therese
-
Posts
2,780 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by therese
-
-
I'll be in San Antonio the last week of February for a meeting, and would appreciate recommendations for restaurants near the convention center and my hotel (the Gunter).
My husband's actually from San Antonio, so I've been to a number of downmarket places outside of downtown when visiting family in the past. I won't be seeing family at all this time, and in any case will be without a car, so either on foot or an easy cab ride will be best.
All options considered, including up and downmarket. I wouldn't mind finding decent German food, actually (the surrounding area was settled by Germans, so this isn't too bizarre a request), and of course Tex-Mex.
-
...as I think about it, the unnatural shade of red regular ketchup is, is probably also artificially enhanced...
Unlikely, though it's possible some manufacturers add coloring. Home-made ketchup really is bright red (due to the presence of lycopene, the same thing that makes pomegranates red and ruby grapefruit ruby).
Blue is weird, but I don't mind it too much in something that I already considering pretty much nutritive, like the candy coating on M&Ms.
-
...The problem is the office curmudgeon; if he's around, I try to figure something else out. His eating habits are beyond strange.
Okay. So I will never ever again complain about my lunch. I enjoy both good food (my own) and good company (my colleagues).
I am surprised at the number of people who elect to eat at their desks. I do so only if I'm absolutely hammered at work, or if my usual lunch dates are unavailable.
-
We drink wine (or beer, if the food's not suited to wine) every night, almost without exception. One or two glasses per night at home, slightly more if we're eating out on a weekend night.
-
However, ummm, what exactly do they smell like?
I've only ever smelled them cooking once, and I've never prepared them myself. The one time I smelled them I remember thinking "well, I don't see cooking these at home". As to exactly what they smelled like I guess I'd just say that they smelled like cooking intestines. By way of reference, I do like all sorts of liver and sweetbreads, but don't like kidneys because they smell like pee to me.
Chitterlings are considered an acquired taste even among people who grew up with them. Two of my college roommates, one from Norfolk, VA and one from Philadelphia, PA had both grown up around chitterlings and neither one liked them. One of them (the one whose mother prepared them the only time I tried them---they'd been deep-fried, and were reminiscent of chewy pork rinds) got positively faint at the smell of them boiling, though she did make an effort to at least taste the finished product.
-
I bring my lunch almost every day, as the food's better than any of the four different at-work dining options available to me. One of these is actually free, but free is still not sufficient inducement to get me to eat the food on most occasions. Free food's also provided at a couple of weekly conferences, but I still prefer food from home.
I almost never eat at my desk, though, preferring to eat with colleagues in one of the dining rooms or cafeterias. There's no problem doing this, and microwaves are provided for heating food from home.
There is often considerable comment about my "weird" food (generally from male colleagues), but I don't mind that.
Microwaving fish considered very rude, and it rarely happens. Microwave popcorn's considered acceptable---I find the smell disgusting, but nobody else seems to mind it.
-
Some recommendations re the prep of chitterlings as per the Georgia Division of Public Health. Basically, boil them for five minutes before you attempt any sort of cleaning or prep. And you will want to clean them well after the first boil as well.
Also, be aware that the smell of chitterlings cooking can be, um, pronounced. So lots of people do it outside if they can. If you live in an apartment or condo it could definitely be an issue. Of course, if you really hate your neighbors...
-
I suppose this product might have some kind of appeal to someone trying to trick themselves into eating less fat in their diet, since it has about 1/10th of the amount of butterfat in it than real butter, but a buttery smell and color. If I had to choose between the President brand and the Poitrey I'd choose the Poitrey.
Exactly the context in which I bought it in the first place: I'm dieting, and the label indicating that it was made with skim milk was what prompted me to try it. Lower fat and higher calcium than full fat cheeses are particularly important to me at the moment.
I don't find the stickiness off-putting, as stickiness is precisely what's missing from most of the other "cultured/curdled dairy" things that are part of my diet at the moment: cottage cheese, yogurt, ricotta, etc. Even something like a soft chevre has 268 kcals per 100 gm, whereas cancoillote (even the highest fat "gourmande" Poitrey version) has 165 kcals per 100 gm. Brie is 334 kcals per 100 gm.
One of the chief drawbacks to low/non-fat cheese is precisely the fact that they won't really melt, so again the already somewhat liquid aspect of cancoillotte is not a drawback.
