daniellewiley
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Posts posted by daniellewiley
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We always had tossed salad, served, for some reason, in a white casserole that was way too small for the salad - it would always fall out when we did the requisite tossing.
Lettuce was iceberg until I was in high school, at which point my mom discovered red leaf. I always had to wash the lettuce, which was a miserable job, as we had no salad spinner, and it took forever. Tomatoes were of the pink, mealy variety. I actually thought I hated raw tomatoes for a long time. What a revelation to taste a properly ripened tomato that wasn't stored in the fridge! (and to eat steak that wasn't well done, but that's another topic...)
We used only Italian dressing, and until I was in high school, it was homemade in a carafe that had lines directing my mother how to make it - oil to here, vinegar to here, water to here. Once the lovely Paul Newman launched his famous dressing, we had that, but my mom thought it was too bland (and it was the eighties) so she added balsamic vinegar (so eighties!!).
The salad also contained cucumbers, peeled and cut in half circles, and scallions, the white part only.
When did you all eat your salad? Ours was served with the meal, which is what I do now. My cousins always ate their salad after the main course, which seemed so strange to me.
We also started most meals with a half of a grapefruit - did anyone else do that??
These days, we do salad maybe 2 times a week. I serve it in a giant wooden bowl in which I make the dressing first before adding ingredients.
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Dutch Babies topped with peaches, greek yogurt mixed with sour cream and brown sugar, and toasted walnuts to add crunch.
oh that looks fabulous! I love Dutch Babies. Where did you get the recipe??
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Yesterday, leftover ribs and bbq chicken wings
Today, leftover pizza - 2 pieces Greek (feta, spinach, basil, pine nuts, garlic) and 1 piece Italian sausage, followed by a bottle of Newcastle.
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I'll blend a bulb of roasted garlic (the oven is hot anyway..) and a package of softened cream cheese into a batch of mashed potatoes on holidays. My Grandmother who "hates" garlic with a passion (her words, not mine) can't figure out why my mashed potatoes are better then her's. I just smile and shrug.
Yum, that sounds good. We do "cheesy potatoes" for every holiday. Five pounds of potatoes, mashed with one stick of butter, one package of Philly cream cheese. Put in a pyrex, top with dots of butter (yes, more butter), and cover with sliced or shredded cheddar.
Heat to melt cheese.
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Well, today is not going as planned. I need to contemplate dinner tonight, and may have to put the Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet meal off until Sunday. I don't have any pork or chicken in the freezer, and the pumpkin is still in my vehicle. The best laid plans of mice and men...
This is one of the best things about the foodblogs, IMHO. I love seeing how life gets in the way of our plans (as it does for ALL of us) and how we all respond/react in our different ways.
Your response, btw, gets an A+ from me! Smoked brisket, yum!
I do have a crazy question for you. Larb sounds so good to me, and per Kristin's link, I did a bit of browsing through the famous 20 page thread. However, horror of horrors, I am allergic to fish sauce! Actually I'm allergic to all fish, except shellfish. I love the flavor combinations of both Thai and Vietnamese food, but there's almost nothing I can eat in its pure form. In fact, I worry that I'll never be able to travel to Thailand or Vietnam for fear of going into anaphylactic shock. Any suggestions on a substitution? Everything I've read says that there is no way to substitute for fish sauce, but since you are an expert, I thought I'd ask!
(If this is too off topic, feel free to respond via PM, but only when you have time!)
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My daughter is home sick today, and I have a cold as well, so we headed to the bagel place for some matzoh ball soup. We also got some corn chowder and split a corned beef on a toasted bagel with spicy mustard.
She drank chocolate milk.
I drank a Nantucket Nectar half and half.
Then, to soothe our poor, sore throats, we of course hit our favorite ice cream place - Handel's.
Dylan had a chocolate Handel pop (ice cream scoop on a stick dipped in dark chocolate). I had a small cup of chocolate raspberry truffle. yum...
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thanks, slkinsey. Yes, I meant disc, not blade. Perhaps I can rationalize a new kitchen toy (a ricer) so I can attempt gnocchi with all the other novices!
Keep your eye out for one at antique stores or garage sales. I got mine at a garage sale in Vermont for $5 - works like a charm!
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Medium grain calrose is the one that was recommended to me, but I was also told that other rices, including brown rice, could be used. Just don't tell chef koo's umma!
My vegetarian sister-in-law frequently makes a very non-traditional bibimbap with brown rice instead of white, and tofu instead of beef.
She also uses Sriracha instead of kochujang (sp?).
Most of the Ann Arbor Korean restaurants offer both tofu and beef varieties.
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I went to a small local Polish diner with my father-in-law. Had the Polish Dinner Combo - one potato pierogi, a stuffed cabbage, a link of kielbasa and two sides (I chose sweet and sour cabbage and sauerkraut).
I'm very full!!!
