sequim
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Posts posted by sequim
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I was once a member of PETA. I once tried to be a vegetarian because I felt bad for how the animals were treated.
I no longer am either. I was not happy being a vegetarian. I need and want to eat meat. Now I just hope to have the animal be humanely treated before death. I believe in the Native American way of respecting the animal that it gave its life and try not to waste anything. I like Jacques Pepin's philosophy (from reading his autobio). He wastes nothing, he eats just about everything.
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Lots of fatty food
Lots of carbs
Lots of wine
... take up bike commuting to work...
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It is sad that we are so removed from where our food comes from that and so citified that most people would not consider eating a "problem animal" as a way to control them. Out here in Washington state, it's the geese who have become a problem (they don't like to migrate anymore because the pickin's are so good in our mild climate) and have to be gased or frightened away or just hated. Aren't geese considered a delicacy? I love Jim Harrison's writings because he is constantly talking about going out and catching his food from duck to deer to beyond. I realize that going out and shooting an animal in residential areas doesn't work, but it's dismaying that there doesn't seem to be some good way to capture abundant, problem animals and eat them!
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I have seen:
Mostly Martha, a german romance flick... but like most german romance flick the final goal is friendship not love.
Hey I thought that was the one where she ended up with that sexy Italian chef!
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Also there's a Chinese one called The Noodle Shop or something like that. About a woman who opens a noodle restaurant and wants to make the perfect noodle soup. Hope I'm not mangling the description of it too much...
It is Japanese and is Tampopo.
oh good grief, did I ever mangle that.
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The original french Cousin, Cousine. The couple made eating pastries so sexy. Not a food movie but food in it. .. it was french, what do you expect?!
Agree with others on Babette's Feast and Eat Drink, Man Woman.
Also there's a Chinese one called The Noodle Shop or something like that. About a woman who opens a noodle restaurant and wants to make the perfect noodle soup. Hope I'm not mangling the description of it too much...
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Excuse me for being late to this thread and getting alittle OT, but why is stainless so unanimous? Is it all about practicality? They're rather industrial looking.... Just trying to make a decision in replacing my own sink/faucet.
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... but I do serve it reguarly to friends whom find it acceptable but not exceptional.
Irwin
They were probably just being polite
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I'm eagerly reading this thread, as someone who's roasted a number of chickens but never to absolute perfection. I'm always looking for the best way to do it. My goal is to have the absolutely crispiest skin to eat as that's the best part
My lastest attempt was last weekend - doing it the Tom Douglas way (his lemon thyme chicken) - slathering with kosher salt, pepper and thyme, stuff with lemon, garlic and more thyme. I think making sure the skin was very dry helped. I used a somewhat hot oven (425) but basted with butter and chicken fat about every 15 minutes. The chicken turned a nice roast color and very tasty, not too dry or rare - the skin was good but there could have been even more crisp! I used a heavy cookie sheet with the chicken on a small rack, thinking this would help keep the skin crisper as it would be dryer. No veggies around it either. One thing that bothers me and no one mentions is the higher the heat, the more fat that splatters everywhere. Are you guys just cleaning your ovens alot or do you just not care about the grease splatter? Maybe I'm being too squeamish about the mess.... -
I enjoyed reading this old topic since I've been thinking about it myself and wondering how my habits differ from others. I think on this board, there is ALOT of money being spent on eating out and food than the average person. As an aside I'm kinda interested in that topic as well. I loved KimWB's drunken ramblings (go on everybody, drink and ramble
), am amazed that Col Klink can eat sushi 6 days a week (but what about BBQ?), and find myself impressed with SobaAddict70's stock making - oh there's just so much more I can be doing! For me I take breakfast and lunch to work so that limits cooking. Since I don't like eating right after getting up and only having that pot of coffee matters, breakfast is things like fruit yogurt, bananas and any homemade baked goods I have on hand. I love PIE for breakfast. On the weekends I usually do oatmeal, fresh squeezed OJ and toasted country bread. I try to have a filling breakfast so I don't need lunch as it slows me down. Lunch during a work week is generally leftovers heated in the microwave from dinners I make or my mom's leftovers that she loads me down with on the weekend. For dinner, I enjoy eating out but that's costly and I do enjoy cooking and yes, get cranky when I don't for awhile. If I don't feel like being elaborate (and it's usually just me) I always have staples on hand for quick meals like bean threads or a variety of asian noodles, bacon, cilantro, soy and hoisin sauces (chow fun?), eggs ( for scrambled), bread (for toast), cheddar cheese for grilled cheese, vine ripened tomatoes and lettuce for salad makings. I have a well stocked freezer of frozen shrimp, meats, raviolis, asian dumplings. Once every couple weeks my friend and I will get together to make a fancy meal in which we try different things we're trying to learn. There has to be a variety of wine in the house. I might cook a full course-type dinner once during the week but on the weekends I frequently go crazy cooking, especially now in the winter. I can't get enough of it. But then I also have people around to share it with. Cooking for one tends to make more than enough leftovers and this can be a problem. What to do with all the leftovers as I hate throwing food out.