I find that the "gourmande" Poitrey product has a fairly pronounced cheese flavor as opposed to a butter flavor (though French butter is generally made from cultured cream, so already strikes many Americans as tasting slightly of cheese). The web site doesn't say what distinguishes the "gourmande" and "super nature la belle etoile" products (both are 14% butter), so perhaps the gourmande product is made with metton that's been fermented for a longer period of time before being melted into cancoillotte.
-
You don't have to be diabetic to benefit from the whole "dietary restriction" aspect of things. I manage to avoid food at work all the time because I'm dieting, and people know it. So taking even a small bite of something is sufficient.
By the way, you can't use this technique if it's obvious that you are not, in fact, dieting.
-
Say nothing but nice. Even if they really really really want you to critique it, don't.
And I wouldn't necessarily assume that all of the beneficiaries of your time and generosity are, in fact, as thrilled with your gifts as they might sound. Some people actually like tons of powdered sugar frosting and vegetables with cream of whatever soup. But of course they'd never come out and tell you that you might want to tweak some of your recipes, would they?
-
Thanks, your right, went the opposite of composed salad, and ended up with rotten...
Just wanted to make sure you didn't inadvertently use the wording on a menu someplace.
-
Lovely items that look very tasty.
You might want to reconsider the following wording:
...we did a decomposed plate of blanched asparagus, roasted cherry tomatoes, toast, and then a whole grain mustard sauce.Unless, of course, you did want to imply that the food in question had gone off. "Deconstructed" is likely the term you're looking for, though I've never really the point of using it either.
-
Staying in Inman Park means that you're pretty much in the catbird seat (sorry, not a basketball reference) when it comes to restaurants in Atlanta.
Upmarket casual, probably walking distance from where you're staying, very popular, and very good is Rathbun's.
Other Inman Park places worth mentioning are Sotto Sotto and Fritti, sister restaurants that are both Italian, with Fritti being more casual. Both are located on Highland Ave, and a bit farther north on Highland Ave are Pura Vida (great tapas, and have a mojito for me), Babette's Cafe, and Wisteria.
If you continue north on Highland, crossing Ponce de Leon, you enter Virginia Highland (not Highlands) and there are lots of cool restaurants there as well.
A little cluster of boho life called Little Five Points (yes, there's a regular Five Points, but it's nothing to do with Little 5) abuts the eastern edge of Inman Park. Miro's Garden has good tapas, and there's a Japanese-ish place called something like Green Lime that I've not tried (my husband said if was fine). Teaspace is a groovy little place, but they've been keeping irregular hours of late.
Lots more great eating if you have specific questions. Lots of cool ethnic in Atlanta as well, though you'll mostly need to drive from your location.
-
Skim milk is no less expensive, just inferior.
Entirely a matter of preference. I despise non-skim milk, having grown up drinking skim milk from my grandmother's cows (Guernseys and Jerseys). Cream was skimmed and used separately or to make butter (cultured, with real buttermilk left behind).
I like neither the mouth feel nor the taste of whole milk (it seems somehow rancid), and homogenized milk is a perversion.
Just my opinion, of course...
-
Reheating leftovers, particularly if we're doing very casual family dinner leftovers, in which everybody gets whatever they want out of the fridge and assembles his own plate. Otherwise I'd end up with about 10 small pots/pans to wash (in addition to the now-empty storage containers), entirely beside the point on those evenings we're having leftovers for dinner.
I pretty much never use it to heat up beverages, though I think my husband uses it to heat milk for his coffee.
We don't eat much popcorn, and I find the smell of it heating in the microwave a bit nauseating (in part because I used to work in a cinema).
Frozen vegetables (like spinach and peas, the sort that come in a little clear plastic package) work well in the microwave. Again, since I can heat them in the serving dish I save washing one pan.
-
Hate'em, and hate plastic cutlery and paper/styrofoam cups as well.
I won't get takeaway coffee because I hate drinking out of those nasty paper things (and really despise that disgusting plastic sippy cup attachment that goes on top---pretty soon they'll just go all the way and put a nipple on it).
I went ahead and invested in glass plates and real forks for buffets at parties as well---service for 200.
I do use paper towels in the kitchen, and paper napkins (reasonably nice heavy ones) for everyday dinners.
-
How do I answer as subtlely and politely as possible? Non, non, non!