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Empire Rulez.
Good flavor, but I still remember spending nearly an hour with my mom each year plucking out little feathers with tweezers whenever we got a kosher turkey. Is that still necessary? This was 20 years ago.
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Waiting for photos of your dinner on the Dinner! topic in Cooking, Susan. My kids said, after looking at my dinner picture (believe me, they've seen enough of the food porm photos on the Dinner! topic) "Mom, don't be mad when we say this. But, your photos suck." Ah, the confidence of youth! I reminded them gently that many of the Dinner! posters don't have kids! And, they are glad this time around that I am serving family style, and once they have served themselves, I plate mine and then photo my plate. Last blog around, they got pretty tired of sitting quietly and waiting until I photoed everything!
Make them do it!! Can they food style tonight's dinner for you??
I'm enjoying this blog tremendously - I love the time difference factor. We have nonstop blogging!
And Kris, those tempura zucchini flowers were truly outstanding - I can still taste them. If I didn't have an old, all wood kitchen with no ventilation, I would certainly have recreated them here!
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Last June I had my 'tween niece come along with her older teen sister (who was to stay for a longer period) to spend a week with us. She was so incredibly drawn to the topic of food I decided to get her in on a special dinner.
Lucy, will you be my Aunt??
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Who inspired you most in your decision to write of food?
My Grandma Ana and my dad. My grandmother taught me to love food and cooking, and my dad helped me to become a good writer. He still helps review my articles!
What is it particularly that you write of within the wide-varied subject?Most of my published articles have been restaurant reviews, but I love writing personal memoir-style articles.
When did you take up the pen?When we moved to Ann Arbor in 1997, there was a blurb in the paper about their search for a new food critic. I thought to myself, "I love food. I can write. Hmmm, I should do this."
Where do you wish to publish your writings? Do you have any specific magazines/journals or publishers that you have an urge to present your work to for acceptance?I'd love anything with a broader reader base than the local publications I've been in to date. I've had one article in the IACP magazine, which was wonderful, but I want more!!
Why do you wish to submit your work to these particular outlets?I do a lot of things to make money. My food writing is the thing that makes me most proud. The more I can do, the better I feel about myself.
How do you hope to have your writings affect the world of food and people?I'd love to teach people about the wonderful food that is out there. I love when my writings inspire people to try something new, even if it's just a local under-rated restaurant.
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Thank you for your stories.Thanks for the fun question Karen!! Are you going to answer it??
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Thank you for the lovely blog! We booked a vacation to Florida this weekend, and I think your gorgeous photos had a big part in our decision!!
Good job!
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The whole family (myself, the husband, our four year old and our infant) will be going to Disney in mid-November for a week. We will be celebrating our anniversary while there, and will be getting an in-room babysitter for that night. It will be our only night out without the kids.
While at Disney, we are doing the Dining Plan which covers one counter service meal, one table service meal and one snack for all of us (well, except the little guy, who's still on breastmilk only).
For our special night out, we can eat at one of the Dining Plan included Signature restaurants by trading in two of our table service meals. The question is, which one??
Our choices are:
California Grill
Artist Point
Citricos
Coral Reef
Flying Fish
Brown Derby
Jiko
Les Chefs de France
Yachtsman Steakhouse
My husband ate at Flying Fish last year for work and really enjoyed it, but the California Grill sounds wonderful from what I'm reading above. That said, the mentions above are all a bit dated, so I'm wondering if anyone has any more recent experience?? Do any of the others listed deserve our reservation?
Thanks!
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On the agenda today is a manicure and pedicure -- Woo Hoo! -- and happy hour food & drink for dinner.
That's MY kind of agenda!!
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The pizza looks yummy. What dough recipe did Russ use? Did the pizza suffer from lack of sauce?
Hey Randi!
I'm not Susan, but I never use sauce on my homemade pizza. I think it's delicious without it!! I do put olive oil on the crust, though.
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Susan, have any of those venison ideas sounded good or sparked further ideas? Talk to us, woman! Now I've got mushrooms worked into the dish!
I'm still debating. Pasta is not in the cards this week because a heavy week of kid activities.
I'm leaning towards either of Chris's suggestions, but no juniper here, either!
And, I've only made pasta once, and with minimal success, so I'm wondering if a stuffed one is overly ambitious?
I have a mess of ground venison as well. Let us know what you do!
(I'm thinking stuffed cabbage, stuffed peppers or chili - I want something I can make in bulk and freeze)
Back on topic, I have my new pasta roller, but just haven't had the time! I am sooo looking forward to a weekend with nothing to do. Maybe in 18 years or so? I wonder if this thread will still be here...
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What I'm wondering is when you cook meat in a crockpot, do you take skin off chicken, etc, or trim fat? I always get a bunch of fat pooled in the pot. Or do you just cool it and skim?
