LindaK

← How did I miss this thread until now? To answer Carrot Top's original question, The Gastonomical Me is hands-down my favorite of the five. What keeps me re-reading this is less her tales about food--while great--than her vignettes about people. Her descriptions about the waitress who served her truite au bleu, her brother David's girlfriend who reminisced about the pleasures of watching wartime refugees being shot while trying to cross the border, the personal relationships of her fellow boarders in a Dijon rooming house...If you've read TGM, you have your favorites too. As MFK reflects at the end of the latter tale, she is writing about "the strange ways of satisfying hunger." Others, such as How to Cook a Wolf, are fascinating but very much of their times (such as wartime rationing...). But it's amazing how well her writing can be both of a period and still resonate.

an assortment of fresh fruit sounds generous, flavorful, and light. Cookies (or a home made version of fortune cookies) to accompany sounds nice too. If you want to go to real trouble, what about a selection of granitas (ginger, green tea, melon or other fruit, etc.?) so everyone gets a bowl with a small scoop of each, maybe with a cookie. It would be very light but special.

I tried bitter melon for the first time yesterday when I having dim sum with friends in Chinatown. 2" pieces had been steamed and hollowed (not sure which came first...) and then stuffed with a mixture of ground shrimp, mushrooms, ginger and scallions. Tried alone, the melon is indeed bitter (though I like bitter greens), but the sweet shrimp mixture made for a nice balance.

Mine too. I'm so glad I tried the recipe, it made the best polenta I've ever had. Dianne, not sure if you would share my warning: it looked like a mess until near the end of the cooking, then somehow miraculously came together.

No one has mentioned Marcella Hazan. I love her prose as much as her recipes, and that's saying a lot. The brief intros to her recipes are often stories in their own right, covering an ingredient's socio-economic history (ie., polenta) or her relationship with neighbors, her mother's cleaning woman, and of course her husband Victor.

Absolutely the best. I've been using this for years when I came across the same non-performance issues from Saran's product. I'm glad there are other members of the Stretch-Tite Fan Club out there. My friends think I'm looney. When I lived in the Midwest and couldn't find it, I made my mom mail it to me. It's been around for ages, but doesn't seem to have very wide distribution--not sure why.

Genius. I've been imagining my own kitchen reno for some time, and assumed that I'd just have to bear with the visual discord of the vertical outlets against the horizontal tile. Duh. Yet another reminder of why I'll never be an interior designer. Two questions: - you said you designed your kitchen yourself. What software did you use to produce such beautiful elevations? - can you provide a link to the GardenWeb forum with info about your LED lights? They seem like a great idea.

It may have come from France. As I was explaining to a newly cholesterol-conscious friend, in France, there seems to be an unwritten law that you must consume at least 2-4 eggs a day, at least two of them runny. I've had them there served poached, in soup (Oeufs en meurette), definitely on salad (Salade Lyonnaise), and one more that I thought of when I started this post but can't remember. I have a vivid recollection of my first visit to Paris 15 years ago, having dinner in an unassuming neighborhood restaurant with another American friend and some of his French friends. One of the party ordered oeufs en meurette as a starter, and I remember being taken aback that EGGS would be on a restaurant menu and that someone would actually order them. It took a while before I understood. Now a salade lyonnaise is one of my favorite informal Sunday suppers to serve to good friends.Though these cautionary horror stories are making me rethink this. Does anyone have any safety advice to share about preparing eggs?

Alibreeze, I would be interested in your experience making a baravois for the first time. I've never made one, but have always been intrigued by the recipe for a pear bavarian creme in Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible. It sounds delicious, but since patisserie is not my forte, I've been intimidated.

Just chiming in to say how much I love tarte flambée. I have a very fond memory of visiting a friend in the area, and the whole family going out for a tarte flambée dinner. The waiter just kept them coming, along with carafes of white wine. For something with so many rich ingredients, they are somehow very light, we ate a shocking number of them. There are a couple of restaurants here in Boston that offer them on the menu, and occasionally I get the craving and order them. But they don't quite measure up. Somehow I imagine that the tarte a l'oignon would be easier to replicate without the special oven. thanks for the memories!

This is a seemingly small item to rave about, but I made the Oven Baked Polenta for the first time last night, and it was amazingly good. Perfectly smooth and fluffy, it almost upstaged the beef ragout. I had my doubts after checking its progress after the first hour, it looked like a mess, but it seemed miraculously to come together at the very end. I don't think I can go back to the stovetop version now, the oven-baked results are so superior.

thanks coquus and rgruby. i have access to a scanner at the office, i'll post my floorplan sometime next week. it's very awkward because of my 3 doorways (although one can be moved), plumbing that runs upstairs to other condos, an unusuable wall because the building chimney is directly behind it...in other words, the joys of having a condo carved out of an old victorian floorplan. on the other hand, for a city-dweller, i'm fortunate to have such a large space for a kitchen.

