Mayhaw Man

I'll weigh in on the side of Mikasa. We use Mikasa china as our everyday stuff and I really like it. Easy and inexpensive to replace and has the look and feel of something that should cost much more. Our flatware that we are currently using is Mikasa as well. I don't know the pattern, but I really like it because it is very simple looking and very attractive and takes a beating pretty well (unlike our fine China-Herend Rosewood which is both stunningly expensive and so delicate that I hate using it because I know that I am going to chip a $150 dinnerplate every damn time I use it and our silverware, which we actually use quite a bit, but I get a bit tired of polishing it every time) Mikasa While we are kind of on the subject (or we are now, albeit briefly) I would like to express my happiness at walking into someone's home for dinner and seeing the "good stuff" gracing the table. I believe that even a simple meal can be greatly improved by a swell table setting (oh Lord, I sound like Martha Stewart ). But I do think that so many of us have nice things and we just don't haul them out enough to enjoy them. What's the point in having the stuff if it gets no use? While there are many things about entertaining that I can't stand about my parent's generation, I do like the fact that you tend to see them use the nice stuff more often. That being said, I warn all of you thinking about getting into the china thing to think about how the stuff will hold up with use before you unload a boatload of dough on china that is about as study as windowpane, no matter it's expense or beauty. If you break it everytime you use it, dinner can get a bit pricey.

I think that I received my first cold drip set up as a wedding gift. I have enjoyed cold drip ever since, although I primarily end up making iced coffee (1/4 drip and 3/4 milk with teaspoon or so of sugar) with it. It does make a nice cuppa if you are in a hurry or only want to make a cup or two. I still prefer fresh brewed, but only if it is fresh. If I have a choice between coffee that has been sitting on a hot plate for 1/2 an hour or so and a cold drip with hot water added I will go for the cold drip every time. And no matter what the more developed slurpers think, it still beats the hell outta Folgers Crystals, no matter what Mrs. Olsen says (no doubt she publicly proclaimed the slimy goodness of lutefisk, as well ) That's what I think.

I am sure that many veteran foodie web surfers have seen this website, but if you haven't you should. It carries the Weight Watchers theme out to the hilt. Regrettable Foods We have a little walking parade here in my little hometown, which is filled with eccentrics who are bent towards the visual arts (or just generally bent, depending on your point of view) and when given a theme, will carry it out in fine and often hilarious form. Last year's walking parade was in fact themed "Regrettable Foods" and there were some pretty well done and funny costumes. Mrs. Mayhaw and I masked as "Adam and Eve" with Mrs. M leading me around with an apple on a stick. It is a very small town affair and probably not at all what many of you picture as Carnival, but in reality this parade is much more like what the Carnival that many locals experience than the breast baring nightmare shown on late night TV and in cheesy websites This website gives you an example of what the parade looks like, but for some reason I can't connect to the link for last years parade. So just enjoy photos from last year (incidentally the Power Broker on Page 3 and the After the Parade boy on page 2 are Mayhaw offspring (I just looked at those pictures for the first time in two years and Good Lord how those kids grow) Abita Springs Krewe of Push Mo'

I believe that Emeril has been claiming to know about food nightly for about 10 years on the Food Network. What the hell is this guy talking about? Does he mean that EG is immune from criticism because he is endorsing a non food product ( I would agree with that, but I don't remember ever thinking, "Hey! That Emeril sure has some shiny choppers!" so I am not sure why he would make me want to buy toothpaste)? Bayless comes off as smarmy (I gave it all to charity so all bets are off and I am above criticism because of the shield of charity) and defensive. Those two emails must have been pretty rough to put him on the defense given the "thousands" of positive ones he recieved. I'd like to see some of the positive ones while we're at it- "Hey Rick, I was thinking about Frontera Grill tonight, but after I saw you whooping it up at Burger King I decided that whole sit down dining thing was overrated and we headed on over to BK for some real South of the Border Flavor" or "We were in town for the weekend and had reservations at Tampoopoo or Tamponoloco or whatever the hell that place of yours is called, but since you said that BK was so good we decided to go there instead. The food is good and the name of the place is much easier to pronounce".

