Angela Alaimo

My, for being so down-to-earth, unassuming, and giftedly-vibed, she certainly makes a lot of demands and rules for who will be allowed to sit at her hallowed kitchen table. At some point the only guests she will be able to book will be her witless fans, but I'm sure they will love it! Yum-o! How great would that be!? PS: Carpetbagger--I lost it at the Tiki Barber/situp contest part. lolz.

and it happens to me all the time, but in the ash pan. which brings me to ask, is that lye/ash good for plants and/or compost piles? I know NO chemistry, or plant 'management', but there must be a good use for the ashes dry or otherwise that I empty daily. If you know, please share. ← Yes. You can put wood ashes in the compost pile. No idea what exactly charcoal briquets are made of, but it is in the realm of possibility that the pH of both (wood ashes and briquets) are somewhat similar. So just don't put too much at a time and mix the ashes in. I throw a few bagfuls of ashes from the fireplace in my compost every spring. And put those eggshells around your roses--they like the calcium.

I was told that no, there's no difference. The reason for both is guys are hesitant to drink something called "Diet", but they will drink the same stuff if you call it "Zero". Must be the love of the Z or something. I was told this by the same person who told me they were the same thing.

The best way to eat mulberries: 1) Stand under tree--go barefoot if you are wish to avoild purple-soled shoes. 2) Fill at least one hand with mulberries. 3) Stuff entire contents of hand(s) into mouth. 4) Repeat.

I have some attachments that will cut the pasta into the long shapes. It attaches to the back side of the same machine, so you can roll to the left, switch the crank, and out comes your spaghetti, fettucini, etc. on the right. There is also a (special!) ravioli attachment that was supposed to be a bonus treat. We tried it once and it was so ridiculously awful and messy we leave it in the box and do it the old-fashioned way. So get the cutting attachment(s) if they are offered.

I'm pretty sure I read recently that charcuterie is mostly done in the cooler-colder months of the year. I've also been thinking about this while reading what you all are making in the heat of the summer. Just wondering if perhaps the time of year/weather may conspire to work against you?

I had some squash blossoms at a local restaurant last week, and I asked the chef how he got the stuffing in--he said he used a pastry bag, so he only had to open them up enough to get the pistils, etc. out. And he baked them in clarified butter. They were good.

I've got an idea! Why don't you take all their favorite Disaster Dishes and make them properly? Show them what they could taste like? Edited to add: And what did you expect? That there would be no punishment meted out to you for being a vegan, even temporarily? Ha! <grin>

We usually got the salt water taffy when we went to Rye Playland. And their hot dogs were pretty good, as were the fries. Or maybe it was some other sandwich. Well, stick with the taffy.

....And! It's on a big, sharp, he-man stick so you can put your eye out afterwards. Or be a ninja.

Gently dear Angela. Gently. It is a delicate flower after all. My recipe is to whip up some goat cheese with mint, sometimes the addition of finely minced shallots. You can thin the goat cheese if needed with cream cheese or even a bit of whipping cream. dip stuffed flower into a tempura batter, fry in hot oil. Serve drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar and when in season plump and juicy pomegranite seeds. I alway remove the outer tendril thingie that surround the outside of the flower base. (Hope my description makes sense). My favourite squash blossom classic is the Oaxacan street food snack. A freshly made tortilla lies on a comal while the cook gently tears squash blossoms, epazote and quesillo over the top. The tortilla is folded over and cooked, steaming the ingredients inside. A bit of salt, a bit of salsa and heaven is achieved. ← Thank you. Every year I grow squash and every year I want to stuff a few blossoms and every year I chicken out. I fear I will ruin them--but your stuffing is helping get my courage up. Thank you.

I have a question. How do you stuff the blossom without ripping it to bits? TIA

That's right, Klary. A pancake is about 1/4-1/2 inch thick, sort of like a blini, but usually bigger in diameter. A crepe doesn't have the leavening in it a pancake has, so it stays quite flat, like a piece of paper.

