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Cusina

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    Wisconsin, USA

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  1. My most memorable were a small pastry and coffee in Prauge (maybe I was just in good company), a pork chop sandwich in Moline, IA and a lobster roll in Boston at Legal Seafood.
  2. Cusina

    Le Creuset Sizes

    I have 3... a large deep frying pan shape (red), a 4.5 quart (pretty blue) and a 2.6 quart side (gray). All are round. All very useful for different things. I've got the variety of colors and like that. It's fun and it's easier to remember what pot I've used when I make something again. Edited to add that we serve 2 adults and 2 small kids.
  3. I just bought the Krups version for my office. I agree that it is very, very handy for a place with no stove. In my kitchen I prefer the stovetop variety as there is something nice about staring into my backyard while I wait for it to boil. I bought my Krups at Tuesday Morning for $48. Quite the bargain, I thought.
  4. Cusina

    Children's Dinners

    Oh, portion sizes. They don't eat that much at one sitting, maybe one small plateful total, but there are likely to be about 6 small sittings every day. My kids do breakfast, lunch, dinner plus 2-3 snacks daily. Snacks are usually fruit or bread based (either dried or fresh fruit) with milk or water.
  5. Cusina

    Children's Dinners

    I don't know Dutch children, but I do know my own. I expect my children would enjoy your Eastern cooking about as much as they enjoy my Western cooking, completely unpredictably. I'm sorry to break this to you and perhaps your charges will be wonderful but, they're fickle little beasts, kids are, what they like one day they might not the next. And you are guaranteed if you have 3 of them to care for, you will have three completely different sets of taste buds. My 5 year old son at this moment won't eat pasta, or rice, or tortillas, or chicken, or really potatoes either, although most Western children eat these as staples. He is all about fruit, bread, cheese, ice cream, peas, broccoli and yogurt at the moment. Occasionally I can sneak in a few other things. One good thing is that most children prefer simple to fancy. You can start off with very basic things like yogurt with fruit and honey, or bread and cheese. Then get to know them, the children are old enough they will appreciate tremendously if you ask THEM what they like rather than making assumptions or asking their parents.
  6. Those Sex and the City girls drank gallons of Cosmopolitans wishing that it made them look like Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffanys with her martini glass. And I love the scene in The Pink Panther (a very liquid movie all in all) where the zebra costumed police officer is gulping straight out of the punch bowl.
  7. designchick... I don't think that disqualifies you at all. We all come from different walks, your food interests are just as valid as mine (stay at home mom) and Jason's (food lover entrepreneur) and Bourdain's (super high-profile perfectionist professional chef). Some of us get more attention than others, deservedly so, but the variety is what makes this site cool. I'm in the middle too, I definitely prefer from scratch homemade, partially for ego sake, partially for health reasons and partially because on the whole it tastes better. However, reality kicks in. My kids cravings (and whinings) get noticed. I sometimes want to eat something I no way have time or skill to prepare. But, this site helps me figure those things out, slowly but surely I'm becoming a better cook. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel like relying on pre-made is evil. I'm not ever likely to be one of those folks who makes all their own bread from self ground flour or whatever. It's more about skill building, understanding and branching out for me. I made my first gumbo this week and LOVED it and will probably make it over and over. That's cool. I feel like I'm making progress. So, I'm not sure that answers Nullos question though. It's not a black and white question for me... It's more like where you are on the spectrum.
  8. I love this thread... it just keeps getting better, like a good gumbo should. "Goddess Gumbo" is now firmly on my favorite home cooked meals list. My gumbo making music of choice was Clapton's unplugged. Not too fast, not too slow, nice rhythm and somehow fitting. Snowangel, I understand your worries, but if my Wisconsin made gumbo turned out well, yours will too. :grin:
  9. and oh my gosh... how could I forget the multitudes of little debbie oatmeal cream pies I consumed in college. Those things were awesome.
  10. Yes! My mom did this too and I loved it. What a treat. I'll confess that I make a Peanut Butter cookie with Bisquick recipe for my kids expressly because there are no eggs or other raw no-nos in the dough. We eat most of it raw and it's fun. The baked product is pretty good too, they have that "stick to the roof of your mouth" consistency. This recipe is similar... http://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/recipes0...tter_cookie.htm I use butter instead of the shortening. I'm not fanatical about fat and sugar with my kids. I avoid processed stuff as much as possible though (Bisquick cookies are an exception, I guess) and try to keep things balanced. My mother was extremely strict with my brother foodwise thinking he was "sensitive" to all sorts of things when he was little and I think it backfired. He lives on crap now.
  11. I like this thread too. Interesting and thought provoking. My biggest change was having children. Food went from being something we did as a couple for fun or by myself to stave off hunger to something much more important within the context of a family. Part of this process has been, as others have stated, focusing on the quality of ingredients and reducing the amount of processed gack we eat. When I became a stay-at-home mother I started to spend a LOT more time in my kitchen. And I figured it was either feel tortured by this necessity or jump in and enjoy it. I chose the latter. My kids are still kind of little... I'm looking forward to that luxury of time thing. Sounds nice. I'm sure it will take me even further along on the journey.
  12. Gorgeous Dim Sim, I'm glad you perservered with the pictures. We polished off our leftovers last night and they did indeed taste delicious after melding for a few days. No good cajun around here (North Eastern Wisconsin). There used to be one spot with good stuff. Unfortunately, the lead chef was a notorious drunk. It did well for a while but it finally folded. I was sad about it. Good cajun food is a great thing to warm up a cold winter.
  13. For the cheesecloth question... if it is a small thing that needs boiling, like mulling spices, I wrap them in a disposable coffee filter tied up with cotton string instead of using cheesecloth. I never seem to have cheesecloth on hand when I need it.
  14. Can I correctly assume these should be bone-in short ribs? It's a little difficult to tell from the picture. My butcher sells both bone-in and boneless.
  15. I've had gumbo in restaurants which included catfish. It was o.k. but the fish seemed a little dry and less flavorful compared to a chicken and sausage gumbo. I guess, not that I'm an expert by any means, you would need to do some tinkering to get the texture and flavor right. And yes, the aroma is awesome. I had a house full of painters the afternoon I made it and they all commented. Even the next day the house still smelled delicious.
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