Sorry, my post might have gotten alittle off track. It's more about how I eat than how many times I cook....
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All right now. All you anti-peep folks, just send those little cuties right over to me...I'll gladly spare you the pain.
But send the stale peeps to me! Also, green snowballs are good but they usually come out for St. Patrick's Day...
I think alot of the problems people have with these traditional foods is that they're done through canned/processed foods and not done very well or imaginatively. Pumpkin Pie is wonderful using fresh sugar pumpkins and a good crust. So is fruitcake when laced with plenty of "likker" and real dried fruit and aged. I'm just sick of the same ole same ole like:
ham (overdone, dry)
mincemeat (never liked, but I'd try the one mentioned with suet and brandy)
hard xmas candies (give me Frango mints)
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Even though this seems to be a dead thread, I’ll add a couple comments because I find it an interesting subject. It seems that I started preparing homemade food a lot when I became real poor. I know this seems like the opposite of what some are saying, that poor people have few choices or are uninformed, etc. However, in my case, this wasn’t true. When I was young and sharing a cheap apartment with my sister and so had a reasonable amount of disposable income, I bought lots of convenience food as I considered it a treat (frozen eclairs anyone?). I didn’t take time to cook because of the easy procurement of food whether through the many cheap, fast options (hot dog vendors and the like) found in downtown Chicago, convenience foods, and wanting to spend more time out of my cheap apartment than in. Fast forward 5 years to a remote “homestead” in Utah living with my boyfriend on 5 acres of desert. The newest store was over 30 miles away and we went into town only about once or twice a week and we were very poor and living off my savings. (This was my hippie, back to the land lifestyle at that time) Not to mention that although we wanted to live off the land, the land was not fertile for growing gardens. (corn only 2 feet high resulted!) I got into cooking via a neighbor who loved to cook and was very good, sharing her knowledge, inviting us over for dinners, then experimenting myself, making soups and other food-stretching recipes. She also loved wine although it was box wine and jugs but still, wine with food was a step up… Even when I moved into town, I still had little income, but then got quite creative, pulling out a copy of James Beard and Joy of Cooking and trying recipes like pot au feu, boston brown bread, dolmades and all kinds of exotic stuff that tasted great. We had free gas with a gas stove, so I could simmer soups and stews however long I wanted. Ingredients for soup, stew and bread were cheap. We would even dumpster-dive for thrown out veggies from the supermarket. I loved experimenting making different kinds of bread because we had a small potbelly stove in the kitchen and I could raise the dough in no time. I am amazed to this day the stuff I made. However, I had lots of time for cooking because I had only part-time jobs. I know it’s quite different today for most people. . But that gave me a taste for well-cooked food that continues to this day. I know that if I had to, I could go back to that lifestyle and live pretty well.
