View Full Version : I returned to a "classic"...
cniles
09-13-2005, 08:10 AM
After trying many different chocolate chip cookie renditions, this morning I returned to the original Toll House recipe. Don't get me wrong, I really like "The Chewie" (my favorite out of all) but there is something about Toll House's recipe that is comforting, yummy and has memories of home. ;) Plus my family likes these most of all!!
Have you found this to be the case with other recipes? Returning to the originals or tried and trues??? :)
mrswaz
09-13-2005, 11:45 AM
No matter how many chocolate chip cookies I try, I always return to the Tollhouse recipe. Maybe someday I will just give up trying to find a cookie I consider better.
I'm the same way with Chicken Pot Pie.
Toll House cookies and my basic brownie recipe are the standard for a reason. ;)
LaraW
09-13-2005, 02:21 PM
I also find myself always returning to the Tollhouse Cookies. The added benefit is that the recipe is printed right on the package of chocolate chips, and so you can make sure you have all the ingredients while you're at the store buying chocolate chips! :)
I have a brownie recipe that I started making when I was about 9 or 10, and it is in the Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook. I still use it, though my current copy of this cookbook was picked up at a used book sale after my mother had gotten rid of the one that was MINE! :o
blazedog
09-13-2005, 03:20 PM
Hard to beat the original -- everything else is to be measured against it. :)
On several of the America's Test Kitchen, they've tested stuff like chocolate and mayo and the brands that most people grew up on (i.e. Hellmans/Best and Nestles Chocolate Chips came out tops because people basically said it tasted the way it should taste.
When they tested the slice and bake chocolate chip cookies, most children preferred them to home made Toll House cookies which is probably an indication of how little real home baking is done since again, the children like the cookies because it tasted the way they were supposed to.
We all loved the Toll House recipe so much that I never felt the urge to search for another recipe. (Theory: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!).
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blazedog - Re: "When they tested the slice and bake chocolate chip cookies, most children preferred them to home made Toll House cookies which is probably an indication of how little real home baking is done since again, the children like the cookies because it tasted the way they were "SUPPOSED" to."
I couldn't agree more!
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Recently, a friend was telling me how chagrined she was because her young children are so fond of amercan cheese slices, catsup, chicken nuggets, canned Ravioli and Spaghetti-O's. (almost all of which her children had first encountered at day care, not at home.)
That is not at all difficult to understand. Those foods are all predictable, bland and always taste the same -- like they are "SUPPOSED" to! Foodwise, children are more conservative than Ghengis Khan!
Does anyone remember that old Calvin & Hobbes cartoon where Calvin was sitting at the dinner table, looking horrified, and saying, "EEW! I've never had this before! I won't eat it!"
Children always grow to be more adventurous eaters as they get older. Especially, when they haven't been constantly labeled, and catered to, as "pickey eaters".
blazedog
09-13-2005, 04:45 PM
We all loved the Toll House recipe so much that I never felt the urge to search for another recipe. (Theory: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!).
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Children always grow to be more adventurous eaters as they get older. Especially, when they haven't been constantly labeled, and catered to, as "pickey eaters".
I'm not convinced of that having been out to dinner with more than my share of "adults" who appear terrified of any food that deviates in the slightest from their level of comfort. I have occasionally whispered to them that the frightening food is really only a form of roast chicken -- picking what will be the most predictable item on a menu.
I used to do baking "classes" for sleep overs and one year I decided we would bake a really good chocolate cake -- Little did I know how horrified the girls would be when it was done because it some coffee powder in it -- probably a tablespoon or so to intensify the chocolate taste -- pearls before swine :D It didn't taste like the cake mix chocolate cakes or Ho Ho's which are all just sweetness.
blazedog - You just made my point!
"Especially, when they haven't been constantly labeled, and catered to, as "pickey eaters".
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"I'm not convinced of that having been out to dinner with more than my share of "adults" who appear terrified of any food that deviates in the slightest from their level of comfort."
valchemist
09-13-2005, 05:01 PM
I am kind of the opposite as far as chocolate chip cookies go. I have never cared for the Toll House recipe, but I have made it several times in the past few years (in the midst of chocolate chip cookie testing) just to see if my tastes have changed. each time I make it, I am disappointed. just a matter of everyone's tastes are different.
The only classic recipe I return to is my family's traditional chocolate birthday cake (Preacher's Chocolate Cake). It isn't really the best chocolate cake out there, but it is still my favorite. Probably has something to do with childhood memories and tradition.
blazedog
09-13-2005, 05:09 PM
blazedog - You just made my point!
