Carrot Top

Ah. It must be that time again. That time to admit that I was only (sort of) kidding. It was the philosophy of the idea that attracted me...not the reality.

Well...isn't the correct answer to this question "It doesn't taste as good unless..." Isn't the correct answer....unless.... "Mom makes it"? Now my mother was a terrible cook...but I still think this is the correct answer to this question.

Heigh ho the dairy-o , the cheese stands alone...

And please do forgive my rather unscientific explanation. Cooking is like sex to me. I can tell you how to do it (hopefully ) well from my own personal experience. The art and action of cookery should be a visceral, live experience rather than a science class.. but that is just my way of things. Others may live differently.

I have had such a terrible urge for Papaya King lately that I looked up their website just several days ago to try to find the closest one. Really good stuff. Classic and sort of no-nonsense. And the drinks are very healthy, which balances out the hot dog thing.

In agreement with the idea that leftover mashed potatoes won't be the best thing to try gnocchi with...particularly for a first effort. Imagine...the difference between fresh hot mashed potatoes (which even to hold briefly for any quality at all must be topped off with milk and maintained at a certain temperature) and mashed potatoes which have sat in the fridge. They flatten and become heavy. Dense. And even the flavor changes slightly. There really are so many other great things you can make from them...as others have mentioned, a sort of fritter or a duchesse or a pancake or mixed with baccala or even regular poached cod to make a lovely fresh fish cake.... Gnocchi are lovely things....but there is some sort of texture thing that is integral to gnocchi that I do not believe you will get from using potatoes, pre-cooked, as the base for them.

This is beginning to sound like an episode of 'The Jetsons'.

This is hysterical! ← Even moreso if you read it too quickly as I did thereby thinking it said "stuffed it into his pants"... Ouch.

I am sure that is closer to Glory than to Simplicity. ( )

My answer would be the same about the labor question as terese's, Michael...for the area I lived, but with the note added that many people did have small farms in addition to or instead of the factory jobs. Lots of people still bring in hay every year but of course there is farm equipment for almost every job now, which reduces the physical labor quotient compared to other places in the world that may not have all this equipment at hand. And the farms were for cattle, which is a less onerous sort of farming than fruit or veggies. The only focus on physical activity I can remember was for Little League football and secondarily for cheerleaders for Little League football... I have no idea where to take my thoughts on this. Everyone did grow their own vegetables or have family right close by that did. Lots of people put up cans of things each year. Lots of people have freezers full of their own meats...either beef or venison from hunting....or meats from someone down the road that they bought cattle on the hoof from and had it slaughtered and cut to order at the local slaughterhouse. On the other hand, the two local grocery stores were rather grim to say the least. When I moved back into a populated place...here in Blacksburg...and again had access to places like Krogers (which I never thought of as a 'top' grocery store in other places I've lived ) I felt as if I had moved back to America from a foreign country...a foreign country with limited resources. And the people that live there are not totally isolated nor are they ignorant, either. They have access to all modern communications devices, they know about nutrition....they are no less intelligent than people anywhere else.... I don't know. The answer seems to me to be something more ephemeral. And to try to express it would likely sound foolish...so I won't. Well...okay, I will. I think, in this place, in this particular place....they are eating instead of dreaming. They are swallowing certain of their hopes, whole.

May we please be clear that rolling said stockings to just under the knee is NOT the look we're talking about here. (shudder) ← I dunno. Does someone want to post a photo? < That is an angelically smiling smilie face.

Actually, StudentChefEclipse...I was being my usual sarcastic self and hinting that somehow the schools must be teaching people how to do this stuff... for the scams I've seen and heard of are not only rampant but incredibly detailed and intelligent. Always surprises me that people that are capable of thinking up these things and then implementing them are sometimes not doing too well in the actual tasks their jobs require...but then again...all that energy and intelligence is being used to think of the next scam...

Ah. Not made precisely from food...but from a food-ish byproduct. Saw some very cute little handbags...large enough to carry a cellphone, wallet and lipstick of course in, at a local artsy store here in town. They were quite simply made from Capri Sun and other sorts of pliable small juice packs that had been laminated then sewn together with a quilting stitch on a sewing machine. The strap was the same. A small snap was attached on the inside to hold the top together. Very very cute. Colorful, shiny and fun. They were selling for about $20. each and really...all they mostly took to make was what normally would be thrown in the trash!

