JennotJenn

God I hope not. We need another steakhouse in Raleigh about as much as Bill Gates needs another million. I bet there's no fewer than 5 steakhouses within 10 miles of Crabtree. But that's seriously who my money's on. I was betting Ruth's Chris until husband pointed out there was one in Cary.

Believe it or not, Food Lion has improved dramatically here in Raleigh. When I lived in Winston-Salem, the Food Lion nearest us so was filthy they eventually shut it down (I wouldn't even buy cat litter there...). However, in recent months, I've started going to the new, improved Lion by our apartment. I'm starting to prefer it over the Teeter (at least over the Teeter in Olde Raleigh Village). After all, they carry Pudding Pops. Since I buy my meat and dairy at Whole Foods (I have weird issues with meat...if I knew of a good kosher butcher nearby I'd go there instead...), so Food Lion wins only in the non-perishables dept. Can't help you out with any Lion/Teeter quality comparisons on meat. I don't buy much fish. When I do, it's Earps or Whole Foods. I've had some problems w/Whole Foods fish freshness in the past, so I'm still wary of buying from them.

Believe it or not, Food Lion has improved dramatically here in Raleigh. When I lived in Winston-Salem, the Food Lion nearest us so was filthy they eventually shut it down (I wouldn't even buy cat litter there...). However, in recent months, I've started going to the new, improved Lion by our apartment. I'm starting to prefer it over the Teeter (at least over the Teeter in Olde Raleigh Village). After all, they carry Pudding Pops. Since I buy my meat and dairy at Whole Foods (I have weird issues with meat...if I knew of a good kosher butcher nearby I'd go there instead...), so Food Lion wins only in the non-perishables dept. Can't help you out with any Lion/Teeter quality comparisons on meat. I don't buy much fish. When I do, it's Earps or Whole Foods. I've had some problems w/Whole Foods fish freshness in the past, so I'm still wary of buying from them.

If I'm cooking for guest, I will use a bleach water solution on my countertops, wash my hands fasitdiously and try to make sure all kitchen crevices and the floor are good and clean. But everyday. for me and DH? My hair, cat hair, oops dropped that on the floor....better rinse it off before I throw it in the pot. The only thing I'm really careful about when it's just us is making sure there isn't any raw meat cross contamination, and I do use bleach water on my cutting boards. I like to think I'm making our immune systems stronger by exposing them to low levels of (not too horrible)contaminants. That's my excuse, anyway. I did have a hair get into a loaf of bread I baked for the office, though. I only know because I got the hairy piece (I hope it was the only one). As far as what to say? Well, at least the heat of the oven killed off any nastiness. Hey, lucky yesterday was my hair washing day!

No, peanut butter and jam does not translate well in Western Europe. Cornbread, however, went over pretty well with my French and Irish roommates.

That was actually from their movie "The Meaning of Life". Never appeared on their TV show. Anyone remember an episode of Northern Exposure where Adam (chef extraordinaire) was preparing for a big shindig (Maurice's retirement or some such) and needed an entire cow to make his meat essence? Ah, you're right. For some reason I don't associate my mom w/watching movies (she can't sit still that long, I think) so I instantly misremembered that it was from MPFS.

God, yes, that and the Samuel Jackson beer (Chappel dressed as Samuel L.Jackson dressed as Sam Adams) with the uber-white bread young exec ordering one. And the fast-food public service announcement about how the fast-food industry has helped inner city neighborhoods, but then the poor guy who tried better living through fast food finds that the whole neighborhood hates him now (Ew, boy, you smell like french fries). I've got to remember to watch that show on a more regular basis. Kerosene cucumbers may be my favorite Andy Griffith show episode ever. They let the speeder off without a ticket, providing he takes a few quarts of the pickles out of town. Lots of good food in that show. Like when the Darlings come to dinner and Aunt Bea feeds them white beans. And Aunt Bea getting drunk. Does that count as food Thanks to Monty Python, we cannot eat sausage in our house without commenting about what a woody word sausage is. And my mom contends that the most disgusting scene from any television show, ever, is the sketch where the guy explodes in the restaurant. Thinking about it makes my mom turn green.