I just emailed three different people who should know the "generic" name of that giant loop tape that restaurants used to have. We all have it on the tip of our tongues (or on the edge of our slightly burnt brains) and no one has come up with it so far. I am pretty sure that we used to have a catalogue that had the tapes listed with some kind of glib title (Upbeat Show Tunes!, Music for Junkies Who Can't Afford to Cop, New Wave Favorites, etc) and that we actually ordered them through a food supplier (Sysco, I think) but I really can't remember. Too much water under the bridge (or cocktails down the gullet) I guess. I'll keep thinking about it and unless I lose my mind first, report the results.

This just goes to show you that weirdness is in the eye of the beholder. I kind of grew up and in live in a musical situation where (to paraphrase Lucinda Williams) at my house playing Charlie Parker, Johnny Cash, Sun Ra, Elvis Costello, and Bing Crosby all in the same mix is considered not only right, but desirable.

Rabbi Ribeye brings great fun to this forum. Thanks for the piece and I look forward to many more. I particulary liked the paragraph about the GOB from Texas downing copious amounts of Chopped Liver and Schmaltz I have been describing certain things as "schmaltzy" for years. I will now have to rethink my use of that heretofore useful term

I have only been there twice since Emeril ravamped the place. I enjoyed it immensely each time. I believe his intention was take the traditions of a very old, family run, dining establishment and make the menu more interesting while keeping the "Old New Orleans" feel of the place. If those were his intentions, he has succeeded very nicely. This link is to a review from the Times Picayune by Brett Anderson, Current Dining and Food Critic for the Picayune. Delmonico Review I hope you enjoy your meal and if you need any more help or info, there are lots of enthusiastic fans of the New Orleans dining scene on the boards that can help you out. You also might find some interesting information in the threads on the Louisiana Board. As you will see, people generally aren't very shy about voicing an opinion about one of America's most interesting cities or the dining opportunities that are presented in New Orleans Let me know if I can help you out in any way. Louisiana Threads Here

I have been involved with a couple of pm's involving my original post above and my subsequent spanking. I made a point in one of them I think that I should make publicly, lest you all think I am blind as a bat. I started out reading the Julie/ Julia blog because a friend of mine at the NYT sent me an email about it, knowing that a) I love Mastering French Cooking b) I like someone who uses the f word and laughs at herself and is doing someting fun in public. I think that the project originally started out as a send up/publicity stunt. I think that the perpetrator of this stunt was a government drone who could not get anybody to read her otherwise boring writing. I think the project became, in a very short period of time, something more. The tone and context of the writing changes dramatically around the first of the year and at that point Julie is way into the method and style used by Julia. Julie constantly questions why Julia does certain things the way she does and by the end of the blog there is a clear tone of admiration for a woman who wrote a great book and led an interesting and vital life in the public forum. I think that if Julie was setting out to make fun of Julia, she failed and she failed because there is too much to admire in her life's work. She is certainly easy to spoof. She is 6 feet all, gangly, and has a very unusual voice. But the spoofing pretty much ends there. Julia Child also taught half of us- directly or indirectly -how to make bechamel and mornay and coq au vin and ad infinitum and she is a very hip woman.

In New Orleans during Carnival there are often cruise ships in the river during carnival (an oddly enough, motorhomes on Barges!!?? parked at the end of Canal St) being used as hotels. Nobody cares much as they are usually just filling overflow or part of a cruise that would otherwise be out somewhere else. They are used as floating hotels and it seems that the attraction is to be off of the boat and out and doing in New Orleans, not sitting around looking at the Riverwalk from your stateroom balcony. They are also required to pay daily fees plus our local hotel tax. I would think that the situation would be much the same in New York. Even conventioneers are bright enough to know that the bright lights and good food of the Greatest City in the World are more interesting than the inside of a cruise ship and a pre set menu (or maybe they are not that smart, but I am giving them credit anyway). It looks like the issue here is whether or not these conventioneers are taking their business to a package deal rather than to individual restaurants and hotels. Does the City of New York collect sales taxes and port taxes from ships docked in New York, or is that a state and federal remittance only? I cannot imagine the city does not levy taxes on these ships, because if they don't it looks like this is the only tax free travel situation in New York. If the city is collecting tax, The Republican Sailors are not exactly hurting the city financially, especially if New York has the equivelant of the hotel/motel tax. I could be wrong here (and probably am) but it seems like this is pretty much a situation of much ado about nothing. These people are going to most likely spend money off of the boat (someone elses money, but money just the same) and the only thing that will be directly hurt (at least in an easy to count, tangible way) will be the hotels that are out x number of reservations. I do agree that after all of the rah-rah flag waving we have all endured from both sides of the aisle in the last two years that this move seems to be in particularly bad taste (and politically shortsighted), but I'm not Miss Manners and I don't live in New York, so that is up to others to judge.

