nessa

Forgive me, for I have sinned. I could not wait until the 24th to go to HKM, I was out of sesame oil and this delicious, firey chili/peanut/oil/fermented bean sauce thing.... and they dont cary either at my new little store, However.... I discovered the tofu shop about 4 doors down from HKM and quite frankly, I'm in love. They had fresh tofu, I could see them making it in the back. They also had various chinese dried fruits etc. Down the middle of the tiny store, they have a hotlamp buffet looking thing. They had fried tofu with lemon grass. It was not fried like puffy, though they had that as well, but just their regular tofu pan fried. Three squares for a dollar, and I bought three, of course. Then they had these HUGE meatballs on a stick, three per, and some tofu wrap thing. I had to try it all. The fried 'fu was just incredible. It was flavorful, no beany taste, and the texture was between scrambled eggs and a nice custard. I had downed all three pieces before I exited the parking lot. My goodness If I could only make mine taste like that! The meatballs were delish! I'm guessing a mix of pork and perhaps shrimp, with green onion and sugar. A tad greasy but finger licking good. The wrap I'll have for breakfast, along with the second deep fried sesame-mungbeen dumpling ball thing from the Hong Kong bakery. I'm going back for more of those too. Hurry up 24th!!! Edited to add: They do have sesame oil at the place on Shiloh, but its not 100%, all the brands they have are mixed with soybean oil. Feh.

I would like to heartily thank all of you who are helping my new "diet". I now have no appetite for breakfast and for that I am truely greatful. The weirdest for me was sweetbread. I was 8. Wasn't bad until I found out what it was. I made a hard fast rule then and there that viscera of any sort would never again be a part of my diet. Nothing but muscle fiber thanks. I will on occasion stray from that path for some really good pate` however. Oh ok another weird experience, tame in comparison to the rest of the posts, was chicken feet and fried baby squid. Both had a rather nice flavor but the texture... bleh. And I couldn't get past how the squid looked.

I found a great little Vietnamese market right around the corner from me. Its at Barnes Bridge and Shiloh and is called Dong Phuong I believe. Its small but pretty well stocked. They had 20 oz blocks of fresh tofu for $1 Fresh shrimp, sans head for $3.99 Naturally they don't have everything but I also won't have to drive all the way to Richardson next time I want some really good 'fu

I made the "Best Mushroom Risotto" from Cook's Illustrated. My very first rissotto and WOW am I in love. I used chopped proscuitto instead of the reccomended pancetta, cause I had it, I used more wine too... I also served grilled sagey chicken thighs and green beans. Does anyone know if risotto freezes well at all?

I believe that Everclear is 190 proof Ethanol. It has no flavor and obviously is the strongest thing around. On the mushroom soy sauce, its my absolute FAVORITE. I buy a big ol 750 ml bottle at the Hong Kong Market. The mushroom flavor is subtle, but there. I even put a dash or 3 in my mushroom risotto last night. The brand I have is "Superior" and its only $1.99 for the 750ml. At least i think its 750 ml its the size of a wine bottle...... My favorite way is to have it over some hot sushi rice with a dash of sesame oil. Mmm mmm good. Now I'm curious and want to see how it pairs with venison. I'm SO not a deer fan, I've had some pretty revolting experiences but I did have some venison sausage this Holiday season that was quite tasty so perhaps I'll give it another shot!

Gave: Truffles Icebox cookies Peanutbutter nobake cookies rumballs more truffles Silicon potholder tea towels Got: Tea! Salt mill pepper mill Martha stewart cook book some crock pot cook book thing Dessert cook book 6 bottles of wine subscription to Cook's Illustrated

I cannot bring myself to watch more than a few brief minutes of this program before I am desperate to watch anything or nothing else. The head dude in charge is so over the top cheesey that I don't usually get past that. Talk about full of one's self! Its all just a big nasty ball of velveeta to me. I've tried to get into it but its just not gonna happen for me. I can live with that :D

