heyjude

Has no one but me been dumb enough to pour the stock through the colander and down the drain, having neglected to place the strainer over another pot?

Orik, I've always seen 1 G in kugel. Jaybee, the advantage to the running under water technique is you don't have to wait for the kettle to boil. Not an issue for those with hot taps. The reason I cook pancake style is that you get a good ratio of crisp to tender. Of course, when it's served the pancake is broken up into what I think of as chunks.

I did not say in that post that my mother cooked her brei in Nyafat. This was a schmaltz substitute (to keep it kosher) made from hydrogenated coconut oil. It came with or without onion flavor. Rokeach still makes it, but now uses some other vegetable fat. That's probably good since my arteries are just recovering from my long ago childhood. Anyway, you should use butter whenever possible. Or the chicken fat that no one seems to have a jar of anymore.

My father used to claim he could choke on a bone in apple pie. I, however, tend to injure my clothing more than myself.

JSD, get some Nabisco Famous Wafers. The size and thickness are slightly different, but the taste is close to plain Oreos. They go down easy with ice cold milk. If you don't like them, use the leftovers for a cheesecake crust.

For those who love pictures of every recipe,you can't do better than The Australian Womens Weekly series. There are dozens of them,some single topic and some compendiums. Good food styling for home cooks. I also left out most of my ethnic cookbooks because others on this board know so much more,but The Joyce Chen Cookbook is a beginners dream,Bruce Cost is great, as we all know Hot,Sour,Salty,Sweet is. Paul Kovi's Transylvanian Cuisine is pretty literally in a class by itself.I also like Lebanese Mountain Cooking by Hamady. Oh dear, here I go again. I truly love my books. There are many fundraisers including the original Settlement Cookbook that capture (usually a woman's) life at the time of their publication. And there is food lit and Pillsbury and Junior League and bibliographies and single subject books on soup,sandwiches,meats,mushrooms,breakfasts and aphrodisiacs and on and on. All of the women associated with the Boston Cooking School i.e. Fanny Farmer were published. Even Liberace wrote a cookbook(as did John Wayne's widow). To indicate the massive number of cookbooks that have been published,not all of which should have been, I just read that a new Seattle branch library will house a 20,000 general book collection. I have a customer/friend whose personal collection of cookbooks is close to reaching 40,000. Of course,she's even more obsessed than I am,but she loves all hers,too. There is as much intrigue,politics,fame and reward in this field as in opera or horse racing. Join us.

How could I forget M&M's with pocket lint the penalty for sneaking without sharing.

Fluffernutters were my only craving when I was pregnant,which explains a lot about Mamster.The most ignominious moment of my cooking or parenting was when my kids told me Daddy made better Kraft Mac and Cheese than I do. His secret: He adds a slice of American cheese(the kind individually wrapped in plastic). Now,my guilty secrets include Snoballs. These are so-called round cupcakes with rubber frosting and finely grated sweetened cocnut They change the colors for the season i.e. orange at Halloween,Kelly Green for St. Pat and bright pink for something. I have a friend who calls them pink tits. Wilfred,even seeing the MacD's burgers in a TV ad makes me nauseous. Really,I think anything eaten standing up by the light of the fridge qualifies, but Franco-American spaghetti, cold out of the can is way awful.

Remember,someone put cheese in an aerosol can.

