heyjude

I got 23 more since I last posted, 17 new and 6 used. Do you think methadone works for this?

For many years, Portland, OR had a couple drive up burger places named Yaws. Yaws is a contagious, tropical disease with lovely symptoms like a crusty rash.

Like I've ever said no to your Klinkian Corned Beef. We'll carpool to pick it up.

Mamster, I prefer the term wonk to nerd. I hope we will all become one or the other when we have our PNW eGullet Chocolate and Port tasting party in March. More details to follow, but we should all be doing a little prep by eating chocolate and researching our subject. If we should mail order, lets pool our resources and knowledge. Maybe we could get a Portlander to bring up a Jaciva mousse cake. Any suggestions for the date and format of this party are welcome.

Since I've been outed by Jason and NSM, I admit to having rooms full including some that are on loan to other eGulleteers. I tried counting, but I felt a little like Rain Man. So, I did an estimate and I think there are about 3750 in my apartment. They cover 3 rooms and a hallway and I know where to find most titles. I enjoy them all, even the way they look on the shelves. Over the years, I've sold and given away hundreds more. People often ask me which I'd keep if I could only have 5 or 10 or 25. My answer changes often, but always includes my signed Julia Child's and my mother's Toll House Recipes. I know many people say that a good cookbook should be covered with stains from use in the kitchen, but I like to keep mine clean. I copy a recipe that I want to use onto a 5x8 index card to take into the kitchen. Then I can file it or toss it depending on the result. All in all, not a bad little hobby.

My favorite, too, mamster and it should be the name of your band.

I just went back to reread the last thread on this topic and the suggestions were great. Depending what you actually plan to bake, here are a few more. Flo Braker has two superb books from which you can learn most of what you need to know. They are The Simple Art of Perfect Baking and Sweet Miniatures. I have dozens of books from which I use one or two recipes including the Alice Medrich books, the King Arthur 200th Anniversary Cookbook, The Chocolate Bible by Christian Teubner, the Farm Journal cookbooks and many of the Pillsbury Bake-off pamphlets. For more elegant productions, I second the Bugat and Healy books and the English language Lenotres. All of these should be available used at www.bookfinder.com.

Marlene, when I used to bake cheesecakes for restaurants, one of the favorites was a Beer-Cheddar NY style. There are many variations. I think, it would be easy to find a recipe on-line or PM me for my recipe. The beer taste is subtle, but it also adds to the texture.

How did I miss this thread the first go round? I wonder if anyone else remembers the Freihoffer's horse and wagon coming through the streets of Schenectady. Kids went on the Freddy Freihoffer show on TV for their birthdays. Long after all other deliveries(i.e. milk and eggs)were made by panel truck, bakery items, many fondly remembered, were brought to the door by George, our local routeman. We called the horse George, too. My Mom had regular orders every week of two kinds of bread and a pound cake called Louisiana Ring, but sometimes we were allowed to pick something from the tote George carried to the door. The neighbor kids got to pick miniature cupcakes with pastel frosting, but we never could because it would've hurt my Grandmother's feelings. She baked all the cookies and cinnamon rolls for the family. Which reminds me, my mother made all the birthday cakes with writing and roses on them and all the pies. Most were seasonal, but on Thanksgiving, she made all the favorites. Some were with fruits she and my Grandmother had canned all summer. I think this is the list: 1 apple with cinnamon and one without , pumpkin, chocolate, blueberry, lemon meringue, strawberry rhubarb, cherry, and pecan. The other big hometown memory is of Stewart's Make Your Own Sundaes. Along with a choice of ice cream flavors came a tray with syrup pitchers filled with every topping from hot fudge to pineapple. After you had heaped on a mountain of sauces, the waitress aerosoled whip cream on top. If you ate the toppings before the ice cream was gone, you could add more. My other memories are less about food than about being mortified that my elderly Grandfather offered everyone who came to the door, from neighbors to the doctor who made house calls, " a gless schnapps". Boy, nostalgia's not what it used to be.

Portland, Oregon Public School lunches are unforgivably bad and couldn't possibly be better than anywhere else. By high school, at least the students are offered some choices both good and bad. In elementary and middle schools, the food and its service shows a shocking disrespect for kids. When they were in 2nd grade, my boys came home and told me that when they took their still frozen hamburgers back to the heater(I refuse to call what they do cooking), she told them she couldn't reheat theirs because all the other kids would want theirs done, too. Very few were allowed to ask. No effort is made to provide a pleasant meal time. At some schools, most of the children are on the free lunch program and this meal may be their only food of the day. The issue is more than nutrition, but whether the food is edible at all. There were other problems on a daily basis, too. Half the kids would eat lunch after playground recess without being allowed to wash their hands. Angry adults screamed at them for normal behavior. My kids are young adults now, but this still pisses me off whenever I think about it. The dining room in the admin building served much better and more varied food to their lunchees.

