Susan in FL

Thanks for reporting back. I would love an invitation to dinner where this was served! It sounds like it was really good.

Mmmm... Melissa, that's revealing... Fried chicken is a one dish meal for you?

I had never heard of red flannel hash before.... Have you? For anybody like me who didn't know about it, it is corned beef hash with beets. I've been on a beet kick lately, so I bought some corned beef at the deli and we had it for brunch yesterday, with fried "yolky" eggs.

"We" made pasta last night. I was thrilled! It turned out perfect. I put we in quotes because Russ did most of it. I probably would not have participated in this cook-off if he hadn't been the one to make the pasta. I become afraid of failure when it comes to anything that requires kneading. So anyway, we got out my late parents' 50-plus year-old pasta maker, conveniently hooked it on to the end of our kitchen counter/bar, and Russ went to work. He used half semolina flour and half unbleached all purpose flour, eggs, cold water, olive oil and salt. He mixed it up in a bowl, and kneaded it right on the counter... using no flour for dusting whatsoever, throughout the process! What was up with that, we don't know. We planned on spaghetti or fettuccine with a very, very simple marinara because we wanted to feature the pasta and enjoy its taste. Here are some action shots. We experimented a little. It ended up being fettuccine. I made a clean-out-the-fridge salad, to go with it. We enjoyed the dinner and the success. Thanks to all for the lessons and discussion. We're looking forward to making pasta again soon -- maybe ravioli!

A side note: Ahhh, Klari! That's the tried and true method I use for mushrooms almost all the time -- for whatever. I never applied a term to it, so thanks! As a side of sauteed mushrooms with steak for example, I "dry-fry" them and add butter at the end before serving. It's how I cook peeled shrimp for several dishes, as well. It's amazing how good some things can be just cooked in their own essence and that's all.

I know the feeling. But believe me, your food still looks awesome, mouthwatering, and delicious! You've got this pasta making down pat... Congrats!

Ahhh a popular topic... I'm always glad to read about it. You may be interested in these threads on cheese which discuss some of the best. This one is about blue cheese, and this was one of my favorite threads, where we tried to limit our favorite cheeses to three.

Agreed. I love all three of those that you mentioned, and it's all about the taste.

Good Thought. I didn't read this Cook-off thread because I wasn't tuning in to Cook-offs back at this time -- why the hell not I don't know. However, I have followed this thread, and recently Russ made gumbo, and we have leftovers of this one in the freezer. I think this week would be a good time to pull it out and eat it.

I echo everyone's compliments. I am enjoying this blog, too. I must say I also compliment Canadian eG members in general. You guys in the various areas of Canada are spirited! I think it's great the way so many of you have met each other and get together socially. It seems like you have a real good sense of eG unity. Joie, thanks for including photos and write-up of your most recent gathering in the blog.

Scallops! That's it! Ooops, I mean that sounds good to me. Seriously, thanks for asking for suggestions. I enjoy menu planning as much as cooking, and sometimes even more. I think the sweetness of scallops would be especially good after the the salty/spicey/herbal flavors of the other two. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc sounds real nice, too. I'm looking forward to hearing about the dinner afterwards, whatever it is you decided upon!

Ellen, please let me know when you find out where your housemate's band will be on New Year's Eve, just in case it's in the area accessible to us by foot. Neither do we want to be in a motor vehicle that night -- even a cab. A wild night in a wild area sounds good to me! I will welcome any ideas for a restaurant to go to, in the event that we opt to dine in a restaurant, and then do the town after that.

Needless to say but I will... Enjoying it is what matters. I'm glad you passed the idea along, Sarah.

I agree that's something to consider. What I usually do if there are two things in one category that I really want to serve is to add a third in the same category. If they are all three part of the same course, I'll think of it/serve it as "Whatever Three Ways" or "A Trio of Whatever" -- usually served on one plate. I don't know for sure why, it just seems right. Maybe it's a feng shui or zen thing. It sounds like you're thinking in terms of different courses, and I do that sometimes, too. It's a fun way to eat. As an example, maybe you would serve the shrimp dish, then the mussels, and then a crab cake, soft-shell crab, or other crab dish. I would stick with shellfish though, since you've got that theme going. We are always trying to make a case for red wine, so maybe a Pinot Noir with some of this... That is not appealing to everybody, though. Since the two dishes you have decided upon are spicy and/or herby, for a white wine a Riesling would be good. Bubbly is another idea. Were you thinking of matching up a separate wine with each course or going with one wine to see you through?

