jgm

In 2006, I will eat at three or more new restaurants in town. This is going to take more work than I thought. I will make at least one recipe from every cookbook I have, and every magazine I buy. (That ought to keep me busy.) In progress, but getting a little behind. I will find my canning recipe book. It has to be somewhere. Doesn’t it? Stay tuned. Maybe the dog ate it. I will learn to decorate cookies like a pro, so I can make the very very coolest monster truck cookies for my nephew, with that new monster truck cookie cutter I have. Attending my first Wilton class tonight! I will teach my dog nothing, no matter how hard I try. Success! I will read the cookbooks I got for Christmas last year. One down, several to go. This is the year I will try at least six vegetables I’ve never tried before. That's about 1 every two months. Technically, I'm up to speed. I will taste several kinds of salt to see if I can tell the difference between them. Something to look forward to. I will use that specialty cake pan I nearly womped that lady to get, in Williams-Sonoma on the day after Thanksgiving, when it was 30% off. I'll get back to you after Thanksgiving. I will give more thought and planning to my daily menus. My doctor's given me six months to clean up my act. I will stop being afraid I will die before I get to try all the foods I want to try, and just cook as much as I can. Note to self: this needs work. Cooking the same stuff all the time won't get me there. We don’t appreciate the abundance we have, so I will eat more slowly and more thoughtfully, and pay closer attention to what I’m eating. Oops! Starting tonight. My kids don’t exist, so I can spend all my restaurant money on myself and my husband! As soon as I find a place worth spending money in.

There was a pretty much unremarkable film that came out in the 1980's called "Getting it Right". There are some fairly big names in the cast --Lynn Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, John Gielgud, to name a few --but the story line is a simple boy-who-lives-with-Mom-and-Dad-finally-meets-a-girl-worth-moving-out-for. The charm of the movie is the boy's mother, who is a lousy cook and knows it; that's why she won't eat her own cooking. There are at least a couple of really funny scenes involving food. One is when mom makes "Chicken Mole" (she pronounces it to rhyme with pole), and upon seeing the alarmed faces of her husband and son when they try it, she announces something to the effect of "The recipe called for unsweetened chocolate, and I didn't have any, so I used a Cadbury's Fruit and Nut Bar." The movie's worth a look just to watch Mom make some really lousy food, and the family trying to be polite in their reactions.

I forgot an important one. Take a can of sweetened condensed milk, remove top, cover with foil, and bake for oh, an hour or so. Eat resulting caramel straight from the can.

When my cat is doing something to which I object, I often spray him in the fact with water. You might give that a try instead of the wooden spoon treatment.

He must really, really like that wooden spoon treatment!

It's hard for me to pin any one down, because they all have their moments. Babette's Feast is probably my favorite, but then there's that wonderful scene in the store window in Chocolat. . .and that glorious moment of understanding (about the ribs) in Fried Green Tomatoes. . . As for individual scenes in non-food movies, one of my favorites is in Desperately Seeking Susan. It's been many years since I've seen it, but if I remember, Susan is missing, her friends are in a kitchen, and one of them is fixing food. Upon being questioned about food consumption in a crisis, one of them replies, "Why can't you just take a Valium like a normal person?"

I am sitting here laughing my butt off! One of my co-workers actually said, a few months ago, that given the choice of shoe shopping or putting together a new spreadsheet, I'd choose the spreadsheet. And they were right! But scheduled fun? For me, that's a restaurant reservation. Here's how far the waynal thing goes: I visited a food vendor over the weekend, and was offered a sample of their freshly-made chili. No thanks, I told them, I like my husband's chili. When they pressed further, I had to admit that I couldn't, because that would seem adulterous to me. They looked at me strangely. I understood why. But I still didn't try their chili.

About once a month, I fix food for an open house that a friend has in her retail business. It's a favor I do (mainly an excuse to cook) and not a paid job. And I often work to the point of exhaustion, because I have to do everything myself. When planning what I'll take, I cannot make myself get practical and use a store-bought item or two. One recipe calls for fig jam; evidently I'm going to have to make the jam, because I can't bring myself to use storebought. I haven't even tasted it. Who knows, it might even be better than what I'll be able to make. I'm often pressed for time - I do this in the evenings, after work - but I can't bring myself to use a good brand of lemon curd for little tartlets; no, I "have to" make my own. Truth be told, the brand of lemon curd that's available to me is really pretty good. Thank God I don't know how to make cheese, and don't have the equipment. I'm equally bad about holidays. Um, "anal" might be the word. About the only thing I can bring myself to purchase is French bread; my schedule just doesn't allow me to make it myself, and two bakeries in town have very good bread. Are you as bad, or even worse, as I am? What does it take to make you not push yourself to nearly ridiculous lengths? Do I need a 12-step group?

Melt down a high-quality bittersweet chocolate bar; add milk, cream, half a pinch of salt and whisk; top with copious quantities of butterscotch schnapps, and damn the calories. Consume in a hot bath. If you're not there yet, follow with Amaretto on the rocks. Lots of it.

I think I will be able to order fresh trout. If it's not too much trouble, I'd love them!

