Darcie B

My DH and I call them Horse Ovaries. I think that one got started when we were try to spell Hors d'Oeuvres. We also eat buh-sketti.

I use a wine bottle with about 1/2 inch of wine at the bottom. The suckers fly in, get drunk(?), and apparently can't figure out how to get out. Anyway, they die in there. Also make sure to refrigerate ANY other possible sources of food for them (i.e. any fruit or veggies/breads on the counter, regardless if they are ripe or not). "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx

In our local Kroger, they carry cans of Tomato Puree. If you can't find it in your local stores, then I would suggest draining whole tomatoes and pureeing them.

When we remodeled our kitchen, my husband wanted everything copper. So we found an extra deep copper apron front sink on ebay (less than $1k). We both love it. It's a two-holer, but it is very wide and each bowl fits even the largest cookie sheets. We had to do some sawing on the cabinet and there is not a lot of room under the sink, but those seem to be the only drawbacks (I am 5'4" so the depth was not an issue). We got a faucet that we really liked (Cifial) but it didn't come with a sprayer. So my husband added a line each from the hot and cold supply lines and put a ball valve and garden hose type connector on them. On the hot one we have a 6' garden hose with sprayer. Now there is a sprayer! You can get gunk off of anything with it. On the cold line we just put a washing machine hose with one end cut off, and I use it to fill the plant-watering bucket (although I suppose it could use it as a pot filler but I don't trust the washing machine hose for that). Isn't my DH very handy? EDIT to add that these lines were put under the sink and it all stores away neatly.

Marlena (and CaliPoutine and Danielle and Pam) - I grew up in North Dakota and am of German descent, but we enjoyed a dish similar to what you describe, only we basically make ravioli and put a cottage cheese/onion mixture into it. It's boiled and then fried in butter with breadcrumbs. It's called kase knephla (don't know about the spelling, but that's the way my grandmother wrote it). One of my favorite comfort foods too.

Wendy, did you ever find an answer to this? It happened to me for the first time yesterday when making a lemon meringue pie. It's never happened before, and I always use a stainless pan/whisk. I did use a different recipe - do you suppose it's due to a certain proportion of lemon juice to other ingredients? It is really off putting - I think I might have to throw this one out.

Edit to provide corrected link (I couldn't get the link in the original post to work): Lemon Drop Wafers. Looking at the recipe to me the biggest variable would be the candies. Are you using the small, powdered-sugar coated old-fashioned lemon drops? How finely are you crushing them? I was thinking maybe if they weren't crushed enough they would ooze and spread too much.

cakewalk - thanks, I should have looked there first. Here is a link for anyone else interested: Pistachio Cardamom Cake.

Could you please share the pistachio cardamom cake recipe? Sounds great! Thanks.

I made the Golden Grand Marnier cake from RLB's The Cake Bible, which I have made before with good results. I used the cathedral bundt pan, which I have also used before with little problem. However, the first time half the cake stuck in the pan (after I had poured the Grand Marnier syrup over it.) The cake was really crumbly, too. I tried it again, because I really like the flavor in this cake. This time I tried to get the cake out before drenching it with syrup, and two of the peaks remained in the pan. The cake would not slice evenly, either, just crumbled. I still don't know what went wrong and am loathe to try it again. I may try it with a less detailed pan, but I can't figure out why it was so crumbly both times. I weigh my flour and carefully measured the other ingredients. Might be because it is so dry here right now. (Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.) I went ahead and served the second cake to some friends, who loved the taste, even if it was a little crumbly. Made lots and lots of cookies, other cakes, toffee, caramel, and marshmallows, and all of them turned out great. Went through 20 pounds of butter (which to the pros is not very much, but to me it was a lot).

