Gifted Gourmet

The "report card" looks pretty darned promising!! and a whole lot of great reviews!

Tonight's use of yellow squash in my kitchen is in a casserole which contains sauteed yellow squash, sauteed Vidalias and cornbread crumbs and eggs and cream .. not an appetizer so much as a damn fine southern recipe .. learned it from Aunt Fanny's Cabin restaurant in Smyrna, Ga. and then this: Galette from DIY

The contest I have long since discarded my dreams of finding the perfect sidedish for KFC ... mostly because it was so narrow in scope .. and had to be served in a small styrofoam container ... my culinary "genius" comes with a higher tab than a paltry $5,000 ... now this grilled cheese contest is more like it! And the variations within the categories they are offering is much more to my liking: Gourmet Grilled Cheese; Kids' Favorite; Most Original; Best Culturally Influenced; Best Regionally Inspired; and Low Carb. What kind of an exquisite grilled cheese sandwich would you enter into this Teflon competition?? Regionally inspired? Now I have to go through all of my southern cookbooks (only 1 actually!) and look for something distinctly regional: barbecued cheese sandwiches? Cheese and pepper jelly? Biscuits and cheese? ah, Cheese Juleps!!

I dunno but anytime I see the juxtaposition between the words 'Germany' and 'purity laws', I get some kinda chills ... but I know exactly what you are saying here, naguere .... quite well ... I do, however, watch with great interest, how this particular story "plays itself out" ...

The article from MSNBC so yet another major EU concern .. and we are still focussed on national security?? not GM foods?

Since this thread basically has only three main posters, and we generally fill in by the week, anyone else care to join us in what you make for Friday night dinners?? Shabbat isn't only for the kosher-inclined, nor for the religiously observant .... we would love to have you join us and it need not be either kosher nor inventive nor elaborate nor even holy ... if you make a special meal, please join us!

Thanks for mentioning Bartolomeo Scappi, Julia's Child! In wanting to learn more about him, I happened upon this interesting piece of culinary history: Gastronomical Services to the Conclave Had no particular idea about any of this until now ... fascinating, to me at least!

the 2004 story and also this (which is from 2001): Soooo, now the fruit we eat must not only be delicious and juicy and sweet, now it also have a pizzazz factor?? How much further will this go as our "necessities" need a certain je ne sais quoi to be taken seriously?

Yes, yes, yes!! They don't have those any longer, thank goodness!!

Think there is a food+love book somewhere in here, based upon a lovely "bouquet" of nostalgic, romantic anecdotes?? I certainly see one!! Thanks for starting this thread, Pickles! Had you wished for something more gastronomically graphic??

Have actually planned something in advance this week: melon coupe to begin romaine salad, balsamic vinaigrette, tomatoes, hearts of palm, olives grilled Lamb chops with rosemary and garlic potatoes anna yellow squash, Vidalia, and cornbread casserole (very southern!) broccoli rabe peach-blueberry open-face tart with pareve vanilla "ice cream" challah (without eau de parfum, bloviatrix!) Yeah, that will make a nice summery meal! See bloviatrix, I can get organized every few months ...

We aim to please! Thank you, Diana, for your post on southern beverages and your personal recollections ... looking forward to even more!

Actually, hundreds of years ago, the poet Omar Khayyam penned these immortal words in his poem The Rubaiyyat: “Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough A Flask of Wine, a book of Verse -- and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness.” .. okay, maybe not the wilderness exactly! Read on ... How very sensual the tingle of a bubbly champagne, the saltiness and pop of great caviar, the salty slipperiness of fresh oysters ... In fact, almost every food whispers of sex, and I guess I alone can often hear that voice. For me, eating (with someone one loves) can be quite an erotic event, when shared with the right person ... Just as a marvelous wine is the perfect accompaniment to good food, food is the perfect accompaniment to romance. So you may well ask: What’s sensuous about food? Almost everything!! You touch it, you smell it, you taste it, you share it. When you feed it to each other, it’s nurturing and loving and sexy, all at the same time ... luxurious! Oh, what's that you say? Give a specific example?? ... hmmm.. one of my favorite meals was shared with someone special and was most definitely a Cajun-Creole extravaganza ... sharing the hot, spicy, succulent crawfish gumbo from a single bowl .... the very hot boudin sausage with chunks of french bread which we used to sop up the buttery sauce ... the oysters which we downed with glee with a delightful hot sauce ... the fluffy crabcakes with a remoulade .... and the requisite creamy, sweet, decadent bread pudding with the warm whisky hard sauce. Quite an experience and decidedly romantic!! Memories of so long ago but as real as if they had happened just yesterday ... ummmm...

