megaira

I like the cheese mild, gooey, with a tang to it. I have to admit to not having been wildly adventerous here. Shame on me. I do favor sharp chedder or swiss on french or sourdough. My usual comfort food grilled cheese: White bread (I make a basic white with milk), medium thickness, buttered on the outsides, fried in a medium heat nonstick pan. 2 slices kraft american cheese (ooey gooey). I walk away and do something else because otherwise I'll stand there and interrupt good grilled cheese zen. Flip it, walk off again. The end result is golden brown, crisp on the outside, buttery soft on the inside and ooey gooey in the center. perfect, in my books. "Have to use" nuthin, I like mine with ketchup, and you'll have to wrestle the bottle away from my clutching dead hands. I like the ketchup tanginess. Maybe chedder with sun dried tomatos would be a nice alternative. Every once and a while I'll get a craving for my mom's favorite - I present my disclaimer by way of saying we're canadian and wierd: same as the usual sandwich, only add a thin layer of miracle whip to the inside of the bread and thin sliced onion. Her other variation was cheese toast under a flame broiler - thick white bread with sharp chedder and chives sprinkled on it. I miss having a gas broiler. I don't know why it never occured to me until just now to actually try grilling a grilled cheese sandwich. (edited to remove restaurant comment - given it's a kid menu thing anyway in restaurants, and denny's is a faded memory -or blurry ...or both)

I was just thinking the same thing... pink salmon seems to be bland and mushy, red salmon seems to have more flavor. I just bought bread last night specifically for the can of red salmon in the pantry - I've been craving salmon sandwiches. My grandmother, great grandmother, mom and now me (all canadians of british descent) always served them the same way - with lemon juice, s&p on soft white bread. My mom skipped the salmon cake process all together and just served it flaked in the sauce with the creamed peas. We ate that over toast.

I'm not sure how large/widespread the Peaberry's chain is...but, in my post I mentioned I had troubles with Peaberry mint hot chocolate not tasting chocolately. We ran in there the other night on the way in to Denver and I thought "oh, what the hell, I'll try again" once again, bland vanilla/milky tasting beverage. Turns out they use hershey's syrup. I asked the girl to add more chocolate, so she pumped in more hersheys...still insipid and flat without a chocolatey taste. ugh. I have no idea what happened to the mint -I think they used the creme de menth,which doesn't have that nice bite to it and seems to fade into the background w/o a fight. So, if you visit Peaberrys and think of trying the mint hot chocolate, don't.

all week: junk junk junk. takeout, cheap takeout, more takeout. Last night, I made samosa filling, leaving the potatos somewhat chunky and skipped the pastry, serving it as a side to grilled steaks. Tonight I got a craving going for a meat pie. So I made one from a small town Canadian cookbook my parents gave me ages ago. Good eats. I used Julia's crust recipe from The Way To Cook, but the crisco was bad (you can tell how often I use crisco ) so I subbed butter. I've tried making pie crusts before for tart shells and botched them miserably (I hadn't learned that 'heat is bad" factor & produced crumbly, hard tart shells that prompted someone to ask if the crust had nuts in it. oops. ) so it was a good learning experiance. The downside: I didn't cool the meat mixture before adding it to the pie crust, so the pie crust on the bottom was not good -all the butter in it melted and formed a greasy pool. The bottom crust butter flavor was very strong, nearly overwhelming - that wasn't so good -so I just ditched the bottom of the pie and ate the rest. Live and learn. The top, on the other hand, was really, really flakey and light. To the point of "whoa, I made this?" -so I'm happy there. Dessert was a sticky toffee pudding that came out a bit too thick - the sauce didn't get to soak in well and it was too cakey instead of rich, dense, moist & pudding-like. I'll have to tinker with that. I think I ate half the dates in the bag before I even got around to chopping them up for the recipe. Tomorrow night...spaghetti with meat sauce, only, unfortunately, all I have on hand is ground turkey. Maybe I shouldn't even call it meat sauce... turkey sauce. there.

Walked in the door, went straight to the bathroom and just "happened" to brush my teeth on the way out. They later said "did you think we didn't figure it out when you walked right in the door and went straight to brush your teeth before coming down to say "hi I'm home""? Well...yeah...that's why I kept doing it. Back when we were dating, Hub -normally a beer drinker - came in the door and was amazed when I walked past, took a sniff and said "gin...Tanqueray." The Tanqueray part was a lucky guess, but I'll never tell him that. Let him tell the kids "don't even try it on your mom, it never worked for me." I'm kind of secretly hoping our kids will be hell raisers. I've been gleefully plotting away for the last few years how to warp their little minds and turn out a pack of Ted Nugents. With my luck, they'll be unusually well adjusted despite us and take all the fun out of it.

