Atlas Insider
Atlas Insider: Yes I Doily
And I call them doilies too. Not coasters or trivets. Doilies. That “not your grandmother’s” nonsense? Don’t get me started. I once heard two adults snickering about the word “prune” … seriously? “Dried plum” is somehow an improvement? Got myself started. I’m done!
And I’m here joyfully to follow up Ashley’s celebration of the granny square with more crochet appreciation.
Years ago I got my hands on a copy of Crochet Stitch Motifs edited by Erika Knight and taught myself to crochet. Spiral and circular motifs especially appeal to me.
Starring a whole set of Amy Lee Serradell’s mini-mini-skeins
Leftover Mohonk in Mourning Dove here
Havirland Frankensocks Leftovers for a Frankengranny
Hooray for spit felting! Scraps of my I-Cushion Bundle in Bright make up this doily.
I got a glorious Kaffe wrap and a Color Explosion pillow top out of my bundle, and there is still more for those little houses Kay made. I’m the Atlas insider banging a spoon on her high chair about how our felted tweed bundles yield so much.
As a meditative and satisfying and gifty way to work with yarn—scraps and leftovers in particular—doilies are … well, you might call them the prunes of the handwork world.
A Giveaway!
The prize? The background of all the pics above: an MDK-exclusive Revolution Tray! We love these for keeping projects beautifully at hand. Ellen Schiller of Hey Blue Handmade makes these sturdy, machine-washable vessels just for us, and we’re pleased to offer them in our shop of handy and fabulous Sundries.
How to enter?
Two steps:
Step 1: Sign up for our weekly newsletter, Snippets, right here. If you’re already subscribed, you’re set.
Step 2: Commenter’s choice! Tell us about your favorite recipe that includes prunes (Sticky Prune and Date Cake for example!) or enlarge our vocabulary with an underused word you love (antimacassar, anyone?).
Deadline for entries: Sunday, July 10, 11:59 PM Central time. We’ll draw a random winner from the entries. Winner will be notified by email.
Wait! There’s more!
Make sure you open Snippets on Saturday, July 9. MDK Summer Camp is coming!
Devil’s on horseback
Prunes wrapped in streaky smoky bacon and cooked in the oven.
Just added prunes to my grocery list! Love the term – catbird seat.
My favorite “new” recipe using prunes is the famous Chicken Marbella from The Silver Palate Cookbook. Haven’t made it in years but at one time in was in regular rotation. I grew up eating stewed prunes with cream – a favorite of my mother’s desserts.
Love all your crochet. I have many doilies and crocheted seat pads made by my grandmother and great grandmother that I still use regularly. Often the seat pads were made from strips of recycled fabric (shirts, pj’s) cut into strips and sewn together and then crocheted. My favorite is one made with strips of silk ties 🙂
I love Chicken Marbella! I renamed Amagansett Chicken as that is where I first ate it, and now I just call it Pruney Chicken!
My word today would be Gaboon!
I can hear my mother describing the huge bowl of whipped cream for the strawberry shortcake!
Sorry forgot to put in my word!
Bosky. . . Covered in trees or bushes.
I,too, have a prune story instead of a prune recipe. I worked in a school cafeteria for years and one time we had a case of prunes that we had to serve/offer the children. One of the ladies came up with the idea of calling them Texas raisins. Our plan was working great and many children were choosing the prunes until one girl came in and said, “Those aren’t Texas Raisins. Those are prunes. My grandmother makes me eat them.” The Texas raisins couldn’t make a comeback from that!
Plum or Prune Rum. Simply soak plums or prunes in spiced rum for 3-6 months. Drain and drink.
First sip is good, second sip is heavenly.
Prune jam is good – a nice substitute for fig jam
Luxurious fruit compote with prunes, dried apricots, sultanas (there’s a word!) slow-simmered to plumpness with bits of apple, lemon zest or what have you, and enough liquid to keep it silky. Good with oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream, or a turkey sandwich.
Hamantashen filled with lekvar.
When I was a kid we used the word pixellated to describe a scrambled mindset.
And discombobulated reminds me of my favorite airport sign ever–just past TSA, designating a “Recombobulation Area”.
Ooh! That reminds me that I’m fond of discombobulated for your pixelated : )
I like prunes right out of the box. I like the old fashioned word “abide”. I feel calmer already.
A prune a day keeps the Prudes away. I just made that up
Only yesterday I made Kitchen Sink cookies with Sunsweet Lighter Bake, which is made wirh prunes. I subbed the Lighter Bake for butter. The cookies were great! If you really want to take this to the limit, use chopped prunes as one of the ingredients. I didn’t, but used raisins, which are a relative of prunes??
raisins are not relatives of prunes, except maybe in baking terms…
but the thought made me smile
Prune whip, delicious. Antimaccassar, yes! And when I learned that they actually were to protect from macassar oil, that made the word even better.
Prune whip sounds delicious—will have to find a recipe (I have lots of old cookbooks).
Prunes boiled in water w lemon slices, including peel (my dad’s daily fav decades ago!)
I love prune pierogies!
Pašticada is a crazy delicious Dalmatian beef dish slow cooked with red wine and prunes and served over gnocci. Yum!
yes!!!!!!!!!
potato and sauerkraut ones are favorites, too!
I grew up in a rural German town in MN. Many of the bakeries had Schmear Kuchen — a pastry with cottage cheese and prunes. What I wouldn’t give for a huge square of that now. Don’t know any bakeries that still make it. Any readers ever make it at home? My olde tyme word is ne’er-do-well.
Yikes … So many ways to eat prunes!!! Makes me think I seriously missed out by declaring at a young age “I hate prunes”!
Perhaps you grew up in New Ulm? My SIL is from there and still goes to visit.
Prune Cake. . . also delicious! And discombobulated for my word!
My grandmother made prune cake with lemon sauce. I have her handwritten recipe, which I have never made because if I’m going to bake it will probably be brownies or chocolate chip cookies; but I remember that the prune cake was dense, moist and delicious.
2 of us vote “discombobulated”
Slovak Kolacky made with prune purée filling
I don’t have a favorite prune recipe but I have a good prune story. My husband tried one for the first time and thought they were delicious. So he filled a quart container and ate them on the way to work. I’ll leave the aftermath to your imagination.
Oh, I love prunes. When we were young kidlets, my mother used to stew them and serve them with a bit of cream. So yummy. I also like to throw them in the pan, along with other dried fruits (cherries, apricots) when I roast chicken.
I love your doilies and make them myself! I also love a good Prune Pie!
Oh my! I had forgotten about the delicious prune cake my grandmother and mother (and I!) used to bake. It was a sheet cake – so moist (another cringe worthy word). Now I’m going to have to find that recipe!
Like most dried fruit they are delicious with rice . . . I can’t eat gluten, so I eat rice like others eat oatmeal. Yummy!