We will be bringing in 2006 in San Diego, staying in or near the Gaslamp Quarter, and we're wondering where we will go for dinner and whether we should be making a reservation now. I have searched online, but haven't been able to find events for this year. Is it correct that the Gaslamp Quarter is the downtown area, and do you know of any events in hotels or restaurants or whatever with good food and drink? Would you recommend any "packages" with dinner and entertainment/celebration for the evening? We already have our accomodations, so that needn't be included. We've gone to these New Year's things on the east coast in the past, and the food wasn't the greatest, so maybe we should instead plan to have dinner at a good restaurant separately, and then go elsewhere for more celebration. Any ideas for Sunday brunch on New Year's Day would be appreciated, too. Suggestions, please!

Awww... brings back memories. Both of our boys played high school soccer, and one played four years of college. We never fed the whole team, but almost that many. I agree on pasta as the main carb, plus plenty of bread on the side. Chicken is always a favorite, and yes... all of the athletes in our family love to have great big chocolate chip cookies as part of the carbo-loading! Hey, as for chicken, I've heard great things about a caterer that you might be able to get to help out.

Nancy, thank you ever so much for the details and pictures, especially the "lessons." That really helped me a lot. Maybe this weekend...

Na-uhhh.... No way! Whew. I just went and checked, and the cover of my September 2005 Gourmet does have flourless-chocolate-cake-puddings-whatever on it. LOL!

Russ and I tried that, only it was sage. To be honest... I can't remember much detail about making it other than it turned out well! It was so long ago that we were on our pasta making kick. We cut it into wide ribbons. I'll probably be trying so hard for whatever we make to turn out well in this cook-off, that it won't be as good.

Good day at work, come home and cook to celebrate the day; hard day at work, come home and cook as therapy... It's an advantage of having the empty nest syndrome! It also helps that I work out of my home only part time.

I intended to get back to this thread before now, but I got distracted by the heartache of Katrina coverage, etc. However, in the meantime, I went for the Sheila Lukins book from Smithy and sent her a trade, an old Good Housekeeping cookbook. We were both happy with the exchange. So, now I have the following books up for adoption. Please send me a PM if you want to provide a good home to any of these: Italian Family Cooking by Edward Giobbi, 1971 (old/used); Italian Cooking Made Easy by 'Round the World Books, 1979 (old/used); or Truffles, Candies & Confections by Carole Bloom, 2004 (new/barely used).

I love sandwiches, too... This is making me want them in the dinner plans more often. Here's my catching up, going in reverse from last night. We had roasted grouper & zucchini and a salad of tomato, provolone, and arugula in an avocado half. The part of dinner I enjoyed the most was the go-withs of bread, butter, prosciutto, duck pate', radishes, and just-roasted red peppers. After work yesterday I went to the produce market and grocery store hungry and didn't have the self-discipline not to buy almost everything that looked good to me ...and come home and fix it. On Labor Day I flattened and marinated two Cornish Hens in a citrus and thyme honey mixture, and Russ grilled them. With them we had Jasmine rice, left-over kale, and another influence from reading the Varmint Pig Pickin' thread, watermelon salad. The night before was pasta with an uncooked sauce of fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, Kalamata olives, garlic, & EVOO.

Very nice presentation, as well, with the green beans along sides like that! I like it! I know the shrimp are luscious... I use that method of dry on the pan at first and adding butter at the end -- just most of the time more simply prepared. It's a great idea for BBQ shrimp, too. Yum!

Beautiful photo, beautiful concept, and I'm sure beautiful flavor! Yesterday morning we had delicious fried fresh flounder (the last of it ), potato cakes made from leftover mashed potatoes, over easy eggs with wonderful runny yolks, sliced tomatoes, OJ, and second cups of coffee.

Last night we cooked pig at our home -- just ribs of a pig, though. I was under the influence of all that's going on at Varmint's Pig Pickin' in Raleigh this weekend. We started with salsa, chips, and vodka & tonic. The potato salad is pictured after I made it, before serving time. Along with ribs in the dark of the night we had fresh kale, the potato salad, and cheap Italian jug wine sort of in honor of my late Italian father.