> > Oh, how selfless of you. Much better!
> Really I'm such a sucker for kids... I think both Ron and I are that way.
> Especially around the holidays I think :)

I prefer happy encounters with kids, which means 
holidays mostly I guess, because generally during 
the year we who don't actually have them around 
tend to see them in stressful situations, shopping 
or traveling or at restaurants.
 
> >> > Which syrup - the canonic Fox's U-Bet? Not so long
> >> Yes, the original.
> > Have you tried the vanilla or strawberry syrup?
> No, never tried that.  The only reason we went to the extent of ordering
> U-Bet's online is because we'd both grown up with excellent NY Egg Creams

As it turns out, a substantial and amusing failure
on this front the other day.

> BTW, I always feel it's necessary to tell folks who've never had one that an
> Egg Cream contains neither Egg nor "Cream"... I guess it's not really
necessary
> these days :)

Contains milk, corn, wheat. Processed in a factory
that also processes peanuts and tree nuts. No chickens
were harmed in the manufacture of this product.
 
> > I do recall my last having been thin and pathetic, but
> > that was at a restaurant. Maybe at Wegmans today I'll
> > get the fixings and experiment with double syrup.
> Hopefully they'll have U-Bet syrup.  I've never compared an egg cream with say
> Hershey's syrup instead of U-bet's syrup.

So guess what? Not only did Wegmans in Newark not carry
U-Bet, none of the staff, and we're talking guys who
were 50 or 60 years old and did not seem like oblivious
idiots, had even heard of it. After I told them that the 
house brand or Hershey's wouldn't do, one of them had an 
idea and led me to the cocktail fixings, where they had 
pina colada mix and lime syrup, that sort of thing. I 
told him it was a children's drink and then rather 
pointedly went around the store putting back the (Lactaid) 
milk and the bottles of seltzer.
 
> >> I'd be afraid to make it... so unhealthy, you know. (g)
> > I'm not so sure about that, especially as Nancy and
> > I shared a pint of fatty trimmings and off-cuts from
> > a pulled pork shoulder yesterday. Don't believe it?
> > You should have been here to witness.
> Oh I believe it :)  Hope you all had a great time.  As it turned out we've

We did pretty well, though the Fords' various health
issues popped up a little, I hope mildly, at any rate
they put a brave face on things.

> still got the boys here even though they were supposed to go home yesterday
> late last night.  Just typical complications, etc. so this morning I made
pizza
> fritta for the boys and the three of us.  The boys didn't seem to mind staying
> a bit longer.

Here's to show that "fried pie" is multicultural.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: Fried Pies
 Categories: Chinese
      Yield: 18 Servings

-----------------------------------PASTRY-----------------------------------
  2 1/2 c  Flour
    3/4 c  Boiling water
    1/4 c  Cold water
      6 tb Oil

----------------------------------FILLING----------------------------------
    3/4 lb Ground pork
      1 tb Sesame oil
      1 ts Soy sauce
           -dash
           Cornstarch
      2 tb Scallion greens, chopped
      1 ts Sour pickle relish

  FILLING: mix all ingredients together.

  Mix hot water with flour. Add cold water and knead until smooth. Let rest
a
  few minutes. If the dough is not the right consistency, correct with a
  little flour or a little cold water. Roll dough out into a long thin
  baguette and divide into 18 to 24 pieces. Make each into a 3" circle by
  pressing with the palm of your hand against a work board, twisting just a
  little with each press. Place 1 portion of filling (a little over 1 T) on
  each circle, bring up the sides, seal the edges, and roll carefully into
a
  ball. Flatten each ball into a hamburger shape.

  Heat oil in a flat-bottomed pan. Fry cakes 2 - 3 min on each side or
until
  golden. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

  Filling: Just about any pie filling, sweet or savory, can go into these,
  just so you make sure the stuff is not too wet - lots of juice or gravy
  will prevent these pies from browning. If you use a filling that has not
  been precooked, cook for at least 3 min on a side.

  Wei-Chuan suggests 1 1/2 cans of Wei-Chuan brand pickled cucumbers with
  meat. Alternatives include just about all bao fillings (see the many
roast
  pork and sweet bean filling recipes that are floating around the net),
taco
  filling (with or without cheese), etc. etc.

  M notes that you could put a chocolate filling in these as well.

  Source: Wei-Chuan

-----

> Torrone (Nougat)

Thanks. I am rather fond of torrone.