“Lekvar cookies” are traditional in my family at Christmastime: little squares of tender dough filled with lekvar (prune filling), rolled diagonally and dusted with confectioner sugar. They’re also known as kolachy. My recipe came from my Slovakian great-grandmother.
A two fer: tzimmes. A word that’s fun to say. A traditional Rosh Hashanah dish usually made with prunes.
Recipe: Jacques Pépin’s Brioche Galette with Port-Poached Prunes. A butter tart with prunes poached in port and topped with a mix of whipped and sour cream. Favorite under-used word comes from Samuel Johnson: “blunderhead”.
While not a popular flavor i do like a good prune hamentashin at Purim (spring time ish Jewish holiday). Yum! My have are poppyseed or mun (my old time word tho likely misspelled:-))
I use prunes in my friendship bread, I’ve nursed the starter for over 5 years now. How about “the vapors”? You know, when you need to lie down for a minute with a cold cloth? A piece of friendship bread and a hot drink helps too
Definitely prune Hamentashen. Also a favorite at Purim in our house.
I don’t have a fig recipe, just like them as they are. A fun word is BROUHAHA, probably because of the last part of the word…hahahahaha
Brouhaha brings to mind kerfuffle which is another one I love!
I don’t have any prune recipes, although I like them plain. I like the word zephyr, but in my mind, the sound of the word means it should be a strong gusty wind instead of a gentle breeze. I have a beautiful doily crocheted by my grandmother. I’ve been thinking of making some mini doilies to use as coasters. Your post has inspired me to get going!
I have at least three doilies on my desk that I’ve crocheted. They’re always a fun small project to carry around. I have a couple old pattern books I picked up at Half Price Books.
Prunes right out of the box are delicious! One of my favorite words is schlep.
My friend from Hungary sends me a Hungarian treat – prunes, marinated in liqueur, then dipped in really good bittersweet chocolate. Wicked good!
And a word – gloaming, that magical point between sunset and darkness.
Oh, the gloaming- it sounds so magical!
Yes, love the gloaming.
Norwegian sweet soup (sot suppe) is a favorite from childhood-a rich hot mixture of dried fruits with tapioca.
My Danish grandmother made sweet soup, too! And I remember prune whip from school cafeterias.
Puce – it’s a vanishing word for a color that might describe a somewhat washed-out prune.
It’s means “flea coloured” – no joke!
I don’t have a prune recipe but I do have a favorite underused word, collywobbles!
Collywobbles is what my daughter named our cat. Collywobbles von Yum Yum We call her Coco for short.
I used to crochet doilies way back when and still have the small booklets with patterns. You’ve given me some ideas using leftover yarn! Love prunes, dates and raisins cut up and added to my oatmeal.
I’m with Pam S. I love the word abide.
Prunes filled with goat cheese with a sprinkle of cracked pepper over them. Perfect summer picnic take along or party appetizer. Can also be made with dried apricots and I add fresh rosemary as well as pepper.
I never cook with prunes – after reading all the posted comments – maybe I am missing something!
Chiffarobe: the furniture piece with a space for hanging clothes & a few drawers.
Seeing those lovely pieces makes me wish I could crochet!
Learn how to crochet! It’s fun, truly. I knit and crochet – so I can pick any either type of pattern (except brioche-that scares me, still).
I haven’t heard the word, chiffarobe in ages. My parents had one as part of their bedroom furniture. My dad hung his suits in theirs. When I crocheted doilies over 50 years ago, I knew that they were called antimacassars. My mother used to boil prunes and when they cooled, we’d just eat them-not a lot of them. You could also drink the juice. My favorite word is kerfuffle meaning a dust up or a commotion or fuss.
Shenanigans… occasionally has it’s brief moments of popularity, It’s so much fun to say.
my favorite word is PIFFLE,usually used as a curse when I find a knitting mistake
Oh my – do you recall the Old comic books with MaryJane and her pet mouse Sniffle? She could magically transform herself by saying “magic words of Poof Poof Piffle, make me just as small as Sniffle”. For the life of me I can’t remember what she said to regain her original size, so I avoid saying this outloud, you know, just in case it works someday!
When I find a knitting mistake, I place the back of my hand on forehead and sigh dramatically, using the word… “Alas”. Lol
My mind is a blank this morning, but I would certainly vote for Brouhaha! And I must put in a good word for Kay’s Tiny Houses – so much fun. I have a whole blanket’s worth of them, waiting for cooler weather when I can do the borders and seams. Perfect for yarn leftovers, especially Rowan Felted Tweed, or any old stash bits and bobs!
I have no prune recipe – only the advice of my sister after a horrific accident and many painkillers: warm prune juice.
My word: festoon (As in: the woods are festooned with seasonal decorations (aka spider webs) in the autumn.
My grandmother called a suitcase a “valise”
My grandma called it her “grip.”
Prune oatmeal cookie recipe from my Grandmother beats chocolate chips every time
Ina Garten’s Prunes in Armagnac simply delicious.
I add chopped up prunes to my steel cut oats—adds sweetness as well as visual and textural variety. Delicious!
Prunes right out of the box—a sweet and tasty little treat.
The wonderful Chicken Marbella from The Silver Palate Cookbook, a classic!
“Lo”, as in, “There were lo, so many colors of yarn.”
Pork loin stuffed with prune jam and diced apple. Love you doilies
The best underused word is penultimate. I even use it when I am counting rows in my knitting or crocheting! Prunes, on the other hand…..
and when it IS used, it’s usually used incorrectly; believing it means is the absolute best. I hadn’t heard that word in ages, but in Knit Stars 5, Asa Soderman uses it all the time when referring to increases/decreases at the penultimate stitch. I loved it. It sounds so lovely rather than “next to last”.
The original Silver Palate Chicken Marbella.
Stewed prunes with fresh country cream that our mom got from a neighbor – so thick you had to spoon it from the jar. This is a special childhood memory for my sisters and me.
Plain ol’ rice pudding with prunes. Our Mother made it often in the 1950s and 60s. Comfort in a bowl.
Oh forgot to add my favorite word is antidisestablishmentarianism or supercalifragilisticexpealidocios.
Hamentashin!! Haven’t made them in years, thank you for the reminder!
My mother used to make a delicious coffee cake which featured dried apricots and prunes, cinnamon and brown sugar. Yum! My word is chartreuse which is never used for all of the yellow green colors we see nowadays.
Yes, chartreuse is a great word and a lovely colour.
But the liquor Chartreuse is definitely an acquired taste! Can “an acquired taste” be my word? In my family that was code for don’t eat that – you won’t like it :)!
As for prunes, only ever ate them growing up stewed or straight out of the box. Was totally shocked the first time a friend made the famous Chicken Marabella and it had prunes in it. Even the family members that eewed prunes loved that dish!
As a kid, I loved stewed prunes and cottage cheese. I’m sure that fresh fruit was too expensive in the Midwest in winter!