Dare I ask what the side dishes were? I needed food as medicine tonight (it's allergy season, yay!), so I made extra hot Vindaloo chicken and drank club soda with bitters. Mmmmmm...much tastier than decongestant liquitabs. A meat shake on the side. taste the secret

Dare I ask what the side dishes were? I needed food as medicine tonight (it's allergy season, yay!), so I made extra hot Vindaloo chicken and drank club soda with bitters. Mmmmmm...much tastier than decongestant liquitabs.

OK, so now I have some experimenting to do to see how the jarred and dried compare to fresh. I'm going to buy fresh lemongrass, prepare some the usual way and then reserve some for the method you describe. While at the Asian market, I'll also buy the jarred stuff, more than one brand if I can find it (can anyone recommend a good brand---then I'd only buy one---otherwise I'm afraid I'll pick the one dud brand in the store). What shall I make for my experiment? I need something where the flavor is very predominant, I think, then maybe something where it's more of an undertone. Maybe one where the lemongrass is cooked with the dish and another where it's left "raw", too. Any ideas? Maybe it's because I've been stuck at home bored out of my mind with a delightfully dizzying round of sinusitis, but I'm disturbingly excited about this experiment.

I've never had it outside of the US. What I have had here, I have liked. I think of allspice and scotch bonnets being the predominant flavors. Food and Wine has an excellent recipe that was in their 25th anniversary issue. I think it's posted on their site.

I agree absolutely. I'm going to need some grant funding for this project, I'm afraid. You know, I'm about to enter the Food Science program at State. I think I really could work this into a research project. Grant or not, though, I'm willing to try one of the NC ones out if it's not super expensive. All in the name of science, you understand. I figure if it's nasty or weird I'll be able to tell that w/out having a Euro truffle to compare. Lord, I hope nobody brings this to my daddy's attention. He's always cooking up some weird farming scheme for our 80 acres in the mountains. Last month it was cranberries. Before that it was blueberries, because no one in our county has a pick you own blueberry farm. If he gets wind of truffles, God help us all.

I'll buy some and try it out in the name of science. Our supermarkets here don't carry it fresh (or at all, really...Whole Foods carries the jarred), and the nearest Asian grocery that does carry it is a 20 min drive away. Not always convienient.So I'll get some for those times that I don't feel like driving 20 min for lemongrass.

I like to think of myself as pretty open minded and stated in my previous post that I'd eat just about anything. But if I may, after reading this, may I add the one item that I will not eat, ever, even if I'm starving to death? Stink eggs. With botulism or without. Gah!

Locust honey, local from the NC Blue Ridge mountains. I like my honey mild, and this is mild but not boring or bland. It's been a while since I've had it (it can be hard to find, and only seems to show up in any quanity every few years), but it's just lovely. Some people prefer Sourwood, and while a good Sourwood can be very good, it will never beat locust. And every time I see this thread, I'm reminded of a story that my friend told me recently. He and his financee were in the UAE visiting his parents over Christmas. They were at a market, and Andrew kept hearing someone whisper "Honnneee...honeeee...sweeet sweeet honey" behind him. He thought it was his dad and turned around to tell him to cut it out, whne he realized that it was a wizened old guy following him around with a pepsi bottle full of honeee, honeeee, sweet sweet honey. Ok, maybe you had to be there...