All the suggested books are the best of their genres, for all the right reasons.Now I have a long list of cookbooks that are classics to different people for different reasons. Whether anyone needs all of these is a personal choice. For instance, the book that is most important to me is a 1937 edition of Ruth Wakefield's Toll House recipes because it was my mother's only cookbook,a wedding present that was always there during my childhood. My first book was The Good Housekeeping 1963 edition. I still check it on rare occasion. There are American regional books that are definitive including Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers by Janie Hibler, A Gracious Plenty by John T. Edge(great bibliography) and The New York Cookbook by Molly O'Neill. There are great teaching and reference books including Jacques Pepin's two volume(slip-cased if you're very lucky)The Art of Cooking,the original Making of a Cook,A Cook's Guide to Cheese or Steven Jenkins' Cheese Primer,The Savoy Cocktail Book,Jane Grigson's Art of Charcuterie,all of James Peterson's books especially Fish and Shellfish, Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables,Anne Willan's La Varenne Practique,The Oxford Companion to Food and the rare Alan Davidson's. Helen Witty's Fancy Pantry is the last word on condiments and relishes as Paula Wolfert is on Couscous and others. I'm surprised no one has named Richard Olney edited, 28 volume The Good Cook series. They can be found at library sales and the whole set teaches pretty much all anyone can absorb. All the Cooks' Illustrated books including America's Test Kitchen tell beginners the why of what works without being more technical than the home cook needs. I agree about Claudia Roden's Jewish book,but Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America suits my very lapsed status. Vegetarian and healthy are not really in my repetoire but I do like the Greens books. In my favorite category(which I am trying greedily to own all of) of desserts and baking there are dozens,but I've tried to narrow them down a bit. The Roux Bros on Patisserie is as valuable as their sauce book, Mastering the Art of French Pastry,tho' hard to find,is a gem. Lenotre's influence can be seen in pastry shops everywhere. From the U.S. there are several masters including Alice Medrich(make the ice water brownies from her Cookies and Brownies book), Flo Braker both of whose books are brilliant, Richard Sax' Classic Home Dessert is just that. I must mention that the best selling book in the whole store when I was at Powell's was Simply Scones and that Betty Crocker's Cooky(sic) Book has sold a gazillion well used copies. My favorite bread books are The Village Baker and The Best Bread Ever. For those who must have pictures,all the Christian Teubner's Bibles are choice. Among the loved ones for me are Calvin Trillin,James Beard and Julia (respect must be paid). Last, but not to be left out,is my most treasured ephemera-don't get me started-How Famous Chef's use Marshmallows. How have you gotten along without it?

CathyL,I'm mad that you got to Maida Heatter before I did. Her books are great because they are 100% reliable and the recipes are well-written and tempting. I was slow because I am composing a list of classics,keepers and must-haves. Different people have different needs. I am often asked what 5 or 10 books would be a good gift for someone who wants to cook,but knows nothing beyond toast. So when we get back from some outdoor time on this sunny Seattle day,I'll post again. In the meanwhile,lurkers,please discuss among yourselves.

Long,long ago,while working in NYC,my Dutch friend and I discovered a Broodjeswinkel and had tasty sandwiches on really good rolls. He got nostalgic for home and said the sandwich shops are all over Amsterdam. Has anyone seen one elsewhere? If not,it's fun to say Broodjeswinkel,anyway.

Well,I'm holding the new "Wine" section of the Seattle Times. There must have been a misprint because it says "Food" at the top of page one. From this example,I'm not sure why they made this a separate section. Except for Nancy Leson's regular column,the food mood of the region still escapes them. I wish they had more local columns with questions answered,ideas exchanged,restaurants discussed by diners,Farmers' Markets explored, etc. Sounds like a newspaper version of eGullet.

Obviously, sensitivity about difficult subjects that might offend people nearby can't hurt and every case is different, but it does matter to me if my every thought has to be self censored in order to be easy listening (think Kenny G) for public consumption. There is someone out there to be offended by just about anything. Tommy, of course, we all make mistakes. We just don't need to have them all pointed out to us in restaurants.

What if Jaybee's assailant had come over to ask him to go home and change his clothes because they offended her or to sit up straight because her sister had spuna bifida or (to keep it a matter of speech) to stop talking about anything at all that reminded her of her loss? We are overly sensitive about death here and it allows creeps like John Edward to exploit very sad people and that selfindulgent woman to try to spoil Jaybee's meal. I believe in normal voice level conversation about any subject, uninterrupted by strangers unless they have something really juicy to add. Short of crying, "FIRE" in a crowded restaurant, no subject should be off limits.

Hi,BH. We missed you. The tongue is not at all chewy. It's very tender and sweet with a nice fatty mouth feel. Salumi served it on a Bolo roll with a green pepper and onion relish. Truly luscious. This is not the way NYC deli tongue sandwiches are served. There the bread is usually rye or a seeded roll and the condiment is mustard. The meat is piled higher in NY, but please don't make me choose between them. The morels were an unexpected indulgence especially at an 11:00 AM lunch. Plain was more than good enough.

