Sandra Levine

I pulled this from an earlier thread about too many bananas: Banana Jam 8 ripe bananas, mashed 3 medium lemons 3 cups sugar 3 cups water a piece of fresh ginger about an inch on each side, peeled cloves, to taste 1. Peel the lemons, cutting the zest into thin strips. Set aside. 2. Juice the lemons. 3. Make a simple syrup by boiling the sugar and water for about ten minutes. Add the lemon juice, rind, bananas, the chunk of ginger and cloves. 4. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring from time to time to avoid scorching. Remove the ginger before transfering to sterilized canning jars. The jam will be a pale yellow mush. You don't even need to test it for jelling.

Yes, indeed.

Clariifcation on big bucks. The big bucks that show respect for the profession are spent in restaurants and pricy bakeries. The chefs, cooks and bakers in those places are the "professionals" you feel are not respected.

"you people?" It's obvious that people respect the profession. That's why they are willing to drop big bucks in support of it. The real question is why do professionals have so little respect for home cooks?

Ranitidine and I spend some of our honeymoon in New Orleans. I gained five pounds in four days. It was the beginning of the end of my figure. But, I enjoyed your post.

I've never been able to convince Ranitidine to travel to Mexico, but these posts may do the trick.

Usually, where you find stinging nettles growing, you will find an antidote, jewelweed, that also works to relieve the itching of poison oak and poison ivy.

I recently marinated some boneless chicken breasts in buttermilk, then coated them with ground pistachios before sauteing them. I would have added a sprinkle of pistachio oil after cooking if I had had any.