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I let out a most Homer-like "Woo-hoo!" when I read this. But now I'm curious as to details. Can you give a fuller description of it? Sad to say, I've never heard of such a course being offered so have no context. For me, cooking classes look like fun but not my kind, so to speak. OK. Just for you. The objective of this course is to present suggestions and solutions to challenges encountered when cooking as a person with disabilities, and cooking for persons with disabilities. Lessons will involve the issues of safety, methods, and equipment. Recipe links will accompany the lessons, as well as links to sites we have found helpful for understanding focus disabilities. We will make use of photographs for illustration; links to products available; and home solutions, that help ease the challenges concerned. Disabilities we will be targeting will include hearing impairment/deafness; mental retardation focus, which will cover in its scope other mental and physical disabilities, ie., care for persons in wheelchairs, Alzheimer's patients, people with mastication problems, grip and coordination problems; vestibular disorders, ie., balance and coordination problems, and vision impairments. We will also target some solutions and suggestions for dealing with problems encountered such as nausea; touch on some dietary restrictions such as suggestions for low sodium; low fat/cholesterol; adding good fat and nutritional elements for difficult appetites and abilities to eat, ie., color and texture issues, and problems with eating while on medication. We are looking forward to a Q&A on this course, to encourage open discussion and questions from the forum. I'll post a reminder announcement on this thread, shortly prior to the April 21st announcement on eGCI, for the course presentation on April 23. Wonderful! My mom has MS (progressing at a moderate pace) and is starting to have problems lifting pots and pans. She also cannot stand for long without experiencing severe pain, then numbness in her hips and legs. As such, she's pretty much stopped cooking altogether and she and my dad eat almost all of their meals out...a healthy diet is very important in maintaing health w/MS, and mom is not getting that w/fast food and restaurant meals. I'd love to see these tips! Can't wait for this class to start. As for me, I have some oral allergies that make eating certain foods unpleasant. Raw walnuts and pecans make my mouth burn a little. Raw pineapple makes the insides of my mouth burn and flake (I can eat tinned pineapple, though) and green papaya makes the back of my throat burn and itch so badly that I've given up ever eating it again. Raw peas and corn make my mouth and throat itch a little. The reaction to all of these varies with the severity of my other (mostly seasonal allergies). I can't touch these foods in Spring, but can eat them with only a mild reaction in Summer. Thank God none of these are life threatening, though. And non-allergy things: I have the world's shittiest fridge/freezer. It thaws stuff in the freezer and freezes stuff in the fridge. As a point of reference, never buy a Hotpoint fridge (not our fault, it belongs to the apt). Makes holding lettuces a pain in the rear.

I've also found that some earnest mashing about with mortar and pestle (in addition to fine mincing) helps, too.

We finally made a trip to Guglhupf today. Very nice. We bought: 1 Bretzel 1 Pain de Campagne 1 Copehagen Multigrain 1 Cranberry Pecan 1 Apple Strudel (for DH) 1 Ham and Cheese Croissant (for me) I won't reveal how much of it we have left. It's sort of embarrassing. I bought that much so that we could freeze some. Um, don't think anything's going to make it that far. Does confim the fact that they're a great bakery, though. We're going to make a trip from Raleigh every couple of weeks. It's worth the drive. Thanks for bringing this place to my attention!

It was, but it bears re-mentioning. "Hey mister, you don't wanna eat wax!!" "Maybe I do, son...maybe I do..." My fave episode animation-wise. Looks like the whole thing was drawn by Kurt and Chris Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets (or by someone who's spent entirely too much time in the desert, anyway).

"Why do you talk like that?" "Because I had a STROOOOOOKE!" If only the space in my brain used to store Simpson's quotes could be erased and replaced with useful information...or at least information that would be useful in passing 2 semesters of Organic Chem.

"It tastes like grandma"

Ralph: "I ated the purple berries." Bart: "How are they Ralph? Good?" Ralph: "They taste like burning!" also from that episode: Nelson: I'm so hungry I could puke! Sherri (or Terri): I'm so hungry I could eat at Arby's!

I remember that one. What the hell was that thing made of? beans: there are so many good drinking references in the Simpsons they might even be un-listable! So let's list them, starting with the Classic: "Mmm. Beer." EDIT: to say that I have never seen the episode where Homer is a restaurant critic. Didn't they somehow end up with a machine that made carnival food? Both cotton candy and caramel apples? And homer dipped one into the other until it was a giant ball off sitcky goodness?

