Dani Mc

She was in a pretty horrific car accident in her teens, I think. She used to model, and was very self concious of it having to be caked in make up. I think she said she finally decided, 'fuck it, its part of me, I'm owning it', which couldn't have been easy for someone in a profession where physical perfection is a requirement.

I'm not able to get to Chef Wong's blog. Friendster says the addy provided in the link upthread doesn't exist. little help?

Goddamn yo, those crackers paired with the cheddar horseradish spread is some seriously good shizz. Heating up the spinach artichoke dip to eat with some pita wedges next. This weekend is oscar movie weekend, so I've been stocking up the fridge, freezer and pantry with yummy stuff. I'm one of the rare (and lucky) NY'ers with a full size kitchen, so bring it on, TJ's. I got a party full of reprobates and miscreants waiting for it. Well, that and pizza gruppo. Can't have a movie marathon party without gruppo.

Went in this morning on my way to the gym. Lines were reasonable (none outside, 10 minute wait inside the store), so I shopped. I've never been to a Trader Joe's before, so I was intrigued. The space is smaller than I thought it would be. Too small for an only outpost in manhattan. The carts are the smaller double decker variety, but the bitter elderly of the neighborhood have already found ways to grind them into your ankles and block entire isles (I wish Manhattan could have ONE grocery store with super wide isles). I steered past the produce (I shop the green market, and I have a pretty good organic deli near my place, so...meh), clocked the cheese (will check out in detail later), and went straight for snacky treats. I went in with no agenda at all, so I just bought what caught my eye. Got: flavored papadums, the Thai lime chili peanuts, and some mixed dried fruit. Also the Spinach Artichoke dip, some Turkey Jerky, Banana Nut Cereal (cheap cereal! In manhattan!), and a huge slab of bittersweet chocolate. I was expecting the Whole Foods phenomenon of never being able to leave without spending fifty bucks, and was pleasantly surprised to see that my total was $25. I'm ruining my workout by taste testing everything now, and besides being slightly disappointed with the hyped Thai peanuts, I'm pleased. I have specific places I like to go for certain things, so it will never be what I think of when I'm cooking a meal from scratch, but I entertain a lot. I don't always have time (or money) to whip up a full meal, especially when its 4+ people coming over just to hang out and watch Sunday night HBO or late night snacks after a big night out, so I'm all about utilizing their inexpensive prepared foods. I've lived in the EV for going on 5 years now. I learned to cook when we had nothing but Garden of Eden and the Green Market on Union Square. Both are great, but weren't always convenient. Now, with TJ's, WF, and Fresh Direct I'm spoiled for choice. Even the Food Emporium across the street has decided to stop dicking around and actually offer something halfway decent. I think the lines are retarded, but I blame New Yorkers' mania for queing more than the size of the store. I was a little freaked out by the super chipper attitude of the staff. It kind of made me want to punch the que minder in the mouth when he made choo choo noises to get everyone to move forward a bit. But its cheap party food. And cheap cereal. And huge slabs of chocolate. I'm still not sure how much I'll frequent TJ's, but I've already decided its easier to go there for frozen pot stickers and mini quiches for my sunday gatherings than to spend one of my only days off making a huge (expensive) dinner for a big crowd.

I've never worked in an emergency room, but I'm told that such places see an inordinate number of injuries due to people slicing their hands while slicing bagels. I would expect this thing to be especially handy when children are trying to do it. Personally, I just have the bakery do it. They do it badly, but they do it. ← 15 years ago, my father sliced two tendons in his hand cutting a bagel. Much surgery and painkillers later, he still has problems with that hand. I let the bakery do mine too. I've seen enough bagel related carnage. Don't need anymore.

I think the unidentified large greens were 'Horta'; basically just wild greens. I suspect its a variety of chard. It has a stronger taste to it than spinach, and is usually served wilted in olive oil, with a sprinkle of sea salt, and a squeeze of lemon. We would live on it during day trips to the beach. It was too hot to eat anything else. Lovely pics of Hydra. I haven't been there yet, but its on my list for the next island we 'must' visit. I've seen sea urchin on the menu at beach side tavernas quite frequently. A friend went on a boat tour this year, and there was much eating of urchins amongst the crew. I don't know that I want to eat one. I harbor memories of picking them out of the soles of my feet, so there is a bit of dislike I have to work my way through first. Those scorpion fish look amazing. There is a scorpion fish soup from the Cyclades Islands that is out of this world. Usually called Kakavia Petropsara (rock fish soup). Very simple-whole scorpion fish in a broth of very good quality olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon, bit of garlic, and maybe some boiled potatoes thrown in too. You usually have to go to the taverna a few days ahead to order the fish, and it is so worth it. Sigh. I miss Greece.

