petite tête de chou

One pound of chestnuts will be, quite honestly, impossible. Is there a suitable stand-in?

Ketchup. The main ingredient in a condiment sandwich.

Yesterday was a big beer day. We had Bridgeport's Pale Ale, Alaskan Summer Ale and Widmer's Widberry. And lots of homemade pizza to soak it all up.

If I'm mowing the lawn and there's just a couple Bridgeport ales or Alaskan Summer Ales, those babies nestle under the vegetables in the bottom drawer until I'm ready for them. Beer is food, right?

Perhaps it's a young Great Burdock (Arctium lappa) plant? Have you ever seen the seed stalks?

Whole milk. -yick-

I love cold tofu. It seems so pure and clean. Until I douse it with sriracha. Then it becomes bits of creamy heaven sprinkled with hellish goodness.

Dungeness crab with melted butter and handfuls of warm blackberries. Toe-curling, eye-rolling, chest-heaving heaven.

You could make an avocado sauce (avocados, whipping cream, water, lemon zest, lemon juice, s/p) to serve with grilled shrimp, chicken breasts or poached salmon. Add to stuffed eggs with bacon, kind of a new take on "green eggs and ham." They can be included in a type of fondue (I love fondue!)- avocados, lemon juice, garlic, white wine, Edam cheese, cornstarch, sour cream. I've also added different types of fresh herbs- dill being a favorite. Serve with cubes of bread, red bell peppers and salami. I love them in omelets, too.

Akutaq- "Eskimo ice cream" It was traditionally made with either seal, walrus or whale fat, fish, fish liver, fish eggs, berries, dried moose, caribou or reindeer fat. It seems that one would grate the dried fat and slowly add the animal oil and water whilst beating the heck out it until the mixture became light and fluffy. Then the berries or other ingredients would be added. I'm game to try it...but I kinda doubt that I'd say "Gimme more!"

Well, I've thought long and hard about this matter. And I, finally, have come to accept that I couldn't possibly care LESS what is pierced or tattooed. Waitaminute...nope, I still don't care.

You could use either water in a very light vinaigrette or mayonnaise sauce to serve over chilled poached fish on a bed of wild greens (maybe include rose petals and other edible flowers with the greens), blanched, chilled green beans or in a cold chicken and pistachio salad. I second the idea of using it with rice. Make a pot of basmati rice with cardamom, black pepper, saffron etc, when rice is done mist the top of the rice with rose water, cover, remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes before serving.

Ditto on Horse Brass. Great fish and chips, really cool atmosphere and a fantastic selection of beers. After being outside in the bright summer sun, I usually stumble around a bit before my eyes adjust to the dim. But as long as I know where the bar is all is well.

Rose or lemon geranium syllabub Peel (no pith) and juice one lemon 12 large scented lemon or rose geranium leaves 1 3/4 c. whipping cream 1/3 c. superfine sugar 1/2 c. dry white wine enough ratafia biscuits or macaroons to divide between six dessert dishes Put lemon peel and geranium leaves in saucepan. Pour 2/3 cup of cream in. Stirring constantly bring to boil. Remove, cool completely, stir often. In a bowl, combine lemon juice, wine and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Strain cream-mixture into wine mixture, stirring constantly. Whip until syllabub stands in soft peaks. Divide biscuits or macaroons among the dessert dishes and spoon syllabub over top. Garnish with geranium leaves and slices of lemon.

I've always thawed my scallops in a bowl of milk in the 'fridge.

I can't remember who said that "Perfume is meant to be discovered, not announced."

I adapted a recipe from Saveur for a liverwurst/pumpernickel soup by adding a cup or so of flat dark beer to the beef stock. Very tasty.

Alaskan Summer Ale BridgePort IPA- long time favorite Widmer Hefeweizen with tons of lemon And since I use a manual lawnmower I feel that I'm entitled to quite of few of the aforementioned beers.

Cooks Illustrated. I like the way they lay out their methods to acheive a certain a result. This allows me to alter a particular step if I desire a different result.

Beets. My parents didn't like them so they were never served. But owing to my ornery nature, I gave them another chance and I love them. So earthy... and red. Amazingly red. Almost gory. Gory is good.

I agree. I'll bet these folks either don't have any medical insurance or very little and a case of food poisoning, well, let's not introduce any more hardships into their lives.

Yup. I don't put conditions on my invites. You're here because you're my friend and it ends there.

So, is the assumption that your friend would be making one meal for one day at a time? Or is she making a couple meals to last the family a couple days, meaning that the uneaten meals would be left out?

I am familiar with lovage. My mother gave me her plant a few years ago and it has flourished in my backyard. She used to include dried lovage in her care packages for me when I was poor and lived alone. I used it almost exclusively in my budget-minded bean and lentil soups/stews. It's flavor is similar to celery but much more intense and to some, bitter. Use sparingly.

Some interesting ideas can be found on a couple past threads. Quick and Inexpensive Eating on the cheap