Today I work a regular job and have a comfortable income. For cooking, what works best for me are not the long-simmered soups anymore, but quick food using fresh produce. I especially like Asian noodle dishes. Or I might make something in stages over a couple of days. I also don’t like eating out for lunch or eating only sandwiches, so I’m always looking for something that leaves leftovers to heat up. To me cooking and eating well is a habit which is better tasting than the alternatives and I save money which I can then use for eating out at good restaurants or wine buying. I think once you come to realize that delicious food comes from the best ingredients and that then you don’t have to process/cook them too much, your cooking time can go way down unless you choose otherwise. I’d have to say, though, that this has been a learning process through the years.
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more on cilantro and soap...
Since I use cilantro alot and since I have noticed the soap smell/flavor phenomena, I've been thinking about this subject. I bought one bunch that I was trimming the ends on and it had a very strong smell, yet when in the dish did not smell like this. In the past I thought it was because I'd used too much (thinking more is even better!), now I'm rethinking that theory. I had another bunch recently and didn't notice the smell even though I was trimming it as before. Maybe it gets that way from being old or picked at a different maturity. Also someone mentioned cutting it versus shredding with fingers might make a difference, but I don't think that's the case.
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I'm with both..wanting to experience all the wonderful taste sensations out there that I can. Coffee to get up with and read by in the morning - french roast with brown sugar, half and half with a touch of nutmeg. A fine way to get started and not need to eat breakfast for awhile. Later on comes tea. Actually I used to dislike tea until my cubicle mate started bringing in tea with the fancy steeping tea pot and offering me a cup. Now we have our routine at 9-ish. He opens the door to the tea stash and we have about 20 difference boxes of stuff to choose from. We are always out looking for good teas and different types. He'll say "What do you feel like today?" The dark teas (English, Indian) are drunk with half and half and honey, while the lighter teas (green, white, jasmine) are with honey only as cream overpowers their light flavor.
Recommendation: a cup of Taj Mahal with a dark chocolate dipped almond biscotti to dunk in it.
Warning: don't overbrew the teas or you'll get the icky tannin flavor.
Opinion: Loose leaf is not always better. We've had containers of loose that are completely lacking in flavor or stale because once they're open, the air gets to them. However, you can get good bagged tea such as the Genmai brown rice vacuum packed tea that will always be fresh when you open them. Very expensive though.
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I made a Pumpkin Flan for dessert that came out quite well. I made it non-fat and relatively low calorie by using egg substitute, Splenda, evaporated skim milk and fat free half and half, but you could probably make it with real eggs, sugar and half and half and it would be delicious, if not deadly!
Pumpkin flan for me too, but I don't do low-fat.
Made carmelized sugar three times before it came out right... A small piece served to each guest garnished with frosted grapes, served with a small glass of Kestrel Winery (WA) reserve ice wine. The flan was surprisingly light and easy to eat after a big meal, despite all the eggs and cream. -
I think for people having come of age in the 50's they ran the risk of having their fine, traditional cooking ruined. That would be the case of my Mother, who also grew up during the depression. Her mother did wonderful homemade cooking. My mother does some things very well, like her pies and stews, but she has a tendency to take shortcuts and skimp on the luxury items. So a bad combination of finding bargains and convenience food taints her ability to cook well consistently. On the weekends we live together and our pantry contains a sad preponderance of canned veggies, soups and gravy mixes. Because my family cooks alot and some of us are very interested in good food (being wine and food snobs~) as opposed to taking short cuts that aren't good and we're noisy and blunt, we can get away with being honest with each other. I try to be honest and show her the righteous path
, but we do have fights and hurt feelings sometimes. It's important to be truthful because we have to guard the good recipes she has in her collection from degradation! However, with friends and acquaintances it's not so easy. I think if they're receptive, you should give hints of truthfulness. But in other cases, you have to smile politely. I draw the line at pretending enthusiasm for a dish to the point of polishing it off and giving effusive comments, though.
Linda
Pizza Toppings: Simple/Elaborate, Traditional/Unusual
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