Ditto the dessert line of thinking. We usually stop in when we're out shopping and pick up a (decaf *hangs head in shame*) mocha or a mint hot chocolate for me and a 3x shot latte for hub. They have to make the shots 2 at a time and the one would get tossed otherwise, so he often gets a free fourth shot... so of course, he loves them. He buys his morning coffee there as well... they've been great about allowing him to return beans that weren't to his liking and exchange for a bag of something else (he otherwise tends to go for the Sumatra or the French Roast). Coffee quality wise, I haven't much to say, though I'd probably agree on the bitterness, just knowing the way his tastes run...though, I found their chain competitor (Peaberry's) more to the bitter side, myself. The one beef I have with them is our own dumb fault: they always have conflicting tastes to ours, so recommendations 9 times out of 10 go awry if we take them. The couple times he's taken suggestions for beans, he's had to return them. We need to stop taking suggestions and just go with what sounds good. The milk - I think they cater to people like myself or Sherri who are more in it for the dessert beverage than the actual coffee... the mochas, the carmel macchiato, the mocha valencia, etc. I rarely overhear anyone in line other than hub saying just "latte" or straight espresso. So perhaps it becomes an assumption that everyone wants a ton of milk in their beverage and they designed the drink specs around that. On the other beverages: Last night's Mint Hot Chocolate had an off, vanilla type taste to it, but, sometimes they're perfect. It usually depends on whether they're using peppermint or creme de menthe...the creme de menthe seems to have a marshmallowy/fluffy taste - I'm not too keen on that, but sometimes it's all they have. Their tazo chai is not what I expect or like out of a cup of chai. It has too much of a fruity sweet undertone to it -maybe too much ginger & anise - wheras I prefer something richer and more dessertlike...less ginger, more cardamom, cinnamon, etc. The Caramel Apple Cider - I like this (ok, I admit, I'm fair game for nearly anything with sugar), but as Sherri said, it's not as rich as might be expected from a cider. How are they compared to other local places? The trouble is *finding* local places. I stumbled across a place called "Central Perk" ...this is Denver, not a fictional NY sitcom, so it just kind of fell into the "auto-avoid" catagory. Peaberry's is the other chain around here & has never yet failed to screw up an order no matter how simple (decaf mochas always would turn out to be caffienated... which, sucks if you don't like walking around shaking and feeling miserable for a day, but is great if you need to get the house clean) and I'm often back in the car and driving off or at home when I realize it (jitter jitter shake jitter "... oh crap, here we go"). I finally just gave up after the mint hot chocolate I ordered there came out as a (caffienated) mocha, then, when they offered to fix the mistake, the plain hot chocolate I ordered in its stead came out a vanilla cream. I didn't have the heart to ask where the chocolate was, so that was that. I don't think starbucks is the best by a long shot, but I've settled into a couple drinks I always get when there, so I'm reasonably happy. So far, it's the only thing nearby that's offered a degree of consistancy from store to store and you know you'll see one on the next corner, so they're easy enough to turn into the only place you end up going because they're everywhere. The small private owned shops are often out of the way/odd places and y'never know what you'll get -but they're still fun to try when we find one (like an easter egg hunt!).

Butter Tart 1 Butter Tart 2 Cherry Surprises

cherry surprise recipe -I will go digging. Butter tarts -I'll dig up one for those as well. It's like a mini pecan pie without the pecans, substitute golden raisins. Very sweet, very addictive, yummy yummy yummy.

Butter Tarts #2 Second butter tart recipe, from Harrowsmith cookbook. 14 tart shells 1 c brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp vinegar 1/2 c raisins 4 T milk 1/2 c chopped walnuts Direct quote: "Combine all ingredients except pastry and mix until just blended. Line tart shells with pastry and fill 2/3 with mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, until filling is firm." I'd suggest walnuts are optional. I put up both recipes due to the differences. Both are from Canadian cookbooks. Keywords: Dessert, Tart, Easy ( RG751 )

Butter Tarts #2 Second butter tart recipe, from Harrowsmith cookbook. 14 tart shells 1 c brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp vinegar 1/2 c raisins 4 T milk 1/2 c chopped walnuts Direct quote: "Combine all ingredients except pastry and mix until just blended. Line tart shells with pastry and fill 2/3 with mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, until filling is firm." I'd suggest walnuts are optional. I put up both recipes due to the differences. Both are from Canadian cookbooks. Keywords: Dessert, Tart, Easy ( RG751 )

Butter Tarts Butter Tart recipe from the Five Roses cookbook. May take some tinkering. 1 egg, beaten 1/3 c butter 1 c brown sugar 2 T milk 1/2 c golden raisins 1 tsp vanilla 15 tart shells Mix first 6 ingredients, fill tart cups 2/3 full, bake @ 450 for 8 minutes, reduce to 350 for 15-20 minutes or until pastry is delicately brown. I'd watch the times. I've made this recipe with good results, but it's been a while. Keywords: Easy, Tart, Dessert ( RG750 )

