Susan G
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Posts posted by Susan G
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Bad news. I checked the Wild Oats Natural Marketplace website, and they don't have a store in Dallas. Moreover, they are affiliated with Texas "Sun Harvest" stores, but that line doesn't have a branch in Dallas either. Sorry!
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Susan G... Wild Oats is a new one to me; I'll have to see if we've got any of those around here. What type of store is it?
Wild Oats is the calmer, smaller version of Whole Foods.......we've got both here in Albuquerque; in Santa Fe they're a half mile apart - how's that for competition?
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I'm glad they're returning to the "original" mashed potatoes......I heard a History Channel special where the Colonel was quoted as saying that the new stuff tasted like wallpaper paste!
Can anyone confim the legend I've heard that the real reason behind the change to the "KFC" moniker was that their fryers were so genetically modified, the FDA refused to allow their product to be called 'chicken"?
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Cream of asparagus........with lumps of crabmeat as a garnish!
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Wild Oats carries the smaller bags.....I just picked some up this afternoon.
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How about for those of us with no gardens but who like fresh herbs in our salads? What are good plants to grow indoors, or in a window box?
You can grow anything inside, so it depends upon which herbs *you* would use the most.
I've got chives and garlic shoots, parsley, basil, and wee johnny-jump-ups in my windowbox. The violets get added to salads.
Catnip is in another pot, for another, non-cooking purpose. Have to put it on a high shelf so the beasties don't do unauthorized snacking!
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I had roommate/food heaven for three years. My best friend and I shared a three-bedroom house and shared grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning tasks. She's wine snob in addition to being a fantastic cook, and I love to bake......it was lovely, simply lovely. So many happy meals! The motto of the house was, "The more the merrier!"
I was *completely* unprepared for the squabbles over cleaning and cooking that accompany marriage!
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Need comforting food with lots of prep? Indian. Parathas, aloo gobis, vindaloos, and chais. Delicious smells, most recipes ought to begin with, "Take four hours and.........", and it freezes well if you're too unhappy to eat it right now.
This method got me through the first Gulf War. I was dating somebody on the front lines. It's a helluva distraction.
Sorry about your heartache.
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What should you start with, Marlene? Prep your soil!! I can't emphasize this enough. Just as in cooking, gardening has it's own important prep steps.
While there are some parts of North America that will cause fenceposts to grow, Ontario is not that place. You have a soil full of clay, and possibly nutrient-deprieved. In the next few weeks, while you have to sit on your hands and wait for the last frost date to pass (say, June 15th?) you can be making your proposed plot a cushy, inviting place for your seedlings and nursery plants.
Is there a farm near you? Get a couple of trashbags of *old* manure (the new stuff will chemically burn the roots of your plants from the urea - manure a year old or more is best). If you don't have access to a farm, garden centers sell prepared manure. I like a brand called "Zoo Doo" - guess what their source is?? Also, grab a handful of your moistened soil........if it's crumbly like small peas, add lots of manure.......if it's compact like cookie dough, lord, get lots of sand. The roots of the plants need fluffy soil to be happiest.......this way, they get to put down deep roots without trying hard, the water in the soil doesn't make them waterlogged, (and prone to rot), and worms can easily slither through - worm casings are fertilizer, and they aerate the soil.
Consider buying a quart-sized jar of worms at a nursery center.
If a wet summer is likely (and I know last summer for you was *really* wet!), consider making furrows and raised beds.......this also helps the drainage and aeration and runoff problems. Some plants thrive with cold, wet summers - think of English gardens. PEAS love cold wet weather. Lavender, rosemary and other Mediterranean-based plants do not. Want some good reading? The 2005 Farmer's Almanac.......it makes weather predictions *and* tells when the traditional planting dates are for various crops, based on Saint's Days. All major bookstores carry this gem.
I'm doing the same thing in prepping this week: my last frost date is May 15th.........I've got 100lbs of manure to add to my xeric soil, and I'm cutting back my lavender and rosemary - because they've taken over. I'd have to roast enough lamb for a city to get rid of it all! Anyone want some fresh rosemary? Send me a PM with your address!
