251 replies to this topic

[C. sapidus]

The mapo tofu looks good enough to eat!

Oh, I hope so!

I'm wondering why you "blanched" the tofu - to firm it up?

Um, I was just following the recipe. Is it unusual to "blanch" the tofu?

I love the texture of soft tofu. It makes it saucy, smooth, soothing.  Hubby and the kids like to have firm cubes, so I use both.

Using both sounds like a great idea - I'll try that next time.

Thanks for a great week!

You are quite welcome!

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed your blog.  Thanks!

One quick question for you - Has Mrs. Crab's being on WW influenced what you cook and how you shop - or is she on her own?

Thank you, Pam. WW has had some influence - we use a lot less coconut milk than before, for example. For the most part, we are still making the same food. Mrs. C fills up on veggies (which typically have zero points) and adjusts portion sizes on the points-rich dishes.

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, first a question.  As I reported via a link here, I had lunch with Peter one day when he was eating school lunch.  What do your kids do for lunch while they're at school?  What do they eat?  Do they have enough time in which to actually eat their lunch?

The boys eat in the school cafeteria, and they seem to like the cafeteria food (I did too, at their age). I have not heard them complain about not having enough time, but they usually wolf down their food pretty quickly. Younger son goes through lunch money twice as fast as older son – we still haven’t figured that out.

Second, thanks for opening up your lives to us.  I know, first hand, how hard it can be on the family when you are doing the documentary.  Hats off to Mrs. Crab, eldest son and younger son for putting up with us!

Mrs. Crab and da boyz have been very, very good sports.

Edited to elaborate.

Edited by C. sapidus, 21 January 2007 - 01:55 PM.

[C. sapidus]

Wondeful blog! I love seeing so much Asian food. I think I need to pick up some more cookbooks. Thanks for letting us into your home for the week.

Oh, and I love the "eternal cucumbers". :)

Thank you!

[C. sapidus]

Elk Run Vineyards (click) was our destination, but several other vineyards are located nearby.

nice way to end the blog. i have a bottle of elk run ice wine downstairs that a friend gave me several years ago that i've never opened. i should get to that one of these days...

edited to say thanks for doing this! good fun.

Thank you - everyone helped make it quite enjoyable.

[C. sapidus]

I wish to thank everyone for their kind comments, thoughtful questions, and for making this a very enjoyable week. I would be gravely remiss if I did not thank my family for their support. The boys were very tolerant about this rather odd endeavor.

Particular thanks and appreciation to Mrs. Crab. She had lots of great ideas, took many of the pictures, and bore without complaint extra shopping, clean-up, and parenting duties while I resized pictures and tapped away at the keyboard.

Thanks a bunch, hon!

Thank you for sharing this week with our family, and visiting Frederick . . .


. . . where there are angels in the architecture . . .


. . . and the sun sets over the Blue Ridge Mountains.


Goodbye!


Edited to add the pictures that I meant to add in the first place.

Edited by C. sapidus, 21 January 2007 - 09:28 AM.

[C. sapidus]

Black skillets 

Rachel - I cannot take credit for the skillets. The small one was a present from my MIL, and came with several decades of seasoning. The other, a recent addition, was seasoned by the good folks at Lodge.

This has been SO wonderful, and the week has flown like minutes.  Your lovely family, the great cooking, the ultra-pro photos, and just a glimpse into your lively life.  I especially enjoyed seeing steps to the finished "Dinner" plates we drool over every day.

Why thank you - you are too kind.

And the mapo looked wonderful, but DO give a try to Ah Leung's version---that's the one that gets my tastebuds a-tingle at BREAKFAST time.  When that ginger/garlic starts to sizzle while I'm having my first coffee---bliss.  It also has a definite bit of that pleasant heat.  And Caro makes it perfectly---she's already at work now, and won't be home til daylight.  She'd want to convey how much she's enjoyed this blog, as well.

Ah Leung's mapo tofu is definitely on my to-do list, and please thank Carol for her questions and excellent suggestions for future stir-fries.

Thanks again for the week.  See you at DINNER.

Definitely - but probably after a few days of spaghetti with pre-formed meatballs and jarred sauce (one of the boys favorite dinners, by the way).

[Domestic Goddess]

Bruce, add me to your growing horde of fans. We really appreciate the wonderful, colorful blog that you and the missus have prepared for us. They say with accumulation of knowledge one grows richer. I definitely feel richer everyday I read your posts. Once again, maraming salamat.

[Dejah]

Thanks for the answers to all my questions. The Artisan Central link is great, and I may at last get the knife block I want!

With your info' on WW, I am game to try the program. Knowing there's a thread for WW will really help too. What CAN'T we find on eGullet!

I loved the Ethiopian restaurant pictures. I teach many Ethiopian immigrants in our community. Eating with ingeria is one reason I plan and look forward to our class potluck suppers! The students know to make lots of extras for Teacher to take home.

Your boys are lucky, as you and Mrs. C are, to be all in the same family.

[Chufi]

Bruce, thank you for this week. You have inspired me to clean out and organize my spicecabinet today , and to cook more Asian food! I have always been a bit intimidated by Asian food - you make it look easy and delicious. Thank you for that.
Also, I loved that this blog was very much a family project - with your boys involved with the cooking, and that you showed what your familymembers were eating.

Your kitchen is beautiful. Keep cooking and keep sharing with us on the Dinner! thread!

[caroled]

I'm so glad this is still open so that i can also extend my thanks to you and your lovely family for sharing so much of your lives with us this week.
It has been a true pleasure to have been given a glimpse of your techinques and abilities from start to finish on some of the end results that we are ususally drooling over in the Dinner thread.

Good luck to Mrs C.with the WW program.( I myself am on it and enjoy it very much)

I look forward to the future when you can do this again.
Carole

[insomniac]

Thanks so much Bruce, loved every minute, great to see the Brucelets cooking...they will be very popular with the opposite sex when it gets to college time...
thanks for the Ikea kitchen guide as well as we are about to renovate the ghastly pit that is our kitchen and yours looks inspirational; we were about to spend too much on a custombuilt
Kristee

Edited by insomniac, 21 January 2007 - 10:24 AM.