Smithy

All of the above! The mosquito problem is efficiently managed by a small swarm of dragonflies that swoop around at dusk. I never thought I would love any insect this much... I suppose I would regret saying that in 10,000 years as they slowly take over the world... Are they edible? ← My cats think so! When I moved here I started hearing dragonflies referred to as "mosquito hawks". Cool name, eh? Your blog photos really are lovely, and have the power to make me faint with hunger even on a full stomach. The chowda is inspiring. So is the ceviche. Heck, so is everything else. Cusk is new to me. What is it?

Yep. I'm just surprised that granite and soapstone would have such different conductivity as to be perceptible to the human touch. Guess I'll have to go take another look at a minerology book and see what soapstone is.

Against what is your play pen screened? Mosquitoes? Biting flies? Non-biting flies? Flying vindictive lobsters? Or just to keep the jigsaw pieces in the vicinity? Jigsaw puzzles on the waterfront on a lazy Sunday...oh, the joy of it...

Fifi, I think I must be missing something. I've spent plenty of time in labs - presumably with those same soapstone benchtops - and even helped spec out some benchtops, once upon a time. I never heard a word about oiling. Do the benchtops get a different treatment, or different finish, in the labs than they would in kitchens? JGarner53, this one's more for you, but Fifi may be inclined to answer it: what's with the comment about the warmth of soapstone vs. granite? Does soapstone have a detectably different heat conductivity than granite? That's a surprise. Or is it just a different feel that results in a perception of warmth?

We blow through Provo from time to time and usually have time for one meal only. This Labor Day weekend we'll have time for 3 or 4, and a car to get there. We'll also have a gang of people who may have wildly different ideas about what to eat than we do, but there it is. Given a choice, where should we choose to eat in Provo? We like Mexican, especially if we can find real, hole-in-the-wall-honest-Mexican food. (There's a great place like that in Ogden, but that's the wrong end of the basin.) We like good steak, basic cowboy food, Italian, Asian. Seafood...well, we love it but would be skeptical of eating it in Provo. Where should we go?

Haven't been. I believe that's in the Radisson, and I don't usually think of a hotel restaurant when considering where to go in Minneapolis. ← Hmm. It might be next door to the Radisson, but I don't think so. (It's been a couple of years, so all I remember clearly is that it's on a side street off the Nicollet Mall.) It's an independent setup, anyway.

Do not be fooled! I can tell you first-hand that lobsters are nasty, loathsome creatures with no regard for anything. They eat everybody, even young lobsters, and will do battle with anything in their way. Nasty! Nasty! NASTY! The apparent endearment to these low-lifes is a constant source of amusment in these parts, especially to urchin divers who have to shoo them away while they hunt for urchins, themselves a pest to lobstermen up until about five years ago. I'm gathering a few pics and facts about our most famous crustacean which I will post in due time. From now on, do not shed a tear over the lobster. Here's a tip: try thinking of those fabulous old sci-fi movies with bizarro spiders and multi-clawed aliens as they bear down on the poor, defensless, japanese villagers... ... there now, see?! ← Well, THAT made it easy! Well, it's like our gulls. Lovely fliers, terrible pests. The locals refer to them as "rats with wings". I heard recently on my public radio station (which I support faithfully, btw) that when a lady lobster goes into heat she has to molt to mate, and she does so in the dominant male lobster's den. She molts, they do the nasty, she stays there the week(?) she needs to for her newer, larger shell to harden. She leaves, the next lady moves in. True, or just a good yarn? If true, that raises two other questions: - how the heck does the dominant male find time to go round beating up the other lobsters and maintaining his dominance, and - what do the males do for protection when they molt?

Ah, that's why we can see its woeful eyes so clearly. It's almost enough to put me off lobster. Almost, but not quite. Those are great photos, and I'm really loving this blog, johnnyd! You make it look so easy -

I haven't even been to New Orleans, or anywhere in Louisiana, yet I find myself worrying about the people, the islands, the restaurants and all the other cool places I may not get to see. Most of all I worry about the people, and hope you eGulleteers make out okay. I don't think I'd stay. I understand the impulse to stay, but it isn't like a boat or airplane that you may be able to move out of harm's way. Do you think the owner of Antoine's is confusing livelihood and life?

Hell's Kitchen is great for lunch. Nobody's mentioned the Firelake Grill. It's spendy, but I think it's terrifically good. Am I the only one?

Uhm, what's supposed to be in that link? I just get a "page can't be displayed" message. As for your basic question - I have to admit, I always think of Italian pasta, and am most likely to try that, but why shouldn't Asian pasta be included? Teach us, please!

2 unrelated questions: What does the rockweed contribute to the lobster steaming? Is there a salty scent that comes in, or some definite flavor, or does it just, oh, *feel* right? What happens, or what should happen, to the scraps from the fishing and shellfish industry, such as fish offal and lobster shells? How does the Zero Discharge program propose to change that, if at all? What do restaurants do with that stuff now? OK, so that's more than 2 question marks.