Butter Tarts Butter Tart recipe from the Five Roses cookbook. May take some tinkering. 1 egg, beaten 1/3 c butter 1 c brown sugar 2 T milk 1/2 c golden raisins 1 tsp vanilla 15 tart shells Mix first 6 ingredients, fill tart cups 2/3 full, bake @ 450 for 8 minutes, reduce to 350 for 15-20 minutes or until pastry is delicately brown. I'd watch the times. I've made this recipe with good results, but it's been a while. Keywords: Easy, Tart, Dessert ( RG750 )

Cherry Surprises 1 c shredded sweetened coconut 1 c confectioner's sugar 1/2 c creamed butter 1 tsp almond extract drained marschino cherries 1 c crushed graham cracker crumbs Make a dough of the first four ingredients, coat cherry in dough (1/8" thick), roll in graham cracker crumbs. Eat. Or, be nice and share. Can be frozen ahead. Keywords: Cookie, Christmas, Easy ( RG749 )

Cherry Surprises 1 c shredded sweetened coconut 1 c confectioner's sugar 1/2 c creamed butter 1 tsp almond extract drained marschino cherries 1 c crushed graham cracker crumbs Make a dough of the first four ingredients, coat cherry in dough (1/8" thick), roll in graham cracker crumbs. Eat. Or, be nice and share. Can be frozen ahead. Keywords: Cookie, Christmas, Easy ( RG749 )

fajitas - marinated (olive oil, garlic, ground chile pepper, salt, cumin, lime, fresh cilantro) bison sirloin (and top round, just to see) and chicken thrown on the grill along with green peppers and onions...the standard chedder and sour cream condiments with steamed tortillas. Simple. Delicious. And some very tasty mexican dark (and rather strong *muffles burp*) beer the neighbor brought us. 'bout to devour a fudgy chocoholic's dream brownie for dessert.

quicker, but not so easy to justify.

Some evil person decided to make them in mint too. Nainamo bars in their original form are hard enough to resist (ok, let's be honest, I don't resist them), but mint? ohhh god in heaven. Don't forget butter tarts. I know it's not pms related, but nainamo bars, on the other hand... When I was little, my grandmother would premake nainamo bars, buttertarts, coconut cherry surprises (anyone had those? they're up there on the list for sugar fixes), etc. and store them wrapped in the freezer. Then, when she found out she had company coming, she could just whip them out and they'd be ready to go when people arrived. Everytime we were there to visit, the minute no one was looking, I'd make a beeline for the freezer and rootle around in there looking for goodies. I doubt she wondered where all her nainamo bars and butter tarts were disappearing to, I was a notorious sugar fiend. I have to mention that at the time, my grandfather was ornathology enthusiast who had a side interest in taxidermy. There were stuffed seagulls (there's a heck of a lot of different types of seagulls, just fyi), hawks, owls and other birds all over their home. I thought he did all of his work at their cottage up north and brought the birds back with him to mount on the wall. One weekend, Grandma had gone upstairs to read, so I snuck into the storage area & went digging through the freezer. I stumbled across a small foil and plastic wrapped package. Figuring it might be something worthwhile, I unwrapped layer after layer of foil & plastic (god, grandma's getting determined to keep me out of the stash) until too late, I realized the package wasn't shaped quite...normal. I zipped off the last piece of plastic and out rolled (sort of) a sparrow-sicle...little beak open, legs sticking straight out. I was standing in their storage area juggling the dead bird and trying to get it back in the plastic without touching it and at the same time, trying not to make any noise that would give away my location. Never dug through that freezer again. back to the PMS: I rounded out the end of PMS week by trying a new brownie recipe -the fudgy brownies from the april/may 2000 issue of Cook's Illustrated. Darned good, if I do say so myself, but after 3 big ones, I had to get hub to wrap them up and stash them in the freezer (we now know how well that method works on me. I give them till tuesday) so I won't eat them all. We'd devoured a nice calorie laden meal of hamburgers (with bacon and chedder) and oven fried potatos beforehand. I did a few crunches to compensate....and hey, I turned down the house thermostat, I should burn a few fat calories off shivering.

