dumplin

I checked out different Cuisinarts and some had that nasty feed tube design (my friends does and I HATE it) and some didn't. I'll check out Kitchenaid, too. I want a stainless 11 or 14 cup model. My dinky GE food processor doesn't have the motor for pie crust...which is what I do the most in a processor. I was doing pie crust in it anyway and was happily filling the kitchen with that acrid plastic smell. DH started getting really concerned. I told him I wasn't interesting in the processor lasting 20 years...and what good was it if it didn't do what I wanted it to do? I shredded a block of mozzerella last night and the same thing happened. DH just sighed. (I think he doesn't want to explain to his parents how I ruined their Christmas gift in only a year. ) I'm studying Interior Design...that floor drain model will be researched and added to my plans! I know quite a few people that would love it. For the bathroom, you can wash down everything in HOT water.

Eggs are only dangerous when they're bad... I have no way of knowing how old the eggs that I get at the supermarket actually are. A ten cent egg is not worth a $400 ER visit if I were to leave it out on the counter and it were to go South on me. If it were fresh farm eggs, it would be different...but I would have to see the farm and check out the operation. Its really pathetic how a lot of Americans really don't care about their reputations as proprieters and are more concerned about $$$ and quantity than they are about quality. That concerns me when lack of quality can affect my health. I think Europe is different because people seem to love their food and quality of that food and their lives more. I also don't think fellow townspeople would stand for sub-quality products...the offending proprieters would be run out of town on a rail. (in smaller towns...I think the metropolises have become Americanized) I admit that I eat raw eggs. If its for something I'm cooking for someone else, I cook the eggs or buy pasturized eggs for raw egg recipes. America is way too litigation happy for me not to.

I'll buy that! I have a microplane zester for nutmeg that is on a little metal dish. I use it for cinnamon and also for grating ginger and garlic. I can't stand having to finely mince a ton of garlic. I don't mind garlic pulp...the more garlic the better. Cusinart Food Processor. My dinky food processor is awful. Everytime I try to use it for something, I have a plastic burning smell in the kitchen for hours. I would love to have concrete floors with a drain and a spray hose in my kitchen.

I've had GERD because of meds my doctor gave me in college. Tums didn't do anything for me. (especially after I was forced to eat taco salad at my future in-laws ) Gaviscon worked well for me. I had an upper and lower GI... my doctor also told me to start taking my meds in the morning, and when I did, a lot of the pain stopped. If you're eating a ton of Tums, you need something else that will do the trick. There are plenty of other meds that your doctor could help you choose. My husband is going through the diagnosis process of GERD and ulcers. He's in for a suprise when the doctor tells him what he can't eat anymore. At least since I've had a lot of the symptoms I can help him with the pain until the doctor gives him something to help. Tums isn't it!

Green tea is also full of vitamin K and acts as a natural blood thinner. I actually had to give up my green tea when I was on Coumadin because it was making my blood so thin. It wasn't on the list of foods to avoid; I just found out about its blood thinning properties by accident when reading about green tea. I love a cuppa Japanese cherry green tea. I also love iced green tea with honey...an easy way to get all your liquids for the day!

Maybelline...I'm betting the twilight zone theme was going off in your head. I used to slam the drive thru door on the arm of a guy who would try to grab me when I would hand him his food. Dirty old man. My manager caught me at it one day...he just told me to let HIM take care of that particular customer from then on. I think if I saw the person at the drive thru fighting with someone in a car, I'd leave. What we'll do for food.

My grandpa called that "yakky doodles" because my grandmother burned the toast every morning and made such a racket scraping them off in the sink. I love my mom's clam vegetable soup. Its made with campbell's potato soup, canned milk, canned clams, celery, bell peppers, and bacon. Its not an authentic clam chowder, but I love it. I don't like real clam chowder, but I'll eat a whole pot of this.

I like roasted almonds for eating Sometimes I also like pistachios--but not those red things For baking I love pecans and walnuts (Trader Joes walnuts aren't bitter tasting) I love hazelnuts, but I'm allergic to them.

Maybe the olive oil sold in the little pharmacy container is a more refined oil than the extra virgin olive oil that we are now accustomed to using for cooking. I think they sell it in those little bottles for people who still consider it medicine.

