Mayhaw Man

Homer Simpson If they're good enough for Homer, they're good enough for me

Tommy, As someone who runs a very large customer service and sales center I can tell you that you are exactly correct. The people answering the phone are very often the same people that you might meet behind a fast food counter and are usually pretty limited in not only what they can do for you to help, but in their actual knowledge about the subject of your call. They are glad to help you if they can, but do not want to be confused or talked to in a condescending way. The best thing to do with these kinds of situations is to get to the point and do not try to play any kind of word games with them. Confusion breeds contempt and contempt breeds bad service. THis is true with virtually any service situation. I don't believe anything is to be gained by trying to show your intelligence and good breeding when all you really wanted was a half assed hamburger anyway. Do you really feel better after you have given a couple of snappy comebacks to a high school kid who knows his job is lame but also knows that he needs the dough?

It's cold here, but of course cold is a relative thing. We are currently 40 degrees warmer than the Klink Haushold way up in the Heartland , and that is about as cold as it ever gets here (28 for tonights low) and only then a couple of nights per winter. Neverltheless, it's cold enough and I had the day off so I made a big pot of chicken and andouille gumbo. This will be served over texmati rice along with French Bread from LeJeunnes Bakery in Jeanerette, LA and some (drum roll please) fried okra with red bell pepper chutney for our dipping pleasure. Dessert will be a choice of pecan or chocolate chess pie. If I had more days off during the week when I can be home by myself and do nothing but read, cook, and drink coffee I would weigh 500 lbs. in no time.

Beto- What do ya'll get to eat in the messhalls. Is it all pretty much prefab or are there some occasional (more or less) from scratch items? Are there some things that the soldiers actually look forward to in terms of what is served? What branch of the service are you in? The headmaster at my son's school just got back from 9 months in Kuwait/Iraq and because of his job being on the move much of the time (Captain in a transport battalion) he said that the majority of what they had wre MRE's. My son's schoolmate's sent lots of stuff to him, but what could be sent was pretty limited. He also brought a whole bunch of various MRE's to school last week and the class had them for lunch. I don't think that they were a very big hit, although they did seem impressed with the little tiny bottles of Tabasco (they are from Louisiana, after all ).

And you thought that you had a hard time getting to a decent cup where you are. This piece by Thomas E Ricks and Liz Spayd of the Washington Post shows that people will make do with what they have in order to get the caffeine they need. G.I. Joe is a hit in the middle of the desert

Lolis Eric Elie's column in today's Picayune is about a lifelong preference for mustard greens over collards. Collards cut the Mustards For those of you that are not familiar with Mr. Elie, he is a longtime Picayune columnist but more importantly (imho) he is the author of the single best BBQ book ever written. I highly reccomend that those interested in this important subject seek out this volume as it covers virtually every style of BBQ prepared in North America. It would be a fine addition to any culinary library. The link below will lead you to a review by Ed Ward of the Austin Chrinicle. Smokestack Lightning Just for the record, I prefer turnips (with roots) over collards over mustards.

Preheat overn to 375F Wash Potatoes Poke a few holes in them with a fork Put potatoes directly on bottom or middle rack Turn after 30 minutes (over and end to end, it might be an oven for God's sake, but still turn them ) Remove from oven at end of one hour and enjoy a simple delight I like them with butter, a little salt, and lots of black pepper

What about Cheesy Poofs? Everybody likes Cheesy Poofs!

Roux- Here is a good article out of the New York Times on Harry Lee (Jefferson Parish Sherriff aka-The Chinese Cowboy) and the procedure. He is doing very well and I understand that the current report is that he is down about 75 pounds. All the best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery and success with her goals.

Well here is a nice bio of Kevin Graham and after some stops including upstate New YOrk and Vegas here is what I believe he is doing now (he was about 6 months ago anyway, my parents love his food and kind of follow him from place to place-When the Windsor Court was under his direction it was, in fact, one of the best places to fine dine in the US-it is now, I am afraid, just a very nice hotel)

Oh what a sad, dark spot in the world you sheese haters must occupy. Life without cheese would be like.....well.....life without cheese. I would not be happy.

It's not about the heat, it is about the flavor. Unless you get down on a big pile of bugs that somebody has completely overdone, you should be pretty safe. When you think about it, most of the classics are not that spicy hot. Just sit down and order. You will be pleased. There are very few places in the world with a range of dining like New Orleans and the surrounding area. Make sure you go through some of the Louisiana threads and see what others have said about recent trips and read about the dishes. Have a great trip and quit worrying about the heat, it's the humidity!

I would. On the other hand, the proposition for the play, as presented, seems rediculous and if they are able to raise the investment it will prove that the economy has recovered from it's recent burp and that people once again have more money than they know what to do with.

Fifi, That looks like a giant version of the ones that you see along the lower gulf coast (where it really never freezes for more than a couple of hours, if at all), the Calomondin variety. They also grow really well as a partial indoor ornamental/fruit. Lucky you, that thing is beautiful.

I'm going to start working on my "Ode to Okra" right away.

Speaking of flavored drinks-has anyone had a Barq's Vanilla Float? I don't know if they are selling it off of the Gulf Coast, but it is a GREAT flavored version of their already pretty damn tasty regular product. I ignored it thinking that it would be like Vanilla Coke which in my opinion is awful, but my children kept buying them every time they had the chance (which is not very often as they don't get too many soft drinks, we never have them at home)and I finally tried it and have to admit that it is really good. It tastes pretty much like a root beer float is supposed to. Root Beer Floatz edited to add link to bevenet.com

Fifi, Do they look like this? I have several of these and have never done much with them besides eat them off of the tree and use them for garnishes in drinks and on plates as they are VERY tart, but pretty delicious.

I am pretty sure you can get it at Burger King. They serve it on a baguette.

And of course, if you would like to learn more about the lore of Everclear you can do so by reading the lyrics to this very funny song.

I was about to post and say that I already put a link above, but of course I failed to do so. DOH! Thanks Richard.

Actually, in terms of lineage, alot of those people are not Cajuns-hence the name German Coast. There is much good sausage and head cheese coming out of that neighborhood and I do really like John Folse's entire operation-the restaurant, the cooking school and the artiisinal cheese operation. But I do agree that that strange accent is distracting.

They do indeed. Sherriff Lee (The Chinese Cowboy) has lost 100 lbs. thanks to his gastric bypass (I bet his horse is happy about that ).

There are at least two different guys who grow them in Folsom/Covington. Both occasionally sell them (I suppose when they have them available) at the Covington and Mandeville Farmers Markets. I believe one of them is also the guy that seels the awesome golden bamboo. I am going to Covington this morning (to buy shrimp, butter, and camellia bushes ) and will try to get you some more info and a name and address.

My entire house is framed (and was once roofed in) cypress. It was built as a rooming house/hotel in 1895. It does not rot, and does not grow fungus. I believe that the shittake mushrooms grow on oak. There are several growers in Northern St. Tammany and one of these guys regularly sells at the Covington and at the Mandeville Farmer's Markets (which incidentally are really served by the farmers-the Covington one is by far the best). Couldn't find the link to the Covington Market but- here is a link to the Mandeville Farmer's Market

The Best Pork Products