Great start to what I am sure will be a memorable blog. I, too, am from German/Russian descent and grew up in North Dakota so I will be reading eagerly. From my understanding of the North Dakotan German/Russians' route to the U.S., there was a large outmigration of Germans to South Russia because of a generous land grant program started by Catherine the Great in the 1760s. There was a large influx of German settlers to Russia in from 1763-1767, then again in the early 1800s when Catherine's grandson, Alexander I, renewed the manifesto offering special status to emigrees. (My mother's family settled near Odessa in the second wave of German settlement.) However, Alexander revoked much of the manifesto in the mid-1840s so waves of emigrants came to the U.S. for free homesteading in the midwest. This continued until the Russian revolution in 1917. My maternal great-grandfather, conscripted into the Russian army in 1913 and finding out he was to be posted in Siberia, took his young bride and their infant daughter and set out for America. They settled in southern North Dakota. The story is much the same on my dad's side of the family but they got out of Russia in the first wave of the 1870s-1880s. Sadly, the Germans who remained in Russia suffered mistreatment throughout the communist reign. However, after 1989, many Germans were able to return to Germany and begin life anew in the homeland. To get back to food, my paternal grandfather had a secret recipe for sausage that he sold to the local grocery store and sadly, which we never got from him before he passed away. I loves me that sausage! I remember going to my uncle's house for pig slaughtering. I would watch as my uncles would clean and rinse the intestines and grind the meat for sausage. My grandfather would mix up the sausage and it would get stuffed and tied. My mother and I would stir the pig's blood to keep if from coagulating, and it was later used to make blood sausage (which I just couldn't bring myself to eat). Carry on, and I look forward to the rest of the blog!

I add a cup of slivered (not sliced) almonds to my butter/sugar mixture when it hits 225 degrees, then continue with it until it reaches 310 degrees. You have to stir frequently but not constantly to keep the almonds from scorching. The recipe I use is from a friend on the CI BB: 1 lb unsalted butter 1/2 tsp. salt 2 cups sugar 3 Tbs. water (I use rum) 12 oz. melted chocolate 1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans Melt butter and salt. Add 1/2 of sugar, stirring, then add water, add remaining sugar. Turn heat to medium high and cook until 225 degrees (or until sugar is totally dissolved). Add almonds. Cook, stirring frequently with wooden spoon, until mixture is dark amber (310 degrees). Pour immediately into parchment lined jellyroll pan; smooth with offset spatula. In 2-3 minutes, when toffee has just set, add melted chocolate. Sprinkle with nuts, pressing down to adhere nuts. Cool until fully set; break into pieces. Even my DH, who doesn't like much in the way of sweets, loves this toffee.

Thanks, Patrick. I used ChefPeon's "baker's grease" but still had a little bit of a sticking issue on the sides. I'll have to be more careful next time; maybe let the cakes cool longer in the pan (I gave them 10 minutes or so). I think ganache is probably better than buttercream for this cake; there are just so many of my co-workers who don't like chocolate on chocolate. (Actually, I expect they would have been satisfied with a grocery store cake, but I want to eat it too...)

I made the last version of this cake last night and left it at room temp to ice this morning before work. The cake looked and smelled wonderful, but as soon as I put the first blob of icing on the side of the cake and started to smooth it, big chunks of the cake fell off. Not just crumbs, 1-2" pieces of cake. I was so disappointed (and pissed!). I was using a "fake" buttercream (butter, powdered sugar, flavoring, thinned w/corn syrup). I don't think the icing was too stiff. Any ideas about what went wrong? Should I have chilled the cake before icing? I never do with other cakes. I ended up smashing the cake in frustration (catharsis, but a HUGE mess to clean up). This is for a co-worker's b-day celebration at work, so I baked a chocolate sheet cake and will frost it at lunch (oops which is right now). I just couldn't bring myself to buy a grocery store cake so was an hour late to work. I'm not a happy camper and would appreciate some advice. Thanks.

I will agree with to the extent that adults should be free to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't harm others. I am only in favor of using methods such as restricting advertising when it comes to children, who may not have the resources and education to make good decisions. It is up to all of us to protect and educate children, because ultimately some parents will fail to do so. However, I do not believe in protecting adults from themselves. Let them eat twinkies!

Thank you for the insight, kalypso. I certainly don't want anyone to think I am getting down on school lunch cooks or servers. They don't make up the menu, and they have a thankless job feeding hundreds of kids every day. I sure don't envy them. I do know that in this school district, at least, the double stuff cheese pizza is a purchased product, not made with commodities. I have friends who are teachers and my husband was a teacher, so I have seen many local school kitchens firsthand, and there was less commodity food in those kitchens than would be indicated by kalypso's post. Again, that might just be this school district; I assume there is some leeway for getting products. Most of the school cooks in this district are food heaters; other than biscuits, dinner rolls and pepperoni rolls, they don't do much from scratch, commodities or no. Basically, what I am saying that there is room for improvement.