If I wanted a cheese sauce/condiment that tasted of ripe camembert with the consistency of a fondue I would simply make one. It doesn't take much time at all. I would peel the camembert (which is a staple in our frigo) give the rind to my 6 year old to eat (she loves the stuff, eats the cheese outside in anyway), add a little of this or that, voila sauce. Um, you would booger around with a piece of Camembert instead of just eating it?
My "poor man's" comment had nothing to do with the quality of the cheese, but with the fact that it's made with skim milk. I was assuming that the cream had been skimmed for use in some other more luxurious product.
It's not (if internet sources are to be believed) not even remotely a new cheese, and it looks as if pretty much all of the manufacturers are local to the original area and include both small and large producers. The brand I purchased actually bore a "small business labeling exception" tag instead of the usual required nutritional info tag.
-
It's not really cheese. It's a commercially processed cheese product . Presuming that it's a "poorman's product" is not entirely off base. It's an ordinary product for ordinary tastes. Small children probably really like. I've never tasted it. In answer to your question, think of it as French Velveeta (of course better, because its French
)Well then, high time you tried it. It's quite tasty, not at all Velveeta-ish and most definitely not Cheez Whiz. My "La vache qui rit" comment had to do with its very uniform, gooey texture.
The brand being marketed here in Atlanta (Poitrey's "Gourmande" series, made with 14% butter instead of the lower fat "La belle etoile" product) comes in a version made with kirsch as well as the more common options.
And while we're at it, La vache qui rit isn't very much like Velveeta either.
-
Sounds like you might want to go back and read the earlier thread about pokeweed a bit more closely.
The big issue with poke is not so much poison, but that it basically contains soap (aka saponins). So incorrect preparation of mature pokeweed collected in the wild will make you vomit just the way you would if you'd drunk soapy water.
The blanching and rinsing will remove the saponins. Less mature plants will likely contain less soap.
Pokeweed does also contain mitogens, but you're unlikely to notice the effects for many years to come, and then only if you eat lots and lots of pokeweed, and even then you'd be hard-pressed to sort out which of the many mitogens you ingest was responsable for the damage.
-
The term "metton" apparently refers to the fermented skim milk curd. You actually can buy it from Poitrey and then make the final cancoillotte at home.
-
Cancoillotte is on the menu at Chez Maitre Paul in Paris which is an outpost of Franche-Comté.
Not surprising, as it's a product local to that area.
But is it otherwise consumed elsewhere in France? Presumably a "poor man's" product given that it's made with skim milk. Finding it in Atlanta seems pretty strange, unless perhaps there's some sort of marketing to the U.S. based on it's being "leger" (though my market made no mention of this---I noticed on the ingredient list that it was made with skim milk and so chose it because I'm dieting at the moment).
A bit "La vache qui rit", in point of fact.
-
I came across a type of cheese I'd not previously encountered, either here in the U.S. or in France (where I've spent most of my time in either Normandy or Languedoc). It's called cancoillotte and is a bit like a fondue (except that it's already liquid at room temp), made with skim milk and butter. More about it here.
Having not seen it before myself, I was wondering how commonly it's used in France?
-
The dry goods in the "Hispanic" area are spices, rice, beans, masa, jarred mole, canned goods like nopales and hominy, cookies, chocolate, and those groovy candles in glasses with religious pictures on them. At least at my local Publix.
The range of Hispanic items at a large grocery here in Atlanta will depend on how predominantly Hispanic the neighborhood here. A good indicator of a large Hispanic population here is whether or not the bakery offers conchas and guava-filled pastries.
Of course, lots of markets here are entirely Hispanic, or a mix of Asian and Hispanic (Buford Highway Farmers Market, Atlanta Farmers Market, Ranch 99).
The influx of foods from elsewhere (Latin America, Asia, India) has had a very positive influence in every possible way: better and larger variety of produce, better and larger variety of meat and seafood, etc.
Whole Foods (aka Whole Wallet) is a "health food" chain that started in Texas and is now seen in much of the U.S.
-
Pineapple upside down cake.
Ingredients always on hand, easy to make, pretty, doesn't require refrigeration, and everybody loves it.
Chopsticks
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
Rubbing your dispo chopsticks together to rid them of splinters is the equivalent of polishing your cutlery with your napkin. Yes, it's rude, but if you're in the sort of place that you think has provided crappy/dirty eating utensils, well, go for it.
Or you could just eat someplace nice.