highchef

I've had another...God I need a new place to shop. Mam'm...over here.. oh..shi... not here, there then 10 other people go ing into line and she says "Oh, I wante'd HER over here!"..... what a riot. I had to let 5 people go in front just to save her ass. But, they say, that is what they do to save you money. They are saving cost, because they're cutting hours to part time ,not to pay benifits, but the cost come in other places. Albertson's per example has half the fulltime employees today than it had this time last year, and has closed stores all over. It's a shame, but maybe a boon for the small time grocer to make a come back??? I don't know. maybe.

Friday I went shopping for sauce ingredients for my butt..see behold my butt posts. Now get your minds out of the gutter. Anyway as a true blue Louisianaian (?) I always check out the seafood. Shrimp boats pass in front of our place on river/ship channel daily. We are 7 miles from the gulf and have a cut to the lake in front of us and a marsh on the other side of the hwy. I don't usually buy seafood from the market unless it's something that I can't get locally, like salmon (I cannot spell). Anyway some giant shrimp caught my eye with sign on the tag stating that they were from Guatamala. Being the Smarta__ that I am, I mentioned that they must of had a heck of a swim. The child behind the counter says "no mam...they were shipped in yesterday!" I realized I had a grin on my face cause I was about to crack up when everyone I passed 'smiled back' at me! I'm still grinning..... He was a cute kid though. dumb, but cute.

I smoked 2 butts (cheeks?) Friday. Can relate to the weather situation, it was closer to 100 here in S.W. La. 8 hours on the weber and falling apart, hubby was in heaven, I was in heaven (and a little drunk....you gotta have fluids in this weather) kids were in heaven. A little latin spice mix as a rub, no brine. I will try a brine next time, but this butt would be hard to improve upon. The weber kettle is PERFECT for this, used wine barrel chips which gave a divine flavor. I usually use pecan (the branches fall daily between the tree rats and the afternoon thunderstorms) and I will next time. all I can say is I can relate. made a bourbon bbq sauce, lite on the catshup just to thin it out a bit. yummy. I would have taken pictures, but my oldest got smart and went on vacation in the mountains with my dig. camera. Next time, cause they're pretty butts.

This is my house tonightl, damn, hubby came in from hackberry.... But if anyone wants the consumate recipe for okra. pm. edit to add, I have 2 recipes.

I LOVED Burger Chef!!! I can still see the 3 layers of bread and sesame top, best burger EVER! What did happen to them? I knew the guy who owned the one's here and he made millions on about 5 resturants! However, I worked for a rival...anyone remember Corky's? Back when Walgreens had grills and counter service they named them Corkys and put them off to one side instead of inside the store like they used to. Good burgers, made them over open flame like Burger King. That's where I learned to core lettuce and do %'s in my head. I just don't like Mickey D's for some reason. I think I got burned out on them when my oldest was a baby, my youngest has (to my knowledge) never set foot in one!

I buy pre washed spinach AND pre washed greens.The time consumption on these two items is worth the pre-packaged price imo. Now, the idea of frozen pb&j (without crust, mind you) just boggles my mind. What's that song? I would do anything for love, but I won't do that? Well, sorry, I won't do that.

I lived in N.J. 25 years ago, and hated it...as soon as I could I moved into an apt. in centercity philly. My husband was a Naval Officer and it suited him fine, there were no oq's on base. However....I'd met a young couple who were with the Federal Gov't, and were in charge of taking care of various nat'l sites in and around Philly. When my husband went overseas, she called and invited me to her new 'assignment' to spend some quality time...This place was in N. Jersey and was unbelievably beautiful. The house had been in the same family for over 100 years and had barns, stables etc...but the house...my God. Ceder closets everywhere, meat cellar, wine cellar...deck that looked out for miles and miles on the most beautiful earth God ever laid down. And the house was built for generations. And generations used it. And then it was taken away by the Fed's for a dam that to my knowledge has not been built to this day. There's not a price tag on a place like that. As a 2nd generation Irishman(woman) I can tell you, that if it'd been ours- there would have been blood paid. I paid a lot more attention to N.J. after that...and to our taxes. You might want to pay some attention to yours. N.J. has gotten a bad rap, and has been raped a number of times. By the Mob, but also by the Feds. jmoo edit: I told you I could not spell