Great job on the interview. I enjoyed it. I do wish that she would get it together to write a memoir. Her early life and how she came into cooking is (from what I can gather from pretty diverse sources) apparently a pretty interesting story. It is interesting that she expressed no interest in the Julie/Julia Project. I was a reader throughout and think that if Julia took the time to read some of it she might change her opinion, but as always, I stand ready to be corrected.

I guess they'll just have to stick with speed

Caffeine is a very bitter alkaloid. While I am not a food chemist (although I do play one on TV ), I would think that the bitterness would affect the overall profile of coffee. I know that during the development of Abita Root Beer we played around with caffeinated root beer and that the caffeine changed the flavor profile considerably. Barq's Root Beer contains caffeine and the company says that it has "12.78mg per 6oz" and that they "add it as a flavoring agent for the sharp bitterness". We eventually decided to go without the caffeine. The by product of this experiment was a 1 qt. container of pure caffeine. Dipping a toungue depressor in about an inch and then ingesting this small amount of caffeine became a very popular way to wake up and get busy in the morning. All this being said, I have never found a decaf that is worth drinking. These coffees tend to be thin and missing a number of flavors that I associate with coffee enjoyment.

Mercy buckets , ma'am. I'm sure we will laissez les bon ton roulez. Duck hunting marathon starts in the morning. Weather will be cold and windy (unfortunately it will also be blue skies) so I have two out of the three requirements for successful shooting. Freezer filling follows directly afterwards. Duck and Andouille Gumbo for dinner Saturday night (no okra, that would be wrong )

There will be a meeting of the OLA (Okra Lovers of America) tonight at my house. We will be enjoying an appetizer of Dill Pickled Okra. The entree will consist of Turkey Gumbo with Okra with a side dish of leftover Okra and Tomatoes. Okra Cornbread will served along with the gumbo.

Eeeexcelllent

I will still send you my recipe, but I don't reckon I will have anything as exciting as as Cho Cho Easter Bunnies

Yes they grow pretty fast and make tons of fruit. When I was a kid we found that they made excellent projectiles for throwing at all manner of things, particularly siblings. When I get home I will find you a couple of recipes and if I can't find a link to them somewhere, I will pm you. They are really good to eat, but you are right, most people just stuff em with shrimp and sauce em up and bake. I have a recipe for some excellent merliton and crabmeat soup and for a ratatouille made with merlitons. Look for them a.m.

I'll admit to the same thing, but by God I'm no fish murderer! All of the fish I consume had a fair, fighting chance and if they were too stupid to bit that Deadly Dudley than they deserve to be skinned out and eaten. Delicious Deadly Dudleys for Fish Catching Excellence

Rachel, I wasted a whole bunch of that fine fruit last night in some pies, but no matter, the veg. stand guy has plenty more at 5 bucks a sack (about twenty five or so to a bag). Burnt Pie Tale

Try to picture any self-interested public figure essentially saying, " Cruelty to animals? Force feeding cute little ducks (or geese)--for an elitist gourmet treat? I'm FOR IT!" Not likely to happen.

Carolyn Tillie She just took us to the mat Why play anymore?

Happy Thanksgiving Haikus from the Southland. Glad we found Poche's It was getting kind of tense Rachel was doubtful Many people think Alligator tastes like fowl Wrong. Not like Chicken Going to eat now The big dry bird is ready Glad there is dressing

Actually, standing in line at Jacques Imo's is not that bad. If you tell the hostess what you are going to do, they will send somebody in next door at the Maple Leaf to round you up for your table. It beats standing in the street if you are thirsty (but only slightly, the Maple Leaf, when there is no music going on, is a pretty interesting slice of New Orleans bar and ne'er do well subculture). Enjoy your trip and let us know if there is anything wlse we can do to help.

It's not all tourists. You see plenty of well dressed people going to work with a couple of orders and a cup to go on weekday mornings. And I completely agree about the "bright, bouncy" look after a long swing at the halyards. It takes on a completely different feel.