This is a collection of digests for a number of media which are located in the Southeastern states. This week's Southeastern Forum includes the media from the major cities in the region, alphabetically: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an article which is not without considerable interest, at least to me personally, on iced coffees: Access Atlanta has a review of a new local restaurant, Silk: Atlanta Creative Loafing has a review: as well as this review: Well, at least we appear to have finished off the Father's Day and Fourth of July brouhaha and are back to the routine reviews ... Charleston Post and Courier has articles on a variety of different lemonades, summer trifles, and sauteing: Nothing terrifically new here but a nice mix of articles, some of which are locally generated, some from other sources.Charleston Daily Mail has an in-depth article with recipes for spinach from The Food Guy, local writer, Steven Keith: The Charlotte Observer has a lovely article by our own eGulleteer, kpurvis, about what has changed while she was away ... a good read!! And an article on the local tomatoes: Charlotte Creative Loafing has a bagel story worth a look: .Memphis Commercial Appeal is running a story this week on a South African, Leon Styne, learning about Memphis barbecue: The Nashville Tennessean has an article on organic sugar hitting the local shelves for the first time: as well as a piece on a cookbook by the owner of a local favorite, The Puffy Muffin: The Orlando Sentinel has a variety of articles covering such topics as the Florida low carb potato: and an article on orange cauliflower, which was the topic of an eG thread only recently: Triangle.com has as its lead this week an very nice piece on vegetarian local restaurants: The Raleigh News & Observer has a piece on a local author's Low Country cookbook: This is an overview of these southeastern media for this week... I will be adding additional articles if the interest is sufficient ... Have a great week, ya'll!

Happen to have my copy of the Knopf Prague guidebook which I used on my trip last fall: Many cafes, especially around Charles Square may work for you ... U Kalicha U Fleku Cafe Svet Cafe Color Tower Praha Slavia Cafe Milena

The article on shrimp SF Gate Are you a shrimp lover? Is this news expected, unexpected, even alarming? Will you simply eat fewer shrimp or "go smaller" and maintain your loyalty to the tiny succulent crustaceans?? Or will you switch to lobster and/or scallops or crab?? As Yul Brynner said in The King and I, "tis a puzzlement."

These eggrolls are beginning to look somewhat familiar ... deja-vu all over again??

One of my very favorite quotes on eG came from you, Varmint, about Blenheim's in the southern beverages thread:

You work across the street from this??? Lucky stiff!!

I had forgotten about Francois Vatel until you mentioned his name ... and your reference to his suppliers is positively brilliant, Jon! I think he would have been amazingly creative to take a "Master Class" with in his day! about Vatel

If I did, would I be here at eG posting? Rather suppose I would be spending my days and nights with Fernand Point, cleaning up the virtual kitchen after making these virtual gateaux ....

Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport Since this is the airport I always depart from to travel, I really like the variety that is now offered to the traveler (200 concessions) .. I remember it from the past when there was very little choice available... best choice is Paschal's which is local and soul foodish. Food in SJC (San Jose, Ca.) where I often find myself is now much better and in SFO (San Francisco) there is a very nice set of choices as well. Didn't like the food in DFW particularly. Washington Dulles has a lot of choices. Newark is always a disappointment, even with the newer facilities. CDG in Paris is fair but Munich was awful (or maybe just where I was waiting for my flight). Frankfurt was fine, lots of vendors for snacks.

Not too likely in this day of heightened security ...

It's still there. In fact, it's linked in the very first message in this thread. AirlineMeals.net Thanks, enrevanche, for reiterating the reiteratable for me!! I would like to think everyone read every thread closely from beginning to end but that doesn't always happen .. for everything else, there is you, Barry!!

close enough??? the website this comes from