As a beneficiary of this thread, I want to pass the favor forward. Here are my offerings. PM me with your address if you're interested. First come, first served. Penny W. Eisenberg, Passover Desserts Andrew Schloss with Ken Bookman, While the Pasta Cooks (100 Recipes so easy you can prepare the sauce in the time it takes to cook the pasta) New American Heart Cookbook full of oh-so-healthful takes on recipes that I know I'll never cook. It has calorie counts, grams of fat and carbohydrates, and so on. Who(m) was I kidding? Edited to add the last cookbook, and again to remove a claimed cookbook. Apologies to those who've already quoted me.

Add 2 more for me, courtesy of Suzilightning: The Harrods Knightbridge Cookery Book (*swoon* - their "special occasions chapter is overkill, since it all looks like special-occasion cookery to me) The Martha's Vineyard Cookbook, 2nd edition, by Louise Tate and Jean Steward Wexler. At last, I have a recipe for crab cakes. These hadn't been included in Suzi's earlier count, so we aren't double-counting. Thanks, Suzi!

I like the panade (the sorrel version) but, now that you think of it, always find myself taking far longer than I'd expected to make it. Maybe I'll try rewriting it and see how that works. I like the way she writes, and enjoy reading the book, but the recipes seem more complicated than I think they're supposed to.

Brava to your mother! I grew up HATING potato salad and could never figure out the attraction. I finally had some that didn't have sweet pickle relish and didn't have Miracle Whip, but did have dill pickle relish and a nice tartness to it. That was goood stuff. Can't remember whether it had eggs or not. Back to the topic, I really don't think it would matter much.

I've looked at the eGCI course on stuffed pastas but still not tried it. A stuffed pasta thread might be just the ticket for getting me off my duff to try it. Gets my vote.

Excellent! Pollution prevention really start to pay off when people connect their actions to the consequences. I think it's easier in small maritime communities where the water's right there, and the neighbors' livelihoods depend on it. In Claremont, California (L.A. Basin, inland some 40 miles) the storm drains have similar stencils that say "No dumping - Drains to the ocean". I always wonder how many people believe it.

I'm seeing all kinds of interesting potato salad recipes here. Might just have to give it a whirl. More potato salad is so sweet that I can't be bothered to eat it, much less notice whether it has egg. I'll just keep watching for ideas, here...

Another pragmatist joins the food fray ... ← And why isn't there a dead Roman in a Caesar Salad? ← I thought Caesar Salad was loaded with Roman hearts?

Underwater photos and sea urchins! Yay! Maine! Yay! I'm looking forward to this.

Why dinner is usually late around here: There are always interesting distractions. Here, for your perusal as I wind (yank?) this down, are a few. I went out to pick sorrel for the panade that's just now finishing in the oven, too late for dinner, and found this little guy. After I came back in and was prepping some food, a hairy woodpecker was finally good enough to pose for a shot. When one owns a young and energetic dog, there's always a certain amount of running around the yard to keep him entertained. Tonight, because I was cooking, he and Tab Hunter chose to spar inside the house instead. Tab Hunter is nearly blind in both eyes - he can detect light, and that's about it, but he's over 17 years old and he is by golly not going to let some upstart dog push him around. They have grand fun sparring. They enjoy it equally. Here they are, doing it again, with Blondie and Ichi-Ban safely ensconced on the rail. The food connection is twofold: first - it's hard for me to cook when this is going on. I'm too busy laughing. Second, that's a thyme plant below the younguns and on the table. My Uncle John used to say that the day you stop learning is the day you start to die. I've always agreed with that sentiment, and admired my uncle for living it into his late 80's. I want to thank you folks for the things I've learned. By exploring this area to show it to other people, I've seen it with fresh eyes. I've learned little maybe-tricks like using pasta to stitch a chicken thigh shut. I haven't tried it yet, but I will. I've re-learned that I like smoked trout. I've read some wonderful memories of this area. I've learned about osage oranges/a.k.a. hedge balls. I've learned that there's even more smoked fish around here than I realized, of a greater variety. I've learned that there's more fresh fish to be had, too, than I'd realized, and that it doesn't require a major trek. Thank you all for your encouragement and comments, for reading along and asking questions. It's been fun. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Varmint, this one's for you, although you've probably gone to bed by now. I went into Silver Bay to find fish at Zup's, the local grocery store. I mentioned upthread that Zup's has expanded tremendously. Here are a couple of interior shots. It's better now than the best Duluth store used to be. As it happens, a number of the Duluth stores have improved commensurately. However, as I learned today, Zup's still has the edge on some things. Here's a sampling of their produce. I don't much like all the individual plastic wrap, but that doesn't change my admiration for the selection. Eggplant! and here, cilantro! As noted upthread, cilantro couldn't have been found north of the Twin Cities only a few years ago. What I didn't get a shot of was the meat or the fish. Zup's makes their own sausage. They also smoke fish. What I'd forgotten was that they bring in fresh fish on a regular basis. There were beautiful herring, fresh, that I almost bought. I can feel another bout of samke harra coming on soon, and those herring will have the starring role. Still...I had my heart set on walleye, and that's what I bought. It had been frozen. One knows, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that walleye that's been caught and frozen will not hold a candle to a walleye caught that day on the lake, dipped in batter and thrown into hot oil for shore lunch. It just can't happen. This walleye didn't come out of my lake today, but it came from this area. One does what one can. First, I chopped up some pecans. My knife skills aren't good enough to keep pecans from walloping all over the floor without a containment system, so I use this plunger-chopper thingie. I mixed up some egg for a batter, and thinned it slightly (but still too much, I think) with water. I mixed salt, white pepper, a touch of paprika and some dry mustard with the pecans. Each walleye filet was dipped in the egg batter then dredged in the pecan mixture, then thrown into a pan with a bit of hot oil (vegetable oil and butter) to brown. After they'd browned I removed them to a separate plate and deglazed the pan to make sauce. Main deglazing liquid was meyer lemon juice, then dry vermouth, then a bit of water to tone down the tastes. After things had cooked down a bit, I added butter...then dijon mustard...then more water...then more butter..etc. to taste. Eventually it cooked down to something I liked, and I poured it over the filets after placing said filets on beds of mache. The final improvement was a drizzle of the vinaigrette I'd made for the salad. What was it: the vinegar? The garlic? I don't know, but that vinaigrette made the difference between "good" and "wow" on that fish and those greens. Behold: pecan-crusted walleye filets with sauce, on mache. The salad that went with it looked like this: Here's the entire table spread: Composed garden salad in the background. Good clean water in the blue glasses, Alderbrook OVOC Zinfandel in the clear glasses. There's a panade in the oven, but you can't see it.

