judiu

Thanks to all of you for your care and concern. I have been so blessed by the out pouring of love and offers of assistance from you folks, my on-line friends, my friends at work and my "gang" of personal friends! I never really realized how well thought of I am in my various communities! Bless all y'all!

Sadly, I must amend my last post. I have 1 cookbook. It was a gift to me yesterday from a dear friend who said it "was the start of a new collection". My house burned on Wed, Aug 11, and the collection of 30 years is no more. Sigh... Thank the Godess no one (i include the dog in that) was hurt badly. A friend got blistered in a largish area, but will heal. Think good thoughts for me, please!

Wow! Took Writing classes from Anthony Bourdain, huh? Or were you the teacher? Either way, I like your style!

But doesn't the smell of those steaming onions act as an aphrodesiac to you, Jason? and the weight of the bag full of White Castles make for an erotic turn-on?? Ah, the finest food of my delightfully mis-spent youth! Nothing better at 2:30 a.m., shared with fellow drunkards!

Oh my gawd, I'm NOT alone! I (until now) thought that I was the only person in the world that didn't care for melons! Not only do I not like them, they don't like me; I'm reminded of them for up to three days afterward ! Have disliked raw, unpeeled bell peppers for life, yet I love roasted peppers. Beets yuck. Overcooked celery (think beef stew or pot roast). Don't think I could eat cat, even if I did't know what it was. Mountain oysters, lamb fries,calf fries (same idea, different critters). There's more, that I'm sure of, but I can't think of them now.

Wish I could get the hang of this QUOTE thingee...! The best recipe EVER? and you didn't SHARE? For SHAME!

As I was given to understand it from a Spanish classmate at boarding school years ago, the eating of the grapes must co-incide with the twelve strokes of midnight. (By me this calls for seedless grapes ONLY!) But, yes a very romantic tradition!

( ) Shame on you! Talking about a Hershey Bar Pie and not giving us a link? Outrageous!

Brains and eggs, scrambled together, is considered a treat to some... The cheek meat is delicious fried up like bacon; smoke the ears very dry and the dogs will go NUTS over them! The rest of the meat can be picked off the bones (good job for the kids) divided up in portion quantities and frozen. When you're jones-ing for BBQ, defrost a package and heat with sauce. My late SO did pig roasts at the drop of a hat, so I had to get used to all this stuff...

At the moment, the best recipe to beat the crispy/flaky thing is Alton Brown's from the Good Eats show on FoodTV. It should be available on their website, but if not, send me a private reply and I'll dig up the recipe from his "I'm Only Here For The Food" and e-mail it to you.

The utter vile-ness of Tuna Helper is usually due to using water packed tuna. Buy tuna packed in oil; (which because of the types of tuna used is usually LOWER in fat than water packed) it tastes better and has a real tuna texture. That being said,your Tuna Helper will be only partially vile, and will be almost decent if some sauteed onion and a good bit of FRESH garlic are added to the sauce.

Actually, I need to up my total to about 175 (I found all the stuff my house-mate stacked on the floor when he ran out of space on the bookshelves...) and add one from this weekend, when I found a copy of Jane and Michael Stern's book Square Meals for (gasp) 25 cents at the library thrift shop. Whee! I love a bargain!

Ohmygawd; I'm VINDICATED! I'll add my (roughly) 100 books to the count; a full set of signed Frugal Gourmet (not all hard cover, though, darn it!) My favorite source is the volunteer-run sales room at the county library closest to my house; I've found some real bargains there, as well as filling out my "Southern Living Annual" collection (they have some excellent appetizers...) I'm so glad I found this thread; I think I've found some soulmates!

I cut my teeth on Milk Bones; since the dog would steal my Zwiebac, I guess I figured it was "tit for tat". Butter & white sugar on Arnold white bread; peanut butter on apple slices (still love that!) Raw carrots, fresh out of the garden; adored avocados from the time I knew about them; raw peas until I choked on one; lemons, until my grandmother started dipping them in sugar because they were "too acid for the baby". Liverwurst and onions, cold leftover steak, and honeycomb (after the junk was scraped off; my grandfather kept bees) and sugar by the spoonful, cause I like the crunch.

Personally, I've always felt that Hooters should open a companion string of restaurants hiring only nice young guys with tight butts, and call it "Buns". Put them side by each, and every one'll be happy!

(begging, with tongue hanging out like a thirsty puppy...) oooooh, more, PLEASE!

from BEANSUh, most likely the cheapest ones, I imagine!

(whispering) sweeps week is coming...

My all time favorite "el cheapo" has to be the hammered aluminum dutch oven that I inherited from my mom. It's Club brand-marked, about 1/8" thick, and for some reason is non-reactive with tomatoes! Makes the best spaghetti sauce in the world.

IMHO, the network ought to pitch a new deal to Tony Bordain. Put him on the floor and let him & AB bounce remarks off each other! Opposites attract, right?

I'll have to check with my guys at Crown Liquors, see if they've heard about it. If the company is doing rum as a base liquor, it'll end up tasting like Tia Maria. Maybe they'll use vodka or a neutral spirit. As long as it's not too sweet!

Actually, it sounds pretty good, except I wish they'd use Jim as a base. I had a shooter one time with Kaluha & Bailey's with Jim Beam as a float on top. Most excellent!

Good grief! How in the h**l are they goin to market this watered down crap; "Jim Beam Lite"? Yuck!