Thanks for being with us. Jazz fans have lost a lot of the great, old artists in the last few years, including Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney in 2002. Both were performing until nearly the end of their lives. How will this affect how you hire performers for the jazz club? Musicians are both reverential and referential to their mentors. Should chefs be?

Rochelle, thank you for bringing us along with you. I intend to print your whole diary and reread it as a book. I think anyone reading this knows and admires you. Happy holidays and happy externship. Judy

Jaymes, the recipe I have is almost exactly the same as the one I linked to, but without any leavening. They are very hard/crunchy which I love. The almond gets nicely toasted while baking. They are very satisfying as a dunk in most drinks from cold milk to hot chocolate. Kit, the comparison link is mind boggling. I've never been that thorough about anything. Thanks.

My very favorite cookie for many years is one of many classic and original treats that a close friend makes every year. She gave me the recipe last year for a Christmas gift and I pledged not to give it out. I've never seen it in a book, but when I googled it, there were some variations. So, I feel okay about posting the URL for one that's pretty close. It has a picture of cut out cookies and my(her)recipe is done in a roll and sliced. They last forever in a cookie tin, but you have to start now because the dough needs to age. Enjoy and let me know if everyone else already knew about them. http://www.danish-deli-food.com/English/co...l.asp?recid=308 The Danish name is Brune Kagel which translates to Brown Cookies. The recipe I was given does not have Potash which I think is baking powder.

Mike Siegel of the Compass World Bistro in Portland, Oregon has long had as his signature dish Sweet Potato Pancakes with bits of dried and fresh fruits and diced Brie. I remember different sauces being served, but mostly that this dish is always good with wonderful texture. It's obviously not Latkes, but a nice variation.

Having slowly recovered from my in-laws birthday visit, I'm ready to comment on Nell's a week late. None of us ordered the $25 dinner, but the meal for 8 of us was reasonable anyway. Even with wine and a couple of drinks and some special order fois gras, the dinner was about $50 a person including tax and tip. All but one of us(who never enjoys anything), was more than happy with both food and service. The waiter turned out to be a friend of my twin sons and was competent and gracious. The appetizers including a butternut squash soup, heavenly fois gras with a fig-port reduction and calamari were delicious and just the right size. The mains were venison, chicken, duck breast, scallops, salmon and beef tenderloin. Every plate was bare when we were done and we were all very satisfied with taste and presentation except (see previous parentheses). Jake did say that he prefers lots of food for little money to small portions for a lot, but that he is outgrowing that. The desserts were good though not fabulous and they sent out a creme brulee with a birthday candle for my MIL. Chef Philip Mihalski came out to greet us. We all expressed appreciation of the meal(except the lone pouter). We also took them to Brasa which did seem to be enjoyed(we paid). Okay, that's out of my system.

Told ya so. Make your trips and then make up your mind. There is no way you can't be a success.

I would pay big bucks for whatever the creator of that mess was on, but Laurie, how could you forget Veg-All, Tater Tots, and Cream of Something Soup. Some odd combinations taste good or at least familiar. Yours and mine sound like something devised by Poison Control.

Like it won't be obvious that the rowdy bunch at the big table are the eGulleteers. You will know us. MsRamsey, I'm so glad you'll be joining us. This should be a good one. And NS, nothing says you can't make a leetle something for dessert. What time? By the way, Fong Chong and House of Louie, across the street, have the same chef and they are better than anyplace in the ID. I have very high hopes for Jumbo.

Often on Thursdays, my mother would use up the weeks leftovers in a dish she called Gadgets. These were biscuit dough spread with the leftovers that had been ground in her meat grinder. She had the kind that fastened to the side of the table and used a red rubber thingy under the clamp to keep it from sliding around. The dough was rolled up as for cinnamon rolls and sliced before baking. Looking back, I bet this recipe was adapted from the Bisquick box. I have never been tempted to duplicate this.

I couldn't find Martha's recipe onthe Foodtv site, but when I googled "Martha Stewart's Chocolate Chip Cookie", it came right up. She attributes it to her daughter, Alexis. Anyway, it's pretty close to perfect with a 3 to 1 ratio of brown sugar to white.

Bubele, you should finish your supper first and then nosh.

Yes, Jaymes. At the same party where I served the bacon, I told the sophisticated eGulleteers about a prize winner from the Pillsbury Bake-off that is made with marshmallows and crescent rolls and they all were very polite. I'm sure they were inwardly groaning, because no one has asked me for the recipe.

Wishing to be neither skewer nor skeweree, I'd say you are probably right Jaymes. However, whenever I serve Bacon Candy, people swoon and say they've never tasted anything like it before. In fact, Klink is now in my power and will smoke anything I ask.

One of the recipes I tried had a tsp of flour mixed into the one cup of brown sugar/walnuts. I assume it's supposed to create a streuselly topping, but the effect was barely discernable. One I didn't try had cayenne.