that's very cool, I love ceremony. Here we tie a small sapling to the peak of the roof where I guess it stays until the building or house is finished. You don't see it done much anymore but used to all the time, especially when people used small contractors or built the house themselves. I did see it about a year ago on a small hotel...

It's the only time of year that I still miss living in NO...there we'd just go to Pat O'Briens and drink the things!! ← Guess you really haven't lived through a real hurricane if you say you love hurricane season. We've been through a few. Especially Andrew in Miami. We were lucky compared to a lot of our friends. Lost power and water for about 6 weeks (stayed in a hotel in Palm Beach County until they went back on - living without power and water in a 20 story high rise in August isn't a lot of fun). Had about $5,000 in uninsured losses (insurance on our buildings paid millions). But a lot of our friends lost everything. After Andrew - it took about 2 years for everyone to get normal in terms of things like power - telephone - cable TV. Rebuilding took longer due to shortages (which is still the case today in Florida after last year - we have friends with "blue roofs" - flood damage - still trying to get repairs - there's an incredible shortage of workers and building supplies). Even though our current county (St. Johns) was simply brushed by Frances and Jeanne - a lot of people here lost power for 2-3 weeks (we in the northern part of the county were luckier - only lost power for a day or two). We had a big mess to deal with in terms of trees and the like - but nothing like the property damage an hour to the south of us. In my opinion - the most important thing you do after being hit by a major hurricane is you move somewhere else. And the most important thing you do before is make sure your insurance covers temporary relocation costs - or you put a few bucks in the bank so you can relocate if necessary. I never could understand all the stuff about filling bathtubs with water. What the heck do you do with all that filthy water? We have friends who've gone the "whole house" generator route - but that is a mighty expensive way to deal with things (not to mention that you have to like the smell of diesel fuel). On the other hand - if you're simply talking about playing around with things like drinking parties and grilling some hotdogs after 40 mph winds knock out your power for dinner - well that's another story. Robyn ← I was being a smart-ass. I've lived in Louisiana just a few miles from the coast almost my entire life. I've lived and unfortunatly vacationed in quite a few hurricanes and take them very, very seriously. Sometimes I miss the 'I am invincible' attitude most of us took in college about it though, and since I was in school in New Orleans that meant heading for the French Quarter. My God Parents camp (misnomer, there but that's what they called it) is now gone after being wiped out 3 times in 15 years. Twice we had to leave only to come back and clean the mess up so they could build again. The third time, they left it (or what was left of it) for the demo crews to clean, there wasn't much to salvage. btw....you've never said 'Don't you just love (fill in the blank)' when the people you're talking to are sitting in the same situation you are? I though it was a pretty universal satirical comment. I think you assumed I was being flip, or stupid, or uncaring. believe me I don't take the storms lightly since a) becoming a property owner and b) becoming a parent and c) working for the red cross running shelters for all of you who need a place to stay for a while. I'm concerned because this time I might be the one who needs a shelter. That's all. I'm sure you can forgive my immature college devil may care attitude, after all, that was a while back. edit: the water is useful for flusing toilets and watering pets. It's not dirty if you clean the tubs first and I think it has psycological virtues as well. My home is built up and hasn't flooded yet, hopefully never will, so unless water gets into it via a torn off roof the saved water can help with basic clean ups etc. when the ice storm hit a few years (or longer) ago we didn't have any water at all for a few days. It (the tub water)saved us from having to dig a latrine in the back yard!