Believe me, I weep over the loss of Larcher's all the time! Picadilly eases the pain somewhat, and Food for Thought (now in the Larcher's building) carries a lot of different kinds of beans and grains, so there are some substitutes. But there will never be another Larcher's, and we're all the worse for it!

I think it was an earlier poster who has problems with "typical fish taste." I love fish, and I need to eat it to get calories down, as well as improving numbers on blood tests; eating fish would be a way to have fewer meals with beef, pork, or chicken. Essentially, I'm a carnivore, and I think most food is often improved by liberal additions of butter and sauces with fresh cream. . . reality really bites, ya know? I'm getting a lot of good ideas here, and I really appreciate it. Yesterday I did make the trek to the one place in town that sells fresh fish. This is the purveyor used by most of the restaurants in town, if not all. They have recently started serving the public. Apparently they're buying from a warehouse in Denver, and promised that when the fish arrives in Wichita, it will be "less than 48 hours old." (I'm assuming it will actually be "right AT 48 hours old.")I know that to many of you, that's not fresh fish, but it's the best I'll be able to do without moving closer to one of the coasts. A downside to purchasing from this purveyor, is that they have a one-pound minimum. I think I can work with friends and co-workers to deal with that, though. Thanks to all who have contributed, and I continue to be open to more ideas!

A little fat is just fine. I'm not unwilling to use reasonable amounts of olive oil and/or butter. I just don't want to completely cancel out the natural low-calorie advantage that fish has.

We were told not to swallow chewing gum, because it would stick to our ribs. We were told to eat oatmeal, because it WOULD stick to our ribs.

I'm bumping this up again, in hopes of getting even more replies and great ideas to add to what's already been contributed. Here's the situation. Doctor says I have 6 months to get test numbers into better shape, or I have to go on meds. In short, eat healthy and exercise more. Backing off on salt a little bit won't hurt, either --my blood pressure is a little high. Here are the challenges: Fresh fish is hard to come by, here in Kansas. I've heard we do have a place in town where I can order it, and then pick it up the next day. I will use it that night, as recommended in posts above. I haven't seen their prices, but I doubt I'll be able to eat fresh fish from this place more than once or twice a week. I do plan on eating some frozen fish; I know that makes some people cringe, but since I've rarely had fresh fish, I won't notice the difference (at least not at first) the way some people would. I need a fairly quick prep. By the time I drive to the fresh fish place and then home (opposite ends of town) and cook dinner, much of my evening will be shot. But there are worse ways to shoot an evening, than by cooking. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make if the rewards are fairly good. I need a fairly healthy prep. Deep frying is out, since there's not only the fat factor, but the breading factor. The advantages: I love all kinds of fish. I love to cook. OK, where do I start? I'm not as experienced a cook as many are on eGullet, but I'm adventurous. I need suggestions for side dishes to go with certain kinds of prep, and if you could point me toward recipes for those sides, I would appreciate it! I have an embarrassing cookbook-buying habit, so if you want to give me cookbook recommendations, it will help me rationalize my next purchases.

I'd be tempted to start carrying a Sharpie, and make my own corrections...

I think this sums it up nicely. Since I'm from Kansas, the home of some of the nation's most ridiculous liquor laws, I've learned not to bat an eye, no matter what the situation. I could tell you stories that could curl your hair! Surely some of the people on this list are old enough to remember when, on a coast-to-coast flight, all the liquor had to be removed from airline passengers' hands/tables while they were flying over Kansas. For those of you who are too young to remember, Kansas was a state in which you could not purchase liquor by the drink --you had to BYOB into private clubs if you wanted to drink. Long story short, the Attorney General (now a nice elderly lawyer who works two doors down from me), who was under fire for doing marijuana raids on kids, but no alcohol enforcement for their parents, raided an Amtrak train for selling liquor by the drink, which was legal in adjacent states. The airlines, not wanting to turn their flights into a sideshow, requested advice for handling liquor when flying over Kansas, and soon the legislature was embarrassed into passing more reasonable liquor laws. So over the years, I've pretty much seen it all. About 25 years ago, when working as a reporter, I had the pleasure of covering an ABC hearing. One liquor store owner, who was not the subject of my story, was up on charges of selling to minors. I found it interesting, since I'd been in his store purchasing wine 2 weeks before, and he'd demanded 4 ID's - not for proof of age, but so I could write a check for $12! Now, at age almost-51, when my (4 years younger) husband and I go to a neighborhood restaurant, I'm always given the "senior discount." And he is not. How I'd love it if someone would card me!

My only suggestion is to look for a Seventh Day Adventist church in your area. SDAs are vegans, and they would likely have recipes or suggestions. And if there are special products in your area, they will know about them. A few years ago, I took a CHIP (nationally-offered Cardiac Health Improvement Project) class through the local SDA church, and I was amazed at things that were available, and techniques, that I had known nothing about.

