Mayhaw Man

My boys were fascinated with the "biffy" as our Canadian friends refer to the outhouse. Not suprisingly, the humor lasted for exactly one visit. After that, there had to be a serious need to go. That place we were in up in Ontario had a solar water supply to the house associated with propane instant water heater for a shower and the sink. That rig was slick as all get out. Simple to operate, and the whole thing was designed to be drained and dismantled in a matter of minutes when it came time to abandon the place for the winter (apparently it is normally used until mid October by bear hunters). My Dad liked the insant hot water heater so much he put one in his bathroom at the lake, as there is always a hot water issue when all 13 of us are up there at once. Between the laundry and the shower and the kitchen there is never enough water for his morning routine. Now he's a happy camper. And I join with Richard in thanking you for the continuing saga of life in the North. I can't wait until next July when we head back to Kenora, ON and points way North for another week of life with the biffy. We already made the reservations. (not to mention another stop in Winnipeg for a 2 hour graze at Kim Koom Gardens-my son's new favorite place to eat-he complains constantly about the lack of "decent chinese" now. He sounds like somebody on eGullet when he really gets going ).

Jacques responds in this week's New Orleans Gambit. I don't think that Ms. Hesser will be recieving any extra oysters on her salad if she decides to darken the door of Jacques-Imo's again. This is a good article about the inner workings of an out of towner trying to make it in the big city. In fact, he has a quote that is exactly like one I made aroung here someplace as we were discussing the opening: Jacques Leonardi-Proprietor-Jacques-Imo's I also like his line about Hesser "ragging on the interior". Anyway, I thought some of you big city types might enjoy seeing how this is playing in the hometown press.

I'm going to have to sue if Bobby doesn't cease and desist on his personal drive to copy everything I do. The guys got a nerve, I tell you. He should get a life, that guy.

Ok, forgive a Southern Man a stupid question, but I am fascinated by this change of season thing. I see that the dock is up on the shore. So that's it? No "one more long weekend" or and "aww, hell, let's go up there. Who cares if it's cold" weekend adventures? You just lock up and that's it? Now you have to realize that this is coming from someone who has lived most of his life in places that NEVER freeze hard, if they do at all and someone who, other than various winter vacations and a few years in college up North (North for me anyway-Northwest Arkansas ) has never had to deal with Parkas, and snow shovels, etc. When will that lake of yours freeze normally? Do you have to clean the place out of food incase of bursting from freezing or animal invasions. I need some manly type nuts and bolts info here from a Northern cabin person. You are the only one I know, so help me out here.

I'm still here. Inever go anywhere (except under the house to plumb, there's no access there-I'll have to work on that). I have no answer from the guys, but I just sent another message and called and left one so I should here today. There's another option if I can't work this out, but I would have to ship myself. I would rather have them do it. I'll be back.

This is EXACTLY the kind of detail that should be contained in all reports-pig pickin reports, police reports, whatever. Sounds like you had a great time and I am pleased that it went so well. And it is the same way everywhere, I am happy to report, neighbors you have never met or barely know start showing up when you have a whole hog laying on a grill or a giant cutting board. How do they know? Thanks for the pictures. Brooks

Jason is right on the money on this one. When I see someone in the store buying BOTTLES of soda at a couple of bucks a pop (pun intended ) I usually turn smugly away with my CheK Grape soda safely and proudly riding on top of my cart. I live in the South, and I will drink a Coke as fast as anybody, but sometimes coka just won't do the trick. I need some storebrand flavored soda and I need it quick. I think that the reson for the store brand soda's deliciousness is that there are no "natural flavorings" to get in the way of all that scientifically perfect artificial flavoring and the super high level of carbonation in the soda. I have enjoyed storebrands for a long time. I remember that A&P here in the South used to carry Cragmont Brand as their store brand and they had an awesome black cherry and a very good grape. And another favorite is Sam's Choice Diet Cola. The problem with it is that I think they are cheating. The stuff does not taste like it has artificial flavorings in it whatsoever. Old Sam is pulling one over on us, I think. And then, there is THE New Orleans Store Brand of all time-Big Shot. While not a classic store brand, you can bet that just about all of the time Big Shot is going to be the cheapest soda on the shelf. Not only do they have a handsome and historically important New Orleans type logo of a bigshot (this is the #2 guy in the Zulu Mardi Gras Krewe and the name Big Shot, including his overdone wardrobe, bowler, and big ass cigar hanging out of his mouth was originally intended to make fun of traditional New Orleans establishment when the parade first started). Big shot makes an incredible array of flavors. My favorites include Pineapple, an awesome red creme soda, grape, and a pretty orangy orange (it makes an excellent float, that orange soda-almost as good as Grapette and Ice Cream when I was a kid). Anyway, enough of this drivel. Jason's right. You can buy more expensive, but you can't buy better.

