NVNVGirl

I can only think offhand of a couple of things that have really floored me, although, they probably shouldn't have. One is people who refuse to eat pasta...not b/c of the low carb thing, but b/c they don't like it....that just amazes me. And people who don't like chicken. Vegetarians aside, of course. I was shocked one day when I invited a friend to dinner and when I told her what I was thinking of cooking, she told me she hated chicken....that floored me, I had never considered that someone I knew wouldn't like it, LOL. The general things that floor me are the rudeness I see that a few people have mentioned....first, even though I do usually ask people when I invite them if they have any allergies or food aversions, what ever happened to going to someone's house and just eating what they're serving? I have to admit, that I like most things, and just the fact that someone else is doing the work is enough to make me happy, but it's amazing that people would come into your home, eat your food and drink your wine and have the gall to complain about it at all! And sometimes when my dh asks people what brand of liquor they drink, I feel like telling him "they'll drink whatever we have"......I think going to someone's home and having a drink doesn't require that you go out and buy a bottle of Penfold's Grange b/c that's my favorite wine, LOL....our homes aren't restaurants and you don't always get it your way I know it's nice and hospitable, but really....sometimes it just gets out of hand I think.

Toliver~ I am able to access the RG here: http://recipes.egullet.com/categories.php

I've tried a lot of recipes for mac and cheese trying to find one that's delicious but not ordinary....I think Martha's is excellent! But my very very favorite is one called Macaroni and Cheese with Prosciutto and Taleggio that was in Bon Appetit's How America Eats issue in March of 2002....I'd be happy to send the recipe to anyone who can't find the magazine, since I looked for it over at epicurious and it's not there, unfortunately. I only use half the amount of prosciutto and the cheese, but it's by far the best mac and cheese I"ve ever tasted. Edited to add: it also used optional truffles and white truffle oil....oh man, I think I'm gonna have to make some this weekend

I was having the same dilemma~ not that it's not warm enough to grill here, but just didnt' feel like it and I've got chicken breasts defrosted....I'm torn between Al Dente's suggestion or a couple of others that I do : One is a sort of chicken fajitas: Heat some EVOO in a skillet, toss in a couple of slice onions, a couple of sliced red/yellow/green bell peppers, and some garlic and stir to combine, then cover and cook till the veggies have softened, then uncover and cook for a few more minutes till they're crisp-tender. I remove the veggies and set them aside, put a little more EVOO in the skillet and salt and pepper the chicken breasts, and then cook them on med-hi till it's golden and firm to touch; take that out and put somewhere to keep warm, return the veggies to pan with some grape tomatoes and a few jalapenos or serranos if desired, heat and then add a couple of Tbsp balsamic vinegar and boil for about 30 sec. and remove from heat. Serve with flour tortillas and whatever other accoutrements you like. A little lime juice is good too! or I do a Sundried Tomato and Garlic crust that I usually use Panko crumbs for.... 2 cups Panko or breadcrumbs made with french bread 1/2 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes 2 large cloves garlic 4 chicken breast halves combine the first 3 ingredients in food processor along with 2 Tbsp of the oil from the sundried tomatoes, until tomatoes coarsely chopped. Cook the chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper in a skillet that you've added ~ 1 1/2 Tbsp of the oil from tomatoes over med-hi heat till golden. Transfer the chicken to a glass oven proof baking dish just large enough for the chicken. Spoon the tomato mixture on top of the chicken and press to adhere. Bake at 375 deg. F for approx 20-30 min. Hmmm...even after typing it out, I still can't decide.....but I'm making myself hungry

There's a lot of places that are inexpensive and offer a lot of food in the Palm Springs area. I was sort of shocked when I first moved here as in "am I on candid camera?" at some of the amount of food that was served in relation to the cost. This isn't under $10, but it comes pretty close: At Murph's Gaslight restaurant at the Bermuda Dunes airport, they are famous for their fried chicken, serve it daily and on Sundays, that's all they serve; the place is absolutely jam packed as soon as they open the doors : Platter of fried chicken Mashed potatoes and country gravy Black eyed peas Fresh vegetable Buttermilk biscuits with butter and honey Pot of homemade soup Hot corn bread Chilled salad Fresh fruit cobbler with cream and when you're done eating and ready to pay, they bring another platter of chicken and dump it on your platter so you can take it home This costs $12.95 a person....maybe it's gone up to $13.95. Their other entrees are equally as filling and their daily specials are $7.95 before 6:30 PM and $9.95 after....I find it absolutely amazing that they make any money! And the food is GOOD!

I have an Atlas and I've had it for probably over 20 yrs....I use it a couple of times a month usually....they're pretty sturdy, IMO....and they ARE inexpensive.

Darn it! Now why didn't I think of a quesadilla for the leftovers? Oh well...next time! Great idea! Thanks

yeah Maggie,...I cried. The development company was quite good to me tho....no questions asked for anything I told them that was broken and the cost....so I can't complain..it's just a very shocking thing to come home to! And it was a GIANT pain to clean up esp by myself

Oh well...there's all that beautiful chocolate, LOL But I know...if someone rejects an entire food group from their eating preferences, it makes things more difficult.

Robyn: I tried the Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill at a tasting several months ago. It's big-assed masculine Champagne if you can imagine what I'm driving at when I say that. It's really yeasty and toasty, smells like bread dough in a glass and the bubbles are very fine. The finish lasts for an eternity. It's only made in the finest vintages. Possibly the most delicious glass of Champagne I've ever tasted. ←

Thank you so much! You are so kind with your time and help! I can't wait to make a few of these this weekend. I will look for the ingredients tomorrow! You are also very thoughtful, Sam

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LOL, Suzanne~ I thought that was a myth! If I'd posted what the area looked like just prior to the "crash of '03" (as we call it), you'd have seen my laptop sitting there which is where I usually am when I'm on the computer Believe me, I almost brought up Alkan when I called the development company...but was afraid it was a little too melodramatic (and I didnt' want to confuse them ). Don't dishes weigh more than books???