Here's where we ended up: Ranitidine and I spent the first week of June in Wellfleet We decided to keep it simple, focusing on fried clams, chowders, raw oysters, fish and lobster closer to the clamshack level rather than fancy restaurant-type places. In July and August, all the the places below are mobbed. We had fried clams at two places -- Arnold's, on route 6 in Eastham and Moby Dick, on route 6 in Wellfleet. Arnold's is a very basic clam joint. The menu is listed above a long counter where you place your order. Fried oysters, fried clams, fried lobster, fried scallops, as "orders" (alone) or "platters" (with french fries and coleslaw) and a couple of "baked" dishes. The latter are to be avoided. Everything local is noted on the menu, e.g., Wellfleet scallops. When your name is called, you pick up your tray and move into the dining area --for an indoor picnic under a tent. There are also picnic benches outside. Everything is served in paper boats, with plastic utensils. Each platter has about a dozen clams a cup of non-commercial, well-seasoned, not-too-sweet coleslaw and a pile of standard frozen french fries. Another night, we tried the famous onion rings -- a huge, pointed pile of delicately battered, thin-sliced rings -- much better than the french fries. But the clams are the thing here. On the platter, you get about a dozen whole clams. The briny, fresh clams were a good size -- a big mouthful each, dipped in a light and crisp batter that remarkably, did not turn soggy even as the clams cooled. Arnold's had three beers on tap, including Harpoon IPA (which R. drank) and many others available in bottles. Fried clam platters run about $16. Fried clam strips are cheaper. Moby Dick is a similar place, somewhat more comfortable, that has a view of a marsh from the nautically-decorated dining room. It's more formal than Arnold's; a server carries your tray to your table. There is also an indoor-outdoor tented space, too. The fries were essentially the same as at Arnold's (skippable) the coleslaw was more commercial but the clams were even better -- bigger and sweeter, although the batter was thicker and not quite as crisp. Moby Dick does not serve beer, although you can bring your own. We came here twice -- the first time I had steamers and R. had steamed mussels. These were the largest steamed clams I remember seeing, very sweet, briny and tender. The cup of clam broth was not deep enough for proper swishing, so it was difficult to get rid of every piece of grit. R. had an ear of corn -- a supersweet variety that he liked. I had a half Caesar salad with my clams. Bottled dresssing on romaine, but I didn't expect anything more. For dessert, we shared a strawberry shortcake made with a buttermilk biscuit and a thickened strawberry sauce from frozen berries. Before our clams arrived, the owner proudly presented us with two styrofoam bowls of "lobster bisque" that he wanted us to try, since it was our first time at the restaurant. The soup was very thick -- too thick, too smooth, too revealing of its evaporated milk base, although it did have a couple of pieces of lobster meat in it. One spoonful sufficed for me. Lobster roll. What's a visit to Cape Cod without a lobster roll? We had been warned off The Eastham Lobster Pool on route 6 in Eastham, but went there anyway on one of our two sunny days, to sit on the deck and have a lobster roll. Big chunks of sweet, tender lobster bound with mayonnaise but no filler, were piled onto round, toasted and buttered hamburger buns, garnished with two slices of ripe tomator and some curly lettuce. The sandwich comes with a 1/2 oz. bag of Cape Cod potato chips and some very ordinary coleslaw. R. drank a Hurricane Amber Ale from Coastal Extreme Brewing Co., Newport, RI. The lobster rolls were about $12. Other chowders Connected to our inn was the Tavern at Duck Creek. R. had a lgood obster and corn chowder there, a pink, slightly spicy soup with three big chunks of lobster. I had a cup of New England clam chowder that tasted only mildly of clam -- nor surprising, since there was only one small piece of clam in the bottom of the cup. Better soups were at the Lobster Pot, on Commercial Street in Provincetown. R. had an excellent clam chowder, while I had a shrimp bisque. R. lwas impressed with his fish and chips at the Lobster Pot, too, which he enjoyed with a draft Sam Adams. We couldn't resist an apple crisp served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a small dish of "homemade" caramel sauce that the waiter brought because he heard me wondering aloud about it. Nice service. Good apple crisp, too. Warm, not too sweet, with apples that retained much of their shape and just the right amount of "crisp." We also had a dinner at Finely J.P.'s, route 6 in Eastham -- a very small restaurant with a big reputation that fills up very fast and does not take reservations. R. had a "Wellfleet paella" with nice, fresh local seafood and rice that was only a little too salty. I made the mistake of ordering a veal pailliard, which turned out to be a take on veal marsala -- standard veal cutlet with shitakes and madeira. The cranbery-apple crisp was far too sweet. Our find of the week was the High Toss cafe, on Main Street in Wellfleet, a couple of doors away from the Inn at Duck Creeke. We had breakfast here almost every day. The scones and muffins were freshly made, not too sweet and not too big. In its current guise, the restaurant is only about 18 months old and has become a favorite with locals, who gather at a communal table to read the newspapers provided by the restaurant and engage in informed and intelligent discussion of the events of the day.

Thank you, all. I've printed out this thread to take with me Saturday.

Very nice...as it should be, for all the aggravation.

It would be helpful if you would state your locality for this thread.

Lyon dining

That's what Alice Waters did pre-Chez Panisse.

Someone I know very well once saw a wrapper for the gyro meats that had the ingredients lists. High on the list was spleen.

It was duck fat.

An earlier thread on butter and another

...and some more Ducasse.

Since he was discussing sandwiches and not just the meat, I wish he had addressed the bread issue. I've threatened to bring my own bread the next time I go to Katz's and ask the counterman to make the sandwich using it.

Back of the box recipes

You're welcome. I enjoyed reading your post...as I enjoyed reading the earlier ones. Now, if I could only get to the restaurant and see for myself....

Oatmeal Cookies from Quaker Oats (under the lid) Baked Macaroni and Cheese from the Mueller's box many years ago is still my template, although I always vary it. It's not the same as the recipe on the box now, which I think calls for margarine! instead of butter and specifies other brand name products owned by the same parent company. I substitute better pasta, high-quality cheese, etc.

See this for an earlier discussion of Gagnaire, illustrating the adage, chacun a son gout. And vive la difference! and another related discussion

Does this mean that you are eating bread again, Simon? I just started a modified Atkins on Monday, you being an inspiration.

Oh, that's good, Bripastry. I know people love chocolate (and I'm one of them) but dessert in the spring means strawberries to me.