Carrot Top

The only man for whom I have ever baked a pie is my Dad. It was a black bottom pie and took all damn day to bake. Don't know why this means something, but it does. Also, I would never feed my family out of a box. Must be something about pies. I remember baking a really nice apple one for the man I was married to. Started walking towards him with it and the thing literally flew up out of my hands all by itself and landed upside down on the floor. Should have realized the import of that and divorced him right then rather than too many years later!

Finally..... An answer that makes me feel good. (Nice sig, too.) Food and the act of preparing a meal for others can be many different things to different people. It can be an intellectual exercise, it can be an exposition of culture or of manners, it can be a scientific test, or, at its best as you say, it can be be emotional succor and the giving or showing of love or pride. Chacun sa gout! I have never been able to think of another subject besides food that is so widely extendable into different potential areas....

A 'ladies luncheon' with Queen Victoria. Serve a lot of wine, get her drunk, and see what would happen. Maybe invite Jane Austin and Emily Bronte too. Lots of just really scrumptious food. I can hear the corset hooks pinging and breaking....and the ladylike demeanor turning into silliness and guffaws. I would hope, anyway. Interesting to try and guess if food and wine could break down the sturdy decorum of Victorianism.... Wonder what they used to cure hangovers.

This is a tougher question that one would initially think! I would not choose a professional chef or famous gourmand, probably, for that would be very stressful. (I'd rather have them cook for me!) The first criteria that I would use to choose would be that it be someone from before the year 1550, to see how they would react to the lightness and freshness of the food available. Obviously it would have to be someone of the 'upper-class' or otherwise there would be no comparisons of foods to be had... Wow. What to make them? First thought was a three to five course meal, quite detailed, but now I rather think a Burger! Grilled, with all the 'toppings' available. With french fries, an average sort of salad with all sorts of dressings available, and three beverages for them to try. Beer, soda(s), and bottled water. Ice Cream, all sorts, and sorbets, and toppings, and cookies for dessert. Oreo cookies and chocolate chip. Would love to see how someone from the sixteenth century would react to this generalized 'All-American Meal'! How about you, who would you choose?

I don't have answers to this, but do have a suggestion (though possibly you have already tried it...) There are a number of websites that sell professional gelato machines (and lots of 'mixes' that go with them, too...). Some of these have 'help' sites or at least a contact e-mail. Surely they would have these answers... Good luck! Gelato, mmmm, yummy!

"Eggs of an hour, bread of a day, wine of a year, a friend of thirty years." Italian Proverb "Omelettes are not made without breaking eggs." Robespierre "The rule is jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today." Lewis Carroll "Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education." Mark Twain and... "How long does getting thin take? Pooh asked anxiously. A. S. Milne

Blacksburg (about half an hour or forty-five minute drive from Roanoke depending on which end of it you start from) has some decent restaurants. Nerv, which is a somewhat upscale restaurant (has a website) is excellent, and does have 'nightlife' too.... There is a good Thai restaurant (small and usually busy) in the University Mall. In Roanoke, I am hoping to go to the little Cuban place soon. Please, let him be making Cuban coffee.... I have heard that the big Indian restaurant is very good also, in Roanoke. The one in Blacksburg, owned by the same people, is spotty...depends on who is cooking. Also heard of a Korean place that recently opened in Pembroke (of all places! If you want to take a country drive) where the woman does Korean home cooking along with the usual sausage and biscuits...

In some olive oil, saute chopped onions, chopped celery, chopped green peppers till softened. Add fresh or canned diced tomatoes and a generous amount of chopped Italian parsley and a bay leaf, simmer five minutes or so. Other herbs such as thyme, basil, oregano, can be added to taste... Meanwhile, trim and blanch green beans to the desired 'doneness'. Drain and cool under running cold water... Add green beans to the tomato-vegatable mixture, re-heat and salt and pepper to taste. This is almost a meal in itself...is good served with buttered orzo (mixed with parmesan and cream if you are so inspired) or a garlicky bruschetta....

There are quite a few recipes on the Food TV Network site if you search 'saltines', including a salad! based on them....

Yup, a memorable recipe for more reasons than one! Here's another...I used to have an old copy of The Settlement Cookbook, printed in 1947. It had many basic and useful recipes that you could not find anywhere else. I THINK there was a recipe for an adaptation of Milk Toast (something I have never indulged in) made with saltines crumbled into a bowl and topped with butter and hot milk. Under the 'Invalid Foods' section. Interesting subject, saltines. Who would have thought...can't wait to see what else comes up here.

There is a recipe similar to this but that is a cookie...with crumbled saltines, melted chocolate, brown sugar, raisins and goodness knows what else, similar to 'Preacher's Balls'. I've seen it several times in community cookbooks in the Southeast, but don't have a copy unfortunately...