When I cooked at a summer camp we snipped tje prunes in pieces and baked oatmeal cookies. My mother would call them giant raisins-all the grandkids loved them
My mom used to have a quick bread recipe that used baby food purée prunes. Lost somewhere but remember delicious!!
Bespoke — It means handmade by a craftsman to a specification. That’s us as knitters! We make hand-crafted pieces to our own specifications, for ourselves, our clients/family/friends, and our customers. We make bespoke sweaters, hats, slippers, scarves, and socks, all designed and knit with someone special in mind.
great word
Prunes are a great substitute for dates – sticky toffee pudding!
Hamentashen with prune filling. Also, I put a prune in the pot when I make chicken soup. I can’t remember what it’s supposed to do, but the soup sure is good that way!
I like eating prunes right out of the bag. No need to cook them
Cook with prunes? I thought they were just for snacking. I feel the same way about raisins. We did get prune whip in our grade school lunch program. It was not well loved by the picture book set
Prunes straight up! No messing around – just eat them out of the bag.
One recipe? Impossible. I alway have prunes on hand for Chicken Marbella or Latvian Stew (from A Gentleman in Moscow).
French prunes from Apricot King in CA with just about any cheese and a glass of wine!!!
I have two – “chifforobe” and “the nervous hospital” – that I use with regularity.
Piffle! It’s such a useful, underused word.
Prune and Armagnac ice cream. Delicious!
And “hassock” – it’s what we called ottomans when I was a kid.
I know nothing of prunes but I love words. Eleemosynary is a fave – it means charitable but can mean ‘depending on charity’ which means it looks great while walking both sides of the street.
How about a plethora of prunes?
My Grandmother’s stewed prunes with apricots…delish!!
Mary Berry’s Cock n Leek soup- ckicken soup w a twist
Easy Spice Cake uses baby food prunes. Actually is very good and moist.
My favorite summer dessert is a prune/plum torte
Prunes as is are good and a nice addition to a dark fruit cake.
How about “ weary “ for a word ?
Recently I came across a silver marrow scoop in a museum and pondered the joy of such specific tools for dinner
How interesting!
I love them as-is right out of the bag. No prep needed.
Vinaterta (Icelandic prune layer cake!) was a favorite treat my MIL made during Christmas!
Discombobulated is alway fun!!
Vinaterta is my favourite, though a close second is a prune or two right from the package. Lovely! My parents always had a chesterfield—though my kids would call it a couch or sofa.
Yes, I live vinetarta too!
Folded Prune Bread, easier than braided bread, but with a yummy filling of prunes and raisins!!
Fruit/Sweet Soup-a Norwegian Christmas staple in my family.
Just plan old prunes, I think they’re delicious! The juice, not so much.
I really, really like prune hamentashen, a “cookie” traditionally eaten for the holiday of Purim.
Prune danish for me
Definitely my mom’s prune cake.
Prunes! Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate Cook Book. It’s an amazing recipe and great to impressed your company. Thanks
I love prunes right out of the box. I do occasionally bake chicken with prunes, dried apricots and raisins.
Polish Kolachki cookies with prune filling!
I love prunes! We were served them fifty years ago with school lunches when I was a girl. They were canned and just a delight. The other kids put them on my tray and I ate them all!
I love the word “flummoxed”. Do events in the world not leave us feeling this way now?
Chicken Marbella!!
Silver Palate chicken Marbella has dried prunes in the recipe and it’s fantastic
I seriously don’t think I’ve ever eaten a prune. Reticule.
Prune tea bread, an old recipe from McCall’s magazine in the 60s, is absolutely wonderful. No flavoring, no nuts, just prunes.
Big fan of penultimate – second to last.
I like prunes just as they are
OOH! Summer camp, doilies, prunes, granny squares, crochet, I love this throwback theme! And I love prunes for the digestive benefits and added to a fruit compote served over plain or vanilla yogurt, divine.
Forgot to add my word: Farblunjet meaning Lost in Yiddish. (Google says the spelling is Farblondzhet)
Prune cake
I don’t care for prunes but I do like plums. My favorite fruity dessert to make is dump cake. Choose a fruit (typically I use blue berries) and mix with some sugar. Pour into a greased casserole dish and cover with a box of cake mix. Melt a stick of butter and drizzle on top, then bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. Can’t wait to try this with plums!
An underused word that I love? Hootenanny.
Yes, we need to dust that off and put it to use.
Kolaky! Czech pastries my grandma made all the time. Pronunciation defined on google as ko- la-kee but we said kolatchky and she made them with either farmers cheese, apricot jam or…. prune filling! Always dusted with powdered sugar and light as a feather.
I just like prunes by themselves! and antimacassar is a great word!
So many old words to choose from! My grandmother called a suitcase a grip. And, I recently heard shenanigans used for the first time in many years. I love prunes in all forms, particularly the mushy type used for babies.
Aprecating= basking in the sunshine
There’s a wonderful prune cake recipe that’s basically a spice cake with chopped up prunes added. It’s cooked in a Bundt pan. It’s particularly lovely in the colder months
No prune recipe but adding them to my oatmeal sounds delicious! Copacetic is a favorite word!
Oh, I love copacetic, too! And prunes are yummy straight out of box, bag or dehydrator!
I don’t really like raisins so I’ve never been brave enough to try prunes. I like to use plethora and penultimate as often as possible.
I don’t have a recipe for prunes, because I enjoy them too much just as they are, but here’s a good word: CODDIWOMPLE, pronounced KAHD-ee-wahm-puhl. It is a verb that means “to travel purposefully towards a vague, as-yet-unknown destination.” It perfectly describes where I am right now and also happens to be the name of my best friend’s ceramic studio.
I loved the Orange Essence prunes, since Covid I never can find them! Delicious straight from the box! No cooking necessary !
Stewed prunes and apricots as a breakfast appetizer on special occasions
I love old furniture words! Davenport, armoire, commode, sideboard, bureau, secretary, credenza, dumb waiter, Hoosier cabinet, pie-safe
One of my favorite old words is this: • spousebreach •
Pronunciation: spæws-breech
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Adultery
Notes: The word adult has taken on such a shady character these days, adultery, adult bookstore, adult toys, I, for one, am almost ashamed of growing up. A replacement is long overdue. Here is a word that the OED claims is “rare”, “literary”, or “archaic”. The OED’s indecision makes adoption even easier. The adjective is spouse-breaking.
In Play: Even though it is longer than adultery, I prefer today’s Good Word because it is an original English word, not borrowed: “Will Dolittle didn’t enjoy getting together with the boys, because they enjoyed so much bragging about all their spousebreaches.” Just as adultery, today’s word fits both sexes: “One day Herman came home early and caught his wife in a flagrant act of spousebreach.”