SUGARfat saltFAT SUGARfat saltFAT SUGARfat saltFAT SUGARfat saltFAT.... lather. rinse. repeat. I used to get PMS on the clock, I never had to keep track of anything because I knew within 24 hours due to the dramatic high I'd hit after a week of murderous weepy rampages. My period would hit and I'd be normal again. *click* like a switch. Then came the pill. This is why women gain weight on the pill: the pms doesn't click off, it just keeps on going throughout the whole damned week and sometimes right on out the other side (Hub: I thought periods only lasted a week me: are you calling me a liar? *tears up*). The food cravings are intense and specific and there will be no rest in the house of meg until they are satisfied. But, what's the point of suffering cramps every month of your life without having that little light at the back of the fridge? The cravings are what make it bearable. It's compensation for the misery. Sure, it's embarassing to be caught furtively eating kraft mac & cheese in the dark shadows of the kitchen, but then, you have a perfectly valid excuse to do so. Who's going to (be foolish enough to) argue with you? Part of me, deep down inside, can't wait to get pregnant just so I can demand wierd combinations of food with complete and uncontestable authority. Bring me samosas! and ice cream! with donuts! and Dr. Pepper! From maggie's article: *tosses the vitamins* I play First Person Shooters. My frag counts are always much improved when I'm anxious, depressed and homicidal. Itchy trigger finger.

I think you're right - my 11 c. seems to have a problem with purees - and I haven't done too many sauces. With the purees, I don't get a really nice smooth puree out of it because I dont' think there's enough liquid/pressure going to really get the small peices in there and ground up.

I hadn't thought of it before, but now that you've given me ideas.... bwa hahaha! The houseguests from above have a limited list of about 10 things they'll collectively eat. ABSOLUTELY nothing with spices in it. God forbid. Now, she has dietary problems: IBS and lactose intolorance, so that's *fine* I can understand and cook around much of it, I have similar problems - so I understand if I suggest something and someone says "oh, I've had that and it really makes a mess of my stomach" -the "stomach" excuse will fly with me any day because I've been there. But when we try to get them to try new things the complaints are instead thus: "Indian? No way, it smells like BO!" "Thai? No way, it tastes like ASS!" The thai discussion was interesting: "Will you try Thai?" "No way, it tastes like ass!" "you've never had it, how do you know what it tastes like?" "I just do" "so, you're saying you've had ass...?" Ok, sit here and eat chinese, but thai is too exotic. We did order thai for ourselves anyway - hub went and picked that up while she and I went and picked up chinese. I made them a dinner with madhur jaffrey's tinfoil wrapped chicken, samosas and something else one night. Granted, the samosas did taste off a bit, but it was irritating to watch them pick through their meal and say "hmm, this is wierd" whilst making faces. They did at least make an effort to eat it, I'll give them that much.

I think it depends quite a bit on what you want to do with it. I use the cuisinart 11c. regularily to make pizza and bread dough. It starts to choke after I past the 4c. flour mark, 3c flour being about the ideal. 3c. flour seems to be the average for one loaf of sandwich bread or 2 thin 14" pizza crusts... The bowl fills up pretty quickly when I'm shredding veggies, but then, I always end up with more veggies than I need...so as far as shredding cheeses, veggies, sauce/mayo making, etc. I can see the 7 cup being perfect. The only arguement I'd have would be in favor of the doughs...and granted, most people seem to prefer stand mixers for doughs instead. Seth, do you use your 7 cup for dough? pie dough? If so, how does it do? do you find yourself halving anything or does it manage ok? I have a friend who is looking as well - and while he's also looking into a mixer and bread machine, I think he plans to use his FP for doughs as well. I told him to get an 11 cup... he hasn't bought it yet, so your input there would be much appreciated. Has anyone made dough with their KA FP? How does it work out? Did you use the normal blade or a special dough blade? The next question is the feed tube on the KA -it looks much narrower than the tube on the cuisinart, which is the only thing (other than the mini bowl question, which has now been answered) holding me back from going out and getting one. I suppose I could always take my own advice and do the BB&B test drive, then sell my cuisinart on ebay (or to someone here, if anyone is looking) if I decide to keep the KA...but just asking is easier.

Hmmm, maybe I'll be pulling a switcheroo on my FP of choice in the near future then...

Cost Plus Imports/World Market is like a larger, less expensive Pier One. They often have food items though as well as cooking utensils, rather than just the dishes and pot racks Pier One carries. If I'm looking for something that's particularily hard to find around here, I'll go in and see what they have... the one closest to me usually has a decent price on pickled ginger and recently started carrying japanese mayo. Lots of odds and ends. They often have some interesting glassware and dishes at a good price. Definitely worth a looksee if you happen to stumble across one.

My parents said the same thing about friends of theirs. The wife was raised in a very nice upper middle class home...the husband was backwoods virginia. She had horrendous table manners, his were impeccable. He was a truck driver and part time bouncer and looked the part, but he had his table manners down pat. Maybe some people who're raised in nice homes get crabby about the nagging "elbows off the table," etc. and rebel, never to pick it up again.