I know Miriam is full of cabbage, but a cabbage was part of one of my best pull-it-out-of-your-@$$ meals. There was one rolling around in the fridge, there was some Italian sausage links, a can of diced tomatoes (no salt) and a few other ingredients. We had some good stuffed cabbage leaves that night and we thought we were going to go hungry. Yay. PS: The Italian sausage (sweet) did go really well with the cabbage, btw.

Now see, Rachael Ray would minus out the tax, do her cheap-o (rhymes with yum-o!) calculation and leave oh, about 97c.

This kind of meal-planning is one of my favorites, especially when the food ends up tasting good, too.

When you call it "Hudson Valley", Liz, you make this area sound downright fabulous. At least you didn't include the "Lower". A

Gee, Akebono-san, I don't have any idea of I agree with you or not--I was just having a blast reading along. But I reallly liked that part about Paula Diddy Dean and the Fry Daddy getting together to birth the Plugra butter-sticks. lolorz! A

Julia, A while ago my son and I would go on Midnight Runs with a local Methodist Church. Yes, literally in the middle of the night. Many bagged suppers were donated, as well as coffee, soup, water, toiletries, some clothes, and we went into NYC and passed them out. One of the supper components was a hard-boiled egg (they had a suggested menu). So I just wanted to pass that on as a healthy, inexpensive, and I guess non-perishable item you might consider putting in your bags. Little pieces of candy, like Jolly Ranchers, are reasonably hearty, too. We met some of the neatest people out in the middle of the night--how does it go? "There are a million stories in the naked city...." You know what I mean. Good luck with the great work. Take care of yourself, too. A

I ordered this book several months ago in order to get a First Edition. Imagine my dismay when I take a look-see and Nope! Not a First Edition! Well, I can barely read the damn thing, knowing that I'm not high enough on the Ruhl-chain to merit one. Sigh. At least Bourdain likes me well enough--the Nasty book is indeed a First. Pretty much in agreement with what the others said about the book--and I hope all this reaching will eventually translate into better food for all of us all the time.

I have. You can really hear Julia's voice throughout. I got a little sad when I finished, because there's no more Julia in real life, just like there was no more book to read. I liked it very much and will read it again. A

I was 19 and in between spring semester and summer school. My mother informed me since I had a couple of weeks free, I could cook dinner every night. First reaction was, "Hmm. How many different ways to cook Kraft dinner and Instant oatmeal?". Somewhere I found a bunch of different recipes (waaay before the internet ), made them--they all turned out well enough that the people who ate the food said it was good. So I became very good at following recipes, and taught myself most everything else. Worked out pretty well, but something was missing. Then I read the part about "putting himself into the service of the potato" in Ruhlman's book and it was like someone smacked me upside the head with said kind-of-weighty tome. And I found the missing part--the why of cooking other than as supplying fuel. So I am probably one of the most guilesss people here--shoot, I'm just happy to hang around. But I am NOT eating a horse. Nope. A

I agree with Fabby. I have one so I can bring my own knives and favorite tools with me when we go on vacation--I would not hesitate to take them to someone else's house in their cool case because I don't think it looks pretentious, it looks like you care about your knives and don't want anyone to get hurt. Think of them like a clarinet. If you were going to someone's house to play the clarinet, you would bring your own and not use theirs, yes? And it would be in a case, too.

I would put myself in the d) category and go with "Food Enthusiast".

We have Marmoleum (tiles) in our kitchen, and it is as close to vinyl as terrazzo is to asphalt. It is wonderful. We got ours at a flooring store, so it was installed by a "certified, trained, Marmoleum installer" (yay!), which means it also comes with a lifetime guarantee. The best part, aside from it's beauty and comfort, is no fumes of any sort, not the material, not the glue, not the finish that goes on afterwards. After several months of being gassed half to death with paint, stain, and poly fumes, it was literally a breath of fresh air. I liked the Marmoleum Click first, but the kitchen is really too small to do justice to it, as in, you're going to want to make some kind of design. We did do a design with the tiles, 2 colors, but obviously on a smaller scale. Have fun, all you kitchen renovators! When it looks bleak, just remember it will end eventually.