Word History: This Good Word was borrowed from Old French spouse, the feminine of spous “marriage partner” (Modern French époux/épouse), inherited from Latin sponsus “bridegroom”/sponsa “bride”. (The verb espouse was borrowed from Middle French after the initial é- had arisen.) The original meaning of this word was “betrothed”, for it is based on the masculine and feminine forms of the past participle of spondere “to pledge, solemnly swear, betroth” from PIE spend- “to make an offering, perform a rite”. Little came of this word besides its Latin appearance. English borrowed another word based on the Latin realization: sponsor. Break, the origin of breach, is another story. It came to Old English as brecan from PIE bhreg- “break”. Latin inherited a nasalized form, frangere “to break”, the past participle of which is fractus, which went into the making of many Latinate English borrowings: fraction, infraction, fracture, etc.
This is from Dr. Goodword .
Prunes? Eat them straight from the container!
I forgot! My mother-in-law of blessed memory always called a sleeper-sofa/hide-a-bed a “daveno-bed”. Has anyone else ever heard of this?
My cousins used daveno for a couch. We said Divan.
That’s possibly a mash-up of davenport and sofa-bed! It’s a lovely coinage!
Italian prune plum cake … the best! I keep looking for a tree or two because I’d love some, but haven’t found one yet. The prune plums are only around in September, so you can always make a few extra cakes and freeze them. Another reason for getting an extra freezer.
Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate—delicious!
I love the word sonder, realizing that every person around you is a complete person with a full individual life. I think it’s important to remember and to make sure you don’t accidentally dehumanize a person or group, which I think is happening more and more and society is divided politically. I don’t use sonder often, but I do my best to feel it always.
German plum cake
From my childhood something called plum duff, sort of a light airy pudding with cooked prunes whipped into it.
I don’t have a recipe either, I just eat them, because they’re sweet
I’ve always liked ‘shenanigans’ because it sounds like (slightly naughty) fun
Sticky pudding
My most surprising encounter with prunes was on a visit to the city of Chicago. We asked our desk clerk where she would recommend we have breakfast near by. It was a cozy corner diner filled with enthusiastic breakfast eaters. We placed our order, received our coffee as well as a dish of prunes. PRUNES without asking or paying for them. What an early morning surprise! Someone in the city was looking out for their customers without being asked! What a wonder in a beautiful city.
I love sticky toffee pudding. My daughter makes a decadently rich one. With hard sauce. Yum.
Loin of pork vouvray. It’s 2 pork loins tied together and stuffed with dried apricots and prunes which were previously rehydrated with vouvray wine. My tastebuds are already tingling with delight.
Yummy for my tummy: Gluten free walnut prune bread. I add sunflower seeds, or poppy seeds
https://whensweetbecomeshealthy.com/walnut-prune-bread-vegan-gluten-free/
my grandmother would put prunes, dried apricots, dates and raisins through a meat grinder (the old fashioned, hand cranked kind); roll the mixture into a log with waxed paper on the outside and chill it then we sliced it off in pieces about half an inch thick —- candy!!
I’m partial to the cookie eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim. Triangular shaped dough boats filled with prune filling. They are called Hamantaschen!
Delicious.
Plain prunes are good–wrapped in bacon and baked, even better.
I lived in Alabama as a kid, and I remember a big bowl of prunes in juice on every school lunch table every day. Still my favorite recipe – just plain 🙂
Here’s another vote for Tzimmits, both the word and the recipe. It brings back such good memories of my grandmother’s holiday dinners.
I make the world’s best fruitcake every Christmas. I know all the fruitcake jokes, but this one is truly GOOD! Ask the recipients of those cakes—who have received a cake for many years. We even mail some to distant places.The former neighbor who gave me the recipe forty years ago saying “here Barbara, I’ll never make this but I bet you will,” always gets two sent (insured) around Thanksgiving time.
This fruitcake uses no candied fruit, but a mixture of PRUNES, dates, dried apricots, figs, dried cranberries, and raisins. I use a larger proportion of prunes than any of the other fruits. You could say PRUNES are the mainstay of these fruitcakes. The chopped fruit is soaked overnight in brandy or bourbon. Then the next day I mix up the batter (honey, butter, mashed banana, and whole wheat flower), add the fruit mixture and bake for a long time at a low temperature. Delicious.
My word: “scrumptious.”
no prune recipes here…
have just learned to crochet and may try one of these doilies!
My word: bookhoard, an old English word for library
Our favorite recipe for prunes is the prune bread recipe my mother in law gave me 50 years ago.
Vinetarta! Yum!! A traditional Icelandic cake alternating prune filling flavored with cardamom and thin, tender sugar-cookie-like layers. We made ours round and baked the cookie layers on the bottom of a round cake pan, and assembled the cakes with seven layers. It was a special Christmastime treat. And I like saying “incorrigible.”
An underused expression I love… looking glass. And one I see it more often now, schadenfreude. It identifies a feeling we’ve all experienced.
My husband, sister, and I were just comparing notes on Italian Prunes – we all worked in prune harvest when we were young. They ripen in August, and it’s a hot and scratchy job.
I love your doilies, and that you call them that. Thinking of my older relatives (which the word doily makes me do) brings to mind “liniment” — a word I haven’t heard for years. My grandma always rubbed in liniment for her “aches and pains”. She was partial to Absorbine Jr.
And what a nice gift this week – one of your products I especially admire but might not otherwise splurge on.
Chicken Marbella! My word is “Caterwaul”…a term I used to describe some singers I hear on the radio.
A college friend’s Mother shipped us Prune Cakes, which were the best cake I’d ever eaten. Unfortunately, I never got the recipe.
For Pre-prune plums, this cake: https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/10/purple-plum-torte/
I love the word sesquipedalian. It means someone who likes to use long words, like “sesquipedalian.”
Prune whip (a topping for vanilla ice cream…
There is the traditional Eastern European Askenasi ‘tsimmes’ … but there is a fool proof recipe for pre-prunes “Plum Tarte.” Classic NYT recipe. Classic
Chocolate covered prunes?
I’m with all those who cited Chicken Marbella as a favorite recipe using prunes. Prunes also appear to be good for one’s bone health if you are concerned about osteoporosis. The crocheted doilies are lovely. My grandmother crocheted man a potholder in her time. I still have some, as yet unused because they are so special. Though it’s not that unusual, I love the word quirky.
Went through a huge doodle phase in college! Yes, the kind made with tiny string. I now have all my grandmother’s hooks and vintage patterns. Why is it insulting to associate needlework with grandma’s? All my best patterns—and recipes, and stories, and traditions come from my grandmas.
Also—they both called couches davenports. And used words like chifferobe and cantankerous. The one the didn’t crochet smoked like a house afire, loved dirty jokes, and would declare, “Oooh, I swan…” when astonished. (Is that a Tennessee thing…?)
The one that did crochet made prune pie—the filling is spiced, thickened stewed prunes. Yummy! Seems to be an old-fashioned German and Scandinavian thing, and does appear in Willa Cather’s “O, Pioneers!”
