highchef

Well, I don't particulary like strong smells on airplanes, but I make an exception for food...er...good food. No eggs, though, or stinky cheese. I'll grab sandwiches in the airport before boarding. even a starbucks panninni fares better than that weird chicken they serve. I also like to grab an extra water and a fruit bowl. I buy the stuff at the airport even if I'm flying out, it beats lugging the food through security. they actually have the kind of small meal stuff I like and it's fresher in the end because it hasn't been off ice for a couple of hours. just remember to bring water, that is sooo important on long flights.

Like this? ← See! THAT'S why you shouldn't stick around for the crowning of the queen. I have seen something on ftv about a spam festival, but I thought it was in Seattle. They mentioned Tom Robbins cooking up a can every year on his birthday. Does this mean there are 2??? Or, maybe...even more??? and Shiner Bock is a natural pairing. That I didn't know.

here Boy. That's a heck of a list. Just here, in Louisiana to start you have the Jazz Fest which is a must see as well as Mardi Gras in any major southern Louisiana city. Food and music are the reasons to live here, that said I also avoid the tourist traps that are put on to 'sell' the place and take your money. Like Contraband Days. There are smaller venues, that were pretty cool pre hurricanes like the fur and wildlife festival and the rabbit/alligater/frog festivals that are little local things with good music and a bit of french, cajun culture (rabbit skinning contest anyone?). Hammond has a strawberry festival, Ruston has a peach.for me that's just saying it's time to go get the fruit. I don't hang around and watch them crown the queen. There's a tamale festival in Zwolle that's always had me curious, but not encough to drive up there. If you go to La tourist office here and click on event search they'll give dates by month of various things. But if I were to pick just one thing to fly to La. for as a destination event it would definately be Jazz fest. You've got to do this once in your life. The Essence festival just ended (in Houston this year) which has some pretty cool headliners, but I don't know about the food. When it's in New Orleans good food is a given, other wise, unless it's a food festival (where at least you'll have a cook off of the local product) you're looking at turkey legs. btw, there was a renassance (sp) festival in Louisiana at one time, if you see it on the calender ignore it. stick with Texas. edit: check the Louisiana forum, there's a thread or 2 on Jazz fest and somewhere Brooks aka Mayhaw Man has pictures...I just can't find them right now, sorry

I put them in cornbread...the smoked ones. I add a little latin spice mix and it's pretty good.

Great minds.....

I'd suggest a weber kettle. It's the perfect charcoal grill imo. ashpan, top and bottom vents and plenty of room. To start charcoal without fluid use a chimney...available literally anywhere, they even had them at albertson's this summer. Try this (has directions for everything) and this for starters. When you're ready for a cookbook, like him or not, Bobby Flay knows how to grill and has written more that one cookbook on the subject. Have Fun! btw, I grill a lot, if you get some cool recipes please share!

I have these, but I cannot find the price on this site. I hate stupid stuff like that, but give the toll free number a call, these are the best, they do everything. I take them apart and throw them in the dishwasher. I use them for anything except cutting hair...they're too big.

ok, I'm going to suggest a change in recipe. If you are wanting "Basically my cookie is meant to come out solid and round but it is spreading out flat. " then I tend to think you've got a sugar problem. LIGHT, buttery cookies tend to have a bit of cornstarch in them, (think shortbread) and use a lighter sugar. this cookie uses both, and it comes out perfectly, if a bit fraigle. If you lose the lemon, you'd have a butter cookie. I think the molasses in the sugar is bringing the structure down as it melts as was suggested earlier. Has anyone tried this recipe to see if they have the same problem? I don't have a butter cookie recipe exactly...I always have to put chips or something in them to appease the masses. I could drop the chocolate and see what happens. The only other thing I can think of is to fortify the flour. I swear the bakery here known for their fat balls of choc. chip cookies puts oat flour in there to hold the shape, but she swears she doesn't and I can't prove it! She says she just freezes them before baking, but I've tried that and it doesn't do it for me. Please let us know if you resolve this, I am very curious.

I caught one episode of a ftv show with some guy who's all gung ho about showing people how to eat lower fat, carbs etc..It had to do with chili cheese fries, which I dearly love. I could not bring myself to buy the 'diet' cheese though. The rest was common sense, like baking the fries instead of frying them, using turkey meat instead of chuck, etc. That's the kind of thing I can incorporate into daily cooking for the family. I'm not interested in duplicating factory produced diet food, I'd rather eat fruit and veggies than baked chips, but baked fries work rather well I think. edit: it helps if it makes sense....

I thought fish sauce was good forever. I mean, how do you know it's gone bad? The smell??

Genetic memory?

What does this mean?? Otherwise, I was going to ask how you ate eggs without smelling them. I guess you just stop breathing for a bit. I cannot stand the smell of horshradish anymore, but that did not occur until after I got food poisoning. Perhaps you and your brother share a past experience that you don't remember, but your olfactory and adrenal glands remember all too well. I do think a lot of what we can/cannot do is hereditary including levels of taste and smell. It wouldn't make much sense if your level of sensitivity didn't have something to do with genetics...every other ability (or potential for) you have does.

