Cusina

lala, you rock. Stick around will you? Couldn't have said it better myself. I especially agree with the drunken toast with jam theory. Mmmm mmm.

mccondom! bwahahaha.... They do neglect to mention thought that their "ranch" dressing, the most popular by far, (what ranch did that come from I wonder...) has 30 g of fat in it.

Squeat Mungry was the dude with no stove, if that helps. I do remember mayhaw posting that too. Maybe it was in Squeat's blog?? (I am really excited to do a LA menu, thanks for the inspiration and the information y'all!)

This has been a beautiful glimpse into your life and SA. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. Melkor, I'm looking forward to yours too.

Our spread will include: Chili & Cornbread, guacamole, hummus and veggies, cheddar ale spread (which I got from this BB, thank you), a chex style mix & some sort of yummy chocolate baked good for dessert, possibly brownies with vanilla ice cream. Bloody mary's and beer round out the menu. Oh and grape jello, as dictated by the little darlings. I very well might make two pans, one kid friendly, one full of vodka. This was all determined to be suitably masculine by the mixed nuts in my life.

My father is a serious PB & J addict. Midnight snacking style. Very coarse whole wheat bread, the chunkiest peanut butter available and grape jelly is the favorite. However, my mother doesn't really eat the stuff and she does the shopping, so every once in a while he runs out of a key ingredient and is forced to substitute. Hence the birth of the PB & M (peanut butter and mustard) sandwich. EW!

These are tricky, but it is worth deboning them I think. Adds so much to the presentation. Be very careful not to dry the little guys out when you cook them though. I had one oven roasted in a restaurant last night that was stuffed with shrimp. Not the best flavor combination and it was all too dry. I like the idea of the moroccan inspiration.

Well, it was 10 below here today, anything hot was welcome. I like pepper best when mixed with creamy ingredients. Contrast perhaps?

Love 'em raw, but if cooked I second the scalloping. My method is to crush 3 or 4 cups of crackers (I use oyster crackers) to a coarse crumb, mix in a dutch oven with lots of shucked oysters and douse with butter and cream, coarse salt and pepper, a little sherry. Bake in a medium oven for about 30 minutes, till hot through. This is our Christmas Eve feast.

I am so not a southerner, but I will say there is some serious cornbread goin' on in recipe gullet, if you should desire that sort of thing with your spread.

Oh yes, french the chops... and take pictures. Just out of curiosity, when you buy live crawfish, how do you get them home?

My father is a pipe smoker and I have such a good association with the smell. I can imagine it would go well with smooth scotch and a nice balmy evening. *jealous* I'm having a hard time even imagining what a mussle jelly would taste like. Is it briny? A seawater taste to it? I'm assuming you mean a cold gelatin dish and not a spread on your scone type jelly. (Melkor, you are brave I'll look forward to reading your blog. Tolliver, feel better and Stinger... we'll get you later I bet.)

Also, at least in the brand I purchase, organic valley, there is a higher butterfat content in the unsalted butter resulting in a creamier consistency. I buy both, use the unsalted for cooking but prefer the salted for toast, scones etc... I think it is just a matter of being used to the taste of the salted. edit for spelling... have to get in the habit of using iSpell more often and to say duh me... higher water content and lower butterfat are exactly the same thing, so I'm just agreeing with soba. Sorry!

I live in Appleton, Wisconsin, not exactly an urban metropolis, and I was surprised to find miso in our natural foods refrigeration case. Ask in your most upscale grocery, they might actually have it. I would be curious to know what other options were presented to your wife and why she chose the bypass surgery. Sorry if I'm being too nosy.

Here it is for your enjoyment! http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=31406&st=0 I'm already in the been blogged club gsquared... I'm sorry. I really enjoyed doing it though, it is a unique and good thing to hear how other's respond to your life and food. Highly recommended experience.

I had, honestly, never heard of this practice. Learn so much good stuff here on eG. I think if it were in effect here I would use it as input, but not necessarily make it a deciding factor. I can't imagine being an exclusive "A" diner. What is the fun in that? Sometimes you gotta take a risk or two to find the good stuff.

I'm contemplating my youth, nubility (is that a word?) and minion potential... hmm. Might be a worthwhile trade for good meals and some sunshine! The blog must not die! Someone has to be brave enough to carry it on. C'mon, Marlene?? Tolliver?? Stinger?? How about Ms. Katie Loeb, have you had a turn yet? Don't make Soba get out the arm twisting gloves.

Interesting that there are such differing reviews here. Lady T, I'm waiting for yours. It will be good to see what you think and live vicariously through your experience. Take lots of pictures! To the chefs: best of luck with your new venture. The menu appears to be highly creative and I applaud you for that.

The way I read it, much of the sexist behavior in that article was done by the author. In her writing she paints broad and nasty gender related pictures of at least three subgroups. She provides absolutely no proof in this article that the abuse given to her in the kitchen, while ugly and disrespectful, had anything to do with her gender. There very well may be sexism in professional kitchens like that one, but she has not even on a basic level described it here. It reads like a high school theme to me with lots of baseless opinion and no support. She could have done this well, defined what sexism in the kitchen is and why she felt it existed in this situation, interviewed others who had shared experiences, compared different types of kitchens etc... In my mind this article was a wasted opportunity to do some real investigative journalism. She should stick to slicing ham.

I agree, lunch is very underrated. I wish we could do the big european style mid-day meal and a smaller dinner, but we just aren't able to arrange our lives that way. I'm at home so I often eat leftovers from the night before, or kid food (my son is in a serious grilled cheese phase). Sometimes I'll get ambitious and do a little stir fry or make a veggie burger or some egg salad. Though lately, I've been having cold pressed salmon and cream cheese on water crackers. Not sure why that is hitting the spot, but it is. And every once in a while I'll get really gourmet and have diet coke and cold cereal.

I'll admit to being amused by the sign in our local outback steakhouse that points patrons to the "used beer department".

Tuesday Morning also carries LC damaged stock, just for the record. I'm still trying to figure out what driving a Volvo station wagon calls for, one with the big engine and the turbo, very confusing. Jenny, did you get the pot? Whatcha gonna make in that bad boy?

I was in their store today and I did buy a molten center chocolate cake mix as a gift. It was $20, but awfully purty. This nice round chocolate brown box with lovely wedding style red script. Wait, I paid $20 for a cake mix?? Dang, I'm such a sucker.

Gorgeous dinner. I wish I could have tasted the ostrich. It looks and sounds delicious. I'm inspired to have more variety than just the usual beef/pork/chicken. Would you please elaborate on how you did your potatoes and peppercorn sauce? I'm sorry, I'm a slut for the details. This will indeed be a hard blog to follow! Glad I've done my turn already. I hope you enjoy your lunch tomorrow. It sounds like you have the prep. well in hand. I'm especially interested to see what you do with the mussels. You seem like a very gracious host. I'm sure your guests will leave happy, or at the very least well fed!