Prune/apples stewed up, poured over vanilla ice cream. Had it often as a kid. Muddlesome, old word for befuddling, confusing, and these old words seem much more descriptive.
I was reminded of the discussion on an Uncle Roger YouTube video where he was critical of people making pilaf/pulao. Turns out people put plums in pulao… this was news to me, too, and I’m Indian!
I’ve never put anything sweet in it besides raisins, but hey, why not prunes!
My mom used to make a spice prune cake with a glaze, a German recipe from an old Allardt, TN cook book. My word is old English word for a paper sack- a “poke”. I first heard that word in the 1950s in that same Fentress County on the Cumberland Plateau.
I love the words and to say, external occipital protuberance!
Peanut butter and prunes.
Ingredients: 1 jar peanut butter (smooth or chunky), 1 box prunes.
Directions: Apply a generous dab of peanut butter per prune as needed. Enjoy with milk, preferably oat.
Prune danish from a bakery on Water Street in Worcester, MA, where both sides of the street were packed with delis and bakeries. Every Sunday morning my mother drove us there to buy bagels, bulkies, rye and pumpernickel bread and pastries. After I moved away, my mother always ordered prune danish for my homecoming because it was my favorite.
My word is “rapscallion” because my father delighted in calling his grandchildren that when he was playing with them! They, of course, loved it!
We grow prune plums in our yard. I love them fresh but grow them to dry for snacks! If there are plenty, then there are upside down cakes and jams!
My mother in law always made stewed prunes and offered them with almost every meal. Delicious and a reminder of a kind-hearted, loving friend.
Nice post! I’m becoming crochet curious!
Favorite underused word: metameric
Not prunes, but plums (could possibly sub in prunes): NY Times Plum Torte (excellent at a summer gathering with vanilla ice cream)
Chicken Marbella (with prunes, capers and green olives).
Diddly-squat is a word that needs a resurgence! I once told my boys if they didn’t eat dinner they would get diddly-squat for dessert. After dinner they were wondering where the diddly-squat was. Try to squeeze it into you your vocabulary today. Thanks for the chance to win.
I’m a big fan of the aforementioned [see that? Favorite underused word!] Chicken Marbella from The Silver Pallet Cookbook. BUT…I’m looking forward to making Beans Marbella this week—recently discovered it in NYT Cooking. Sounds yummy!
We had a prune/plum tree when we moved into our 100+ year old house. Dried prunes like the old timers. Were ok, dry – not like those squishy store bought prunes.
Lately I’ve been on a crocheting frenzy after knitting for years. Don’t you love the way onomatopoeia sounds?
Prune & chocolate torte. Dense and lovely. Topped with creme fresh.
Tarry.
Prune danish. Yummy.
I use prunes capers olives bay leaves garlic white wine and brown sugar on chicken thighs in the oven on 350 for around 30-40 minutes I’ve heard it called chicken Marbella… I call it delicious
I love to pour boiling water over 3 prunes in the morning. I sprinkle cinnamon over them then enjoy them with my breakfast oatmeal.
One time someone told me a Yiddish story. Not sure if it is true, but we are born with all the knowledge of the universe. At the moment we enter the world God’s angel presses us under our nose and says hush and all that knowing is pushed away and forgotten. And that little dimple under our noses is called a philtrum.
PHILTRUM… What a beautiful word.
I really like the flavor and texture of prunes, either by themselves or as an ingredient. I remember a prune whip yogurt which I used to eat regularly. Brouhaha is a fun word to use!
Love just plain prunes. Sweet and satisfying.
Favorite word. Persnickity.
Chicken Marbella, hands down! Or Beans Marbella? Haven’t yet tried making that. And yay crochet! Love your doilies! I scored a vintage doily blocking board years ago that serves as art as well as useful artifact.
Simply cut up a few prunes into simmering oatmeal.
Knackered! I love to use it when I’m totally wiped out!
Prunes and new words, interesting juxtaposition.
Aficionado. I love all of the syllables in the word.
Favorite recipe is from the original Silver Palate cookbook. Chicken Marbella….. chicken, prunes, garlic, green olives, white wine…..mmmmmmm
I don’t eat prunes much, occasionally a prune danish, but after all the comments I might just go get a box!
For a word/phrase, I’d say “the cat’s pajamas”: A highly sought-after and fancy example of something, usually referring to inanimate objects. “That cashmere yarn is the cat’s pajamas!”
Slow-roasted pork with prunes, apples, garlic and cider vinegar. Delicious!
So many wonderful sounding recipes. This slow cooked pork may be my choice though I would happily try any of the others. To my knowledge my family has never cooked with prunes. And I’m not much of a cook….would rather knit or garden.
My grandfather used to used to say that someone was full of “piss and vinegar”, meaning they were maybe not “running amok” but at least full of “shenanigans”. Even then it was probably frowned upon for him to say this in front of us kids.
Warm fruit compote. A nice blend of mixed fruits and prunes, wonderful over baked ham. I always get requests for the recipe whenever I serve it.
I used to make a kind of granola that had prunes in it. I had never eaten them before and found that they were more mild-tasting than expected. I liked them. Need to find the recipe.
If I have to eat prunes, I may become obstreperous
I don’t think I’ve had prunes since I was a little kid….. My coworker (older than me) has such a big vocabulary I love hearing her talk! She’s read more books than I have in my lifetime and I love exchanging our word knowledge. Growing up as a bookworm I learned so many words that my friends didn’t and know I get to use them!
Sorry, I can’t give you a recipe because I’m not a fan of prunes. LOL
Tatterdemalion and ragamuffin. Prunes straight from the package.
I love prunes. I eat ‘em straight. I also only like homemade applesauce, I add lemon and prune – perfect balance of tart and sweet.
Plum cake, any cake batter with plum halves baked on top in a rectangular glass pan. Underused word “lagniappe” – first seen in a Terry Pritchett novel (the character was doing a crossword puzzle), next seen as the name of fingering yarn by a creative named Mitchell
I like prunes in tea breads instead of raisins or cranberries. I also soak my dried fruit in rum or whiskey for a week or so before using them in cakes and cookies — makes a huge difference in taste.
My favorite prune recipe is called Prune Mirliton with Grand Marnier: three layers, first sweet tart pastry, then hazelnuts, prunes, Grand Marnier and honey all chopped together; then a puffy eggy buttery almond flour top. Very rich. Sadly neglected word: eyas, a nestling hawk. There are three redtail eyasses in a carefully hidden nest near us. They are loud. I pity their parents.
Sticky Toffee Pudding for the win.
I use prunes plus other assorted dried fruit when I make Charoset for Passover Seder. Otherwise I like them plain just out of the bag.
I love both the color and the word fuchsia! Have never cooked with prunes but like to occasionally snack on them. Gooey and sweet.