So. Something may have eaten one of my cats. Russ and I have eaten our last foodblog dinner. And, just as I was about to post, the computer ate the post. I'll try again. Cakewalk, this is for you, if you're still reading. Ice cream is easy. You want an ice cream maker. I'm still learning to use the Cuisinart ICE-50 (smaller than my ice-and-rock-salt job) but I know it makes good ice cream. Here are the steps, as done tonight. Start with the ripest fruit you can find. 4 or 5 plums or nectarines are probably plenty. I did 6 tonight, and they were too many for my 1.5 qt machine. (Peel them, if you want. I only bother when they're peaches, with that fuzzy skin. Otherwise, I figure the peel adds interesting flecks of color.) Cut the fruit and put it into a blender. Add the juice of half of a lemon. Blend it a bit, to get the juices flowing. Add a cup of sugar. Blend it well. Put the mix into the canister of your ice cream maker. Add enough cream, half-and-half, or milk to come up to the "fill" line. On mine, it's someplace more than an inch below the top, but there's no "fill" line as such. You'll see why I know I put too much in, if you keep reading. Start churning. At first, it will be this unlikely white color because of the cream on top. Later, things will begin to mix. You'll see the colors even out, and the white disappear. That's fine. However, if you see the ice cream start to pooch out through the hole where you're supposed to be adding nuts, you added too much batter at the outset. This is kind of a retroactive warning - but you can learn, and change accordingly. For example, I now know to use less fruit and less cream.Someday, I'll have proportions as reliable as those for my full-sized ice ceam maker. By the way - there's absolutely nothing wrong with the flavor. It's just that, if the ice cream migrates up through the hole in the maker, it won't stay in contact with that cold canister, and it won't get as creamy. You can see that in this picture, where the ice cream is rather gooey. What this photo doesn't show is that the ice cream down inside the canister was quite firm. You need to NOT overfill the canister. That's all. Put it in a separate container to set up in the freezer. Soft or hard, it's darned good, and you can mess with the recipe to fine-tune it to your heart's content. Enjoy!

Smoked fish ice cream. Hmm. No, I don't think I want to try it. Now that you mention it, I think the Northern Waters Smokehaus fish may be frozen when it's shipped out. It's certainly cryovac-packed and it keeps well, but they ship it in a styrofoam cooler with an ice pack, just to be sure. That's a bit of overkill when it's being delivered to someone up here in January, but it would matter for a shipment to Texas. Do you suppose packing it in a home food saver gizmo, then in a freezer bag, would do the trick? I don't especially want smoked-fish-flavored berries, either. Though who knows, maybe that could become the next North Shore fusion discovery. Edited to add: I picked up that LC dirt-cheap because nobody else wanted it during the bidding. I guess it looked too odd. I like odd. I love a bargain.