I'm curious about the pressure cooker as well. Perhaps my success with that method comes partly from the fact that I'm making what Rancho Gordo referred to as pot beans, I believe. This is the traditional way to eat them in the Appalachian Mountains, where pinto is also king. I usually do a quick soak (boil and soak for an hour) because I forget to soak them until I get home from work on the night I plan on making them. Put them in the pressure cooker with a handful of salt (1/8 cup? dunno, I have small hands, so whatever a cupped palm will hold). I've never had a problem with toughened beans, or with the beans breaking apart. I get perfectly cooked, perfectly soft beans every time. I don't know if they would work as well in recipes, but for eating with the broth and a slice of cornbread, the pressure cooker cannot be beat. At least IMO. My grandma and mom say so, too. Can 3 generations of hillbillies be wrong?\ McGee's chapter on legumes did change one thing for me...I do tend to cook them with less water than when I first started making my own beans. I still get plenty of bean juice and they do seem to achieve a creaminess that I wasn't seeing before (softness, yes, creaminess, no). Oh, and I've found that it makes no difference with the amount of flatulence w/traditional stovetop vs. pressure cooker. I have not tried the oven method, though I may give it a go next weekend.

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? My parents are both first generation out of the Appalachian mountains, which at the time was like coming from a third world country. Dad didn't have indoor plumbing until he went to college, and he and his brothers and sisters shared 5 to a bed so they didn't freeze to death when snow would fall through the rafters and pile on the quilt. Anyway, they're both mostly German, going way back, with some Dutch thrown in on dad's side and a very healthy portion of Creek Indian thrown in on mom's side (her great grandma). Eating with mom and dad was a mixture of middle class American and hillbilly. We had pinto beans and cornbread (not the yummy sweet kind, the course bland kind) at least 3 times a week for dinner. When it wasn't that, we had things like meatloaf and mashed potatoes or spaghetti with meat sauce. Lots of ground beef. If we were lucky, mom would make stuffed green peppers. Not like the ones you guys know. These were stuffed with hot breakfast sausage, corn, home canned tomatoes and leftover cornbread. Mmmmmmm. This was like a twice a year treat, though. In the summer, lots of "yucky" stuff...fresh tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, all served with cornbread. And God love her, on nights when she didn't cook it was cereal or (uuuugh) tomato or banana sandwiches on white bread with mayo. At grandma's, it was pork products and cornbread for breakfast, then pintos and cornbread for lunch and dinner. Home canned stuff in winter, garden fresh stuff in summer (mmm...fried squash). Rarely was any meat present, even in the beans. Neither she nor my mom ever used pork in their beans. Oh, and she and my grandpa make (made, he died last year) the most amazing kraut. Damn. And if you visit often enough, she'll give you a quart or two. Was meal time important? Yes, it wasn't a set time but we all ate together. If daddy was working late at school we'd get take out and bring it to him and eat in his office. Was cooking important? The process? God no, not to my mom. It was something she had to do so we didn't starve, but that's it. My grandmas see it like I do, as an expression of love for one's family and friends. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? None, but God forbid you should burp. Who cooked in the family? When we were little, my dad cooked because my mom worked night shifts at the battery factory. I remember helping him make spaghetti (not from a can!) and steakums. When she got an office job, she cooked. When I became a latchkey kid (after years of begging), I did (I was 12) because I loved to. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? Once a week we'd eat out at a local place. This is weird, but I was mortified of restaurants (I have a mood disorder, which as a child manifested itself as a fear of being poisoned), so I usually was locked in the car while my family ate. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? Guests? Dude, my parents didn't have any friends. Very clannish were we. Dad's best friend was his brother (he has since branched out...30 years off the mountain will do that to you). But people never came over to eat. Now, at grandma's we never sat. It was buffet style. Men through the line first. There was a small table with four seats. The men got the seats and the barstools. The rest of us womens and childrens stood and ate (there were usually 20 of us at any one time). To this day I have never seen my grandmother sit down to eat a meal. At my husband's fam, we still sit at the kiddie table (the kiddies are 27,26,25,22 and 19). When did you get that first sip of wine? 19?20? Our church didn't even give out real wine at communion (try telling the Baptists that the passage doesn't read "and this grape juice, my blood") Was there a pre-meal prayer? "God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. Amen" They tried to start this weird hand holding thing with the prayer when I was in junior high, but thank God that didn't play out. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? Does pintos every night count? No, and I'm still facinated by those who experience that. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? Kraut is very important. I once broke a lease with a roomate because she wouldn't allow me to keep kraut in the fridge.