I'm guessing you need to be American born and raised (or perhaps a Pillsbury shareholder) to gaze upon this Hot Fudge-Marshmallow Monkey Bread without heaving but it made the finals in the 2010 Pillsbury Bake Off, the $1 million contest that makes GBBO look like a cranky health food promotion.
By chance this afternoon I came across this funny talk by Laura Shapiro at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, an event I would dearly love to attend. I particularly liked the sound of turkey eleganté (note the sophisticated accent!) made from frozen turkey spread with Spam and anchovy paste and baked in a pie. Pizza Wellington made with meatloaf - perhaps not officially recognised in Naples - was a homage to beef Wellington. Magic marshmallow crescent puffs from 1969 were a forerunner of molecular gastronomy and got a religious twist when they were adopted at Easter as Resurrection Rolls. Sadly, I am not immune to this kind of thing as Waitrose chocolate and ginger mince pies, a 10p bargain that a stronger woman would resist, are warming through in the oven as I write. But when they're finished, that's it - the season of indulgence is officially over!
Sometimes my American friends on Facebook post things that they adore, in a video which makes me feel seriously sick. They always add bright yellow cheese to the savoury things which are always fried or waffled. The sweet stuff always has Oreos on it. So very gross.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year Mary, thank you for all your posts last year.
I debated (for a whole 30 seconds) whether or not to throw away four mince pies, two gingerbread men, and a bit of shortbread. You just never know when the mood for something sweet will strike, but that chocolate monkey thingy...well, it's just not appealing, is it.
ReplyDeleteAmerican born and raised - and I love chocolate - but that thing's a no. Just no. Also in the just no category - spam.
ReplyDeleteThe marshmallows have to be the deal breaker although hot fudge sauce on any kind of bread really doesn't appeal. However, for all the Brits who are reading -- it does sort of remind me of that famous refrigerator cake that I've had in more than one or two British households: Chunks of some form of biscuit or short bread with melted chocolate/butter over it and served with whipped cream or ice cream. In fact the frozen turkey with Spam and anchovies sounds far worse although Spam is the great treat in Hawaii. Probably served with pineapple. Let us face it we could make up some really disgusting offerings: hot dogs/tube steaks and tapioca? Canned fruit salad encased in lime jello mixed with cottage cheese? Double and triple ugh! Same for Milk Toast which used to be a respectable nursery supper.
ReplyDeleteOreos, yuck! To be fair, Toffeeapple, there was some weird British cookery happening in the 50s and 60s, too. Happy New Year to you, too.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of a pudding I once ordered in a restaurant in Virginia, Darlene - I can only say it sounded better on the menu than it looked. This afternoon I donated the last of the Christmas chocolate to younger friends; not as generous as it sounds as I don't much like chocolate and wanted it out of the house. (No self-control, you see, even though I don't really like it!)
You have to admire the creative minds behind both: that chocolate abomination and Spam!
I used to love refrigerator cake, Ginny; it was a treat at other people's houses because my mum would never have made it - but I don't think it ever had cream on. Jelly and fruit salad appeared most Sunday lunchtimes, minus the cottage cheese. I had to google tube steak (I was imagining something like andouillettes - which are very tube-y!) and I'd never heard of milk toast either - but yuck! Clearly some things aren't for export!
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