Um, I don’t have any prune recipes. Except plain juice, and we all know the power it holds.
Bacon wrapped prunes. yum!
I make a Moroccan chicken tangine that uses dried prunes in the recipe. My word is whippersnapper.
My mum used to make a casserole involving rabbit, prunes and pine nuts. Timing was everything with the prunes – couldn’t add them too early as they would make the casserole too sweet. So delicious- rabbit is underrated as meat.
Fave word is “vermin” as it rolls so nicely off the tongue. Also accurately describes the mice camping in my roof space right now.
I definitely still use antimacassars, though they may look like things with other names like, yes, doilies, granny squares, and bureau scarves, to say nothing of afghans, in winter.
Easy! Chicken Marasala
Prunes are best straight from the box.
My word is plethora….kinda like the number of great comments to these topics!
My favorite underused word is detritus!
Our couch was a Chesterfield, and the matching chair was, what else, a chesterfield chair. Maybe this is a Canadian thing?? No idea. My family is from Hungary, and I KNOW it’s not Hungarian.
I still make lekvar in the fall, a prune plum jam. Use it to make Kifli, little crescents with ground walnut filling or lekvar. Yum!!
Prune Brownies!
Favorite underused word: putzing (around) – doing both nothing and a little of everything!
Chicken Marbella —it is a classic recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook, first published in 1982. It’s a delicious chicken recipe made with olives, capers, white wine, herbs, and prunes for sweetness. The NYT and others have updated/published the recipe over the years. It is great for a party or potluck. When I think about cooking with prunes this is the recipe that comes to mind.
Not a recipe, but google ‘peoples pharmacy prunes.’ There is some evidence that eating a few prunes daily can help improve bone density.
This is the perfect inspriation to try a recipe that I’ve had bookmared for some time:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/magazine/in-praise-of-the-prune.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iaha3DPDm8ciOEcDIGS-kHAIqtlIsMp1jWASZpGPvozRPE31vVCOUErSxWtptHMvqU5FBgPiND5WHIqjdWKVKok8DTuYy6ycrkhzbex4lePO2XpRKDc03c-LF1n848xcQz8iSFcwKvGE7Rly5Ipi6dac5N5RD8KZiaJvfn6WV4paJjdMEaqukRhUPpZWDrTgdeZ97sGFQ1TAlnBR3t6in0uvJIeYJhEefaicGNzPZb2kr4TCWd3LYa2BpdXR4LclLlisbClugVVJp9LLKHRcS1VzoKo_YCw&smid=url-share
PS – I always have an individually wrapped prune in my bag in case of snack emergency and I hope the link works. If not, please google NY Times Cooking for Frangipane-prune tart.
Prunes, delish and need no adornment, but also enjoyed as prune whip and in baked goods. fruit soup, roasted meat and more.
Words: purloin, as to take stealth-fully, and haversack, as in backpack. Also, tarnation, as in what in tarnation?!
I have a recipe saved years ago for a Chocolate Prune Calvados Torte by Mark Miller that is divine. And for dinner, Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate Cookbook is still a winner.
I love prunes! My dear late Aunt once had a giant “Plum Prune” tree in their backyard. I *think* that’s what she called them. She used prunes in many delicious ways, one being Prune Cake!
My fave word is *circumlocution*.
I discovered it in a wonderful Charles Dickens book, “Little Dorrit”. The main character was sent to lg. gov’t office bldg to pick up a form. He was directed to many different offices and floors & never did receive the form. Hilarious
I’ve been admiring the lovely baskets you show in your post. Ty for the opportunity to win one!
Update mom’s stewed prunes that were simmered with slices of lemon by serving the thick sauce over plain yogurt. Cowabunga Chief Thundercloud! Makes them smile.
Too busy eating pickles to eat prunes!
Beleaguered. (Reading a book about Malta, during WWll. It was a beleaguered island, for sure.)
I love the word POCKETBOOK. It’s not a pocket or a book, but it reminds me of my grandmother. So old fashioned but I think it could be made cool again.
Pluma moos, usually just called moos (pronounced “mouse”). A classic Mennonite recipe. Gonna have to make some now…
Pastichr
I’m not much of a cook. I’d rather knit, garden, herd cats….. But I love trying new foods. I like prunes and the plethora — someone else’s word — of recipes using them is amazing to me.
The group our newspaper is part of was bought by USA Today network a while back. It seems they don’t like the term devil strip (the grass between sidewalk and street). I don’t know how far back the usage goes around here but it’s probably as long ago as maybe the1920s?
Oops, thought I had accidentally deleted what I typed before so I left a 2nd comment.
And, I meant to say that this is an awesome prize!!!
One of my favorite words: mandolin. Not only is it fun to say but the instrument’s lovely sounds evoke childhood memories.
I don’t have a prune recipe. I eat them right out of the box. But if I eat too many, the result would be fetid (a long ago 7th grade vocabulary word).
I love roasted pork with homemade plum sauce. My mother who passed away in 2018 used to make plum jam when I was a child. It was my favorite.
Persnickity. It is a perfect example of anamonapia!
No prune dishes here but I do like eating them plain like other dried fruits. I think I was scarred for life on putting prunes into food as a child. One of my great aunts used to make something called Prune Whip for every holiday. It was truly awful. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized this aunt just couldn’t cook.
My word is “salmagundi” which I’ve seen defined as a disparate assembly of things, ideas or people, forming an incoherent whole or as a particular type of composed French salad. I’ve always wanted to write cookbook with that word in the title.
My favorite underused word is “magenta”. Kind of like a dark, hot-pink.
My husband (an amateur foodie) makes this appetizer for when we have guests: it starts with dates, soaked in cognac, and then he makes home-made dough circles that become tie-purse things with the dates and some cheese (Havarti?) inside. After they have baked he drizzles a Port Wine reduction (he reduces a whole bottle down to a syrup) over the purses. Fabulous!
Sounds fantastic!
Prunes in all their right-out-of-the-package glory, and whinge (British for whine).
I don’t cook with prunes, unfortunately, but they would be awesome sliced into a granola mix with other dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate candies.
Underused word: perspicacity.
Prune Souffle…my Mother’s recipe done with fresh prunes and served with heavy whipped cream. My Dad’s favorite dessert which also became mine! Fussy but, oh, so good!
I make homemade mincemeat. Prunes add a wonderful depth of flavor. Yum!
Lamb Tagine with Prunes
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lamb-tagine-with-prunes
Love those prunes. Prunes stuffed with cream cheese and pecans flavored with a little orange.
Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Armagnac Cake – she calls it “the cake that got me fired.” Take 12 prunes. Totally delicious cake.
A friend of mine makes a delicious prune cookie at Christmas. They are chopped and the cookie also has nuts. I think people just assume they’re really delicious raisins. My grandma always called her couch “the davenport” and I love that.