In the many many books I've been looking through, trying to get ideas, all generally agree to ditch the skin before cooking.
I sometimes cook chicken in the crockpot WITH the skin. I cover the bottom of the crockpot with loosely packed balls of foil. Then, I season the chicken and place it on top. The fat drains down to the bottom, underneath the foil balls. It's a neat trick. I especially like using chicken made this way for chicken salad, but it's good hot too.
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I have resurrected this old thread to see if anyone can give me some suggestions or favorite recipes for veal chops. I just bought some beautiful ones at Wegman's but honestly have never cooked veal.
I have eaten it a couple (literally) of time at restaurants where they have been sered or pan roasted with a veal jus and mushrooms.
Would anyone care to share their favorite recipe with me? Merci Bien, Muchas Gracis and Thanks!
We season with salt and pepper and grill to our liking. Then, we top them with a simple thyme vinaigrette.
Delicious!
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5. He eats cereal in the morning, rinses the bowl and spoon, and then places the bowl and spoon on the counter to the left of the sink. The dishwasher is just to the right of the sink. I do not understand this one.
Apparently, it takes a bazillion times more energy for my husband or children to open the dishwasher and insert the dishes than it does for me. They also feel it is important to leave the sink full of stuff so that one cannot use the sink.
I hear ya! He will also take dirty dishes out of the left side of the sink, and place them in the right side so that he can use it. I don't think it occurs to him that washing the dishes is an option.
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OK, last night was my first attempt. I wanted to do ricotta gnocchi, but I decided to vary it a bit. I was looking through the NYT cookbook, and just above the traditional gnocchi recipes was a recipe for spinach ricotta dumplings. So, that's what I tried.
The NYT cookbook suggested serving them with just melted butter and grated Parmigiano on top, but since I'm doing Weight Watchers to get rid of this baby weight, I instead sauteed some fresh, chopped tomato with a bit of garlic in some EVOO.
The recipe is basically the same as Sam's ricotta gnocchi recipe except chopped spinach is added, and the flour is not mixed into the dough. Instead, the ricotta mixture is dropped by spoon into the flour and then shaped into a ball. This resulted in a dumpling that had a sort of shell around it.
Next time, I want to try it with the flour mixed in - I think they would be more substantial. These were delicious, but a little too delicate for my taste. They also needed more salt.
I will also omit the spinach next time. Though I thought it was delicious, almost four-year-old Dylan wouldn't eat them (she loves spinach, but only when it's hidden because she thinks she doesn't like it), and that annoyed me.
I served these with a yummy acorn squash puree to which I added freshly ground nutmeg, a touch of butter and S&P. As you can see, the plate looks a bit spare. Please excuse the interesting napkin formation. That's what you get when you tell a preschooler to fold the napkins and place the silverware on top.
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1. He is furious when I "mess with a good thing." In his mind, once you have something good, you don't mess with it. So, since he likes my traditional meatloaf, I can't serve him ANY VARIATION on meatloaf.
2. He won't eat any leftovers. At all. Grosses him out.
3. He puts our Sabatier paring knives in the dishwasher!!!
4. And, as I read above, he also leaves every cabinet door open. He's actually injured himself quite badly on an open cabinet. No matter - he still leaves them all open.
5. He eats cereal in the morning, rinses the bowl and spoon, and then places the bowl and spoon on the counter to the left of the sink. The dishwasher is just to the right of the sink. I do not understand this one.
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And bad as the segment on prison cooking seemed to me, it does speak to making do with what's available whether used paper bags, windfall apples, or foraged herbs - which alas is how millions of Americans live.
Too true. But I'm having a challenge imagining any of them as regular Martha viewers.
an update from GawkerHoly Mother of Mercy. WTF? I'm one of those who thought Martha was tagged as a scapegoat, and while I'm not sure I'd want to be her girlfriend, I have admired her business sense and her ways with kitchen utensils. I imagine the ratings will start out ok this week, what with everyone excited about her being back. But after that? They'll either have to retool this thing fast or grab some paddles.
Let me first say that I am shocked and amazed by my point of view here. It is so not like me to be on this side of a "controversy."
But, really, it's fun to watch! And, I'll say again, I'm usually the first one to be offended by shows that are fake or overly scripted. (I wrote my college thesis on talk shows.)
Also, I don't think they'll need paddles. Look at the Bobby Brown show. It's doing fabulously well, and watching Bobby and Whitney (ESPECIALLY Whitney) is like watching a train wreck. But, I'm not as mortified watching this show, and I really don't think the producers are twisting Martha's personality all that much. I think she's still a little uncomfortable with the audience, but that's to be expected. It's a new thing for her.
How I have lived this long without such a gadget
in Kitchen Consumer
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I LOVE my reamer, and I also bought it because of Jeff Smith. He was big on gadgets, wasn't he?? He also crowed about the Susi garlic press (not as impressive as the reamer, IMO).