Susan G

I've lost track: When is this year's celebration? In case I want to plan on making my own..........

my God-how can you wait 3 hours? watermelon and lychee!!?? in my house a watermelon seldom lasts more than a day. I also just eat it plain (as does the rest of my chinese family). ← It's easy: I anticpate the pleasure of my friends who will share it with me......and then prep and prepare the rest of the meal!

I'll see a lot less money for eating out, spending so much more for my commute. I guess this means hosting more dinner parties at home to socialize - not really a bad thing.

[quote My understanding is somewhat different, that the addition of hefty amounts of anchovy perfumed the dish in a manner reminiscent of a Neopolitan strumpet's professional parts. ←

I waitressed in a Greek restaurant. The Greek cooks would refuse to hand you a knife directly.........it had to be placed on a surface, then picked up. Otherwise the "lack of grounding the iron" would cause a fight.

When most people speak of Swiss cheese, they mean Emmentaler - the variety with the large holes and long aging. I've never heard of gruyere called Swiss....and to the best of my knowlege, it's on the French side of the alps - but I could be wrong. Anybody got some clarity on origin? I prefer gruyere because it's fruitier - almost an apricot undertone - and not as bitter as Emmentaler. It also melts easily.

I never use Swiss cheese.........to my palate, gruyere is much, much tastier!

.........another vote for Pineapple Coconut.

Cooking for my 6 year old niece and 4 year old nephew for the past three weeks: I grew tired of the pap I'd been making for them, and tonight made something *I'd* want to eat: Ma Po Dofu, Four Season green beans, (Si ji dou); Chinese sweet and sour cucumber pickles (I left out the chili paste), peach cobbler for desert. They *loved* it! They were curious about what the good smells were once the ginger and garlic and soy hit the frying pan........it was an educational meal all around!

I add a can of drained lychees to a large bowl of cubed, seeded watermelon and let it sit for three hours or so. Oh. My. God.

Blueberry cornbread squares with butter. (Picked the blueberries yesterday).

I'd like to add the "pluot" to the list of names-of-new-foods-lacking-romance.

OK, danieelwiley, here's a thought that will chase away the image of the *eating habits* of the prospective-third-date woman: People who are not interested in being adventurous with food? Not adventurous in bed either. (Didn't we have a looong topic thread about this lately?) Now, which lack bothers you more?

My worst meal was at a friends home where my fiance and I were spending the weekend, visiting. Dinner the first night was a small bowl of "si ji dou" - green beans with garlic and ginger - delicious, but only enough for one person. There were three of us. A pot of rice. Water. I realized as I went to bed that night my stomach felt funny, cramping - I was hungry!! What was our host thinking?

I've recently started having soups for lunch: A warm meal makes me more satisfied than a cold one........

I've been thinking about this article all day, and here's my two cents: While I agree that the attitude among the privileged shoppers at Whole Foods can be estoteric and trying, I don't believe it follows that everyone there is looking down his or her nose at low-income families who shop at the (agribusiness-produced/pesiticide friendly/brutal-nasty-short-slaughtered meat) supermarkets. Can't we all just get along? There's no need to stir up class warfare over the perception the wealthy *might* have about the failure of the lower classes to support farmers markets. Piffle. It's a task and a chore to prepare a meal for a family after a day of doing low-paying work. I'm not going to man the barricades over the issue of what that family is preparing to eat. I'm going to be happy they have enough to share with one another.

I recall eating a soup grits concoction in Beijing for breakfast - but I can't remember the name. Soupy and tasteless, though...........I added lots of sugar!

Thanks for the link, Melissa!

Cheap: flour, sugar, baking soda/powder, canned veggies, rice. If it's part of a recipe, and the individual ingredient will never be noticed, no need to spend extra money (in my opinion). Splurge: Artisanal breads, cheeses, chocolates, or organic meats. Anything that stands alone. Special splurge: Prosciutto di Parma.

As a muttered aside: (I wonder if the French didn't pit their cherries prior to baking because they lacked the tools, or because the most flavorful cherries were too small to pit easily).

Congratulations, Sackville! How many years did it take to reach this point? "With merit" - yay, you!

Tell me about the process of cleaning for Passover, and is smoke from a burned feather used? WHat purpose does it serve?

I've got case of brandied cherries from 1999 in my root cellar...............it's going on ice cream anyway - who cares about subtle flavors?

In Albuquerque, The Flowerage, (7400 Montgomery NE) sells low carb chocolates, chocolates with chiles, and chocolates with nuts. Worth trying.

I learned it was "ji nu" or, "roadside chicken"!