In order of appearance Redfish Big Ass Speckled Trout White Shrimp Doves Squirrels Rabbits Quail Teal Ducks Venison Geese Turkeys (if there is any luck and the Gods are pleased with me, anyway)

Nectar Update- The Picayune had several fine articles and listings by local James Beard winning writer Pableaux Johnson concerning nectar. You can find them in the latest update of the Louisiana Media Digest.

The update has been on vacation for the month of August. It's awfully hot here and lethargy set in pretty hard. Now that September has arrived we are starting to move a bit, although no cooler here-not til mid October really, so we natives just play like we have 4 season instead of 2 (hot and wet and cold and wet). Here are a few articles that have appeared in the Times Picayune during August and a few more from the New Orleans Gambit Weekly. I hope that you enjoy them. I will begin this update with an article that, while not strictly about food, is as important to food and dining in Louisiana in general, and New Orleans in particular, as anything with the possible exception of Mardi Gras Keith Spera ruminates on the future of The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Have you had a particularly memorable meal in New Orleans? Then tell the Picayune about it and get into the Fall rest. guide. A few listings concerning nectar-a New Orleans tradition In the Pink-What nectar is all about! Nectar to go Go to the Nectar Muriel's on Jackson Square is having the LPO over for dinner next Thursday and you are invited Classical Dining Picayune Critic Brett Anderson loves Siamese, a new Thai place in Metairie Brett gets all Thaid up Brett Anderson says that things are looking up at Indigo Three Beans for Indigo South Louisiana is the center of the "meat and three" universe and New Orleanians eat their fair share. Writer Pableaux Johnson covers three of the better places here. Meat and Three We are very lucky here in Louisiana. We have better and more seafood than pretty much anywhere on the planet and to top it off, in the Fall, we have White Shrimp (that's lake shrimp to those of you in the know). Pableaux Johnson talks with home town boy and James Beard winner Frank Brigsten about this delicious bounty Louisiana white shrimp are better than your shrimp-no matter the color On the other hand, the high cost of fuel and the low cost of inferior, low quality but plentiful foriegn shrimp has got the shrimpers catching hell coming and going. Here is a little info about how they are going about trying to save their way of life. Shrimpers bring their shrimp and their white boots to the Crescent City Farmers Market Here in Union Busting Country labor day has never been a big holiday, but if you happen to have the day off (lucky you) you wmight want to try some of these recipes that are listed in the Picayune by Editor Judy Walker. Food Labors for Labor Day Marcelle Bienvenue's husband Rock is whining about the end of summer-she straightens him out pdq. Summer's end grilling (although summer won't end here for another two months) Wine, cookbooks, farmers markets, etc. Scoop du Jour from the Picayune for Sept. 2 Here are some uses for crab boil that you might not have thought of on your own. Crab Boil-It's Good for what ails you. See you soon.

I keep a supply of refrigerated pizza dough around. When I make dough, usually about once a week as my boys occasionally do something for themselves (rarely, but it does happen) , I make enough to have some in the fridge. Leftover meat and vegetables often end up in some calzone like dish or another. A smoked brisket calzone with lots of cheese, onion, and bellpepper is a fine place to unload the tupperware. As I live in South Louisiana much of what I have leftover consists of seafood that won't keep very well. Leftover boiled shrimp or crawfish often end up in gumbo, or in shrimp or crawfish salad (which will keep much longe than just the shellfish alone-it must be the acid in the salad from the lemon juice in the mayo). Fried redfish or trout can be reheated and sauced with something like oyster stew or shrimp ettoufee for a second life. Leftover gumbo becomes, well, leftover gumbo. The stuff freezes great and is really better the second time around anyway-the same goes for red beans. Grilled fish always ends up in a salad of some sort or maybe in a sandwich. Not much goes to waste around here.

The label guys are a funny bunch. I have had large numbers of labels rejected over the years for one reason or another (mostly technical) although I made a bunch of beer for Anne Rice one year for a very large Halloween Party she used to have annually and she insisted on calling the beer Vampire Blood (in fact, it was amber lager). Now I was sure that this would get rejected out of hand, but they didn't even squawk. On the other hand-Turbodog- took some serious work, as the BATF said that we were implying that the beer was very strong and that is not allowable under BATF rules, as beer is under certain limits of alcohol in certain states and they hate it when people imply that it is strong. We countered with the example of Coors Turbo 1000 Malt Liquor, which is exactly what Coors was implying with that name, was getting away with it and why couldn't we. Oddly, they decided that we were right and they let us proceed. THere is one other little known fact about labeling. If you use a label service, which is basically a guy that walks the label through the BATF, you have a much, much higher chance of getting dodgy labels approved. I suspect this is because these guys seem to be largely ex BATF agents, but I don't really know that for sure.

