Thanks for the ideas! I love the pigs in a blanket idea but I am not going to be able to keep things warm, unless I take my electric oven over there - it is a little bit big! The baked beans, and sloppy joe filling can be kept warm in a crockpot or electric chafing dish - those are easy to move. I am going to ask the school kitchen to cook the corn for me. The fruit salad should be cold. The chicken can also be kept warm in some kind of electric pot - maybe even a rice cooker - I only have one crock pot, one chafing dish and one rice cooker
That is a big consideration for me - the logistic part of this all. I would like to do burgers but beef here - to make a real burger - is expensive, ground beef is twice the cost of ground pork and chicken is cheaper than pork - and I will not have access to cooking facilities.
I appreciate your comments about making the meal more "asian" friendly. A part of the process for planning a meal is to consider the variety of colors on the table as well - fruit will have to make up for that....hmmm..maybe I can take my oven there...and cook dessert before their very eyes...any suggestions for the best kind of dough to use for the pigs in a blanket? Also, the way that I usually make sloppy joes - a simple way - is with a ketchup, onions, a little garlic, Worcestershire sauce and ground pork. It ends up look almost exactly like my spaghetti sauce. Does anyone have a recipe for sloppy joe fillings that is more brown than red? If I could do that, i could make both dishes and ask the kitchen to do the noodles for me. Hmmmm maybe...chili.... boy, the possibilities are mounting!
Note: should i let the dough rise before putting it around the dog, or put it around the dog and then let it rise? Are there any secrets to making these? What is the key to making tasty blanketed pigs? I will probably use little sausages to make them bit size and, maybe more appealing to those who have never had one.
Any creative suggestions for drinks? not overly sweet is the best rule. Besides Coca Cola, is there any drink commonly drunk in the summer? Lemon aid? ice tea?
Put the dough around the "pig" and then let it rise. The dough should be thin, as if your were making fry bread. It will thicken as it rises. Also, let it rise on the cooking sheet. so as not to deflate it when you try to move them. Bake until golden brown.
If you can purchase frozen bread dough, use that to save time. Just roll it thin, and cut it into squares just big enough to roll around a sausage of hot dog. Roll, pinch the edges together, place on the baking pan, seem side down, let rise, and bake until golden brown.
Sloppy Joe's Goodweed style:
This recipe is taken from my cookbook - "You Can Be A Great Cook With Beef". Enjoy.
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Sloppy Joe's[/FONT]
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Before I met my wife, I was going out with another young lady who lived at home with her parents. One day I was at her place and she said “Ya want some lunch”? Of course, being an [/FONT]
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exceptionally slender twenty year old, with an ultra high [/FONT]
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metabolism (whatever happened to that metabolism anyway), I [/FONT]
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said “Sure”.[/FONT]
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She went into the kitchen to find a can of store bought Sloppy Joe sauce and some ground beef. To make a long story short, she had no sauce and was at a loss for something to make. I replied that peanut butter and jelly would be fine. She complained that her heart was set on Sloppy Joe's.[/FONT]
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I said “Well let me see whatcha got.” She had ketchup, brownsugar, Worcestershire Sauce, tomato paste, etc. I quickly [/FONT]
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threw together a sauce with fresh chopped onions and green [/FONT]
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peppers added for texture and flavor. She was amazed. I was [/FONT]
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amazed that she was amazed. But I was the culinary hero (a [/FONT]
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dangerous thing for a twenty year old whose head swelled [/FONT]
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easily). I wasn't yet a very good cook. But this seemed pretty [/FONT]
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elementary to me.[/FONT]
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The point of this is that with a little imagination, you cancreate almost any recipe you desire. And remember, if you makeyour own, you can tailor it to your tastes. [/FONT]
This is the original “meal in a pan”. As an example of the “[FONT=Courier New, monospace]
tailor it to your taste” principle, my wife's idea of Sloppy Joe Sauce is completely different from mine. Hers is [/FONT]
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really good, and exceptionally easy to make. However, this is [/FONT]
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my book so your going to get my sauce. After you get the idea, [/FONT]
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you can make your own, modified to fit your family's tastes. [/FONT]
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You can even use the store bought stuff if you like it. I won't tell.[/FONT]
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*[/FONT]
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Ingredients:[/FONT]
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1 4 oz. can tomato paste[/FONT]
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1 6 oz can Tomato Sauce[/FONT]
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1 12 oz. can dark red kidney beans[/FONT]
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½ clove minced garlic[/FONT]
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½ medium yellow onion, diced[/FONT]
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3 heaping tbs. chopped green pepper[/FONT]
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1/4 cup dark brown sugar (for Diabetics, substitute an equal [/FONT]
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amount of Splenda brand sweetener and a tsp. of molasses)[/FONT]
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1 tsp. Chili Powder[/FONT]
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½ tsp. Salt[/FONT]
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1 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce[/FONT]
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1 bay leaf, crumbled[/FONT]
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2 tbs. olive oil[/FONT]
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1 lb. ground beef[/FONT]
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Place ground beef into a 12 inch covered frying pan and place over medium heat. While the pan is warming, add the olive oil to a 1 quart sauce pan and apply medium heat. Add the garlic, [/FONT]
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onion, and bay leaf to the oil and saute until the onion turns [/FONT]
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translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, stir until well [/FONT]
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blended, cover and turn down heat to simmer.[/FONT]
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Lift the lid from the ground beef and break up the meat into [/FONT]
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bite sized chunks. Lightly salt the meat, stir, and cover. [/FONT]
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Check the meat and stir the sauce every five minutes until the [/FONT]
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meat is cooked through. [/FONT]
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Drain the meat into a suitable bowl and place the juice in the refrigerator for later use. Combine the meat and sauce and serve over hamburger buns.[/FONT]
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North