I've not gotton into storm mode yet, but am keeping an eye on Emily as it looks like it'll spare Florida this time, but I'm on the gulf VERY close to Texas and there's no telling where this one's going in. I'm supposed to be in Galvaston next weekend but that might not happen. I have everything ready, I don't like a lot of canned goods so I've bought foil packages of tuna and chicken and ham to cook with pasta and cheese. I overbought poptarts cause the kids will eat them storm or not. we have reusable water jugs that I'll fill before any iminent landfall near here as well as the tubs etc. Last time I over prepared and ended up giving a bunch of stuff to the food bank. This time I'm only buying what we will eat. Don't you just love hurricane season?? It's the only time of year that I still miss living in NO...there we'd just go to Pat O'Briens and drink the things!!

I like to make 'sweet' peppers out of my extras. slice them up and do them like you'd do cucumbers to make sweet pickles (get the bag stuff for this in the canning section of the market). You can can them easily just by inverting the filled jars..it's really not a big deal at all.

I think there are places in every area of the world where rural cooking/eating is readily available. Here it's boudin and smoked sausage and roasted pig. There are many, many places north of I-10 that are local favorites for the way they cook a plate of meat. Are the potatoes from the back yard though??? I think not, nor the cabbage for the cole slaw. So it's a hybrid thing of 'home cooked' and 'prepared on premises'. Sometimes it's darn right schizophrenc. Less than a mile from the gulf of Mexico (and all over the gulf coast) is one of hundreds of little rural grocery stores that sell everything from food to bait to crab nets to tackle. They always have a 'deli'. On that steam table will always be a large selection of fried things..frenchfries, boudin balls, chicken and catfish! the fish didn't come from anywhere near that store. It came from a box of flash/individually frozen FARM RAISED catfish. Why? Because it's less labor intensive and they're not a full fledged resturant with guys in the back to clean fish. Its economics pure and simple and they don't advertise it expecting you to believe it's any different. Are there places that do take local catch and serve it? you bet, but it's not likely that anything but the fish came from around there. I think the best one can do with the reality of the thing is to cook what you have available at home. I'm lucky to have access to a garden that provides me with tomatoes, potatoes, cuc's, beans, zuc's etc. and I'm amazed sometimes what I can make out of it...throw me a pig butt from down the meat packers, or let the boys catch some fish and that's as local as it gets! I enjoy it when it's available, the rest of the year I'm buying from Albertson's just like you.

When I went to Sam's today I saw a table counter high with 4 chairs...was under 300/ and looked really nice. I couldn't see it anywhere in my house, but was intrigued with the idea of it. If you had a tabletop custom made to fit it (I'm thinking butcher block) it could serve a duel purpose. Sam''s is online, I'm sure you can find it there...I can't be sure if the price was for all the pieces, or even if it was for that table and chairs as there was outdoor furniture all around it and like I said I was intrigued, but not interested in buying it for myself. (Emeril..self, I says, do I have a place for this??) check it out. ok, major screw up. I went to samsclub.com and found it but it's almost a grand including shipping. It is teak though and it's larger than it looks on site and a lot better too. edit: to enter the screw up. I should have known if I was intrigued by something it was going to be more$ than that!!

that, my friend is brilliant. and the better part of breakfast. Thanks.

I think that's breakfast tomorrow! Did the smoothie, great minds think alike. thanks for the hug. Left out the raspberries, see above. I'm gonna roll with this, easy and quick. Gracias. Now I've got all three out of the way, I guess if it gets worse after this I should quit vacations (that story is a doozy, and is hilarious....now.) and birthdays (not suicidal, just tired of having them anyway, although it is when I get jewelery! ) The anniversarys will be another story....it'll be ok, just need a vacation. God did I just say that???? and if I can start my now wet charcoal (found it by the pit, summer rainstorms hit yesterday) This will be dessert, other wise I'm going with Thank you all, have a really good holiday. and this advice.. is for tomorrow. Thanks again. You saved me from having to go to the store and being a sniviling idiot.

