I_call_the_duck

OMG, I got something very similar a few years ago. From my cousins-in-law. Also very scary looking elf-head and nutcracker mugs. Shudder. I can never throw things out, so they'll either go to the Salvation Army or regifted. This year, I got: a large bottle of sherry/madiera from my step-aunt and uncle-in-law (I think SAIL picked it out). Not the best drinking kind, so it's going to be used for cooking. From my sister and her family: a bottle of temperanillo that was packaged in one of those wine bottle puzzles that look like this. Amusing at first, but loses its charm after a few minutes, particularly when you want to open that bottle. For a wedding gift from one of my friends, I got this hideous toaster that was green with pink flowers. The slats aren't even wide enough to fit a half a bagel in it, and did I mention that it's absolutely hideous? A non food item a couple of years ago (from step-aunt and uncle-in-law) was a leopard-print backpack, which I regifted to my niece, who was into leopard-prints at the time. She loved it. Speaking of regifting...here's an idea for everybody. Every year at the office, we have a "white elephant gift exchange". Regift some crappy gift and get something in return. It's completely anonymous, so nobody knows who actually gave that gift, though sometimes you can figure it out. And some people don't get the "white elephant" concept and give some nice stuff. I got a nice picture frame out of the deal this year.

Here's another one I just thought of: When using your immersion blender to puree hot liquid make sure it is turned OFF before you plunge it into said liquid and off AGAIN when you take it out. My aloe plant comes in handy. Thanks, Mom.

I think Ling and her eating habits in general are quite educational.

Buddah's Delight, (or Stir-Fried Lotus Roots w/ Dry Conpoy) as seen in hzrt8w's pictorial, whole steamed fish, and boiled chicken is always seen at our table.

Mu gai, Karen. Ji duo qian gai mee? Duo cai, Fresser ← Fresser, Now the outer banana is saying, I lost you at mu gai.

When taking the cover off a pot, use a pot holder and lift the cover AWAY from you.

I love Popeyes! I may have been imagining things, but I think the one in Astoria, Queens sells crawfish poboys.

When I eat jook or other Chinese-style soups, I reach for the porcelain spoons. For everything else, I use metal spoons. I've never noticed a metallic taste, but have been scorched many times. It just doesn't feel right to eat something like a borsht or chowder with a porcelain spoon.

I plan on making (oven) fried chicken and mac n’ cheese this weekend. Spare ribs too. What does that make me? There’s no way I’d be mistaken for DAR. Fresser, according to yiddishdictionaryonline.com, Shvester means “sister”, or shall we say “sistah”? Shvesterkind means “cousin” (male or female). Annecros, I'm glad you embrace your muttiness. There's nothing wrong with being a mutt--they’re usually smarter and nicer.

Funny. My grandfather was fond of brains and eggs. I THOUGHT it was a euphanism. I ate it, one time. Liked it. Then found out it was really brains and eggs. He also loved tongue sandwiches, with thick slabs of sliced onion. By that time I had learned to take my grandparents literally, but tried it anyway because grandaddy wouldn't love anything that was bad. Tongue just gets bigger and bigger in my mouth as I chew it. I guess it is my own problem, because I can't help but think that there are one too many tongues in my head. My son loves it, though. Yep, sometimes silence is golden. ← Can't bring myself to eat brains. Funny you should mention tongue. I love it. I think we call it called gnow lei, and I didn't think twice about eating it the way my dad prepared it. Until I actually saw a tongue in the fridge of a house where I was house-sitting. It wasn't just tongue, it was a tonuge. I mean, you can tell it was a tongue. It grossed me out for a while, until my fondness for it got the better of me.

Hey, I never knew that rule! Every person in my family prefers the crust to the fillings. I've seen sad-looking crustless pies in my days.

Bryan, you're the king of sous vide. I gotta try that pasta risotto-style. Last night was more freezer fun. Mr. Duck did most of the cooking, so I unearthed some hamburger that we got from the farmers market. We had hamburgers with onions and peppers, mashed potatoes, and sauteed spinach. And some leftover wine from the night before. No pics. Too lazy to go upstairs to get the camera.

Growing up in New York, it is hard not to know what a bagel is, even if you're the only Chinese family within blocks. To appease the Jewish side in me, I need bagels and lox or a nice pastrami on rye with good deli mustard. Getting good pastrami took a little more effort, but after church on Sunday, we'd get some bagels for brunch.

