lmarshal1

phaelon56: Lucky you, living near the Syracuse factory. I collect Hall china...but it's more what I think of as restaurant ware. Love it. Nearly indestructible (although I did break my favorite white baker just the other day...but it would have been in a million pieces instead of just a small hunk out of it with any other company's after the way I managed to dump it into an empty sink). When we're out antiquing, we often find neat Syracuse stuff (but I can't let myself collect anything more in the way of kitchen ware). lkm

Thanks for the comments about the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I ended up getting one as a gift. It sounds like it's right up my alley. I'm certainly no gourmet. lkm

How good to see that so many of you have piles and piles of plates! My daughter always says I could feed 70 people before it became necessary to wash a plate. I have two sets of vintage plates: Hall China in the Springtime pattern and Blue Ridge Dixie Dogwood, three sets of Corelle (plain white, the one with the little green flowers from the 70's, and one with mauve rings around the edges), and some brown ironstone I bought for 39 cents per piece in the late 60's. I love them all and use them all. My favorite sizes are the 6-inch bread plates (for all the varieties above) that I use for snacking and the soup plates (at least 30 of these in four different patterns). It's really pathetic! lkm

If you own the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham, I'd appreciate your thoughts. Any good? Favorite recipes? Easy to use? Recipes well-explained? Worth owning? Thanks. lkm

When I was a kid, the mother of a friend always seasoned her popcorn with celery salt. I thought it was horrible. Hadn't thought of that in years. I might actually like it now. lkm

My favorite is the Rival. Mine is so old that it looks a little sad (70's green), but it still does a great job after all these years. I know I had it in our first house (from which we moved in 1973), so it is at least 31 years old. I have a newer one (larger, oval, Corning) which I like too, but not as well as the Rival. It is nice to be able to take out the pot by itself to wash though. lkm

Someone mentioend paprika as the likely culprit but it might also be annatto (sp?). Paella is always the obvious suspect for me when I have chorizo on hand but I"ve also been known to slice it thin, saute til a bit drisp, blot off the oil and then use it on thin crust pizza in place of pepperoni. Yum. The Mexican chorizo I run across is of the fresh crumbly variety but the Portuguese style I used to buy in the Ironbound section of Jersey City was offered as both fresh and cured. Now that I'm out of NJ I can only get the cured style and it's available in only one market at that. There's a brand made In Rhode Island (which has a large Portuguese population) that's available in some grocery stores and it's very good. The same people also make a linguica sausage. Avoid the Goya brand cured chorizo - unlike some of their other products it really sucks. ← Never thought about using it in place of pepperoni. Good idea. Will try it. lkm

Chorizo is tasty but awfully greasy and stain'y (with the red...what is that?). The vinegar or lemon juice addition appeals to me too...and "brightens" is a good word for it! Ah, from the UK! We had hoped to visit again this month, but we and our traveling companions are a little fly-shy internationally. We will return to your country! Better get moving at my age! lkm

That sounds delicious. My husband loves both the chorizo and the butter beans. What seasonings do you use? lkm

I've had a subscription to Saveur for several years and like the articles. Cook's Illustrated is great for someone like me who needs to be led by the hand when it comes to cooking. And Food and Wine is fun to read but out of my league in terms of skill at cooking and how much money I'll spend on ingredients. Taste of Home is more in my league. I'm a peasant in terms of food, I guess. Has anyone tried the cooking magazine by Martha Stewart (maybe called Everyday Cooking or Everyday Food???)? lkm

Lalitha: Thanks for the saffron seminar. I like the sound of a dessert rice cooked in milk. Will try it. I've enjoyed trying new seasonings after reading about them on e-gullet. Everyone here seems so knowledgeable and helpful. lkm

I don't like them, but my husband and a couple guys where he works like pickled eggs. When I make up a big batch (usually a gallon of beets) of pickled beets, I make up enough extra pickling liquid for the 1 or 2 dozen eggs that I send with him to work. The eggs are gone in a couple days. They are kind of pretty...a deep red. Have you seen the pale pink ones at some groceries? Anemic looking. lkm

Anyone have a simple recipe for saffron orzo served with sauteed shrimp? For a birthday supper tonight. Thanks. lkm

Wow! The last time I cooked that many hard-boiled eggs was for a seder meal at our church. We did it during Holy Week to try to recreate a seder...since most of us knew nothing about Jewish customs. My job on "the committee" was to cook the 8 dozen hardboiled eggs needed. I like the idea someone mentioned of making up a variety of quiches to freeze. How well do they freeze? lkm

Lalitha: Would I infuse the saffron in the measured liquid for my rice and then remove the saffron threads or leave them? Do you actually cook the rice in milk? lkm

I received a gift of a jar of saffron just today...so...pleased to find this thread. I have never used it. Is it generally infused in liquid? Crushed if using just a pinch? Is it good used to flavor rice? (I am amazed at how expensive it is, but obviously labor intensive to harvest!) lkm

Yes, I forgot spinach...unless it's unsalted. Yuk. Glad to know there are others who eat cold green things! lkm

I agree with many of you about the horrible amount of salt in so many canned products. I like canned tomato products, especially if the only available tomatoes are of the pink-cardboard variety. Diced canned tomatoes are especially good in mid-winter. Someone mentioned hominy and several have mentioned beans...I always keep cans of these on hand. I like them just fine. Confessions? I will eat asparagus and peas straight out of the can. Yum! My college roommate would have to leave the room when the asparagus came out, and my family gags at the thought of cold peas and asparagus. Thanks to whoever mentioned the Jiffy cornbread/creamed corn dish. Sounds good. Haven't made it in a while. lkm

I will take a look at eBay. I received a like-new copy of (the much maligned) China Moon for only $5.26 and feel it is worth that, but most of the complaints about it are valid. I will definitely keep an eye on the Grace Young books. Thanks for the heads-up! lkm

I just finished making your recipe above for supper tonight. Very tasty. I used green onions and added them after the rice was done. Thanks for posting it. lkm

So....the texture is the only real difference? I have used a purchased coarse salt/herb blend that is delightful sprinkled on plain cooked vegetables. lkm

lmarshal - I just signed up to take one (with my husband for the first time) at Viking on tamale making - I've always wanted to learn about working with masa, but it intimidates me a little. NancyH - I was just looking at the flours and meals for making tamales and tortillas today! I don't have a clue which ones to do what with! You'll have to give us a little tamale seminar here after you attend the class. I bought some chilis and some taco sauce with a bit more heat than usual. I made tamales from scratch (except for the tortilla shells!) a few weeks ago. Quite tasty. lkm

Despite my age (58), I'm pretty much of a novice cook. So many recipes call for kosher salt or sea salt. Is there a taste difference or just a difference in coarseness? Wal-Mart had 3-pound boxes of Kosher salt for 40 cents today. I bought a box. Now what do I do with it. :-) lkm

Will have to take a look at the Grace Young book. I'm putting Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen on my Christmas wish list. May have to add this new one. lkm

NancyH: I'll have to pay more attention to offers for such classes. I'm especially interested in Chinese and Hispanic cooking. We have a large number of Hispanics in our county, and Purdue University (half hour away) has a large Asian population, so that there are ethnic markets springing up all over the place. The International Center just off the Purdue campus has cooking classes in every ethnic cuisine you can think of. I've hesitated because of the traffic/parking problems over there, but maybe I ought to get over it! They're quite inexpensive too. lkm