Suzy

I love how so many say those who haggle are the ones driving expensive cars. As, I look in my driveway, there's a 1990 pickup truck with 300k miles on it. And, I'm one of the few who admitted that haggling at the farmer's market was the norm. I won't pay too much for anything. If the price isn't right, we do without.

Haggling is fairly normal locally, and if I didn't I'd be paying a lot more than I should for produce. But, I also live in a rural area with a lot of farms and low wages.

I love them and if I came across them locally, I'd even purchase a set for my home. As long as they table setting goes with it, keep them.

20/20 information is listed here. I don't use Teflon coated pans, as I hate the way they cook.

If only we had fall. It's 85 degrees today, with very high humidity in small town Virginia. Halloween night was 70+ degrees, no kids had coats on, even. I'm really wishing for real fall weather.

"dumplings... arghhhhhhhhhh" tongue wagging out.

Ah, I'm so hungry but I have a stomach bug and can not eat right now. I'm really enjoying your food blog :)

You could just pack the books and send them to me :)

Jager's like a strong black licorice. I love it. I drank my first glass of Jager not long after my 21st birthday and it's been one of my favorites ever since.

My Grandma used to make duck's blood soup. I can't remember the proper Polish word for it, as Grandma has been gone a long time. It was the most disgusting smell on the planet, but her and Grandpa used to love it.

My mother is not a cook at all. We grew up with very basic, bland meals. Hot dogs, spaghetti, hamburgers, overdone chicken, mac and cheese from a box. The three spices she has in her kitchen are salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Everything comes from a box or a can, maybe a steak baked for a while after it's been marinated is some overly sweet storebought marinade. Yet, her Mom is a fabulous cook. She can and does cook anything you can imagine and it's always fantastic. I've learned a lot from watching her and from my mother-in-law, who, again is an amazing cook. The few times I ever cooked when younger for the family, I would try to expand our horizons and be shot down over it. I was told how horrible of a cook I was. Of course, it was because I didn't cook like Mom. It wasn't until I moved in with my husband and started cooking for us, that I realized I'm a pretty damn good cook and that there is a vast world of food beyond what Mom made.

Eww, back to the breasts after tommy's last post I'm extremely large breasted and I'm always wearing food. There is no way a dropped piece of food could get past them. I do not wear white when we're going out to eat, as I will wear the food in spectacular ways, should I tempt fate. The worst spill was at our wedding rehearsal dinner. I was wearing a cream colored sweater which was tight across my chest, we were eating something with a sauce and bam right on my chest, in front of 40 people. I wiped it up and moved my scarf so it was covering the spot. What can you do? I did not spill on my dress the next day, though. I ate very little and was extremely careful as I did not want food on my wedding dress.

From my interaction with Alton, (small ones on a discussion forum) he seemed like a nice guy. My favorites: Alton Julia Two Fat Ladies I can't stand Emeril or Bobby Flay and (don't shoot me for this) don't particularly like Mario Batali. His attitude annoys me, I don't care what he knows about food.

That's one of the scariest damn sounds, too. A great big boom from the kitchen.

Anything with massive amounts of garlic. I love garlic to a scary extreme and my husband only likes it in small amounts. When he's gone, I'm all about the garlic.

Maybe turn the oven off first? If the tongs are awkward, that is. Did you mistake confectioner's sugar for flour or cornstarch? Sugar for salt? You know, I'm obviously not the brightest crayon in the box, I've never thought to turn the oven off, first. I don't know if it's just an engrained habit of pulling food out, then cutting it off or just me being duh? But, I will be doing that from now on. Thanks for the idea As for the cream gravy mystery? I don't think I'll ever figure that one out. I know I used flour instead of sugar, but it was just eww sweet. And since it was a small container of milk neither of us tasted it by itself, so maybe that's what caused it? Luckily that's never happened again.

Note: I'm disabled and have to cook from a seated position, my kitchen is not accessible. Never pull a cast iron pan out of the oven, set it on the front burner, then reach to over it to turn the oven dial off. I've done this, not once or twice, but three times. I have lovely U shaped scars on my inner right forearm from this. After the third time I wisened up and I use a long, cheap pair of tongs to reach over and turn the dials, while I cook. Never pull a pyrex pan out of the oven, then sit it on the counter underneath an open window on a cold winter's night. It will explode, glass shrapnel will go everywhere, and you will never get all of it up. When we moved out of that house 2 years later, we were still finding shards of Pyrex, here and there. Not to mention, after you've spent hours making dinner, seeing it everywhere full of glass will make you cry and call the local pizza place. A chipotle based marinade is not the best thing for steaks you plan on searing, at least not in a house that does not have an adequate vent fan. Everyone in the house will cough for hours, even if the food does taste wonderful. A couple of more stupid things I did when I was first learning to cook. Don't buy cheap bulk buillion. Green chicken gravy is not attractive in any way, shape or form. (hey, I didn't know how to make my own broth/stocks back then and we were broke, it was cheap, and scary as hell. My husband, then fiance, did eat it, though.) I still haven't figured out how I made cream gravy that tasted sweet enough to be frosting. I didn't mix up the flour and sugar, but it was so disgusting that we had to throw it and the plates of food under it, out. Always taste your gravy before you pour it onto your food. And my campfire cooking exploits: Bacon tastes wonderful cooked over a campfire. But, before you try to scramble eggs, let the fire burn down. Rubbery doesn't begin to describe them. Baked potatoes take a lot less time in a fire. Oh, and make sure the fire is burned way down before trying this as well. If you don't you'll have potato charcoal. Jiffy Pop will work over a campfire, even though it says it won't. Just make sure the fire is going good and have something long to shake it around with.

Do any of y'all remember Red, White and Blue beer? It was even cheaper than PBR and in the thinnest cans I had ever seen. It was the beer of choice in high school, as it was all we could afford (that and Mad Dog .)

Pizza. Hey, my husband's out of town and I hate cooking just for me. I've never learned the ability to cook in small amounts.

The best way to cook bacon is in cast iron over a campfire. Even cheap bacon tastes heavenly cooked out doors.

Not a question, but a thanks for offering these courses. I've cooked in Mom and Pop style restaurants before and do a lot of cooking at home, unfortunately I can't do culinary school due to being disabled (no professional kitchen I've ever seen is wheelchair accessible :) This is a wonderful way for me to learn some new things and again I thank you.