Pickles, the sight of you schlepping to the checkout with a skirt full of oranges and two cantalopes is too much. Yesterday, DH and I were at Trader Joes. We decided to get pizza dough and mozzarella to make a pizza this week. DH was putting the plastic container of mozzarella in liquid in the cart. I was over looking at another shelf, and I heard water. It kept going and going. I turned around and there was water all over the cart and the floor. The bottom of the mozzarelle container had broken out. There wasn't a TJ person around, so we went up front and told them what happened. They cleaned up the mess and asked DH if he was ok or covered in mozzarella liquid. He just got it on his hands. I was happy they were nice about it. Most stores act like you throw things in your cart at high rates of speed. Rrriigghtt....I want to have to get another container... Oh yes, and we evil customers love throwing produce on the ground. Maybelline...I would have loved to see a checker bitch slap a bagger. I'd have this dumb grin on my face for a week.

I didn't notice the double meaning at first... I was completely stunned that she preferred that MILKSHAKE over a real iced coffee. Then when she ran into the door, I kept thinking, "It can't be that good." I don't even like Starbucks Frapuccino, so I don't think this would appeal to me at all...and then there's the name. I think a lot of the people that come up with these names really hate their jobs...or something. Is there any excuse for MooLatte or those awful weight loss hormone commercials with that really annoying man??

I love Ina's kitchen. It has a lot of natural light and a great floor plan. I also love Alton's kitchen that is now for sale. The Everyday Italian kitchen was very cold looking.

I try to patronize fabulous local places. The market that I was talking about in my last post that was so great is also employee owned. I figure that if I spend my money at places where the employees actually care about their jobs, they will prosper; I, on the other hand, will be spared the life-shortening escapades at the local horrendous mega marts.

I evidently need to go to the markets you frequent. I'm tired of bins of rotten onions and tomatoes. I have to dig through everything to find a few decent ones. Its not at just one market, its at all of them around here. The farmer's market doesn't get produce until the middle of July. I don't taste stuff. I do smell cantalopes, but I don't make it a long drawn out process. I also don't sqeeze or bruise fruit. The produce people are pretty pathetic. I found one really great guy, but he's at the most expensive market on the other side of town. I try to tell them that the onions are withered and nasty, but they look at me like I have 3 heads and a tail. yes, I'm the one that's high... I also tell the teenage cashiers that this is cilantro, and that is parsley, those are vidalias, those are yellow onions, etc. and when everything is rung up, its still wrong. I'm just sick of it. Some places went with those stickers on everything for a while, but that didn't even help. I just try to get out the door without strangling someone. I did find one market that's more of a drive, but the produce is better, and a lot of the cashiers actually have a brain. I was amazed last time I went there. I actually left with a smile on my face.

I guess that's one reason why most lids are now tamper proof pop tops. I see evidence of people opening packages of food in the store, eating out of them, and then leaving them on the shelves. I guess they think they deserve a "complimentary" snack. I must say that I enjoy having checkers that don't know the price of their produce. You want to charge me 59c for ALL those onions instead of 59c per pound. OK! When I inform them that they charged me for large lemons instead of small ones, they roll their eyes and tell me to go to customer service. Its their job to know their stuff.

I love the self checkouts because no one else uses them. I agree that you should pass a test to be able to use them. Bleudauvergne, I visited some friends in Clairmont-Ferrand a few years ago. They had recently gotten a mega mart. I remember that my friend hated it. My French comprehension wasn't good enough to understand all the problems, but I remember the lines and the problems with the pricing. I also remember the almond nougat.

I am now paranoid about going to the grocery store. (I'm afraid of fellow Egullets stalking me. Like a lot of you, I get veggies and meat at one market, go to Trader Joes for some things, and use the local mega marts for quick trips in-between my regular visits. Sometimes my cart doesn't look that healthy. Also, Like RSincere, I was on medication that made me gain a lot of weight. I felt self-conscious buying anything not healthy...but even when your dieting you deserve a little ice cream every once in a while. I have a very embarrasing basket snooping experience. The disease that I have is called Interstitial Cystitis. Its a painful bladder disease and one of the effects of the disease causes the sufferer to need those stupid Poise Pads. I'm 26 years old...its hard to accept the fact that you need them and buy them. The cheapest place to get them was the local Super K-Mart. A friend of mine worked there. She came up to me to say hi and then said, "Oh, let me see what you're buying today!" I tried not to be embarrassed, but it was a little more information about myself than I wanted to share. I am now very conscious about who is looking in my cart.