Hmm. I eat homecooked meals for all meals except maybe 1 or two a week. However I don't cook them all from scratch every time. I'm big into bulk cooking so that I streamline my time. Like for breakfast, On Sunday's I tend to make a dozen or so Chinese Tea eggs. I'll take two along to work for breakfast. I might also take a slice of home baked sourdough if I made some on Sat. Lunch is always something I've cooked and partitioned out into meal sized tupperware containers. Couscous with lamb and spinach, etc. Dinner is when I tend to cook the most, and of course make extra to freeze for lunches and other dinners. I'm always watching my weight, so it helps me to have a yummy yet healthy choice, in a decent portion size for me. My SO's boss likes to take my SO out just about every night for dinner at some chain or another. I manage to avoid that all but one or two nights max. He also tends to provide lunch at work, so my SO eats out 90% of the time, even though I send a good home cooked meal that ends up in the freezer at work. Sigh. Oh well, he eats it eventually. I try and cook on the weekends in case I'm too busy or tired during the week. But you know how the cooking bug is, it bites randomly. Some days you get off work and just decide tht you simply must cook spanikopita, or whatever, tonight, or you can't go on. My cooking moods shift and swing so I guess I cook on average of 6 times a week.

Wow that lobster looks outstanding! I fixed a humble yet filling meal of Hambone and Bean Soup with a chili-cheese-jalepeno cornbread.

Oh, it is *quite* the stimulating experience. I'm not wild about plain mate however, thats why I like the Carnival Mate from T&H. Pure decadence. I can't wait for my replacement stock to get here!

Chipotle peppers in adobo. Tortillas Beans Rice Cumin Garam Masala oh wait, we aren't doing spices.... rice of three varieties, Nori seaweed Flour Tea soy sauce Gahhhlic um cheese!!!!!!!!

Oh man. Anything from Todd & Holland I hope its ok to post that. They are just outside of Chicago, where I used to live. Thank gawd they ahve a website. I'm addicted to their "Morning Dew" green tea blend of tea, sunflower, cornflower and rose. What a delight to wake up with. I also love their "Carnival Mate" Which of course is a flavored mate tisane. Scrumptious. They have the best I've ever tasted. Earl Gray, green with lemon and hibiscus, rooibos... The list is endless. White tea, jasmine pearls... someone make me stop! I'm trying to find a local loose leaf tea supplier that can rival them, but their blends, there are certain ones that I simply *must* have. Happy Sipping!

56 that I can find at the moment.

I didn't read very carefully. I don't boil veggies. So the water won't play a factor in the color of my veggies. I like to keep my vitamins in the veggies, not drain 'em. However, after steaming, and having nice brilliant green broccoli, I douse it with lemon juice and they stay green, with no color change. Man I love broccoli. Maybe it has to be *in* the water as it cooks? I wonder if I put lemon juice in the steaming water.....

I'm guessing a red due to the tannic acid from the skins. Cab maybe?

I don't think that salt or lemon makes the veggies change color, its how long yah cook em. I generally steam mine, no salt, no vinegar, very briefly and they turn bright green. If I'm boneheaded and leave the cover on too long, or forget about them, the continue to cook and turn yellow and brown and naturally, get revoltingly well done. I have added lemon lots of times and it never made one iota of differenct to the color.

I lived in Germany for a three years, and they made kartofflepuffer mit knoblauchsosse as an alternative to the applesauce generally served. Thats a sourcream and raw garlic sauce. Dear Heavens it was divine. But oh, the resulting heartburn. I don't know if they were actual latkes, they did use onions as well but i'm not sure about the type of fat used to fry.

Tee hee. Sure. Its a dessert. I'll most likely never be a professional in the culinary world, I don't like the hours. I'm a social bug and like having my Friday and Saturday nights open for revelry and debauchery. But I do toy with the idea, after all it would be great to get paid to do something that I love. I'm trying to figure out a way to make it happen. I guess if it is important enough to me, I will. :)

So you'll only share other people's work? That's an interesting application of intellectual property rights and ethics. errr, perhaps she meant that if she god it from a book, TV, class, or one of many other sources, then it's not hers to share. No, I think it reads that her original creations are hers, while stuff she got elsewhere is fair game for dissemination. Which is, of course, completely contrary to how intellectual property works in the real world. If it is published, it is fair game. If it is published, then the creator obviously has no problmes with it being shared. What I am saying is, if it is a published recipe, I obviously did not create it, so it is not *my* recipe and not *mine* to keep to myself as though it were my labor of love. so if it is published, it is not mine NOT to share if someone asks for it. If it was given to me in confidence, then naturally I would honor the wishes of the creator. Intellectual property can be shared, that is the right of the creator. It is also the right of the creator to keep any and all rights to said creation. So no, I dont *only* share other peoples work. Goodness. And when I do share other people's recipes, I give credit where credit is due. You like my truffles? I tried to recreate Torres's. Its in this book, on page yadda yadda. Or more likely, this website, under yadda yadda heading. If it is out for public consumption, then who am I to horde it, that was the point.