"Especially, when they haven't been constantly labeled, and catered to, as "pickey eaters".
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"I'm not convinced of that having been out to dinner with more than my share of "adults" who appear terrified of any food that deviates in the slightest from their level of comfort."
I do understand what you are saying but you are assuming that the parents themselves are adventurous and not picky. My assumption is that they were raised on a certain type of food.
Most children are picky in terms of what falls outside their comfort zone -- my niece was raised on sushi and Chinese food - my brother used to take her as a really little toddler to Chinese restaurants because that was where he was eating. However when she went through the demanding "picky' stage she wouldn't eat sandwiches although she would eat the components separately -- i.e. bread and the filling but refused to eat them as a sandwich. She also wouldn't eat melted cheese -- including pizza for awhile. :rolleyes:
"I do understand what you are saying but you are assuming that the parents themselves are adventurous and not picky. My assumption is that they were raised on a certain type of food."
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We are not disagreeing, at all!
"Picky eating" is almost often a several generation thing. But, parents who are adventurous eaters still have those little food-conservative sweeties! I just don't happen to think parents, and grandparents, should publically call attention to it so often, constantly re-inforcing the idea in children's minds.
A friend of my daughter's told her that she had an aunt who had never even tasted rice until after she was grown and married and it was served at her in-law's. Her aunt's mother had never cooked or served it, and she was actually scared to try it.
blazedog
09-13-2005, 06:34 PM
"I do understand what you are saying but you are assuming that the parents themselves are adventurous and not picky. My assumption is that they were raised on a certain type of food."
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We are not disagreeing, at all!
"Picky eating" is almost often a several generation thing. But, parents who are adventurous eaters still have those little food-conservative sweeties! I just don't happen to think parents, and grandparents, should publically call attention to it so often, constantly re-inforcing the idea in children's minds.
A friend of my daughter's told her that she had an aunt who had never even tasted rice until after she was grown and married and it was served at her in-law's. Her aunt's mother had never cooked or served it, and she was actually scared to try it.
Nope not disagreeing -- an interesting dialogue. I very much agree that things tend to be a self fulfilling prophesy in terms of roles doled out in familes -- she's the shy one; he's clumsy; she's the smart one etc.
biondetta
09-14-2005, 06:17 AM
It's a very interesting discussion. I know, as I've gotten older and more interested in cooking, I've realized that I'm fairly open to trying most foods. On the other hand, I've got a lot of friends with very specific food rules and who are much less adventurous, even with basic meats and vegetables.
My parents didn't really cater to my dislikes when I was little. I didn't like onions, but they put them in everything (as I do now!), and it was generally expected that I would eat whatever was put in front of me. I still don't like milk and I'm really not a fan of raw tomatoes unless they've got a ton of salt on them, but those are dislikes that my mother has as well, so part of that could have been her influence. Still, I do keep trying both over the years and I still don't like them.
In terms of "classics", I do admit that I still enjoy the cupcakes sold in grocery stores over those of Magnolia Bakery, but I'm happy to try different recipes. When it comes to desserts, you really can't go wrong, IMO. :)
I am fond of trying many new foods, I don't stick to the usual, I have alot of friends who are afraid of what I eat as they are afraid of it as others have said, and I just remember that they truly are missing something if they don't want to experiment or try new things. As for the usual stand by Toll House cookies, they were my original cookie, but I have come to love the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie (http://www.crisco.com/scripts/display_recipe.asp?recipe_nbr=1341) that is printed inside the label of the Butter Flavor Crisco sticks I have purchased. It is our house favorite when we need an old standby.
Blazedog -
I got sidetracked. I wanted to ask you about this recipe of yours:
"I decided we would bake a really good chocolate cake -- it some coffee powder in it -- probably a tablespoon or so to intensify the chocolate taste."
That sounds wonderful! Do I need the recipe, or should I just add the coffee powder to any chocolate cake recipe?
blazedog
09-14-2005, 02:02 PM
Blazedog -
I got sidetracked. I wanted to ask you about this recipe of yours:
"I decided we would bake a really good chocolate cake -- it some coffee powder in it -- probably a tablespoon or so to intensify the chocolate taste."
That sounds wonderful! Do I need the recipe, or should I just add the coffee powder to any chocolate cake recipe?
A little coffe powder to any chocolate recipe gives it a sophisticated undertone -- children beware. :D
The chocolate cake recipe was very good -- -- very rich but very delicious ((I think it had sour cream). I think I have the recipe at home if you are interested.
"I think it had sour cream. I think I have the recipe at home if you are interested."
Mmmmm! :)
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