When a child is obese, who is responsible? The parents. But how do we hold the parents accountable? Do we rush in with Child Protective Services and remove said child to foster care where they have no TV and only carrot sticks for snacks? Looking at the overworked CPS workers that can't keep up with the current caseload of abuse, I don't think that is the answer. It is much easier to regulate the (relatively) few corporations' activities, including advertising, than to try to hold millions of households responsible. Is it right? Maybe not, but if we feel that obesity is a problem that must be solved for society's sake, as well as the sake of the individuals, we must use whatever avenues are available to us. If we do nothing and say "it's the parents fault!" then the losers are the children in those households and, IMO, society as a whole. I look at this not only from the standpoint of concern for overweight kids, but also because if obesity is/becomes the epidemic it is made out to be, my health insurance will go up with the rising tide of health care costs. Also, why is it so hard to expect larger corporations to act responsibly? Lest anyone think I am anti-corporation, I say this as a business owner. Our (DH and me) business is motorcycles. We have parents who want to buy their 8-year-old an adult-sized scooter or motorcycle. We refuse to sell to them. Does it hurt our pocketbooks? Sure, but it is the right thing to do. Corporations are not inherently evil, but neither are they inherently beneficial. Let's just say I am not going to cry for General Mills. While we do what we can in the short term to help kids stay healthy, we should work on a long-term solution that doesn't involve regulations.

I think they have in the past. That's how we got the current USDA guidelines on Federal School Lunch programs. ← Using the current USDA guidelines on Federal School Lunch programs, you will get this: (From the Kanawha County, WV schools website.) Dec. 6 - Breakfast: Hashbrown Patty w/Toast (I’d like a little starch with my starch). Lunch: Salisbury Steak w/Gravy (probably processed crap), Mashed Potatoes/Green Beans, Fresh Kiwi/School Made Wheat (notice it does not say "whole wheat") Roll /Milk Dec. 7 - Breakfast: Fresh Yogurt Cup, Nutra Grain Bar. Lunch: Baked Cajun Fish, Brown Rice Pilaf/Steamed Corn/Strawberry Gelatin w/Fruit, Breadstick, Milk Dec. 12 - Breakfast: French Toast Sticks. Lunch: Double Stuffed Cheese Pizza, Corn/Cucumber Slices, Hot Apple Crisp, Milk Dec. 19 - Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Bacon/Biscuit. Lunch: Beef BBQ on Kaiser Bun, French Fries/Baked Beans, Fresh Apple/Milk Dec. 21 - Breakfast: Super Nutritious Donut (I am NOT making this up). Lunch: School Made Pepperoni Roll, Tossed Salad, Pears/Tortilla Chips w/Salsa, Milk Does this sound like something you would want to feed your kids? I don't think we can lay all the blame all on parents for their kids' unhealthy eating habits... However, I don't think that the Illinois proposal would do much to alter these menus. It seems misguided. I agree with all who say that in addition to offering nutritious foods, we need to emphasize exercise and nutrition education, especially exercise. One of my neighbors refers to another neighbor's children as ghosts, because they are never outside. The two girls get no exercise other than the meager P.E. offering in school. (The boy works out with weights in the basement.) The parents don't encourage exercise and won't let the girls (now ages 13 and 16) leave the yard for fear of molestation or abduction. (We live in a very safe suburban neighborhood.) I think is becoming the norm rather than the exception. But how do we counteract this trend?

I always make an assortment of cookies and bring them to work, give them to the mail carrier, etc. For closer friends, I do a few cookies but supplement with rum cakes, Guinness Stout Cakes (from Gramercy Tavern, clickety, yum!), toffee, caramel corn, and sometimes beef or venison jerky. I like jerky because it is easy to make and easy to ship, being very lightweight. Unfortunately, this year's jerky is very bland. I have a TNT recipe that never failed me before. I may try again but it was so disappointing. Luckily it was venison that my nephew gave me so I'm not out much $$. Edited for bad speeling.

Do those who use Americolor have an online source? All I can find here is Wilton. Thanks.

It is possible, but highly unlikely. I think the odds of eggs having salmonella/campylobacter here in the U.S. is about 1 in 30,000 (someone please correct me if I am wrong). And if you are healthy, it probably won't kill you, although you might wish you were dead for a day or two. I once spent 36 hours in the hospital (on Christmas Eve/Day!) from food poisoning. Even though I would not like to relive that episode, I eat cookie dough and cake batter all the time. (Perhaps this is because my food poisoning was from a fast-food hamburger left in the glove box of a car for 3 hours, not from eggs). It is a risk, but pretty small.