Thanks, Alex. I must admit I'm a bit surprised at the responses. On careful consideration, I have exactly one recipe that I do not share. One. I have considered entering it in contests, but... then the cat is out of the bag, folks want the recipe. I have also thought about earning a living in the culinary world, so this would be a signiture creation should that ever come to pass. (dubious). Some things are personal, perhaps I can't explain it well. This is a part of me, and I don't need to share the recipe to share its beauty with others. I don't need peope saying ohh wow your culinary talents are unsurpassed, etc etc. And I sure as hades dont give out recipes missing ingredients. I enjoy sharing it with people, because it is from my heart and soul. Maybe I am apprehensive of someone else taking credit for my creation and hard work. Maybe I'm an attention hound, and if it were made by others I'd want it called "Nessa's grandest creation" or something silly. Hey, Alfredo got his sauce named after him......... I share family recipes, my family has never kept them secret. Grandma made the best icebox spice cookies, and I make and share the recipe every Christmas. Its like her living on through them in an odd twisted way. It brings Dad joy to have that culinary memory, even if they are not the world's most complicated and delicious cookies. But I don't feel even the slightest bit of remorse for not sharing this *one* recipe. I create a lot of recipes, use other people's and modify others, and give credit where credit is due. I make a very simple chocolate chip macaroon that is to die for and everyone raves over it. My only addition to the recipe was the chocolate chips, the rest of the recipe was on the back of the Baker's coconut bag. I tell everyone who asks, and they all ask, exactly where to get the recipe. I even write it down, its all of 4 ingredients and can't be messed up. Or so I thought. Two people who have tried to make them somehow ended up with the macaroons spreading all over hell's half acre instead of staying in little haystacks. I'm at a loss.... I troubleshot with them, consulted, I even offered to let them watch me make them, I swear its not rocket science. They ended up with a gooey mess. Maybe Y'all can help. Here: Take 1 bag coconut flakes one 14 oz can sweetend condensed milk dash of vanilla 1 bag semisweet chocolate chips. Mix in bowl. Drop in spoonfulls on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Bake at 350 until dark golden highlights appear. Done. Does having an electric stove versus a gas make a difference? I have gas, they both had electric. I figured 350 was 350....? I love brainstorming with my friends and cooking with my friends and recipe swapping with my friends. And I imagine that there are a couple of friends that I would actually trust with my "baby" if they were to ask. Ok, maybe one. I'd share with my family, if they wanted it. :D I guess its the casual acquaintences and strangers I don't want to share with. So I remain staunch in keeping a little bit of me to myself.

It was funny a few months later, when my hair started growing back.... But seriously, it was a learning experience. Its common sense, to put one's hair up in the kitchen I guess, I just never thought of it. It was a wake up call. I was lucky that it was just a measly kitchen aid hand held, not the 6 qt pro stand model that I crave so dearly. In chrome, for those who might wish to send me something for christmas....... The ER doc said that he's seen a person's scalp ripped wide open from the stronger ones. Eek.

For a nice, inexpensive and sweet italian sparlker, I like Il Moscato

I used to live in Bryan, and went on a Messina Hof winery tour. I loved their port. I loved it so much I had three glasses, which the guide was more than willing to provide. He took me aside and told me that he had some reserve in the back, that still had the lead tops, and that he could sell some to me for half price, since they weren't supposed to still have them. Or that's how the story went. I think the bottles were 30 each at the time, and I got them for 15. I still have one... I'm saving it. I think it was voted best domestic port that year?

Thats OK. My neighbors chuckled all the way to the ER. I'm glad they were my best friends, otherwise I might have just sat there with gooey beaters tangled in my hair, it would have been too humiliating to ask strangers for assistance, and I couldn't exactly drive with dripping beaters clinging tenaciously to my tresses.

I guess I'm just a selfish ***** There are some recipes I *do* mind sharing. Maybe its an ego thing, and I like being the only one to make it. Some things are mine. They are intimate, propriatery. I'm possessive. And others (99%) I don't mind sharing. Especially if I did not create it. I work in a lab, and I keep meticulous notes when I create things in the kitchen. I like to be able to either reproduce something exactly, or adlib at will. I guess I see some of my creations as being my babies and don't want someone else taking credit for my work. If I didn't create the recipe then its not mine to NOT share. While its flattering for people to covet a recipe of mine, some arent going to be revealed. So maybe I'll just not serve the one's I'm not willing to share.