I live in Appalachia now. And do agree with your thoughts. Yet even within this area, there are differences that can immediately be seen within the population(s) that can not be explained by affluence alone. At the moment, I live in a small city with a large university population. Fairly affluent, very well-educated population. There is some...obesity...as you look around, but it is not the norm, either among the adults or the children in the schools. For four years previous to this, I lived in an area that was intensely rural (about a hours drive from here) that by anyone's standards would be called modern rural Appalachia. There was less affluence there than here...much less. And a much lower education level and a much lower education level expectation for the children. It was a rare child whose parents intended them to go to college...and even rarer, that money could or would be saved for such a thing. Obesity was rampant there. Among the adults and among the children. It was actually rare to be in a group of people where three out of ten would be considered of such a weight level to even be 'healthy'. The gym teacher in the elementary school was always unhappy for it was hard for him to manage to get the kids to be able to be flexible enough to do a situp. This is solely an observation, and I will make no claims for the whys and hows. Just that it seems to not be just the level of affluence that causes this.

I was curious when Ptipois mentioned in an earlier thread about the orange juice after dinner question....and agreed then that THAT particular 'cultural occurance' seemed strange. But garter belts....uh...someone is buying them. They are even more commonly for sale 'everywhere' now, and in greater variety, than in past years. Someone is buying them, and someone is wearing them. ( ) Interesting topic for research, Bux. And again, all to do with food...for as they say in the article...garter belts and stockings can not be worn too comfortably well by those who have overindulged themselves into the way of avoirdupois. Do inform us of your findings.

In agreement with Mayhaw Man that the major costs to the businesses and the major instances of theft within restaurants are from people within the business itself...from food that walks out the door...to smallwares that go home with people...to cash or credit card manipulations... and special vendor dealings and specialty accounting practices. It is so common that I am surpised to learn it is not actually taught in culinary/hospitality industry schools...

Sigh. Yes. Mind-boggling.

In general, I agree that there have always been people of all sorts of sizes in this world...and perhaps there are more larger people around now, but that is mostly their choice....and is made easy by the ease of which food is obtained...and if otherwise the people are healthy and happy...it should not matter to anyone. If it does matter in ways of personal health and in ways of affecting the overall health of the society, though, then it bears looking at and thinking about. As I said near the beginning of the thread, though, I honestly do not see a lot of people who feel guilty about the way they eat...or that they are scared of their dinner. I do see lots of people who TALK about feeling guilty...but that is certainly not the same. Isn't this issue like so many other things that matter...a little bit of this and a little bit of that affect it? No time to sit down and eat, for jobs and activities take more hours of the day. Nobody at home during the day to have the time to shop and cook from 'scratch'...'healthy' foods. Tiredness from running around and the feeling that one deserves and sometimes just plain needs...to be taken care of and fed by someone else...i.e. the closest restaurant which depending on time constraints and pocket money might be fast food or the usual set of chain restaurants that are everywhere and that cater to the idea of lots of food drenched in buttery salty sauces for immediate mouth pleasure and perceived value by the customer. Foods in the grocery stores with higher, hidden amounts of sugar, fats, calories. Fresh fruits and vegetables in the grocery stores that have been grown to ship and are drained of flavor. Meats in the grocery store...that who knows where or how they invented these cuts. A fairly stable economy with people that have paychecks but who mostly live beyond those paychecks and ample easy credit cards sent through the mail for anyone who might have come close to using up their last line of credit on...whatever. Maybe eating out at chain restaurants... A country that...being born mostly of immigrant roots....with immigrants wishing to become part of the 'melting pot'....discards old traditional ways of cookery which might be guessed to hold some knowledge of ways to be healthy. The omnipresent culture of quick gratification, and most particularly quick gratification of all the senses. An intense focus on the culture of youth...where the ideal is to look seventeen years old forever. Bottom line, though...in these situations which are massively confusing...there are choices. You can listen to all of it and think endlessly about what everyone says all the causes are before deciding what tack to take. Or you can look at the situation and decide who to blame and then focus the blame and your energetic ire on them. Or you can decide that, with the time you've been given on this earth to try something else....to take charge of one thing that can be changed or taken control of. The only person one can really be sure of changing is oneself. We are free people living in a very open society with tons of opportunities to do all sorts of things. If we can not control the food we put in our own mouths...well...I don't know what to say to that....that is really sort of spooky. It would make a great science-fiction novel, actually. As Henry Ford said "Think you can, think you can't. Either way it will be true."

