LindaK

These ideas all sound delicious. I always thought lettuce was too delicate to cook as one would any other green. Evidently I was wrong. btw, I'm growing a baby romaine and a butterhead, the latter a very pretty heirloom called "Merveille de Quatre Saisons" which is a variegated pale green-->rosy red-->bronze color. I imagine the colors get muddled when cooked.

Thanks to the long, cool spring in this part of the world, the lettuce in my garden is thriving. My daily salad isn't coming close to using it up, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know what else to do with it other than use it in a sandwich or as a garnish. I assume folks here can enlighten me. What else do you do with lettuce?

I have more tolerance for noise when it's the byproduct of the space that's otherwise difficult to alter. Dinner last night was in an old industrial space--brick walls, high ceilings, concrete floors. Loud but I'd still go back, knowing that it is not the place for a quiet meal. On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago I tried a new sushi place fitted out with plush banquettes, low lighting, and blaring techno music that made it impossible converse in the otherwise comfortable space. No chance I will go there again.

The increased prices for fresh, non-farmed, fish have been striking. Even fish native to the region have become pricy. Fresh cod, for example, is now routinely $13-15 lb. Only a year or so ago, I was always able to get it for under $10 lb. I understand there are many reasons for this--depleted supply from overfishing, catch limits on fishermen as part of fisheries management, fuel prices for fish brought in from elsewhere. It might not be as noticable in every part of the country. But here in New England, where fishing has historically been a local industry, it's caught me by surprise that even the prices of "local" fish have increased so much.

There's a 2007 New York Times article on cooking Silkies with some recipes here that might provide a few ideas for cooking and sauces.

Hi bigchef, and welcome to the eGullet forums. You should definitely check out our WikiGullet Project. We've already created the infrastructure for the kind of collaborative culinary encycolpedia that you describe. There's a great group of members currently contributing to it who have gotten it off to a great start, but obviously there's much more to do. Please join in! There's a WikiGullet discussion topic here that you'll find helpful.

A BLT during peak tomato season. Thick crispy bacon, perfect tomatoes, fresh lettuce, excellent white bread toasted w/ homemade mayo. Saucisson/cornichon--thinly sliced French saucisson on a good baguette w/ hot mustard and sliced cornichons. Open faced Thanksgiving turkey leftover sandwich, w/ stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy. Meatballs and mozzarella w/ a bit of red sauce on a hard roll or Italian bread.

I was gifted some canned lobster meat, cooked and frozen, from Canada. Anyone know if this might be any good? Best uses? I was thinking risotto or pizza.

I like my Le Creuset spatulas, just the right flexibility for me. For getting into tight spaces, like blenders, I rely on the smaller, skinny spatulas--they're half the width of a standard spatula:

BaconKing, welcome to the eGullet forums! Those caneles look perfect, good crumb and crust both. It's a gorgeous debut post. I need to find some canele molds and give them a try. There's a bakery near my house that makes decent caneles so I've had an excuse to be lazy about it. Plus I'm afraid of how many I'd eat.

Dorie Greenspan's creamy cauliflower soup sans cream is quick, delicious, and rich-tasting despite not actually requiring cream. You could certainly add some, if you wanted. It makes a flavorful backdrop for all sorts of toppings if you want to dress it up.

Recently, I sampled as "chocolate honey spice" that was delish. Spices not specified but I tasted cinnamon and cardamom, with a bit of heat at the finish. I've always thought that bits of candied ginger in an ice cream would be good, maybe with some tropical fruit.

Thanks for all of the feedback! We’ve been discussing social media and blogs quite a bit among the Society volunteer team, and now we’d like to invite members to join that discussion. If you’re interested in participating in a focus group about this, please send a PM to Chris Amirault or me. We appreciate all your insights.

Count me in. Once upon a time I had a college roommate who cherished her spoon rest. It sat on our stove for two years. It was cute, I used it, it was loved. Fast forward to today. When I’m cooking, I’m usually juggling more than one implement at a time—a sloppy spoon, maybe a spatula or two, possibly a really messy ladle. How many cute spoon rests do I really want cluttering up my stove or countertop? Yes, I need a holding pen for these things, like everyone else. Generally, I keep a small acrylic cutting board by the stove for this purpose, it has plenty of room for multiple items. If my cooking is really sloppy I use a plate with a lip so that liquids are contained. Why a single purpose item like a spoon rest? Don’t get it.

I'm no buttercream expert, but if you're putting it in the fridge/freezer beware: I learned to bring a buttercream back to room temp before beating, otherwise it can curdle. Assuming that you're using a stand mixer, I've found that switching from the whisk to a paddle attachment helps bring together a buttercream that's begun to separate.

Thanks for a lovely week of escapism. I especially enjoyed your trip to The Meadows. One of my sisters lives in Portland and gave me some of their finishing salts as a gift some years back. Fantastic stuff. I've always wondered about the store itself--it looks fascinating.

20+ years old now, my Cuisinart food processor. I still value it above all my other appliances. But I would also add my pasta maker (hand crank) and digital scale to my list. Both simple things, but each made new culinary worlds possible and I couldn't do without them.

Here in New England, it's a lobster boil. Potato, corn, and chorizo standard, maybe clams too, no seasoning save for the lovely flavor of lobster. Back when I lived in DC/Baltimore, nothing was better than a good crab boil with lots of Old Bay Seasoning. I don't remember anything with them besides beer. This is making me very hungry.

Heidi, beautiful pics. It will be months before we see any local zucchini around here, but I'd love to hear more about what you like to do with the flowers.

Salted mackerel...interesting. I've been cooking with salt cod over here and would love to learn more about other salted fish. The fish in your photo look beautiful. Where did you find them?

This is my first reaction, too. Maybe my moral compass is screwed up, but I'm less appalled by whether it's theft than by the unnecessary consumption of plastic. My personal practices re: sustainability are not extreme, but I've been trying hard to minimize my demand for non-recyclable materials, not hoard them. If you already have 100+, why do you need more?

EatYourBooks got a nice shout out in last week's New York Times: Can Recipe Search Engines Make You a Better Cook?

Don't miss the Camembert Museum the next time you're in Normandy, France. Not only a lovely, smelly cheese aging room, but a beautiful collection of artwork done for the logos/labels of individual Camembert producers.

I've never tried Kerry Gold, but you've convinced me to try. Usually I buy Kate's Homemade Butter, made in Maine. It's good and readily available around here. Agree that most US butter is pretty awful.

Another feature I like: the "delay start" button. The Bosch is so quiet that I generally don't mind it running when I'm awake/around. But for those instances when you want to wait but are afraid of forgetting, this lets you load it up but program a delayed start of up to 23 hrs. I wouldn't upgrade models just for this feature, but my model has it and I've been surprised to discover that it's convenient.