First, let me thank you for your service. Second, may I say this is a fascinating thread! You mentioned upthread about rolling/pitching. Does this ever come unexpectedly and cause a big mess (i.e. soup kettle sloshes hot soup everywhere?) If you know in advance to expect it, does it ever make you change the menu?

Well, I seem to be one of the few people who grew up on a farm and witnessed a lot of butchering. I often helped my mother and grandmother butcher chickens. My grandmother would hack their heads off with a none-too-sharp knife and we would "bleed" them by letting them flap and fly around. I am sure many would think a headless chicken flying into a barn with blood spattering everywhere would traumatize a child, but it was fascinating to me. (One might also think it would bruise the meat but it never seemed to be a problem). I frequently stared intently at the chicken's head, its mouth soundlessly opening and closing for many seconds after its decapitation. I also would gingerly step on cow's stomachs that were lying in the sun becoming bloated. I wanted to pop one but didn't really have the guts (sorry) to just jump on it. I remember my grandfather slitting the cow's throat to let it bleed after it had been shot in the head. I felt kinda sorry for the cow, but looked forward to the wonderful meat we would be eating all winter. Damn, that was good beef! However, I was never the one wielding the knife (we stopped butchering ourselves when I was in my early teens). I am sure I could decapitate a chicken, but don't know if I could kill a rabbit. If someone else dispatched it, I might be able to bleed it. I think my hesitation comes from the fact that it is a cute, furry widdle mammal and too closely associated with my pets.

Well, since I am sitting in my office in the middle of downtown Charleston, I may be able to help you. First, my condolences for having to visit Charleston in early 2006. That being said, here are my recommendations. First, GG has posted some of the better dining options, but some are located a bit out of town so unless you have a car you will have difficulty getting there. However, I would be HAPPY to provide transportation to you and your guests, if any, to any restaurant in the area. Second, a couple of those choices above are no longer available, most significantly the Chilton House, which is the most on-again, off-again restaurant in the area. It's located in an historic house on the banks of the Coal River a stone's throw (maybe two stones) from my house. Aubrey's, also located near my home, is only open a couple of nights a week (if it is indeed still open). It isn't that great anyway. The Chop House has prime beef at a prime price. Blossom Deli is a deli-by-day, upscale food by night place. Pretty good but not great. The French Quarter Lounge is located in a greyhound race track. Need I say more? Laury's is great if you like a snooty atmosphere and mediocre food. The Tarragon Room can be very good, but is of course pricey. I'm not sure if the prices are quite justified. Wellington's just sucks (IMNSHO). Now, some not listed: Soho's, owned by the same guy who owns the Blossom Deli, has pretty decent Italian food (including standards like pizza and panini, but also house made agnolotti and other good bites. Caveat: food is frequently oversauced, but if you request light on the sauce it's good.) Bridge Road Bistro, very good, upscale. I've heard it's quite good but have not found anyone to accompany me there (hint, hint). From my boss: portions are small and expensive, but quite delicious. Wine selection is good too. I have to head home now but will post more later, esp. on the good lunch places (all the above are more evening/dinner meal places.) Back again. The Blossom is good for lunch, quaint 50s soda fountain decor, good sandwiches and salads. Reasonably priced, too. My favorite is the "Undecided" platter: a baby scoop each of egg salad, chicken salad and tuna salad, served atop baby field greens, with olives, roasted red pepper, red onion, a boiled egg and house vinaigrette. Comes with a yummy orange muffin, too. Delish is also a good lunch place. They serve lots of noodle dishes (Udon, etc.) and have recently added new items. Haven't eaten there very recently so I don't know about the new stuff. Soho's (mentioned above) has a good lunch offering too. If you are in the mood for local culture and/or good ol' country cookin', then you can go to the Southern Kitchen, a local landmark. Joey's has decent ribs and is another local institution (I like the Tex-Mex chili burger). Goopy and sloppy, yum yum. If you like wings and want some brew to chase it down, head to the Cold Spot. "Best Wings in Town" in your choice of flavors (Mild to Toxic plus BBQ and Garlic BBQ). We have a newish Thai place (Thai House) that I haven't been to yet. I've heard it is pretty good. That's all I can think of now. PM me if you want a map. (EDIT to add some new stuff).

You forgot "I don't want it to be TOO sharp, I'd cut myself!" (My neighbors refuse to use my knives when we cook together because they are "too sharp.") I steel mine about every other time I use it and use a two-step waterstone about 2 times a year on the chef's knife and santoku. Steel every other time for others; haven't used a stone on them yet.