Yes...it is an amusing article! When I lived in Paris the thought often occured to me while shopping (for clothes) that they truly had the smallest underwear and the biggest earrings for sale, of anywhere! Every French woman I have known has a very clear and strict idea of what it is she will eat...and for the most part, this is followed. Even the word for 'diet' has a different intonation. It is not a 'diet', it is a 'regime'. Different outlook...more of a maintenance thing rather than an unhappy guilt-ridden sudden enforcement of changes in eating patterns. I have to admit, though...one thing did make me a bit cranky about the article. Almost every woman interviewed...seemed to be around 28 years old. Uh huh. At that age I...well. I'd better stop while I'm ahead. Finish the sentence yourselves, as you wish... Heh heh. The only good thing about getting older is that it will surely happen to everyone eventually...

Terribly uncomplicated, it is...Jinmyo...my mouth usually slavers when I read yours! but it has the great advantage that I know these little ones will gobble gobble it... (et merci, mon ami..aussi!)

We are a small family and not tradition-bound. Nevertheless...for the sake of having some sort of idea of 'history' and 'culture' for the children, I tried to plan a menu this year that will provide both but will avoid a large turkey. Nibbles beforehand: Nuts to crack and make a mess... Smoked Turkey and Chutney on Endive Spears Seasoned Crisp Roast Large Lima Beans Mulled Apple Cider Then: Corn Chowder....perhaps with a Sally Lunn or a Brown Bread, perhaps not...depends on motivation level Followed by: Maine Lobster, Drawn Butter Salad And for Dessert: Cranberry Upside-Down Cake and Pumpkin-Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream Tried to get the beans and corn thing in there...and I always like to think of that account (was it John Smith that wrote it?) of 'Lobsters as large as your arm' solidly filling the shore waters of the New World as they rowed in to the rocky beaches....then of course cranberries...New England needs its cranberry bog production jobs and pumpkin...(I grow livid thinking of the usual doleful pumpkin pie... ). So that, is our menu this year. Oh! A pleasant full-bodied American white wine for me, too. Haven't chosen one yet...generally I entrust the choice to our excellent wine merchant in town for I do not keep up with this always-moving detail-oriented knowledge-required business!

Very nice story, andie...

Everybody knows you are much sweeter than I, andiesenji. Me...just cook me slightly the wrong way and I am terribly tough and hard to chew on....

Ah, my little schnitzel....how you have changed Panko and chicken breast and tonkatsu They claim! No, my little schnitzel it can not be so... To be one with you in Paradise These ways will not go! Dear little schnitzel of Viennese fame Grown men cry upon hearing your name With a few fine wines quaffed and some thoughtful time spent In well-spun drunk argument over Whose cooking will make the final event. A pale slice of veal....tender and young, untouched Untoughened By age, sorrow or shame A fine thick paddle to stretch it, paddle it Into a frumpy papyrus shape, no blame Sweet milled soft flour, and more from the hearth Breadcrumbs to tumble in, quite briefly, dear heart A chicken? What use could that bird be here! Ah, yes...for an egg to coat...a tender crust to persevere. You must be quick you must be deft the heat must be just right The pan thick and clear The fat must be lard or butter (clarified, no fear!) And then perfect timing Will make you, my dear... My glorious little charming Bite of schnitzel. P.S. I have always had a fantasy of having an Eastern European lover who insinuates himself in a lounging sort of way close to me...and murmurs in my ear..."Ah, my little schnitzel..." (Well okay not always but at least for the last five minutes... )

Just wait till the baby comes, Chris. Then you can multiply the food fights in the kitchen....add on the cornmeal they pull from the cupboard to dump on the floor and play in....the garlic press which is used for playdough...the muffin tins which are used for crayon muffins....