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But how does one chose where to eat?
OK, thinking about this a little more, I realized that I also use negative criteria for choosing where to eat:
- No Italian outside major cities if not on the East or West Coast. Can you say ketchup on spaghetti?
- Chinese in small towns if the Mandarin characters on the sign *don't* match the English name. I have no idea why this works, but it does.
- Restaurants with empty parking lots at noon are a no-no. The locals are telling you so. Disregard at your peril.
- No seafood at truckstops in the midwest. 'Nuff said.
- If your coffee was tepid and weak, the dessert will be soggy and stale........don't bother.
Anybody else use this kind of negative criteria?
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Spring greens? Roasted asparagus? Steamed fiddleheads? Braised ramps?
I thought lobster was high in cholesterol? How big a portion are you serving? Is there another meat you can use?
Good luck with your class!
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I use eGullet, other food discussion boards, serendipity, and stop at every single VFD picnic or dinner I can find! I agree with getting off the Interstate to search for food, with the corollary that the fewer the choices, the worse the eventual pick will be. Towns with a single restaurant have little incentive to be good........especially if surrounded by miles of empty space.
Really, it's not all romantic B&Bs with great coffee and fresh muffins........or great BBQ........pack Plan B food so you're not miserable with hunger!
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I wonder if Ginseng infused liquor would be any good?
Ginseng-Gin & Tonic?
Eh. Too yang (bitter).
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Andiesenji, what a font of information you are! I'll have to research Elizabeth David.........and also for how many years 'medium blue" was used by le Cruset!
I also have a cut glass vinegar cruet (I have posted elsewhere that vinegar was considered a fifth food group by my family), which belonged to my great-great grandmother and was used for the last five generations......in the same village!
A spice rack and their pottery containers my paternal Grandmother used.
Muffin tins, cake tins and cookie cutters from my Gram and her mother.......also some heavy wooden spoons.
Damask linens and monogrammed silver from great-great grandmother's wedding gifts.
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http://www.risingmoonstudio.com/grandmaspot.gif
Let's try this again.........
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This is my first time posting a photo..........it's a four quart pot, much loved. Gram used to bake casseroles in it; I make tapioca and soups!
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Oh, how gorgeous! Your time was well spent! Good on you!
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Mixed spring greens. Hot and sour soup with leftover pork. Grilled NY strip steaks. Dessert was sliced strawberries with cream.
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My maternal grandmother's le Cruset three quart dutch oven. Lovely shade of turquoise. It was a wedding gift to her in 1933.
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If I'm cooking Indian or Chinese, it's mise'd out waaay before the gas burners go on.........German, Mexican, or soup, it's prep as you go!
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I agree with Ling: The texture is lovely and so is the taste.
I've eaten it in Sardinia - where it's a dish they're especially proud of - and in Basel, Switzerland, where the butcher shop had horsemeat next to beef and pork.
Never seen it sold in the USA.
I understand people who are upset over this issue.......I'd be riled if we were discussing catmeat. But I've never bonded with a horse, so it's sinews and tendons to me......
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Wow, it's amazing that even on eGullet, when someone says pickle, we immediately start to think of those jarred dill atrocities we find in stores.
So, I'm going to ask if you've ever had homemade pickles?
Depending on what's available when I get the urge to can: Dill. Garlic. Hot. Sweet gherkin. Watermelon rind.
Chinese pickles once a month (four hour marinating time); Spiced (pickled) peaches every Thanksgiving and Christmas (three to four day marination).
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I was raised by latter-day WASP Victorians: Vinegar is the fifth food group.
I love pickled carrots, onions, peppers, peaches - as well as the humble cuke.
Food for the (Broken) Heart
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted · Edited by Susan G (log)
Matsusaka Ushi, I'm sending you a hug. Wish I could cook for you.
Last night I spent four hours making a lamb and spinach curry, a raita with dill, and a rice biriyani........I tanked an entrance exam for graduate school a few days ago. Know what? Cooking did make me feel better - something I could do without thinking so much!