Oh yeah. I'm in. Might as well make something to give away for Christmas to my friends (or my enemies, I suppose it all depends on the results )

I'm working on seeing how I can arrange the yeast today. I should have an answer by Thurs noon. It's a pretty common one, so it shold not be a bunch of trouble getting it worked up in a short time. I'll let you know as soon as I have an answer. Brooks

Yes. Kosher salt.

They don't get any easier (or better) than Brooksie's Dill Pickles-Located conveniently in RecipeGullet. You can make the brine a gallon at a time which is really convenient if yo are pulling cukes from a garden and making a few jars everyday. Pickles do not get any better than this. The photo attached to this piece in the Daily Gullet is of a group of boys (2 are mine) who made a photo and emailed it to my Mom as they were so bummed out that the pickle pantry had run dry. Pickles were immediatly shipped. Grandmothers are real softies for hungry boys.

We drove our V-8's to the hambugers. I thought that California was more advanced than Louisiana. Who knew?

You will want to read this if you want to advance your technique-Toast n Serve Magic Bag The Thread that never stops.

I used it last night in a quick stir fry of mixed, finely chopped cabbages-green, red, and bok choi- Started with oil, got it hot, heaved in sesame seeds, chopped garlic, and some ginger. Immediately threw in the chopped cabbage Stir fryed over blasting heat for about two minutes Finished with equal parts of rice vinegar, dark soy, and 1/2 the amount of sugar. One more minute or so of stir frying. Eat-I had it with grilled chicken thighs.

I am hoping to go to the French Laundry in November and my wife was concerned about wine pairings. Now I don't have to worry.

Almost forgot. For the smoothie thing-go buy them a cheap blender. You can get a decent one for smoothies for under twenty bucks. Don't let them burn up your good appliances, because they will. If I hear the motor on my waring I am headed in there to kill somebody.

First the bad news: It doesn't get any better. I have a 14 year old (6'3" and still going) and an 11 year old (5'11"). They eat like men just released from POW camp. Like locusts. Like they are starving. It's crazy. Here is what we do and it seems to satisfy everybody pretty well. We buy tons of fruit at Sams-the frozen, cut stuff-mangos, blueberries, apples, pears, etc. We buy Soy milk (we are not health freaks-the stuff is good and they like it) and they can make smoothies THEMSELVES until their stomachs pop. We buy ramen noodles by the case. We generally have lots of fresh fruit around as well. They like cereal but we only buy the kind that I like (fruit and grain of some sort) so they have to be pretty hungry before they bite on that. They also eat lots of sandwiches that generally consist of leftover meat from the weekend (I cooked a turkey yesterday, the remains will last until the end of the week at an unbelievably low cost) and I am cooking a whole brisket today on the smoker. I will freeze half of it and the other half will be dinner and sandwiches later. What we don't do, both out of personal preference and some bizarre sense that we should try to be good parents and get them to eat good stuff, is buy chips and soft drinks or any really sugary snacks. We do buy granola bars by the case at Sam's, and I am clear that there is nothing really good about them as they are big sugar bombs, but they like them and I do too. The only real fatty thing that they eat regularly is toasted pecans in the winter because I have tons of pecans around (trees at our farm, our house, my mom's house and my MIL's house-lots of papershell pecans) and make them regularly as I like them and they do as well. THis is not to say that as soon as they get out of our house that they do not go for the first coke and chip combo that they can guzzle and chew, but since they spend most of their time at home (as do their friends-we usually have at least two extra boys on the weekend and as many as 5 or 6 sometimes) they snack alot but at least it's relatively healthy. Hope this helps. Basically, to sum it up, buy lots of cheap and healthy because they are going to eat whatever you have anyway (and tons of it), so only give them choices that are relatively good for them. They stop complianing after a while. Besides, except for the salt content, ramen noodles can be pretty tasty especially with some finely chopped turkey or smoked brisket thrown into the bowl. Know what I mean?

All those beans and all of that cabbage! Are you cooking with charcoal or gas? Those foil things hold up pretty well, I certainly wouldn't worry much about them falling apart in four days. I am using one to take a bunch of Crunchy Cole Slaw to a picnic this afternoon, in fact, and I like them because I don't have to be concerned about getting them back after the party. Good looking pickles. Did you make them? I never have any luck with preserved lemons. They always turn out kind of sour and sweet.

Some of you may want to perform a quick review of the Policy on Discussion of Politics on eGullet.com. Any posts that cross the lines of this policy will be removed, as this is a website that concerns, and more or less only concerns, discussions directly related to food and the subjects surrounding food and dining. As the policy states: There is quite a bit of discussion that could be had here that does not directly involve partisan politics and I expect members to keep to those subjects and to avoid the type of conversation that seems to be developing here. Discussing what the average delegate or protester is eating for lunch or dinner is one thing, but debating the reasons why one is a protester and one is a Republican (and the pros and cons of that fact), is expressly forbidden by our policies. Thanks,