We never had any euphanisms for food. It was simply just "pigs feet", "duck tongue", or "pig snouts". Sometimes, silence is golden.

As much as it hurts me, I've stopped subscribing to cooking magazines, as it just accumulates uncontrollably. Jgm, in my organized days before I relegated most of the magazines to the great recycling bin in the sky, I photocopied both the table of contents and the recipe index of each issue and put them into a binder. If I needed to look for something, I'd just refer to the binder. It did work. I just ran out of space to store all those magazines. I've taken to saving what I can get online, and having sub-folders on my hard drive. If I find a recipe that I like in the odd magazine I buy now and then, I rip (or photocopy) the page out and put it into a folder, so when I want to use it, I frantically go through looking for it. In other words, I no longer have a good system.

My husband is kind of grossed by the hock. Bless him, he loves just about everthing else. So I can have the hock all to myself!

I have that recipe too, but haven't tried it yet. But why does he tell you to discard the ham hock? I'd just remove the meat and eat it on the side. Why waste good meat?

I make collards in a different way. I starting making these when I was living in an area that offered very little Chinese greens. One day, having a hankering for Chinese greens and not finding any, I decided collards looked enough like them to give it a try. After chopping the collards in 1" strips, I blanched them in boiling water, then shocked them. Then I stir-fried them in a wok with a bit of garlic, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. A far cry from southern-style greens, but they tasted pretty good, and not leathery at all.

No, no...move to the Graduate Hospital/Fitler Square area! Still kind of affordable. I love my neighborhood, but I wouldn't consider it as a good foodie area compared to others. It's up and coming, prices for houses are steadily rising (at least in GH, prices in FS are already pretty high), and there are some but not a lot of good restaurants to around. If you move to the area around South and 25th streets, where the old Naval Homes are being converted into high-end housing, and there are rumors of Whole Foods wanting to build around there, a bakery such as yours will be welcome with open arms. There's also a Farmer's Market around 23rd St & Pine (I can never remember the exact location) that's open Saturdays from about May-November. Sure, Miel and Metropolitan Bakery are great, but open a bakery closer to me (she says selfishily--it's all about ME )!! Sorry Katie. I heard bakery and I got excited.

Oh my. Everything looks and sounds wonderful, but all these sous vide dishes really makes me want to try it for myself now. Yesterday was another futile attempt to clean out my freezer. I unearthed some homemade pasta sauce (a chunky sauce made with a mixture of green market tomatoes and canned organic, peppers, onions, lots of garlic). I reheated it with some parmesan rinds and a bit of red wine, and served it with penne. Leftovers for lunch! Welcome, Bordelaise.

Loved Jack Soo. Only I use the non-eraser sides, though the food tastes kind of leady... BTW, Fresser, gai will get you what you want. Let's add to your vocabulary (so glad you don't speak Mandarin, because I wouldn't understand you...not that I do anyways ) from someone who speaks a mixture of Cantonese and Toisanese. gai bee=chicken leg gai yick=chicken wing gai mee=the last part over the fence.

I agree. He was great at UP. I recall first seeing Emeril on "Cooking with Julia". This may have been before Food Network but definitely way before his show. He was this talented, low-key guy, and I remember thinking, "this guy is really good." Then he developed his current persona. As much as I hate his television personality, he makes damn good food. My point being, the spotlight can make or break you, and unfortunately for Rocco, it all went to his head.

I put a reserve at the library on the braising book to test out a few recipes before I buy it. My husband put an unofficial moratorium on my buying cookbooks, so I’ll have to convince him that this one is worth buying. I'd love to try a nice paella or jambalya. Or the perfect lobster with black bean sauce...

I was unable to link to the post, but I got the gist of the article. My husband has a bad habit of wanting to restock the freezer before I've had a chance to empty it out, so we periodically have "freezer fun" for dinner. I've been pretty good about putting a date on almost everything that goes in, but every now and then one escapes my grasp. But since we've only been in the house for a little under a year, the stuff in the freezer isn't that old, but who knows what lies in the bottom depths? I remember freezing some shrimp a while ago, but don't remember eating it. Must be in there somewhere. And my pantry? That's another story...

Last night was Christmas leftovers. We had sticky rice, chive and shrimp wrapped in bamboo, and curried chicken that I freshed up with carrots, onions, green peppers, and ground turkey. The colors were very pretty, and it was good, but my house still smells like curry.