Well, this is neither cool nor particularly creative, but Saltines have always been one of the few things that almost any child I've met is willing to eat. (And that is saying a mouthful nowadays, as many children seemingly have not been taught to politely 'try just one bite' even if they happen to be dining at a friend's house...they will only eat pizza or chicken nuggets or bologna sandwiches or of course potato chips!) Back to the subject! Saltines spread with peanut butter, with jelly, with slices of cheddar cheese, with marshmallow fluff! accompanied by apple wedges and carrot sticks have never been turned down yet by any of the many little visitors to our home. Sort of like a mini kids smorgasbord. Good things to have around, Saltines. And of course, I have to crunch them up in a bowl of Campbells Tomato Soup made with milk when I don't 'feel good', just like Mom did...

Absolutely.That same problem exists with any restaurant that serves breakfast, also. It is not quite as important, though, in a Patisserie, or Pastry Shop, or Bakery, that is focused on making cakes, pies, tortes, etc etc...rather than bread...as the bread of course needs rising time. Many pastry 'basics' can be made from scratch and held refrigerated overnight with little if any change in taste...and the ones that can not, do not need rising time with the exception of yeast-raised breakfast pastries. So the employees COULD (if of course there were ever a place where the rent was right, the customer demand was there, and all other stuff okay too...hah!) for this sort of bakery arrive to work perhaps 5:30 or 6:00' ish. Which is still not a great schedule, but what job is, nowadays?! All I know is I really want to eat a good linzertorte, a nice fresh fruit tart, an interesting cheesecake...that is not scooped out of a plastic bin to bake...I am hungry for these things and wish I didn't have to make them myself when I wanted them! (Or that I had to live in a big city to find the sort of places that do make them...) They do say that demand for desserts in fine restaurants has not gone down. People will still 'save room for dessert'! That reminds me of another story. I went out to eat at a local fairly upscale restaurant, a Cajun one. Had dinner, ready for the dessert menu, which had three offerings. I chose the 'chocolate volcano' or something like that. A warmed chocolate cake filled with a hot chocolate filling. Topped with whipped cream. Sounded good, though certainly not challenging or complicated. Well. It certainly was not challenging or complicated. I found the exact same dessert in the deli section at WAL-MART the next time I shopped there! So I had paid a good amount to have a dessert from Wal-Mart warmed up and plopped down in front of me! Aaaaargh. Note: It was not bad, at all, the taste....but PLEASE...

Ha, ha! A 'show me your scar' thread! First scar that has 'lasted': Sticking the tip of a clam knife right into the base of my thumb while opening clams. Seems like I still have a little piece of clamshell in there to remind me not to hurry at THAT job again! Second scar(s) are two that remain on my upper arm. Got them while trying to take out a sheetpan of filo-dough strudels from the uppershelf of a large convection oven in a restaurant kitchen. (I am 5'2" but no self-respecting female in a kitchen in those times would dare ask for help from one of the big guys that are always in a kitchen for fear of never ever ever hearing the end of it...) Stupid move. The sheetpan tilted and burning butter poured down my arm. Mpfh. Burned the freckles right off and they've never come back!

Lucy...I am in complete and utter agreement with you about the writing of the recipes and the so many odds and ends of things that could and should be added to make a cookbook a full and living thing! I guess if the recipes are the spirit of the cookbook, these other things, the stories, the unusual or different touches, the 'secrets' so to speak...they would be the soul of a cookbook. Of course it doesn't take a professional chef to write well of these either! The stories and knowledge are as satisfying, when found, as a good meal itself! Karen

Great story, about the cheesecake man. I wish we all had little shops with marvelous foods coming out from them like this. It is the Great American Tale though, that usually people like this end up franchising. Isn't this the way the Cheesecake Factory was started? One woman baking cheesecakes?

Ha, ha! Good response from your son. Maybe they could eat themselves? Fantastic recipe for lemon-blueberry loaf in 'The New Basics Cookbook' by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. Best I've ever tasted. Works with frozen berries, too! The only problem with the recipe is that people keep demanding that you make it....

I remember a recipe for butterflied roast lamb that was wonderful. Although I do not have the specifics it used a butterflied leg of lamb that was marinated overnight in black coffee with a non-committal sort of oil like canola (nothing with too much taste of its own), molasses, a touch of cider vinegar and some herbs and spices that may have been chopped scallions, cumin, cinnamon, bayleaf and black pepper. The meat was to be grilled, preferably, to create some nice charred parts with a medium-rare center. We used to do it, lacking a good grill, by draining the marinade, browning the surfaces over a high heat on the stove then finishing in the oven. Yummy.