This was a feast and arriving at 11:00 made us the first in line. Samples were already out, we took most of the big table and ate until full. By the time we left, hoverers were waiting for our seats and the line was out the door. Timing is everything, but the food is worth waiting for, if necessary. Takeout is the downtowners' option, but being there is really part of the experience. I'd do this regularly.

All of the references make my mouth and eyes water. Stellabella, mamster is named for Matthew Cuthbert as I knew from the age of nine that my firstborn would be a boy. There are hundreds of food tales in the Anne books from Marilla's kitchen to Miss Lavendar's tea parties to Susan's soul soothers. Food is important to animal characters,too. My favorite story to read over and over to my boys was (is) Tear-Water Tea from Arnold Lobel's Owl at Home.

My father grew huge stands of rhubarb when I was a kid and my mother cooked it all(except for the leaves,of course). The favorite was pie, with or without fresh strawberries, but we also ate sauce that she canned like applesauce. It's great plain, baked with pork chops, on ice cream, or on hot Cream of Wheat. Most uses take lots of sugar, but at least the sauce doesn't add fat.

This is Heyjude not Ckbklady altho' our icons make us look like fraternal twins and we are friends. The Contender,an otherwise seriously flawed film, had some wonderful scenes in which Jeff Bridges as The President orders from the White House kitchen. Don't forget the liver scene in Rosemary's Baby, the diner scene in Five Easy Pieces or Michael Keaton wrapping leftovers in Multiplicity. My all time favorite is Prick Up Your Ears in which Vanessa Redgrave says to the sister of Joe Orton who frets when she loses count as she is combining his ashes with those of his lover, "It's a gesture,Dear,not a recipe." Worthy of an Oprah philosopher.

cabrales, you don't have to be sorry about all the questions, but I don't have the answers because I live in Seattle. If you get answers (maybe from Ckbklady whose avatar is similar to mine, but I lean left and she is upright) ,please share. Your heart and stomach are leaning in the right direction. Next time we spend time in Vancouver we'll continue the quest.

Mamster also left out Kaplan's Deli (from whom we just got take-out). It is the closest I've seen in the northwest to an East Coast Jewish Deli. The owner who is from Roumania and talks just like my Bubbe gave us generous tastes including 6 slices of pickled beef tongue. So, I bought a pound. They do have a large menu for table service, too. The smoked sable that I brought home for my husband was perfection and I was glad he didn't ask the price. I paid $6.95 per 1/4 ounce which came to $56 for the slab. The cinnamon roll was like the ones my grandmother baked every Friday. I let it get stale and ate it dunked in cold milk. Gey essen.

Being relatively new to Seattle and living near Queen Anne Thriftway,I was first exposed to the CRS blitz only a couple years ago. It worked and we spent what seemed like a pot of gold on the slab of orange. Boy,was it worth it. Like Girlchow,I prepared it very simply and let the lush,fatty flavor be the star. Since then,I've poached,broiled,baked,sauteed and even nuked it[just a little piece as an experiment],all with delicious results. Other salmon gets treated to more ingredients and more involved recipes,the price being so low at Costco that I can throw half a package away if we don't like the outcome. QAT has also grabbed me with their dry aged beef hype but that's another story.

The April Bon Appetit has a nice, if brief,Passover article. You are right,I think they did forget to look at the calendar.

Mamster[and that is the only nickname I'll reveal at this venue],I'm not offended,but will remind you that prior to your born-again foodie life you would not allow food to even touch let alone have skin or spices. And now you have so much to teach me. Having bought chickens all over town and cooked them many ways,I think the Rocky Jr's from Whole Foods are the best:tender,meaty and flavorful. As for restaurants,I rarely order chicken anymore except as Moo Shu since we have it so often at home. Believe it or don't,Ruths Chris serves a fabulous boneless breast that Laurie has eaten when the carnivores need BEEF. Heyjude