My husband is out of town a lot, and when he's gone I don't cook any less, but I do have a tendency to cook lighter. He's such a meat and potatoes guy, I find it a welcome change to do stuff like eggs (soft boiled, omlettes, scrambled...whatever) fish and salads when I'm cooking for just myself.

we download ours off of bittorrent Loads of BBC docs and series.

I'm sure you are not an old hag, and sometimes its good to be cynical. but I understand the cathartic power of a good hissy, and it probably made his staff feel a bit better to know he was on their side. or maybe its all a load of crap. I'm just glad he made those little buggers try some salad. I'm trying to remember what we had available when I was in school. I'm 28 now, so this is 80's through mid 90's. Elementary school was pretty balanced, though disgusting. Its no joke when he gives those dinner ladies shit for overcooking everything. I shuddered at the memory. Junior High was spent abroad in Germany. I was at an American school, and I remember the food being passable for school food. There were school groups who had BBQ grills set up for burgers, chicken and wursts, and the bread was always fresh from the local bakery. I usually went home for lunch, but damn, I remember those wursts being a good treat. Pretty ok salad bar. Highschool was back in the states, and almost as bad as what is portrayed on the show. Lots of nasty burgers, fries, hot dogs, pretzels, etc. The alternatives were overcooked, salty and swimming in grease under heat lamps. There WAS a salad bar at least, and lots of kids DID actually use it. Soda machines everywhere, afterschool groups selling candy all hours of the day. Classes were just a market place for the Snickers and Kitkat trade. I brought my lunch most of the time. Two years before I got there, there was a SMOKING QUAD at school (if you were an 18 year old senior, all you had to do was bring a note from your parents, and you could light up in between classes with the faculty!) I have no idea what its like now, but I can only imagine its gotten much worse. Its so sad. First they cut arts funding, then sports, and food is probably been cut back so much already, they can't take anymore away there. Didn't Supersize Me say that lots of schools were 'sponsored' by McD's and Taco Bell?

see, i don't quite buy that clinton didn't tell them he was on his diet, because in reports about his procedure last week it was reported that he had been on that diet since his operation last year or whenever it was. so i have this feeling that if he had been, his people wouldn't have "approved" jamies menu as he said on telly, and would have mentioned his dietary needs, anyhow the south beach diet (or as oliver said: the san francisco diet) i think you just order fish or meat, salads that sort of thing? anyhow, i think it was kinda a set up? made for tv moment of "our hero" taking on the big guy......but maybe thats just cynical me. anyhow you can't eat at home when you're on the road like that, you have to eat at restaurants so thats not an option. usually eating fish, meat, salads is easy (though boring). ← yeah, good point about menu 'approval'. I have a real sore spot about that kind of thing in restaurants, having travelled with someone who's 'nutritionist' had her on such a restricted diet, it became a burden on everyone else when it came time to go out to eat. It came to a head when she asked the waitstaff to give the chef her own food to cook up for her. People like Clinton also usually travel with a personal chef, so its not like its THAT hard for the guy to get his way. He travels a lot, his schedule is tight, someone is there to cook for him what he needs when he needs it. but also, this program was filmed about a year ago, so I wouldn't necessarily assume that at the time, everyone knew about his post procedure diet.

who cares if it was blown up for the cameras or not? it gets people to watch the show, and (hopefully) will inspire them to become more involved in what their kids are eating. I'm not a fan of Jamie personally (I don't like it when someone tries so hard to come across as my 'mate'), but I like what he's trying to do. Of course not a small part of it is feeding his ego, but I don't know of many people in the world who are well and truely selfless, so....fuck it. He's getting kids to eat real food. and ps-I kind of agreed with him about the Clinton thing. Its just rude, and if a non famous person pulled that crap, it wouldn't be tolorated. If your diet is THAT restricted, plan in advance, or eat at fucking home. I don't care who you are.

I like to make my own. I don't use it too often, so its a fun project when I'm in the mood. Then I have a week of mayo-based bliss to look forward to. mayo on fries and the Cook's Illustrated Tuna Salad Sandwich are the best. I'm also guilty of eating it plain on toast. And straight out of the jar. Would NEVER do that with store bought!

good one. I've only learned to love soft boiled eggs in the past year or so.