This tends to be a point of irritation for me. I don't have the best eyesight, and often I cannot read the fine print on shelf labels without getting within about 18 inches of them. If the price (which is usually about 1/2 to 3/4 inch high) is obviously for the item above it, it's no problem. But when I shop at the cheese case in the grocery, it takes a few minutes to read all of the labels and figure out which one is for the product I want to purchase. I wish I had the aforementioned photographic memory. But often, it's difficult to see what I'm being charged on the display, because I'm busy pulling items out of the cart. I will often check prices on receipts, but if I suspect a problem, it's usually not more than a few cents off what I remember. Then, if I go to the shelf and check it, even if I find a discrepancy, it can take 20 minutes or more to get it corrected. So more often than not, I let it go. And I have a feeling the stores count on that happening. Even more frustrating is when there's no price at all, anywhere, and I have to remember to watch for it as I go through check-out, which I often forget to do. If a store is really bad about not having items marked, I will shop there only when I have no other choice. So on the rare occasion when I find I've brought something home I wasn't charged for, I figure it all evens out in the end. I suppose it's easier to rationalize cheating the store if it was a computer mistake instead of a human mistake. I'm old enough to remember when bar coding was introduced, it was The Next Great Thing and was supposed to result in more accuracy, not less. Consumers understood then, that less accuracy would be the case, and we weren't wrong.

Iced Earl Grey tea is excellent with meat dishes. If you feel like fooling with it, you might order hot tea, if you can get Earl Grey (or bring your own; they likely won't notice you didn't use their tea bag), steep it very strong, and pour it into a glass of ice that you've ordered. A bit more than many would want to fool with, but it's an option.

You can't always tell. But if I've been sitting for what seems an inappropriate amount of time, I'll get up and leave. That time span varies with the situation; I'll cut an extremely busy restaurant more slack than I will when I'm at one that isn't very busy. But you also have to gauge how many servers are around, etc. To me, the problem is more attitude than specifically the service. If the server seems to be working his/her butt off, and is still friendly or at least professional, I'll tolerate a lot of things. After all, it's possible that the restaurant staff has been hit by flu, etc., and they're all just pitching in and trying to do a good job, even though the result may be less than optimal. But if the attitude is an I've-got-better-things-to-do type of thing, as described in many posts above, my level of irritation will rise, and my level of tipping will go down.

While I agree with many of the points made in the immediately preceding posts, I tip only in restaurants. I also get service at Wal-Mart, when I ask an employee to help me find more of a certain product I want to buy, or when an employee cuts fabric for me. I get service at the grocery store, when the produce guy goes to the back to see if they have more basil. But I don't tip at any of these places. I don't tip at Starbucks, because they make minimum wage or better. Servers in restaurants don't make minimum wage, and that's why I tip them. There are many, many people working in various service industry positions, in minimum wage (or thereabouts) jobs, and they don't receive tips. Yes, I agree that there's a huge disparity in wages, and that people are nearly starving, working in low-paying jobs. It's extremely unfair, but it's also unfair that I make 1/3 of what my husband makes, when my job is more challenging, requires as much training, and when I have much more education and experience. Where wages are concerned, there is enormous unfairness in this country. But as for making life and wages better for those in low-paying jobs, I'm going to solve that with charitable contributions and my vote, and not with my tipping habits.

I just got a cool idea. In about 3 weeks, I have to have a certain medical test, for which I can have only clear liquids - which includes Jello - the day before, along with medication to, well, you know, uh, "cleanse." I can't tell you how I'm dreading it. Although there are some colors of Jello I'm not supposed to have, I can use the others to do something like this. Believe me, I will do ANYTHING to make this less dread-able. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get through a day and a half of No. Solid. Food. This will help. And afterward, I'm going to pig out. Oh, the fantasies I'm having about the post-test meal(s)! And I'm hoping to get drugs similar to those I had when I had my knee scoped. If so, oh boy!

When I oversalt, if it's reasonable, I make a second batch, with very little salt (if any) and combine the two recipes. Obviously, this doesn't work for everything. But sometimes it saves the day. And it's why I have 13 containers of tomato bisque in my freezer...

I think my worst experience was about 10 years ago, when I went to a local casual (but not fast-food) restaurant. I'd had a difficult morning; I walked in with the newspaper under my arm, and looked forward to having a few minutes to read and enjoy lunch. It was 12:50, and much of the lunch crowd was gone. Probably 40% of the tables, if not more, were empty. This restaurant is downtown, where the lunch hours tend to be 12:00 to 1:00. In other words, there was no reason to believe they were going to get a flood of customers within the next 45 minutes. The hostess led me to a table for two, which in this restaurant is about 30 inches by 30 inches. There were quite a few larger tables available. I asked for a larger table and was told "I have to seat you here." "But I don't have to eat here," I replied, and turned around and walked out. I've been to the place a handful of times since, after new management took over. But I still don't have good feelings about it, and never suggest it. That probably has something to do also, with the fact that the food is not what it once was. Fortunately, my next lunch stop was at the Old Mill Tasty Shop, which has much of the original soda fountain decor still in place. I hadn't been in there for probably a year, due to an unfortunate parking situation. They greeted me like an old friend and treated me like a queen. The server was a long-time employee who's always "up" and probably has fun getting a root canal. I was seated at a nice, large booth (smaller tables were open) and was in a great mood within about 3 minutes. Lunch was wonderful! Needless to say, I left a really good tip.