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[Joyce Marshall]

Hi everyone. I am a very senior citizen who still has an interest in cooking. My stand-by recipes date back to the fifties, mostly, although I do try new ones often.

I have a question. I just bought a lovely-looking head of celery and it is bitter! If I cook it, will it remove the bitterness? I don't want to ruin a whole pot of soup, etc., by adding it if I am not sure.

 

[kadesma]

Welcome to DC Joyce..I hope you will enjoy the forums and all the wonderful recipes and people here. Now I've never run into bitter celery,so, I would just take a stalk or two, blanch it and see if it is still bitter after a brief cooking. I think I would also taste the water I blanched it in and see if it was bitter as well. Other than that I'd have no way to tell what it would do to soup. Hope this helps a little.

kadesma

 

[Dove]

Hello and welcome to the best site out there. We all enjoy each other and this is also the best support group of you need a friend or someone to talk to.
Marge

very senior citizen ......oh oh.....am I gong to loose my status here? I hope you are under 72.........

 

[jkath]

Welcome to the family, Joyce!

So nice to have you here!

Here's a little something I found out about celery for you:

"When choosing celery, evaluate the celery to ensure that it does not have a seedstem--the presence of a round stem in the place of the smaller tender stalks that should reside in the center of the celery. Celery with seedstems are often more bitter in flavor."

Do you suppose yours has the seedstem? I hate it when celery is bitter! However, if it is, I generally cut it up and toss it into a tomato-based stew. Seems tomato can sweeten up most anything.

 

[Joyce Marshall]

Celery and another question

I can't believe how quickly I got responses to my question about bitter celery. And excellent ones, too. Many thanks.
Now for my next question. Many of my good old gelatine based desserts call for the folding in of egg whites at the last, before refrigerating for the setting process. We never used to think about it in the good old days, but are uncooked egg whites safe to eat?
And I am 86 so maybe I am the oldest subscriber here.

 

[KAYLINDA]

A big Kansas welcome to you Joyce! I admire you for being "computer savvy" enough to get on a forum! And Dove...I think you lost your standing...with Joyce at 86....you're still a baby! So good to have you here Joyce!

 

[mudbug]

Bienvenue, Joyce. Do you have a woodshed?

To answer your question, if the egg whites didn't kill you back in the 50s they probably won't now either.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Hi Joyce & Welcome!!!

Re: the egg whites, check out the baking aisle at your supermarket for powdered egg whites. Even though you have a few years on me, & I used to raise my own chickens for their eggs, I've been using powdered egg whites for recipes calling for raw egg whites for YEARS. They work perfectly in any recipe calling for egg whites & are pasteurized. (You can also usually find powdered whole eggs & powdered egg yolks in the same aisle.)

Even if using regular raw egg whites may not bother you, using the powdered ones eliminates any worry you may have of someone else becoming ill.

 

[licia]

Joyce, so glad to welcome you to the site, and glad you got so many responses to your question. You are the age of my mother and I can hardly imagine her using a computer. My sister does print out our emails so she can read them. I hope we see you here often and I'm sure you can have some answers for us.

 

[Dove]

Bienvenue, Joyce. Do you have a woodshed?

To answer your question, if the egg whites didn't kill you back in the 50s they probably won't now either.

We ate a lot of things in the 50's that they tell us not to eat now..

Joyce, The Woodshed is my imaginary place I invite a few of the members who try to get out of line.. like DeadlySushie and a couple of the others. It is done in fun and out of love.