Since we got 8" of snow today, I had to make our favorite meal for a cold day - beef soup with chunky vegetables and rivels. What's your favorite meal to take the chill out?

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), January 07, 2002

Answers

Chili of course! DW has a batch simmering down as I write this....mmm.....mmm...good...and it sure didn't come from a can!

P.S. What's a rivel?

-- Jason in Southern Tenn. (AJAMA5@netscape.net), January 07, 2002.

When I was growing up my mon use to make potatoe soup with onions in it. She always done this on a cold snowy day when us kids would be out playing in the snow.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), January 07, 2002.

what are rivels ?

gene

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), January 07, 2002.

Yes, potato soup WITH rivels!! It is wonderful and my favorite for a cold day.

-- nancy (stoneground@catskill.net), January 07, 2002.

Wow, I'll take ANY hot soup on a cold day. And chili is just as great.

What are rivels ??

-- Buddy (Buddybud@csranet.com), January 07, 2002.

For a really cold day, nuttin beats chicken soup around this house....a few pieces of chicken,(any parts), some celery, onion, carrot, garlic, whatever else ya have around: (a can of corn, peas.....), then at the end 15 minutes, some small pasta like orzo, or really tiny shells.......YUM!!!!!!

And yeah..what's "rivels"? :)

-- Birdlady (jjpace@ev1.nwt), January 07, 2002.

Home made beef stew...but only if I'm the one who made it...and only if it's been in the fridge or freezer at least 24 hours to make it all come together.

Russ

-- (rwhitworth@sprint.ca), January 07, 2002.

rivels is a kind of noodle more or less. You mix up an egg, some flour, a little water and salt to make little chunks of dough, then you drop it in the soup about 10-15 minutes before it's done.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), January 07, 2002.

My favorite is navy beans with a little ham and corn bread. It really hits the spot after doing the chores on a cold winter day. My wife has cooked it on the wood stove and let it simmer all day. What a treat.

-- Joe in SD (jwjkaus@triotel.net), January 08, 2002.

My treat for when it gets cold is a Mexican soup labeled Caldo Tlalpeno ( prounounced Kaul-do Lahl-pe-nyo). Basically, it is chicken soup, with some rice, avocado and white cheese which melts in the hot spicy soup. Umm UMMM, mighty good grazing!

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), January 08, 2002.

We call them dumplings down here, those rivels. Never heard of rivels before.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 08, 2002.

I like to put navy beans on the night before in the crock pot on high, with smoked pork neck bones, onions and coarse ground black pepper. That is the best thing to eat on a cold winter morning (while I watch out the kitchen window as the deer cross my side yard). I am soooo lucky!!

MissJudi

-- MissJudi (jselig@clemson.edu), January 08, 2002.

We got heavy snow too in Broome County. My favorite is 15 bean soup with ham chunks and fresh made bread warm from the oven. Yum.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 08, 2002.

Mess of eggs, gritts, redeye gravy, lots of coffe & homemade buttermilk biscuits.

Scuse me while I lick my fingers

-- HarleyinFL (cruisindog@juno.com), January 08, 2002.

Homemade pea soup with homemade bread.

-- Sandy Davis (smd2@netzero.net), January 08, 2002.

Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches - grilled peanut butter sandwiches are also yummy!

-- hmm (h.m.metheny@att.net), January 08, 2002.

Hi Annie, Dumplings are different here. Dumplings are light and fluffy and they are made with levening. Rivels are dense and smaller than our dumplings. Rivels are more like spatzle and probably are German in origin. Some people push batter through a seive or colander for spatzle, but my German friends and relatives make them by dropping little lumps of dough into the hot liquid. As someone else said, rivels are made with just flour, egg, a little water and salt.

-- nancy (stoneground@catskill.net), January 08, 2002.

Rivels are German or PA/Dutch dumplings. Here's the recipe we adapted from the cookbook "From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens" (highly recommend this cookbook). Beat an egg in a small bowl with a fork. Use the fork to mix in 1 cup of flour and a pinch of salt till you have coarse crumbs. Add 1/4 cup of milk and stir into a dough. Using 2 forks, pull off small pieces of the dough and drop them in hot soup. I usually let them cook about 5 minutes. They will float to the top. Can add them to any soup.

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), January 08, 2002.

Gotta be homemade beef stew with biscuts and peach pie for dessert. Hummm...is pretty cold today......

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), January 08, 2002.

yup, rivels are a dutch thing. They're smaller and more dense than a dumpling. Some just mix an egg with a cup of flour and a pinch of salt. Others add a bit of milk or water. They go real good with beef or chicken soup.

It's currently 78 degrees here but I'll be making curry(spicy hot) beef stew tonight anyway.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), January 08, 2002.

"From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens" -- Cindy in NY

Cindy, was your book written by Phyllis Pellman Good and Rachel Thomas Pellman? If so, I have it too--it's a great cookbook just full of simple but very tasty recipes. I can't even remember where I got it I've had it so long.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 08, 2002.

Stacy - Yes that's the one. I use it a lot. I have another one by Phyllis Pellman Good and Kate Good called "Mennonite Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley" (where I'm from). It's another good one.

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), January 08, 2002.

O.K. I got the rivel, but whats "red eye gravy". I'm Canadian.

-- karen (karengrandmaison@hotmail.com), January 08, 2002.

I have two winter-time favorites, chili - add sliced mushrooms the last 10 minutes of simmering for something different, and ham and bean soup. As a kid, my mother also added vinegar to our bowl of ham and bean soup. It just hits the spot. I still add vinegar to mine! Try it!

-- Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania (kirklbb@penn.com), January 13, 2002.

what y'all are calling rivels sound like what my Grandmaw called 'drop dumplings'.

red-eye-gravy is what you make when you scrub the cast-iron skillet you fried the meat in with a little water.[invented long long ago by a little ol lady who had to carry water a mile or more] and so, not to waste, and to get every bit of nutrition and flavor, what better to do with it than to pour it over a biscuit?

-- carol (kanogisdi@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.