Team Chicken Marbella here but I’m also a fan of Prune Whip. Now I’m going to have to dig through the old cookbooks to find that one! And my favorite word is halcyon.
Love that revolution tray – have been thinking for some time of trying to make something similar with crochet, though I would love even more to win one!
That said, I can recall some delicious prune cake from my childhood,,, and dad liked prunes as a breakfast dish. Favorite old recipe is dad’s mincemeat pie (thanks Betty Crocker!) and fruitcake (Joy of Cooking). Unfortunately no one in my married life appreciates them. My late FIL liked strawberry rhubarb pie so I could get my rhubarb fix and share it with a very appreciative diner, but none of the younger set will even taste it. Miss you, Pop!
Has to be the word “geezohpetesohfriday” most commonly used by some of my family when something is so ridiculous nothing else fits.
I love prunes straight up. And discombobulated describes how I’ve been feeling a lot lately!
I use ‘penultimate’ at every opportunity. No prune recipes, alas, but I do love eating fresh plums this time of year.
Cock-a-leekie soup from the New York Times by Melissa Clark that is finished with printers that adds a subtle sweetness
Chicken Marbella is my go to prune dish. I always triple the amount called for as there can’T be enough prunes in this wonderful dish!!
Love the word comminuted. Rarely see it used outside of the medical field.
And I like prunes plain, right out of the package.
Slow cooker chicken with prunes, onions and turmeric…it’s really good served with couscous!
I love prune hamantaschen.
And I love the word petrichor – the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk! Now if we would only get some rain here in my part of NC…
Prune nut bars!
My favorite words are zaftig and daedal. Zaftig is pleasantly round, fluffy body. Daedal is to to crafty, skillful.
Boustrophedon. It means writing left to right and right to left in alternate lines. The original Greek means “as the ox turns” while plowing a field.
My grandfather used to make pierogies with prune filing. Yummmmm
Chicken Marbella from the Silver Pallet cookbook, a recipe of yore that still works nicely. How about calling those doilies rondels?
Barely a recipe, but I simmer prunes & dried apricots w/ white wine for an excellent sauce for roast pork loin.
I came here to offer the Chicken Marbella recipe, but see that it is already listed many times. I like the Barefoot Congress’s version that does not require an overnight marinade.
My unusual word is, “thwacking,” with two meanings for fiber folk.
The first is what one does to a newly spun and soaked skein of yarn to get rid of the curls–smacking it hard on a hard surface.
The second is touching/feeling fabric to determine its weight, hand, etc.
Prune is a verb, a whole verb, and nothing but a verb.
Hardly a recipe, but I simmer prunes & dried apricots w/ white wine for an excellent sauce for roast pork loin.
My mother-in-law made a prune cake that everyone in the family loved but I wanted no part of–prunes, yech! Years later, I’m the baker of that cake. Still don’t eat it.
Sticky toffee pudding is my favorite!
Favorite prune recipe: Tzimmes
I honestly don’t think I have ever tried a prune, but these ideas make me want to! I will instead submit one of my favorite words – verklempt – meaning overcome with emotion. It’s how I feel when I finally finish a big knit or crochet project!
Byzantine. My manager; a synonym for difficult and challenging and many other words that also apply.
I’ve never eaten a prune sticky cake, much less made one. In fact, I did not know it was a thing. When I was little, we used to get trays for Christmas that had dates, prunes and assorted nuts. I know I ate them – before the age of 10.
A favorite word of mine is widdershins(counterclockwise)
I’ve made several versions of preserves with a variety of fresh and dried fruits, including prunes. Last year, made one with some port added for flavor. Very nice!
I like big, plump Medjool dates stuffed with blue cheese.
No recipe, just straight out of the box. I love dried fruit of any kind!
No prunes for me … but ‘kludgy’ comes to mind way too many times these days
Make homemade granola using chopped up prunes instead of raisins.
Trice meaning really fast (and it can be applied to the consumption of prunes I think).
I know this probably sounds pretty gross but stewed prunes! I used to eat them when I was younger. That’s about the only way I will eat them.
I recently bookmarked a Chicken Marbella recipe. I think this is a sign I need to try it soon!
How about “slumgullion”–a stew made with whatever is on hand. Why not throw prunes into a slumgullion!
Visiting with my second cousins this week, I learned that they call that last bite of something (perhaps the last prune in the bag) a “nibbin.” It’s a portmanteau of “nibble” and “nubbin,” and I plan to use it as often as possible for the rest of my life!
Opsimath
A person who begins to learn or study only late in life.
Like me, a independent student in retirement, learning knitting, crochet, Spanish & who knows what’s next in my newly begun 6th decade.
Hmmm I don’t think I ever made anything with prunes. Not sure I ever ate anything made with prunes. Does that disqualify me?
So many words! My stepmother’s favorite was ponder, and I think it’s a great one.
Fruit soup— served cold in the summer months and warm in the winter months— always includes a generous amount of prunes and peaches. Delicious!
Summer prune and plum pie! Yum!!!
I love prunes and remember a fruit cake that used them with a box of vanilla wafers and was wrapped in rumors soaked cheese cloth.
Kerfuffle! A fuss or commotion. At one point DH wrote that on the hard part of my sheet music. Still makes me laugh.
Vegetarian marbells
Ina Garten’s updated Chicken Marbella recipe is my favorite.
Added to stuffing!! I remember removing prunes and chopping a whole mess of prunes to add to turkey stuffing along with apples and a pear or two. Divine.
Not sure why antimaccasar made me think of this fun word… but here goes: abstemious.
It is fun because it contains all five vowels exactly once and in alphabetical order.
I think there is one only other word in English where this happens, but I can’t think of what it is at this moment.
As a child, I loved something my mother’s prune whip for dessert. As an adult, my fave has been chicken Marbella. As my parents aged, they appreciated something called “fruit lax” which of course relied upon prunes. I am wondering if I will share their predelection!
Fresh Italian prunes poached in a little water, & a bit of added sugar – delicious over ice cream or French toast!
I baked Nigella’s Luscious Vegan Gingerbread that included finely chopped prunes. While the flavor was delicious, it weighed a ton. Each small piece was as heavy as a brick! I’m sure this was a case of baker-error.
Some of my favorite words that are not used often in everyday language: Ambulate; Bailiwick; and Firmament.
Chicken Marbella is my favorite recipe using prunes, but I also enjoy eating them right out of the bag.
I know this is a stretch but im going to use dates instead of prunes, only because i don’t have any recipes for prunes. But i do have a wonderful now-third-generation recipe for date pudding. Pudding here as in bread pudding, not a custard. We’ve had it every year at Christmas my whole 50+years of life. The secret? Don’t forget the dates like my mother did one especially frantic Christmas eve in the mid-80’s.
Finnish Prune Tarts. A little pinwheel shaped cookie.
Baked prunes and chicken. Delicious
Autodidact!
