Congo Squares

My mom found this recipe in a newspaper and it became a big favorite. I can see on Google that it has been a favorite in many families from the 1950's and on. A childhood friend and I have been emailing about the name, and I think she might have found the answer - there is a Congo Square in New Orleans. Maybe the recipe originates from around there.

CONGO SQUARES
2/3 c. margarine melted (I use oil and that works out fine)
2½ c. brown sugar (I use 1 cup and that's enough)
3 eggs
Mix these first then add:
2½ c. flour (I use whole wheat four)
2½ t. baking powder

1 package chocolate chips
Bake 20 minutes in a greased 9" x 15" pan 350 oven. Cut while warm and remove from the pan to a rack to cool. Otherwise they stick to the pan.

Wok- a Magic Pot

I am certain that my wok is magic, because all food made in it is so delicious. It's like it can't go wrong. My present wok is the best one I have had- it is made of thin cast iron and has a little flattened part on the bottom. My more classic wok rusted and wasn't as wonderful as this one.
BASIC RECIPE STIR FRY

finely diced vegetables (choose several with an eye for different colors and shapes- I think the visual is very important in chinese food)
onion and garlic (always)
other favorites here are chinese cabbage, peppers, mushrooms, bean sprouts, celery, carrots, string beans, pea pods, broccoli ...whatever.
Meat - we use mostly finely diced raw chicken or turkey, sometimes beef or pork, sometimes we make small meatballs we add at the end or we add diced ham.
While we fry the meat and vegetables we either boil basmanti rice (with curry powder in the water) or boil some kind of chinese noodle. sometimes egg noodles, sometimes rice noodles or udon noodles.
Fry in peanut oil, starting with what takes longest which is meat, then onion, garlic and celery and we use ginger powder but fresh is better. then add vegetables after how long they need like broccoli and carrots need longer than mushrooms or peppers.
When everything is fried we add roasted cashews, shrimp and sometimes pinepple chunks. then we add soy sauce and maybe some pineapple juice and then mix in the rice or noodles and serve.

Gourmet Cooking and Kitchen Fires

When were were 17, a good friend on the street and I decided that we should really learn to cook dinners, considering we would be moving away from home soon. We decided that she would cook for her family one night a week, and I would eat with them, and I would cook for my family one night a week, and she would eat with us. Soon we ended up dueling to see who could make the best, gourmet, three course meal. We were both scouring Julia Childs and the New York Times cookbooks and making complicated recipes with exotic ingredients, that I am sure neither of us used again when we moved away from home. I will never forget the night when one part of my meal was deep fried meatballs. Suddenly the pot of oil for deep frying started shooting flames. I don't know why I didn't think to just put the lid on (maybe the pot didn't have a lid), but while my mother tried to get an ancient fire extinguisher to work, I ran over to the neighbour who said, use flour, not water. Home again and dump a bag of flour on the oil which worked. Finally the meatballs got fried, and the meal was served. We were all (my girlfriend included of course) sitting at the dining room table instead of the usual kitchen table, in honor of the fancy meal, when my father came home and heard the story of the fire. He took the old fire extinguisher and said, "This is easy to use", and he promptly sprayed it over the table.