:

Oh I forgot I use celery too! Sometimes I put in some sour cream as well.

By Alberobello on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 07:05 pm:

Today i went to the supermarket and bought "American style relish" so i'm sure it will work. And some sweet picalilli. I thought it would be too tangy so i wanted a bit of sweet in it. But now i'm lost again. What potatoes do you use? I just can't believe the variety! i often use new potatoes or baby potatoes for boilig or roasting, so i bought some of them. But are there any other potatoes better than others? The ones i remember at the market are King William (or is it Edward? LOL), Maris Pyper, White potatoes (and i guess that's it! LOL). But i never know which ones to use for what, that's why i always buy the same...

I'm just a bit slow when doing new things. When i first got together with mi partner i couldn't cook anything. Now can cook a lot of things but they always seem to be the same. So when i want to try something new it always take me a while to buy ingredients i wouldn't otherwise buy. This is the first time i buy a jar of picalilli! and the second that i buy pickles! I will let you know how it went...eventually! Thanks to all for your recipes .

By Missmudd on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 08:47 pm:

We use russet potatos from idaho, they would be the bigger ones used for baked potatos and then we boil them and then peel them. Any potato that would not turn to mush after cooking are good.

By Tink on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 11:54 pm:

I prefer small red-skinned new potatoes. I think they have a firmer texture. I think the skin is thin enough that I don't need to peel them and I like the way it looks.