Prunes strait up and also fresh Italian prune plums to eat. I had a dance teacher who had a tree and would bring in part of her harvest each September!
My word: obfuscatory.
Marian Burros’s recipe for Plum Torte: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/3783-original-plum-torte
Without a doubt the best way to use those otherwise unremarkable prune plums that come out in late summer!
Prunes and all sorts of lovely dried fruits can go into a tzimmes, along with some carrots and sweet potatoes, citrus juices, and a little cinnamon. I like to do this savory-sweet side dish in the oven, as a side to roast poultry. It’s a little old-fashioned, like crocheted granny squares, and equally yummy.
I love all the ways to prepare prunes. My word is vacillate because I can’t decide which is best.
Prunes with peanut butter, easy and yum.
Funny thing: I like prunes to eat, straight outta the box, but cannot abide prune juice. One time I unwisely left my prune box in reach of my toddler son. I left the room and came back and half the box was gone! This was a work-day, so I packed extra diapers and clothes, took him to daycare, carefully set him on the floor and warned the daycare staff that a small disaster was about to happen and left. He used all the clothes in his pack. My word is “ablution”–I perform my ablutions nightly: clean/moisturize face, floss, brush teeth, brush hair, take vitamins. My husband is delighted to share this word and brightens when he hears it anywhere besides me.
Pflaum…..plum or plumb grower. From the Ashkenazi via Germany. Also my birth name.
Pflaumenkuchen = plum cake
I love prunes! Any way. I think all the underused words I like have to to do with food. Ebelskivers and Sartu di Riso come to mind right away.
We call it Fruit Soup. Prunes, dried apricots, raisins, whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. Cover with water and some orange juice and bring to a simmer. My mom made it at Christmas time. Yummy!
PRUNE CAKE- it’s the best!
My husband makes homemade granola bars sweetened with prunes and they are awesome! I have a nut and gluten allergy so it can be hard to find good options.
I am a fastidious eater and tend to not branch out so much. My fam love prunes and eat them just out of the box, but I’m gonna look into making them in a jam/jelly as someone below said they tasted delicious that way!
I love prunes straight out of the container. But, now I think I need to try some of these recipes! So many sound delicious!
My favorite is my Mom’s home canned prune plums right out of the Jar
A prune shake – a Palm Springs CA recipe!
sticky toffee pudding made with prune and not dates
I would use dried prunes in Alton Brown’s BOURBON BREAD PUDDING recipe. My super-long word: antidisestablishmentarianism.
In my family, one of our traditions is a prune cake for Christmas! It’s a delightful, moist, spiced cake, full of prunes and nuts, and then frosted. Because frosting. We eat it for breakfast.
I love fresh Italian prune plums, but not so much the dried plums.
Two favorite underused words – defenestration and Balkanization. I always recognize someone with a background in history when I hear them. Another is “commiserations” – which we began saying to our children as the flip side of “congratulations” when they would share a tale of woe.
discombobulated
I have always liked the word ‘paraphernalia’. It conjures up memories of when I visited my grandmother in the summer in Camden, Arkansas. There was a store by that name and we had so much fun looking at their wares.
Deconstructed Raisinettes: handful of prunes plus a handful of chocolate chips. Combine in the ratio that you prefer.
One of my dad’s favorites was Prune Whip that his mom used to make. I still take it to family gatherings in his memory.
I used to trade or maybe kids just gave me their prunes when they were served for lunch.
Though I’ve not made it, prune danishes are said to be delicious! Curmudgeons may love them!
Prune tuna sandwich, courtesy of my 3 year old
Prune scones? I anyone has a recipe, I’m game to try it!
How about the good old senior cocktail—half orange juice and half prune juice. And my favorite word is facetious. It has all five vowels in order. There are others I know, but this is the only one I remember.
My favorite recipe with prunes is this Pork Stew with Prunes, which I make in my slow cooker. https://eatalready.com/2012/02/21/pork-stew-with-prunes/
I think when I made it I used turnips instead of the potatoes, to make it diabetic-friendly. And possibly added a few dried apricots, too? I think so.
Super delicious.
My favorite recipe for prunes is Peppermint Patty’s Prune Whip from the Peanuts Cookbook, which I got as a Scholastic Book order I made in elementary school. No, I never made it, but it was my first cookbook, and just the idea that I could read recipes, and prepare food that would sustain my life, the idea was thrilling to me! The whiff of autonomy that that recipe, and all the recipes in that little book gave me was powerful! I eat prunes with these low-fat, low-sugar oatmeal bars that I make, to make the bars palatable. I don’t have the heart yet to do the sad thing I’ve heard, dusting prunes with good cocoa powder. My chocolate is still full-fat, thank you very much. Word that should be used more? Serendipitous.
baked prunes and apples
My favorite prune recipe is a prune danish — I LOVE prunes! They are deep and dark and divine. Anytime.
I have my grandma’s recipe for prune kuchen, a yeast dough with prune filling sweetened with some sugar and lemon zest. After baking, dollop fresh whipped cream on top
We always had stewed prunes at least once a week with breakfast. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t have double prunes on my oatmeal! Now I do, lol. My word is tittynope which refers to the scattering of crumbs left on one side of the plate, the few grains of rice sitting at the bottom of the bowl, the few drops remaining in the glass, they are not mere leftovers and dregs. They are tittynopes.
definitely chicken marbella. Yum!
Eaten plain, right out of the container, with a fork to avoid sticky fingers. No purist would bother eating these prune-y, delicious lovelies any other way…lol. No recipe required.
“0h, Prunes”
One of my favorite “expletive substitute” exclamations from adults in my childhood.
Love prunes right out of the package and stewed prunes even more.
Also love the Revolution Tray!
Prunes. A forgotten food! Thanks for reminding me of their loveliness. I will buy some tomorrow!
And not be “prune-faced” about it!”
antepenultimate… always a fav throw around. Like, “This is my antepenultimate glass of wine.” So you still get two more!
Prunes – now they’ve taken to calling them Dried Plums. Marketing, baby!
Can’t believe I don’t have a prune recipe. I even like prunes! Love the sound of the suggestions here – must try.
I grew up with a Davenport- – I’m sure it would come in handy if one had the Vapors.
The comments have made me want to make something with prunes! But I actually love prunes out of the bag, and I am not offended at prune juice, either! My word to go with is another “p” word, preen, which oddly enough, appears to be possibly related to prune, according to the dictionary app:
1480–90; late Middle English prene, variant of Middle English prunen, proynen (see prune3), perhaps by association with prenen, to stab, pierce (v. use, now dial., of prenepreen2), from the pricking action of a bird’s beak in preening
I never considered baking/cooking with prunes. Here we just eat them straight out of the box.
Prune cake with buttermilk glaze!
Favorite weird word: defenestrate- to throw out a window.
I like prunes in a winter version of plum cake — warm spices and wine-softened fruit!