purplewiz
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Posts posted by purplewiz
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Bagged leaf lettuce (usually the Spring mix), tomato, and either Almond Accents or Harmony Spicy Cha Cha Mix.
I add other things if I have them: bacon bits, cucumber, green onion, additions from the garden like chive flowers or nasturtiums in season.
Dressing out of a bottle. Shoot me if you must, but it's the truth.
Marcia.
who knows how to make a decent vinaigrette, but doesn't often
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Meatloaf. Bread. Butter.
Liverwurst. Bread. Butter.
Doesn't get much simpler than that, and they're two of my three favorites.
(The third is tuna salad (bread, butter), but do you count tuna salad as one ingredient or does each ingredient in it count?)
I consider a BLT a simple sandwich even though there are three ingredients because they each bring something to the whole, something that can't be left out, something distinct and unique and detectable. But a lot of these "throw on a single slice of everything sandwiches" are rather pointless because I can't taste anything, just kind of a mishmash that really doesn't have a distinctive taste.
It's when you start adding avocado and eggs and cheese to BLTs that they lose that impact. Not that I have anything against avocado on sandwiches, it's great with egg salad and tomato, just not on a BLT.
Marcia.
wishing tomato season was now instead of two months from now
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Yes, a multivitamin twice a day, and a couple of other supplements as discussed with my doctor to address certain specific personal needs. I started the multivitamin when I started my reduced carb eating plan as a safety net, and it seems to work for me so I keep it up.
I take no megadoses and as few pills as possible because I do believe my varied diet takes care of most of my nutritional needs.
Marcia.
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If it wasn't from the party, then that's even more reason for me to take reasonable but not extreme food precautions - because then who really knows where it came from? (And I don't blame the hosts at all - I'm looking forward to eating dinner there again in the future!)
Marcia.
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From Saturday: scrambled eggs with steak, cheese, and chives, topped with chive flowers, with bacon and jelly toast.
Marcia.
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I had a decent case of food poisoning last weekend.
I was at a party where the hosts are meticulous about keeping track about how long the food has been sitting out and tossing anything that has been out too long or is doubtful in any way. People I know ate EVERYTHING that I did, and yet I was the only one who was sick. Apparently, I won the lottery and got the one bad whatever it was.
This is why, while I'll take reasonable care with food safety, I won't bend over backwards. Because I know it's no guarantee. I live in a balance between risk and convenience that I am comfortable with, and if that ever becomes no longer the case, I'll re-evaluate.
Having said that, I don't leave meats/pizza/stock/soups out overnight. I may let them cool a bit, but they go into the fridge at the first opportunity. I do rinse most of my fruits and vegetables, but I don't scrub or disinfect them. I am reasonably cautious with raw chicken, but not to the point where I disinfect everything that might ever have touched it. I wash my hands regularly but not obsessively. If something is doubtful, it's dirty, and I'll toss it.
(Side note: I also cook my chicken until well done. Not because of food safety, but because I like it that way. I can't imagine eating raw chicken not because of sanitary issues, but because I can't stand the texture.)
Am I going to be sorry? Maybe, maybe not. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
Marcia.
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Bruce, I'm so sorry to hear about your dog.
Marcia.
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Marcia, when you say it's too raw and sharp, are you talking about tasting it alone, or on a salad? One of the things I've found is that what tastes good on its own isn't necessarily what's best on a salad, because when you put a thin coating of dressing on a salad you get it in a diffuse form. Or are you already factoring in the salad?
A little of both. It's sharp on it's own, and I still get too much vinegar when it's on a salad. I find this a lot with bottled dressings, too - many of them are very sharp in the bottle, and retain that sharpness to me even when tossed with greens. I think it may be a factor of the vinegar used in addition to the ratio of oil to vinegar.
I completely agree that you do need to taste a vinaigrette on a salad to properly assess the ratio and strength.
Marcia.
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Dinner tonight was grilled chuck eye steaks and a tossed salad...stuff you've all seen before. But I decided to do the Tangy Cauliflower Soup straight out of the new Food and Wine that showed up a couple days ago:
It was fantastic, and the ground coriander seasoning it smelled so good while it was simmering.
But IMHO, it made way more than 4 servings. Which isn't such a bad thing, since I froze the rest for another meal.
Marcia.
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I can go for years sometimes eating healthily and keeping things under control, but at some point, it just becomes too much work and I fall off the wagon. It becomes exhausting having to think about every freaking meal I eat, demands too much of my time and attention, and I rebel. And I expect it will be that way all my life. As someone pointed out - the "tension" becomes unbearable.
I'm quoting this because it says it perfectly.
It IS exhausting, and sometimes the neverending energy required to continually monitor every meal and every bite eventually takes its toll on the rest of your life. And then there are choices to be made.
Marcia.
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I tend to go closer to 2:1 - I've tried 1:1 and it's just too raw and sharp for me, but the classic 3:1 or 4:1 starts to taste greasy and masks the vinegar flavor.
Mostly I tend to go by taste and adjust depending on what vinegar I'm using and what other adjuncts are in there. I'm looking for a certain smoothness that retains a certain punch, and I can't do that with objective measurements.
Marcia.
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I'm very sorry to hear about your friend. It's so difficult to have such a sudden and unexpected loss.
