patti

Oh my. What an understatement. Anyway. Back to topic. ← Hehe. My sentiments exactly. Peter, the blog, the food, the kids, the kitchen ... all fabulous.

Agreed. And I am the ruler of mine. Great blog, ladies!

Pan drippings (from steak cooked in butter), balsamic and shallots. Reduce, finish with more butter. Mmm, rare steak with crusty exterior, and sauce. Good.

Immediately after I put my three cheese scalloped potatoes in the oven, I noticed the unopened stick of butter on the counter. The dish is rich with cheeses and cream, should I leave well enough alone, or try to sneak the butter in when I remove the foil from the top of the pan midway though cooking?

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? Very middle class; Texan married to Cajun. Eventually Mom's cooking was much more Cajun than Texan, cooking gumbo with the best of them, but I do recall wonderful Sunday dinners of fried chicken, biscuits, and milk gravy. Once Dad died (after 50 years of marriage), she'd sometimes revert to the comfort foods of her childhood, like cornbread and pinto beans. Was meal time important? Yes. Most nights Mom and all four kids sat down to supper together, but Daddy often worked too late to have supper with us. We were all together for Sunday dinners, though. Was cooking important? There were different phases. Mom was a working mother before it was the thing to do, so sometimes it was just important that she get a hot meal on the table. Later, when she had more time and more money, she experimented more. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? Gentle reminders, no penalties. I was a voracious reader and occasionally Mom would allow me to read at the table, but it was the rare exception. Maybe she was distracted. Who cooked in the family? Mom was the regular cook, and Daddy would handle things like outdoor fish fries, crawfish boils, barbecues. He would sometimes "doctor" her cooking and then try to take credit for any compliments the meal earned. His favorite line, "Tell the truth. Isn't that the best _________ you ever ate?" Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? Not very many restaurant meals when I was younger, except for breakfast at a little cafe after early morning Mass. In my mid to late teens, we increased our restaurant patronage a thousand fold. More money, better eats. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? The kiddy table came into play when the crowd was too big for everyone to be seated together. I never minded the kiddy table. It meant I was either with my cousins or the children of my parents' friends, both good things. When did you get that first sip of wine? No memory of it. I do recall sneaking a sip of Daddy's beer, only to discover there was a cigarette butt at the bottom of the bottle! Was there a pre-meal prayer? Yes. Was there a rotating menu? Saturday lunches were chili dogs! Other than that, not a regular rotation, although rice and gravy was featured heavily. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? Not as much as it should be. Our first child was profoundly handicapped, with difficulty eating. By the time our second child was born, we were in the habit of working our meal around Matthew's feeding and so I'd feed one child and then the other. We just didn't get into the habit of all sitting down at the table together, which I regret.

We picked our first bag of satsumas this weekend. Still gorging on them, so have not begun sharing them with friends. Maybe next week.

I'm pretty sure it's only used for display right now. They've lost a lot of tourism business since the hurricanes, and don't have as many craftspeople on-site as they used to. I think things will be looking up by spring.

Vermilionville, which is a Cajun/Creole folk life village in Lafayette, has one (and maybe a smaller, second one) on display. I know someone there must know how to make them, because they have to rebuild it every couple of years, because that's just what you have to do with bousillage, whether it's used in a chimney, as insulation, or an outdoor oven. I hope that helps. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

I guess you don't mean the old bousillage (mud and Spanish moss) ovens made by early Acadians (who learned it from Native Americans)?

Do you mean Tom Colicchio? I LOVE him. He's the best part of the show. I do miss some of last season's characters, but I think this season might get better after a few more people are weeded out. I hope.

I posted earlier about ubiquitous gumbo dinners, but growing up, the typical fundraiser dinner was barbecued chicken, rice dressing (aka dirty rice), potato salad, baked beans, & a roll.

Gumbo with white rice, potato salad, french bread, and for dessert, bread pudding. Maybe a small side salad of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and ranch dressing. Yes, I know, starch, starch, and a side of starch.

I loves me some shrimp stew made with really dark brown roux. Good stuff.

I adore the old fashioned stuffed head, brown version of crawfish bisque. My grandmother used to make it, but like everyone said, it's labor intensive. I only ever have the old fashioned kind in restaurants now. I do like the other style of crawfish bisque made with cream and lots of rich, buttery goodness. I'm willing to make that one, but not the old style.

It is? Sarnie, perhaps. ← Oops! In that case, I hate sammie! Heh. Not really.

I've never thought of "cukes" as babyish, just a nice short-hand. None of the other words bother me, either. The "sammie" thing is mostly used by Brits, so I would only be annoyed by it if someone tried to affect a faux British accent or attitude by using it. Like, say, Madonna. I wouldn't mind if the word "amazing" were never used again, unless singing "Amazing Grace," or discussing "The Amazing Race."

I always use lots of onions in my smothered pork chops, but sometimes use apple juice as my liquid of choice in the cooking process. I saw Paul Prudhomme do it on his old cooking show. When I don't use apple juice, I use wine or chicken stock. It's all good.

That sounds a little messy.

MUST. HAVE. NOW.

I hadn't really paid attention to whose post I was reading, but when I got to this paragraph, I had a feeling it had to have been written by racheld. I love the way you choose to put your words together! And you pick some purty good'uns. Great writing, as usual.

Boudin is a tasty, portable little snack all on its own. What's not to love about pork and spices and rice all mixed up in a handy casing? A link of boudin is a thing of beauty. To gild it, I take a generous portion of crusty french bread, split it open, and slather both sides with butter. Next, split the boudin casing open and spread the boudin on both sides of the buttered bread. Cover one side with the other, et voila! Boudin poboy. Hmm, now I wonder why I've never considered a fried boudin ball sandwich.

To that baked potato I'd also add grated sharp cheddar and chives, or I'd eliminate the sour cream and use crumbled feta. My son likes to combine real bacon bits with fake bacon bits, along with butter and grated cheese. He doesn't see the fake ones as a substitute, but as an additional crispy flavor of its own. Oh, and bread pudding topped with both homemade whipped cream AND chocolate sauce. And maybe pecans, if they weren't in the bread pudding.

When I was a child, our family of six used to go to 6:00 a.m. Mass a couple of times a week during Lent. Often we'd go out to breakfast afterwards, to a little place called Courthouse Cafe. Sometimes Daddy would only allow us to order a small breakfast of biscuits and jam with juice, other times, we could have a full breakfast. What I remember most fondly, other than the six of us sitting together at the restaurant, was the richness of the thick chocolate milk, the grits, slow-cooked, buttery, and sublime. A bite of grits, a bite of toast, chased with that delicious chocolate milk ... mmmmm. You'd think I'd be waxing nostalgic about the eggs and crispy bacon. Oh, those were good, too. But the other three tastes, those are the ones I remember best. Another food memory is my first taste of raw oysters. Daddy brought home a sackful, and we all sat in the garage as he shucked them. We each waited our turn, one by one. I was a little nervous about it at first, so Daddy gave me a little sleeve of saltines. A fat, fresh oyster, a saltine, and a dash of Tabasco. Great stuff!

I completely agree. My sandwiches most often have mayo on one slice and mustard on the other. No dry slices!

Why would anybody stop at one that DIDN'T?