Yeah, huh? My dh does the same thing...when I ask him why, he swears he tasted it and it was "BAD". Now, how does something know that it's supposed to go bad on the day it expires The thing that really gets me is when he all of a sudden, decides the refrig. temp is set too low (i'm here all week and I do all the cooking....it's fine all week, but somehow when he opens up the fridge, it gets too warm???) and turns it up without saying anything and I go to make a salad and all the produce is FROZEN UGH! I hate frozen lettuce!

No, just too little capacity What a mess, though. I hope none of your books were injured in the accident. =R= ← Hmmmm....well, that's what I TOLD my dh, LOL! The worst thing was, that he kept telling me not to put all those books and magazines in there or the cupboard would fall off the wall , but me, in my infinite wisdom says to him "what do you think cabinets are made for?" Imagine my chagrin when I walked into this devastation . Not my finest moment. Plus, I was so proud of my growing collection of classic cookbooks and they looked so beautiful and were right at hand . Only a couple of books got balsamic vinegar on them (one of the items below the cabinet on the counter that was smashed to smithereens).I suppose I should be happy that the granite below wasn't broken, nor the glass top table broken, or the granite floor cracked, but all I could see were my beloved cookbooks and recipes all over. But the new cabinets are guaranteed to not fall off the wall no matter how many books I put in them, however, I have restrained myself in the interest of marital harmony I DO need bookshelves, apparently. Oh well...someday

Oh YEAH! I forgot all about POG! I LOVE that stuff!..geeze..the things we take for granted sometimes. I always wish they could make it here on the continent

Any chance we'll see this on your PDA version? I'd love to have it at hand when I go out (I have no idea where to get the pear eau de vie or honey syrup) but it sure sounds fabulous!

Is Escapazzo still around? I think it's on Washington....or was...it was great.

I second that

Too many????

Judith~ those passionflowers are so beautiful! I remember when I was really little that we had a friend in Napa that had a huge passionflower vine and I always loved it. I tried several years ago to start my own from cuttings from a friend's vine, but they never "took" which was a big disappointment. At the time, I didnt' realize that they actually produced edible fruit. My dad lives in Hawaii and goes on "lilikoi" expeditions....the lilikoi grows here and there in the hills where he is and when you drive through, you see different colored ribbons tied to trees....places where other people had found the lilikoi, so they could return and find the trees for more fruit. I'm not sure that the lilikoi are the same variety as yours, but I do know that they are both types of passionvines. This discussion may just get me to try to plant a vine again, although I'm not sure I have a place for it that wouldn't be too intensely hot for it.....the picture is great tho!

Isn't this lilikoi? My dad makes jelly out of it...it's FABULOUS! You can do all sorts of things with it though...almost anything you'd do with any other fruit....creme brulee, sorbet, souffle, ...but I just love it on my toast in the mornings...next best thing to being in the tropics

Marlene~ I agree wholeheartedly with Brad, Katie et all who say to go with the Pol Roger.....a much better choice IMHO. I used to drink the Yellow Label (and thank you Katie, for mentioning that it's become more of an orange...I thought I was getting so old I was forgetting my labels ) all the time and Katie is spot on when she says it's "so ordinary". Nothing for a special occasion! Enjoy, and congratulations on whatever event merits a good bottle of sparkly stuff....of course, for me, just waking up in the morning is a pretty good excuse

Oh Marlene! Too bad you don't like fish....I've got a stellar recipe for salmon ...the potatoes are fabulous that they sit on too....here's the link if you're interested: http://www.bistrodongiovanni.com/salmon.htm And the haricots and beet salad is fabulous too: http://www.bistrodongiovanni.com/beetsalad.htm The nice thing about the seared salmon dish is that it's so quick and simple and whenever I make it, people are just in awe of how delicious it is. So maybe you could do duck breast with it? Or duck ala orange....I hardly ever see that on menus anymore. And some lovely souffles to set it off....I'd do either raspberry and/or chocolate Or a cappucino/caramel bread pudding? I've got recipes if you'd like them

Oh my gosh! My carnitas turned out just perfectly! Thank you Jaymes and Fifi for all your great suggestions. My dh thought they were out of this world! I did put in some brown sugar while mine were in the crockpot...next time, I won't use anything sweet in them. They were delicious, but, like Jaymes, I'm not wild about sweet meat. And doing them in the crockpot, I can see that if you are working you can still make them and have them close to the finished crispy product if you do it in two stages. I had a little over 2 lb butt and cooked it in Jayme's mixture of tequila, lime juice, oj....I forgot the chicken broth, but will remember it next time... and I also used a can of the green salsa casera and rest of her ingredeients, cooked on high for about 8 hours I think. Then I just let it cool and put the entire pot into the fridge with the lid on it till I was ready to finish them off. Two days later, I put it all into a pyrex baking dish and put in the oven. I started off at 250 deg, but it seemed like it was going to take forever if I left it there and my dh goes to bed early on Sundays, so I cranked it up to about 325 and just watched it...took probably about 3-4 hours for it to all cook down, but it was worth it! I can't wait to make it again! What a fun dish to experiment with (and next time I'm using more jalapeno too....I was very gentle with it as my dh is not a fan of really spicy food, but it DOES need a little spice Another carnitas devotee!!! Now.....onto LARB, hehehe