Good to Know

If you've read my previous posts, you know that I have been looking at Ensign articles from when I was born, Dec. 1976. Here is another interesting article I found.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we don't drink alcohol. I have often been disappointed when I have found a recipe I'd like to try only to find that it calls for wine as an ingredient. Many have been the recipes I have discarded for this reason, so I was very happy to see this article. And just think it was published in my birth month and year=)

Hope this is helpful.

How to Be a Gourmet and a Mormon Too
Winnifred C. Jardine, “How to Be a Gourmet and a Mormon Too,” Ensign, Dec. 1976, 47–48

Tired of finding a new recipe for the holidays, only to discard it when you discover that it calls for the use of wine? Gourmet cookery is the delicate blending of foods that makes use of the savors of one’s choice and need not include the use of liquors or wines. In recipes that do call for them, substitutions can be easily made.

Substitutions for Wine and Liquor in Cooking:
In Soups and Entrees

Dry (unsweet) red wine:
Water
Beef broth, bouillon or consommé
Tomato juice (plain or diluted)
Diluted cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
Liquid drained from canned mushrooms

Dry (unsweet) white wine:
Water
Chicken broth, bouillon or consommé
Ginger ale
White grape juice
Diluted cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
Liquid drained from canned mushrooms

In Cheese Dishes (fondue or rarebit)
Beer or ale:
Chicken broth
White grape juice
Ginger ale

In Desserts
Brandy:
Apple cider, peach or apricot syrup

Rum:
Pineapple juice or syrup flavored with almond extract

Sherry:
Orange or pineapple juice

Kirsch:

Syrup or juice from black cherries, raspberries, boysenberries, currants, or grapes or cherry cider

Cognac:
Juice from peaches, apricots or pears

Cointreau:

Orange juice or frozen orange juice concentrate

Creme de menthe:
Spearmint extract or oil of spearmint diluted with a little water or grapefruit juice

Red burgundy:
Grape juice

White burgundy:
White grape juice

Champagne:
Ginger ale

Claret:
Grape or currant juice or syrup or cherry cider

Note: To cut the sweetness of the syrups, dilute with water. Also, there are many flavor extracts, such as almond or pineapple, that can be added for interesting flavors.

Flambés or Flaming Desserts
The only substitute that might be used is a sugar cube soaked in lemon extract, then set atop a dessert and burned.

Winnifred C. Jardine, Salt Lake City, Utah

I noticed in some of the substitutes they suggested using red wine vinegar and almond extract. I know almond extract has alcohol in it and I assume red wine vinegar does also. Does anyone know why these may have been included as substitutes?

The same page with the above article also had other interesting topics such as the following:

Stained Glass Cookies

Hints for Knits

Snow Fun -For those of us who live in the snow.
Some of are probably thinking, "You live in California where it doesn't snow." Oh yeah, well go back and look at the post "First Snow". lol =)

If you are interested in any of the above topics, you can go to the following link:
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=eb881f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1