Our 10x12 kitchen opens to the dining room on the short side. Pre-renovation, a peninsula between the kitchen and dining room was a major bottleneck. After evaluating several island and peninsula configurations, we decided that a galley layout was the most efficient and functional. If you can use the 14' dimension I think you'll be OK. My calculation is: 2 X 30" countertops = 5' leaving 9' , 2 X 36" walkways/work areas = 6'. This leaves 3' for the island width. More than enough; in fact unless you really do have two people cooking a lot of the time a 30" wide island works well. We had one kitchen where we only had space for a 24" island. That worked. I think the association recommendations are great & ideal IF you can plan the kitchen from scratch. In the world of this is the space I have; how do I best use it corner cutting is necessary. Unfortunately, in this kitchen, it's the other way around, the island would need to run parallel to the 14' length. one wall cannot have any cabinets. So, the floor plan provides for one length of 24" cabs, 40" walkways, and a 30" width island. Because of the dimensions, the island could easily run 6-8 feet (which is the temptation in an otherwise tight plan) Yes, it made sense and helped, insofar as it helps to know that other folks have these old floor plans! Truth is, the entire room is 20' long, but I'm trying to reserve a hunk of the room for an area that I can use as a very small study/seating area. Several architect friends have been generous with their advice, and I've ended up with two competing floor plans: island v. penninsla. Going with a galley seems to waste a lot of floor space. Truthfully, the penninsula plan is much more efficient. But I crave an island, and I fear the penninsula will feel too confining. Any penninsula fans out there?

Can you tell me what you mean? I still love the look, and am still planning the kitchen. thanks for bumping up the thread again. Perfect timing, I'm back in kitchen planning mode.

I've been lurking on this thread but haven't had anything constructive to add or any specific questions until now. yunnermeier, I am intrigued by your island. It looks beautiful but I wonder how the layout works for you. It appears that the sink is on the other side from the cooktop. Is that a hassle when you need to fill pots, drain pasta, etc.? For the past year, I've been mulling over my own kitchen design issues and have been trying to fit an island into my odd floorplan. I'd love your opinion as well as others' experiences with islands. I'm especially interested in anyone's experience with putting an island into smallish kitchens (mine is roughly 11x14, with limitations of odd doorways and such. I say smallish because I get the sense that it's smallish by some standards. For central Boston it's pretty spacious). I'm grappling with the "island vs. penninsula" debate.

For those of us who love Paris but whose budget doesn't allow us such splurges, thanks for letting us live vicariously! You do an amazing job of describing these complex courses and meals. I can almost taste them.

My favorite wine shop in Boston, Federal Wine and Spirits, has an appropriately informal approach to Nouveau Beaujolais Their tasting begins at 8 am with bagels and cream cheese. Though I've been to many of their evening wine tastings, yesterday was my first breakfast tasting. Great fun. I'm sipping one of their offerings as I type this, and it isn't "crappy" at all, though hardly a serious wine. While I agree with everyone about the better wines from the region, it's still a nice annual ritual.

I've got an unused tray of these in my fridge too. Unused because the in the first tray I opened, the flavor of the anchovies seemed overwhelmed by the vinegar. With anchovies, that's saying something. Is there a trick to preparing them first?

I'm so glad you love your Blue Star. I have my heart set on one, when I finally get around to the big kitchen renovation. 22,000 BTUs as well as low simmer. A big plus for me is that they do not have sealed burners--though I know others may not share that preference. Your kitchen is beautiful, btw.

As a wine lover on a budget, I'm always open to trying anything new, regardless of its provenance. It has been a fun trip around the world. Occasionally it brings me back to the US but it seems like a long time since I found anything I would classify as a good value in my typical $10-16 price range (Last example would be CA zins, but now they've gotten pricey too). Like others here, I find myself in France and Italy more often than not these days. This past summer, I also discovered muscadets, which became my default house white. Where have they been all these years and how had I missed them? Although I can troll the isles in the wine shop like anyone else, I have become very reliant on knowledgeable local wine merchants who go to the trouble of identifying and purchasing these wines. It is probably a lot safer to sell the known varietals and wineries. When they start finding the equivalent domestic bargains, I'll happily purchase them. By coincidence, last night I tried my first bourgueil, the Domaine le la Chanteleuserie mentioned above. I will be stocking up on that one.

Can you report back on the recipe? I've been so disappointed with the other recipes I've tried from this cookbook that I've never gotten around to this one.

I second this opinion. Know your own cooking needs. My cookware collection includes copper, All-Clad stainless, le Creuset, vintage cast iron, as well as some odd hand-me-downs or flea market finds, and I use them all. But re: the copper. I find that I reach for it in two very different circumstances: #1 when I want uber-responsiveness between the heat element and the pan. I find a remarkable difference between copper and anything else when this matters. My copper saucier is probably my favorite piece in this category. #2 for the pure pleasure of cooking and serving with something so beautiful. A few years ago, while in Paris, I bought a very large copper gratin dish. Gorgeous, hammered copper with handles. I reach for it any time I want to bring something from the oven to the table and care about the presentation--everything from a traditonal potato gratin to a whole baked fish. No matter, it makes the finished dish look festive and (dare I say) sexy.

I love this response as much as the original posting, thank you both! Actually, I enjoy well chosen music as backdrop to a dinner party. It definitely provides insight into the tastes of one's host that you might not get otherwise.

These do sound like fun. I'll have to be more careful about planning my next trip to coincide with one. Felice, how do you learn the password?

Hmm. Looks like a good place to know about if you're in the neighborhood. I don't know if it's worth a detour, unless you're a sandwich afficionado (I'm not, except for the occasional bahn mi or cubano). The prices seem very reasonable. The only place in Boston (that I know about) that made its name on sandwiches, is the Parish Cafe, on Boylston Street. Sandwiches created by local celebrity chefs. I haven't been in a while, but the menu used to have some by Jodi Adams, Lydia Shire, Ming Tsai, and others.