I'm not looking for sympathy, just some ideas because I can't think clearly right now and I need to get in the kitchen and make something. It'll keep me busy and hopefully result in feeding my kids. I have had a really bad 2 days, worst anniversary ever and combinations of horrible events. So here's what I have to cook with (I'm not going to the grocery looking like this): 4lbs or so of hg tomatoes, equal cucumbers. a few zuc's. and a halfdoz. vidalia onions. several shallots. 4 pintss of heavy cream, a gallon of milk. 6 blocks of euro style butter, another 3 unsalted (sale) 1 pint raspberries. some banannas. plenty of sugar, flour and spices and plenty of vineagars and oils to do pretty much any sort of dressing/vineagrette. 1 organic chicken, 2lbs of Savoy's smoked pork sausage. No canned veggies to speak of except various beans. Plenty of frozen trinity etc. Help me get a meal together, at least tell me what I can make with the fruit in the way of a dessert. Oh, I have a ton of chocolate, all kinds..the good stuff. I was thinking of spagetti with fresh tomatoes and herbs (mint, basil and oregano from the garden) finished with a basil olive oil. Maybe just grill to heat the sausage and serve with some roasted bellpeppers I have stashed in the freezer. I could cook the chicken on the grill (splatchcocked??sp) with a nice rub...that's as far as I can get my depressed little brain to come up with, I think it's ok, but could use some help. help.

Not using quantities in weights makes me crazy, and I wish people were more specific about the pans. Give me volume. I've done the crazy 15 muffin recipes before and wanted to scream. It happens alot with resturant recipes, you can't just divide everything in 1/4 and expect it to work. pans are different, btu's are different, ovens are different (no, I don't have a pizza oven. no it will not be the same from the old whirlpool.) But I have to admit to the tendency to tweak almost every recipe I try. If you want a chuckle go read some the the reviews on Epicurious. "I left out the raisens, and added ginger.." Or " I don't like tarragon so I used parsley, I don't understand why everyone was giving this recipe 5 stars" and on and on. Sometimes the recipes don't even belong in the same food group when they finish. funny funny.

doesn't Zwolle LA have a tamale queen?? Cameron has a fur queen...ever see a nutria skinning contest? There's a rice festival somewhere around here...rice queen ...sounds a little vanilla. Then there's every little mardi gras queen from every krewe in every city in Louisiana (except maybe for those above Alex..)

Oh! THAT bayou blather!!!

I'll second Camillia Grill and Mother's, and add central grocery for muffallatta's (the original, and huge for leftovers) There's always beignetsand coffee from Cafe Du Monde, or fresh fruit from the produce (and cheap knockoff's) market right behind it. have fun.

And what praytell is 'bayou blather'??

edit: did you know if you have 2 windows open you can accidentaly reply to one post and have it show up in another thread???? or is that just me. sorry

I've always loved these and was sad to see them go (I still miss the Beefy Tostada, maybe they'll bring it back someday). I was thrilled to see them back on the menu, and I agree they taste about the same (although I miss the three black olive slices, too). I always order one when I go. ← This was our all time favorite munchie food. I think I'll stop in taco bell, I didn't know they were back. guess I'll put my own olives on. Wonder if they'll taste the same without being under the infulence????we'll see!!

I like tea....I'm Irish and like it black, hot and with lemon and a wee bit of sugar. However I make green tea by the pitcher and love it dearly, cold with stevia and lime. I live in the deep, deep south and it is hot here. There has not been a single person who's had a glass of tea here who's not wanted more. It's the heat, and it's in the brewing...go figure. Green tea is what I brew most, black tea is just by the cup in the morning. I like Earl Grey....Though I read he was a butt.

Great advice, but with what I just paid for the Washer I'd rinse it and run it through the dishwasher FIRST!....Just can't see all that crap in my washing machine. I also wouldn't use Tide or anything, just a big load of vineagar. Let me know how it works I really want to do a big barbeque thing for the 4th and bought a mop to expedite matters. I guess you're the guini (sp) pig....