From O Brother, Where Art Thou Delmar to Everett "Care for some gofer?" Everett "No thank you, Delmar. A third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without beddin' her back down." Delmar "Oh, you can have the whole thing. Me and Pete already had one. We ran across a whole gopher village." Delmar "This stew's awful good." Washington Hogwallop "Think so? I slaughtered this horse last Tuesday. I'm afraid she's starting to turn." edited to remove annoying tags that wouldn't close

I love chicken n dumplins, fried chicken, collard greens, pan fried okra, black eyed peas, chicken fried steak, pork chops, ham biscuits and chocolate meringue pie. I don't think I need to tell anyone what region of the country I'm from.

Just like dexygus, I saw a waiter packing a doggy bag pick up a broccoli floret, dip it in sauce and put it in his mouth. Then he went about packing up the food. I was a customer at the restaurant and couldn't believe my eyes. More shockingly, the people I was with didn't think this was strange. Sometimes I can see where a lettuce leaf will brush a waiters hand at a lower class restaurant. Waitstaff with their hands in my glass, or actually touching my food with their hands is not to be stood. I also don't like waiters touching my straw. The only problem with complaining is you wonder if the replacement food will have extra "seasoning" because the waiter is upset with you.

Those nasty hard brownies with bland vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce that is on almost every dessert menu. Can't restaurants come up with real desserts?

I love their frozen seafood. I grew up at the beach in NC, so I'm used to seafood that came off the boat that day. I won't go near most seafood markets especially if they have that smell. I made shrimp scampi with frozen shrimp last night and it was very good for frozen shrimp. The shrimp was also firm; it had been frozen correctly. Normally when I buy shrimp at markets I throw out shrimp because some are squishy. I also love the fact that the shells are sliced down the middle for easy peeling and already deveined. Not bad for a $6 bag of shrimp. (I was making pasta, so I used smaller shrimp.) The salmon, tuna, and swordfish are also very fresh.

Will he do low-cal food on Iron Chef?? THAT would be worth watching!

Toliver, Its a newer one, mid 80s...not the mid 50s one that is so wonderful. My mom has that one too. (Which I will pilfer soon enough. I won't sell it though, I love it.) I was looking again, and she brought me a Betty Crocker cookbook, not the Better Homes and Gardens. I'll have to just pack my suitcase full of cookbooks when I visit her next. I love the Martha Stewart Hors D'Ouvres Handbook. Its an awesome party reference. I can't believe my mom parted with it. My next cookbook purchase will be The Provence Cookbook by Patricia Wells. I just checked it out of the library and fell in love with it. That's how my DH and I eat.

My arteries were clogging as I was reading that list! Bringing food is a big part of Southern communities. When my grandmother was dying of cancer in NC, we had people bringing us tons of food. It was so kind, because none of us wanted to leave to do any shopping. The dear lady that brought warm country ham biscuits one morning was especially appreciated. We often forgot about breakfast. We also really appreciated the veggies...of course, my grandfather died of diabetes and heart disease and my dad had had a heart attack. That is NOT a common Southern sentiment. We did get quite a few buckets of chicken, which were good for throwing at people who came and wouldn't leave. I have moved up North, first to Michigan and then to Illinois. The illness food bringing sentiment is alive and well even in this part of the country. I had a stroke last year at the ripe age of 26. I got tons of flowers (pretty, but you can't eat them). I had one friend who came over and made polenta, meatballs and spaghetti from scratch. He is Southern. It was good to see a friend. I also had friends bring me lasagne, macaroni and cheese, salad, casseroles, etc. It was all very well received. I recently had surgery and some friends brought chicken casserole, green beans, banana bread, steak, and cream puffs. It was all very good but also very hard to digest. I usually send a healthy but satisfying dish. Roast chicken, homemade chicken noodle soup, french onion soup, etc. If I can, I will call and ask if there are any requests. I love disposable containers. Its a pain to try to remember who's pans belong to whom.