Random Observations- Two Crotchety And One Upbeat

[poliphilo]

1. I'm never going to make one of those lists of things I'm thankful for because my mother told me when I was small that if you make too much noise about how happy and fortunate you are God will squash you like a bug.  Just look what he did to Job. Or maybe it's not God, it's the Brownies. Same difference. The point is there are powers out there that are very, very jealous of human success and only a fool would provoke them.

2.  What's this Cool Whip stuff you Americans put on your pie? It sounds disgusting. Whatever happened to cream?

3. John Howard's gone. That guy was a toad. I'm just so happy for all my Australian friends.

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

CoolWhip is a matter of convenience, I guess, rather than anything else. For people who are (like me) a party of one, whipped cream is just too much. Making it isn't so bad, but storing the leftovers is impossible. And there's this matter of cholesterol...whipped cream is whipped butterfat. Of course, here in America it seems like no one ever heard of moderation. Anyway, it comes in a plastic tub, pre whipped. You must stir it up before you use it...

It's not so bad. When it first came out, it tasted a lot like whipped kaopectate, but it's gotten better tasting as time's gone on. Last time I had my cholesterol tested, it was high. So I eat 'fake' butter (smart balance) and 'fake' whipped cream, lowered my intake of red meat and have skimmed milk on my cereal in the morning. If I think too hard about it, I guess I'd have to say I am prolonging my life - maybe! - but perhaps lowering the quality of it. Still...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I use skimmed milk. I moved over for reasons of health and over time I've gotten so I prefer it.

But the whole point of cream is that's it's creamy. I don't eat a lot of it, but when I do I want the real thing. Double Devon clotted cream is the best.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Well, you know...if I could GET Double Devon clotted cream (which I've had exactly once at high tea in Kingston, Ontario,Canada)I would gladly never have another taste of CoolWhip again.

And oh yes, there's one other thing, - expense. My grandmother used both mayonnaise and miracle whip in her salads- and they were fabulous. She was a depression era cook, and that was a way to make the mayo go further. *I* can afford to whip a pint or even a half pint of cream and then leave it sit in the fridge because I just wanted a spoonful.

I feel as though I've been put down because I have to economise.

(not by you, Tony, I know you would never do that.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We're on a pretty tight budget too and normally it wouldn't strtech to things like clotted cream, but they had a special on it at our local supermarket last year and I binged on it.

TransFat

[msjann65.livejournal.com]

Cream is butterfat, CoolWhip is Transfat. Both are hell on the heart muscle and the arteries. Whipped cream is preferable, but only when it can be used up quickly. I keep a container of Cool Whip on hand for those emergency desserts. The taste is creamy, not plastic like that old powdered mix. I always order whipped cream at restaurants when it is an option for a pudding or whatever. If an ice cream parlor ever serves me fake cream on a sundae or a banana split, I would send it back and demand a refund and never go there again! Some things just cannot tolerate substitutes!

Re: TransFat

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Thanks, you put it best. 'Emergency desserts'. I seldom eat anything that requires it, at home. (I have been known to get those lovely little cans of the stuff, though!)

Re: TransFat

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Now a lot of the cream we eat over here isn't whipped at all. It's more or less liquid and we just pour it on. If it's very runny it's called single cream and if it's thicker it's called double cream. I don't believe we ever had whipped cream in my childhood.

It Comes in a Tub

[msjann65.livejournal.com]

Cool Whip comes in a tub, already mixed. It has good consistency and good flavor, but - I repeat - it is second best to real whipped cream.
By the way, what is "clotted cream" -- is it what we call "Sour Cream" in the USA (whipped cream without the sugar and vanilla, soured on purpose so that it wont go bad?) We have it on baked potatoes, potato pancakes, etc. -- also use it as a base for dips.

Re: It Comes in a Tub

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

mmmm...no. Clotted cream is like what rose to the VERY TOP of milk before it was pasturized, homogenized, or whatever. It's very very thick, spreadable (I had it with currant jam on hot scones) and there really is nothing like it.)

Re: It Comes in a Tub

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Clotted cream is very rich and thick. I imagine it's produced in a milk churn. It has the consistency, pretty much, of butter- only it's not butter.

Sour cream (we have that too) is something else again.

Re: It Comes in a Tub

[msjann65.livejournal.com]

we used to get milk with the cream on top when I was a child. It was not very thick, though, just about the consistency of heavy cream (which is probably what you refer to as "double" cream). We were not allowed to drink that cream - it was set aside for desserts and for coffee and tea for "company".

Re: It Comes in a Tub

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We used to be allowed to drink the "top of the milk" as a special treat.