geekdoc

Today Varmint and I met in Pinehurst to beat a small white ball mercilessly. Our dining matched our play, top notch all the way. I believe between the 2 of us we had 2 pacs of Nabs, a peanut bar, banana and a couple diet Pepsis and some cheap American beer (just me). Despite this I had a spectacular time proving that the company is by far the most important part of the meal. Thanks Varmint!

Don't those photos qualify as pornography? I know I was aroused!

If it makes you feel better I have bought duplicate books on several occasions. Usually those that had been on my wish list for a long time, and whenI see another for $2.50 at the used bookstore, BAM I have 2 copies. The second is then given away to a friend. "Liked it so much I had to get this for you!" How about this for a Homeresque "doh!" - I donated some clothing to the local thrift store that shrunk or I got too fat to wear, as my wife so gently puts it. Since I am a big fan of these stores for bargain couture, a month or so later I see this great suit and buy it in too much of a hurry to really try it on, only to find - its the same one I just donated! So the Junior League gets paid twice, its for a good cause right?

Gorgeous! Did you have the confit made well in advance or was it a "quick confit"? Really nice photography as well. Made my mouth water!

Doh!

Just one turntable? My daughters call them the big black CD's, but they get more play than the little silver ones. Just hard to get them into that little slot in the car.

Boy can I relate to that. AND I have a 6yo named Julia as well

I just found this thread in the forum and MAN are ya'll eating well. What time's supper? Therefore I'm trepidacious about posting any recent meals, since I have to cook to the tastes of my young kids and New England wife whose idea of spicy is corned beef (sorry honey), but here goes. Yesterday was a pretty standard daube of beef shanks which had been marinated ovenight in wine, herbs and aromatics (cooked off the EtOH first), and then browned and braised about 4 hours, after which, the meat was removed, the braising liquid strained and reduced, and served with a mix of root veggies (carrots, parnips, pearl onions) which were steamed until tender in my pressure cooker) . Served with a simple pommes anna (my favorite starch dish). I have to serve the meat and vegs separated for the kids - for some reason when mixed they are not appealing to 4 & 6 year olds. The beef turned out the consistency of butter (a good thing), and the little one said it was "really chewy, like bubblegum" - thanks. Tonight we smoked some dry rubbed baby back ribs with pecan wood (ice storm brought some limbs down off my trees), and served with lemon water steamed brocolli and glazed carrots, and strained lentil soup (the lentils broke down to an unpleasant mush (oops), but the flavor was good so I ran it though the strainer a few times, with very decent results). This time the little one made the bones look like army ants had gotten to it, and was disappointed when there weren't any more left. Go figure.

My family and I are moving to NZ (likely Invercargill) from the US soon for a year+ sabbatical. I was hoping that any Kiwis out there could give some advice on what are the best culinary products to look for and where to find them. What are the great bargains? Also, what items are unavailable that we might commonly have in the US? We are really excited about this and I am just trying to be mentally prepared for what I may find in the markets. Ka pai Henry/Geekdoc

My take on "weird foods" is somewhere in the world there is a group that has been hungry long enough to eat it and make it palatable, so that being said, I will eat anything prepared well by someone who knows what they're doing. In the South if you ask anyone of African-anerican descent if they eat chitlins, they will invariably reply, "Yes, but not just anybody's". They will then go on to say that they will eat their grandmothers, etc, but you gotta make sure they're cleaned properly. So basically it is a trust issue. I would eat tarantulas cooked on a fire by an Amazonian, if he/she had a reputation as a good cook! I do cringe a bit when watching the later Star Trek series when the Vulcans slurp down live critters. Prefer my meat dead. But just barely in the case of beef!

Try the French Laundry cookbook for a good citrus cure using salt, pepper, orange/grapefruit/lemon/lime zest x about 4 hours and the poached fully submerged in olive oil at 110 degrees for 10 minutes (I stick my finger in the oil to make sure its not too hot - should be like medium hot bath) Awesome results and easy as pie. works great with tuna as well. Thanks T.K.

God I'm glad I'm not the only one crazy enough to have brined a whole pig in a bathtub! I use Alice Waters brining recipe and everyone always loves it. (Salt, sugar, garlic, thyme, allspice, juniper berries) Where I grew up we were lazy. A pit was dug and a fire built inside and beside it. When the coals were ready the hog was laid in the pit on the coals, and then covered with the coals from above and then dirt was placed on top of that. Finish drinking whatever whiskey is left and go to bed. Wake up at the crack of noon, exhume the corpse, hose it off, and lay it on the table to eat. (Some folks with more foresight use foil or some other covering to keep the pig clean) There are however as many ways to roast a pig as skin a cat and the results are much tastier.

Boy and I thought I was a book slut! My wife has limited me to a shelf of our butler's pantry so there has been some serious editing which I am pretty proud of. That and the fact that the library which has a great collection is right across the street. Probably a few hundred in my possession, of which only about 50 which I use regularly are out in the open. Keep in mind that is is coming from a guy who on our last move had over 120 liquor size boxes of LP's left over from my DJ/music studio days (do the math, its over 10,000). So basically the lithium is working pretty well now.

Addendum I posted the suggested bio thread (painful to write about oneself) if anyone wants to discuss HRT, etc. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38696 Eat well Geekdoc

lg regarding your mother's history of cancer, it would be important to know exactly what types of cancers she had (e.g. ductal carcinoma of the breast, etc). OCP's and HRT have been shown to decrease the risk of colon and ovarian cancers, so its not a one sided thing. You might want to have a genetics consult where someone reviews your family history in detail to sort out which diseases are heritable and which are essentially random. It does seem like she has some genes which increase her succeptibility, but if she were a heavy smoker who worked in an asbestos plant and sniffed glue on the weekends, then... (just kidding of course).