This is a very big issue in my life as it's coming up with other family members around one family member who is in remarkably poor health, and I am battling them to try to make them understand that while we can tell this member of our love and concern and support, nothing will change until this member, of their own free will, makes a decision themselves. And frankly, due to many other issues, I don't think the ill person is currently in a position to spend the sheer amount of time and energy that such a decision and following through requires.
(I speak from my own experiences because several years ago I did make such a decision. But it was mine and mine alone and nothing anyone said or did could have moved up the time table or made me make it one nanosecond before I personally was ready.)
It's very difficult to watch someone you care about decline when it seems so simple on the surface to just change, when it's not simple at all - there are usually layers of issues that must be addressed honestly and head on, and very few of them tend to start with food.
Marcia.
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I agree with the pesto idea, but I usually make a cilantro-mint pesto. Here's the approximate recipe - I'm afraid I don't really measure, I just wing it.
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 cup mint leaves
1/3 cup unsalted peanuts
1 jalapeno, seeded
1 green onion
juice and zest of one lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/3 cup peanut or canola oil (approximately)
sugar or splenda to taste
I freeze it in cubes and serve over grilled chicken or fish, or it's great on peas and cauliflower.
Marcia.
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I'm glad to hear your mother is enjoying her toast - being able to eat toast has always been a sign of recovering health in my family. When we were younger, my mother would feed us weak tea and cinnamon sugar toast whenever we were ill. There's still something very comforting about that combination, and I imagine that it's the same for many people.
Marcia.
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You know, anything that includes 16 lbs of buttercream can't be ALL bad.....
Marcia.
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I'm with the crowd who thinks that the family dinner is more of a result of other things going right in the family rather than an end in itself. Yes, we ate dinner together as a family almost every night. Yes, I stayed out of trouble. No, I don't think it's because of the dinners because they were, as a rule, unpleasant. Unpleasant to the point where I still don't like to think about those meals.
Family dinners may help facilitate caring and communication, but they are by no means the only route to that end. Or even the best. They're just convenient.
Marcia.
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Bittersweet Chocolate Torte with Homemade Raspberry Sorbet
Happy Birthday! Now THAT'S a birthday cake
!Marcia.
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Shalmanese, that was some spectacular dinner!
Something a bit more simple for dinner tonight:
Chicken kabobs marinated in a red curry sauce (from a bottle, trying to pare down the pantry) over peanut slaw, with steamed broccoli topped with more of the red curry sauce.
And on the side, deviled eggs.
Marcia.
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Blueberry pancakes are one of the few ways I can get Robin to eat fruit. She doesnt care for fruit. Can you believe it? I live for Summer produce.
Yes, I can believe it. Apparently most people taste fruit as being sweet....I taste it as being sour. Other than strawberries, it's just not my favorite, although I do enjoy it, but not like others seem to.
Summer produce like herbs and tomatoes and cucumbers and lettuce, though - bring it on!
Marcia.
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I'm also reading...well, mostly lurking, as that's all time permits these days...
Re: the asparagus through the grill: when I lose something like that through the grill, I always call it a sacrifice to the grill gods so they will then allow me to cook the rest of my dinner in peace!
Marcia.
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Thanks for the words of encouragement, everyone. Here is my first post in the dinner forum. Last night's dinner was grilled, butterflied cornish hens from the June/July issue of CI, roasted cauliflower from recipe gullet, and scalloped potatoes with parmesan. Not shown: steamed, first-of-the-season fresh butter and sugar corn.
That looks absolutely delicious!
Marcia.
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And here´s tonight´s dinner! Come on, people, we need more dinners on the Dinner thread!
First, I want that bleu d'auvergne butter. I focused on that right away and as soon as I get some more stinky blue cheese (I, um, ate the last of it last night), that's going on the menu. Oh, I suppose I'll have to serve some kind of meat under it....
.Second, the sesame zucchini you made somewhere upthread inspired tonight's vegetable:
Grilled London Broil, sliced thin, with grilled zucchini slices with a sesame oil vinaigrette (made with rice vinegar and a touch of Penzey's Oriental Mustard powder, needed a little more salt but easy enough to correct) topped with toasted sesame seeds. Very subtle and refreshing. Tossed salad on the side not worth photographing.
kbjesq: it takes a lot of courage to post one's first dinner, especially when there are some intimidatingly good cooks around here (not to mention good photographers!). I'm quite sure you're a very good cook, and I would encourage you to post - one of the many wonderful things I've learned since joining eGullet is that what seems ordinary and easy and commonplace to one person is unique and exotic to someone else.
This is why I've posted pictures of dinners that were hot dogs and cole slaw
.Marcia.
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Ratatouille
in Food Media & Arts
Posted
We saw the movie last weekend and loved it. I'm an animation fan to begin with, and when you add in food, well, it was wonderful. I was thoroughly charmed.
I don't know if we can discuss the ending here (I don't want to spoil it!), but I liked it. I thought it was true to the message of you have to be yourself and be true to yourself.
I was not surprised to see Anthony Bourdain's name in the credits: the characters in the kitchen and Colette's speech to Linguini seemed to be straight out of Kitchen Confidential.
Afterwards, I had to answer a lot of foodie questions from my husband. His conclusion was that I saw a very different movie than he did
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Marcia.