This will take more time than you realize, probably. Any sort of writing that specifically describes something well that a group of other people can read and understand (all in pretty much the same way, as you would wish a recipe to be) has to be thought through pretty thoroughly. As to how you go about organizing it, that depends on your personality. Some people would take the tack to first list the recipes you wish to write, then jot down general notes and ideas and the quanitities and procedures that you do know. Then go forward, making the recipe, and writing down everything as you do it. Then, finally, revise, revise, revise till as close to perfect as it can be. Others would prefer to cook the recipes through one by one, sort of organically adding things as they go along.... In my profession I've had to write many very clear 'standardized recipes' that were either 'from scratch' or of adaptations of something that was close to what the intended final recipe was hopefully to be. These were used by a variety of cooks and chefs in a professional kitchen, each with different ways of doing things, just as a group of cookbook readers would be. There are many cooks who would prefer to 'wing it' and to be creative in their own ways, but it is a fact that one's 'guests' or customers, having eaten something that they truly enjoy, will come back and be greatly dissapointed if they can not have the same thing to eat that tastes exactly the same way as it did before! Here are some guidelines for writing a 'standardized recipe': (With an aside that personally I adore the sort of recipes that Elizabeth David wrote, about as far from standardization as one could imagine!) 1. Define portion amounts on the top (or bottom, I prefer the top) of the page. 2. Name the recipe as clearly as possible so that a reader can 'guess' what it is. 3. List your ingredients in the order in which they will be used. If you have several parts of preparation that must be done separately then combined, break these ingredients up into those sections. This is useful for people who are reading the recipe who may not cook a great deal...it helps with conceptualization of the project and also with setting up 'mise en place'. 4. Be specific and standard in the amounts of your ingredients. If the item to be used comes from a can, list the weight or size of the can. 5. Be specific as to the type of your ingredients. Fresh? or dried herbs...chopped or whole or pureed tomatoes.... 6. When writing the 'how-to' directions, keep them as simple as possible without leaving anything important out. Nobody really wants to read a paragraph on how to do a certain procedure with a knife in one hand, a simmering pot on the stove, and butter burning in the saute pan....the shorter and simpler, the better. 7. Any creative adaptations you know or can think of for the recipe can be posted at the end, including advice on cooling, wrapping, storage, length of freshness, etc. I know this sounds a bit compulsive...but you can not imagine the questions that arise if you are not really specific in your writing of recipes! And each dish...can be sometimes completely changed or altered by just one differing amount of an ingredient or by one differing procedure. So to make your personal intent clear, it has got to be specific. That said, it's a lot of fun to finally have a defined written recipe, whether to be used for professional purposes or not! Good luck! I hope you will share your results!

You have a very wise mother. About the only thing that does silence bickering siblings are superstitions. It's even better when the children think only THEY know of this magic ritual. I'm going to go make up some food superstitions right now, to use at opportune moments!

Incredible. It is almost ninety degrees outside HERE, and goodness knows it must be steaming in Miami in mid-July. Yet you have made me want to get on a plane and take a trip to Miami, maybe even move there! Wonderful, your article. Once again,thank goodness (always!) for our recent immigrants to the US and the bold bright flavors they bring.

What a warm and interesting and also mouthwatering 'thread'! I am fairly new to eGullet and am enjoying exploring the many writings.... It does seem that there should be more users adding their thoughts here...but of course many people are somewhat shy. Me? No, I am not shy! Jewish food (if it is not politically incorrect to call it that nowadays? Perhaps it is...) is naturally of interest to me, both as a (ex)professional chef and as a New Yorker for twenty years (not now), and as a person whose father is Jewish. (That is still true, as far as I know!) You are all lucky, or blessed, to have been given the gift of knowledge of both the faith, the rituals, and the foods...neither of my parents had any interest in passing on the faiths they had been given as children, unfortunately. But as life is (hopefully) long, there is alway the chance to learn, isn't there?! Having married a Catholic (now divorced) I have brought my children to the Catholic church at times...and at other times, in rural areas that we lived in...to Baptist or other similar churches....but recently have made the decision that it is a good idea (both for them and for me) to explore visiting the Shabbat services which are offered in the small city we now live in. So. I hope to have some interesting meals to post here, soon. I am nowhere near as ambitious as ANYONE on this thread! so they will be simple, but I look forward to what you will think.... Karen P.S. I just remembered a great cookbook I used to have on traditional Roman-Jewish food. A fantastic recipe for sweet and sour salmon....

Abra...I am digressing too...but tell me (about your quote at the end of your postings) How does your husband manage to sort out the hungry from the stupid?

Usually when I get berries, I get a whole lot at a time, so just freeze them on baking sheets then pop them into plastic freezer bags for the future. Two things come to mind...no...actually three. The first is simple. A hot raspberry sauce for ice cream made by simply boiling them with sugar and vanilla briefly if you like vanilla. Serving this hot over vanilla ice cream is...well. Just imagine. Another would be raspberry crepes. Another, which is yet another way to preserve the bounty, is to make something like a lemon curd out of the berries, the juice of the crushed berries. It could be made 'straight' just from a lemon curd recipe, or adapted somewhat by adding gelatin to make it more like a dessert to be eaten with a spoon and some whipped cream! I don't have a recipe for this, but my mother-in-law used to make it. Of course, there is always fresh raspberry jello, made with unflavored gelatin. I bet a Cornish Game Hen would be good, split, browned then braised with raspberries and some sort of pepper and chive demi-glace sauce...with or without a finish of cream whisked into the sauce.

I've enjoyed reading all these dinners. Usually I would not even post mine as any gourmet-ish plans are foiled and adapted by my children (ages nine and ten). Today however I am fleeing to the computer to avoid eating another portion of what I cooked for dinner (they are away at camp!) This was simple, and good for anyone who is eating solo: Chunky Caponata, freshly made from ingredients at the farm market, still warm, ladled onto heated pita bread. With a glass of chardonnay and a bit of quiet? Heaven!