I know how I would do it, but reading the recipe can you tell where he actually cooks the shrimp? It just says to add them, but in the pic they are already cooked. I'll just saute them either separately, or w/ the trinity. Or add them after the meat is cooked and let them simmer till done. It's a common sense thing, but there are people who don't know anything about shrimp who might get screwed up.

That sounds awsome! gonna do it! and then stick it in chocolate...can't leave good enough alone I guess. ← No. no!! Coat in caramel, THEN dip in chocolate. ← uh oh....my oh my. I guess I should go make some caramel. I have chocolate. you are bad. how do you make caramel that will harden up? I know how to make it from scm inn a can under water, but I think that would be too thin to dip again. edit: wait a minute. If they already have a butterscotch flavor, would the caramel be redundant???

That sounds awsome! gonna do it! and then stick it in chocolate...can't leave good enough alone I guess.

I'll do the eggplant, Todd. Perhaps we could have a taste off on Monday night at Chez Pableaux on Monday night? ← so, it's on for monday?? I have a new camera, it'll take me that long to install software, etc. Great!! You should see the tomatoes my friends are bringing me. Lunch is summertime complete! I'm using shrimp. crabmeat is still too expensive.

I want someone to pull a recipe out and challange us all! I have tomatoes, I have eggplant, I have cucumbers, I'll buy anything else. The shrimp man came by today in his truck and I have lovely, beautiful gulf shrimp. I'm thinking stuffed eggplant.

what sort of bags, what area of the country are you in? There is a reason for presevatives, but I know what you're talking about...you want to deliver fresh stuff. the humidity and time of day could be the problem. I know when I take photo's, I cannot leave a cool house and go outside and expect to take pic's until the condensation on the lens cools off. Maybe you should pack outside. Where the heat is the same as the packing??? That's if it's really, like fresh baked stuff.

It's dry ranch, and I know it's not the traditional cuc sandwich, but spread out on soft white bread it's quite good. I've tried the salt and drain and pat thing, I even used an english cucumber because I thought it would be less watery. I have a ton of them from various gardens, so I'll try again with the home grown one's. Maybe they should be finelly chopped to get even more water from them. I don't know, but I've got plenty to experiment with! Thanks for the links. I like radishes, will try that too.

I know I've done this successfully in another lifetime, but I must have left something out. I thinly sliced the cuc's and tossed them with a combo of dressing mix and cream cheese. I know it's not the real deal, but it's quite tasty when someone else does it. My stuff ended up watery and tasteless after it was drained (duh!). I sliced thin, lightly salted and drained them in a colander and on paper towels for hours. still a mess. what am I doing wrong???

this recipe has a suggestion from a reviewer to add a cup of oats. As is the usual deal with epicurious recipes, her other modifications have made this an entirely different item, but were done to make it 'healthier'. So said, I wouldn't do many of the substitutions but adding the oats (I think pre-soaked, or add a bit more liquid) would PROBABLY achieve the crumbly effect and definately add some texture and lovely flavor.

Are you thinking of Galliano and Harvey Wallbangers? ← Thank You! Yes! Mom loved those things. And I make focaccia...gotta do something with all that rosemary.

I wish I could be there to help you in your wonderful predictament...but since I can't maybe you could share that crab cake recipe??? I loved Bella Luna 10 years ago. Is it still open/reopened??? I really need to get back to NO.

O.K., it's not exactly what Patrick was talking about, but Oli posted this baking question earlier, and when you follow the link you see a beautiful strawberry cake. I've got to try it!

This can get to be a great expense for a restaurant. In Florida, during the winter, a lot of restaurants do not put the packets on the table because the snowbirds will take it all assuming incorrectly that they have paid for all the packets. If you ask the server for a couple of jars for your kids, I am sure it will be not a big deal. But when you go through a couple of cases in short order, it drives up cost of doing business. For a while, I worked in a gourmet kitchenware store and I will not get into all the stuff the snowbirds stole from us. And their reasoning was that without their business, we would go broke, they almost drove us broke with the stealing. But that is another soapbox. Sorry. Back to the packets, use what you need and leave the rest, don't pack them home. ← Well, I have grown up and have an income now. Like I said...college. When you pay a lot of money for a basket of bisquits or muffins and coffee delivered to your room I still think the jams are fair game. I don't know about snow birds, but I suspect they like individual items for the convience. those expensive trailers and motorhomes don't have a lot of space. That said, if they can afford those kind of toys then they can certainly afford to go to Sam's and buy the packets themselves and bring what they need with them. I've always thought about the expense of sending those small jars up to rooms. Is the cost less than having someone wash small bowls of jam spooned from commercial containers? Or is it just the cachet? The 'luxury' aspect..we are pampering you, and you won't bitch when you see the bill kind of thing??? A lot of that stuff walks out with the employees as well. I used to know waitresses who justified it when they looked at their paychecks. Stealing is wrong, in any case. but when have you paid for something???