I'm trying to bring lunch more often, and I sometimes even make it as far as bagging it up, and having it ready in the fridge, but I usually forget it. I eat at my desk, and in the summer (if I'm freelancing in the garment district) I go to bryant park. I really object when people bring hardboiled eggs to the office. It just smells really unpleasant. You'd think most people would adhere to the unspoken rule, but there is always one guy in every office I've worked in who seems to think hard boiled eggs and open cubicles are a good thing. I won't bring fish, but I do make microwave popcorn. I found that Newman's Own Organics doesn't have that fake butter smell, and tastes much better than the other brands. Plus, its trans-fatty/Hydrogenated free.

I also have a friend who is an amateur bee keeper, and I only eat his honey now. I have no idea what kind of flowers the bees frequent. His hives are in Islington, so I guess his bees frequent London's parks. It blew my mind, its so good. ps-I'm another fan of honey/greek yogurt/tahini.

Alas, no pig tails on my visit last friday. I don't think we ate anything from the cookbook at all. Dishes included: Spleen with Bacon Sprats Potato and Fatback soup Terrine (no description given. just 'terrine') Ox Heart Venison Liver Pork Shoulder (with a generous helping of cracklings!) Snipe All fantastic, though the soup was so heavy we would've preferred a smaller portion. I'll be going back in two weeks, when the mission will be to eat as much from the cookbook as we can. Oh, and we had a bonus Salmon Rushdie sighting as we were being seated. I don't know why I get a thrill out of seeing literary celebs rather than actors or musicians, but I do.

stinky cheese. had a camembert this weekend that smelled like hobo feet. I wouldn't have touched it even a year ago, but now...yum! weird organ meats. I was in London this weekend, and we paid a visit to St. John. Oh, rapturous joy. Spleen: tastes like liver....only BETTER!

I hate them. I use these. Much better looking. bamboo plates

ahh. I do remember that I had the water bath quite deep. Good to know, thanks.

I love salt bagels. We used to get them in the mix delivered to my former office. Anyone know where I can get a good one in the East Village?

Jaz, from what I've been told, there is more humor in the writing of the original, and they have a large chapter on canning. I've also heard a rumour that several of the regional recipies (such as squirrel stew) were cut in favor of a more 'international' line up in the second book. I've always got an eye out for the original when I'm in used book stores. It sounds very interesting.

I started cooking with Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. Julia's is fantastic if you want to learn the classics, and start learning your technique, but Nigella is wonderful for recipies. They aren't difficult or fussy, the ingredients are easily found, and there are great sections on cooking for kids, and what she calls 'Temple Food' (I call it 'who ate all the pies?' food). I'm also a fan of The New James Beard. I don't know if its still in print, but you could easily find it on ebay or at a used bookstore. His recipes are lighter in this book and easy to replicate at home. I love the Alton Brown books. What recipies have you tried? I did his banana bread, and the lemon curd from the 'More Food' book. I haven't used the first one as anything other than a 'why things work the way they do' kind of reference, but if you've had any successes, I'd love to hear them.

Shalmanese, I baked it in a waterbath, and finished with a torch (though the torch was woefully inadequate. I need to find a better one.) Thinking about it, I've had to extend cook times more often than not in my oven, so maybe that's the biggest culprit. Its not an old oven (about 15 months), but its not exactly top of the line. I don't know what model it is, but its made by GE, and gas powered. I've never had a problem with the range top, but maybe I should throw some bricks or a pizza stone into the bottom of the oven. I am far too inexperienced a cook to go blaming recipies every time I screw something up, so I will try it again. Tan319, The Les Halles ingredient ratios are indeed what you suggested, so I have to assume that its my error; in the depth of the cups, or the oven temp/bake time, or all three. I will try cooking like a creme anglaise next time. Thanks for the help, I'll have another go at it in a week or so, and report the results.

I love my french press. I don't know if its because I'm more aware of my coffee to water ratio (I also saw the 'Good Eats' coffee epi, and have followed AB's ratio ever since), or if the press does indeed produce better coffee than a drip maker, but its the smoothest home brew I've ever made. I used to be a strictly turkish coffee kind of girl, but now I'm leaning more towards the french press for my every day coffee.

Tried making the creme brulee from the Les Halles cookbook last week, and it came out decidedly pudding-y. Tasted great, but I couldn't get it to the right texture. Tried tenting with foil and a longer cook time, but it just didn't work. My ramekins were the required size, but the shape was deeper and narrower-like a cup. I've made individual cheesecakes in these, so I thought it wouldn't be a problem for the brulee. Is this why it never really firmed up? Did I maybe not whisk the egg yolks enough before adding the cream?