MT-Tarragon

You should have taken only half a bagel, leaving a lonely half to wither and get stale, in order to atone for your misdeeds.

Mmm, rabbits. I love them. I love to eat them. I love to hear their little bones go crunch between my teeth. I didn't grow up hunting and butchering animals, but I have done it. So I guess I'm not all that squeamish. I figured it would be a good learning experience and it was/is. I haven't used blood in a recipe, but I would try it.

I love lamb. However, for some strange reason, I have never tried to cook it myself.

please explain. ← When apples sit on the tree for a while after they ripen, they continue converting starch to sugar. At the stage called "watercore" the core of the apple becomes translucent and the apple is exceptionally juicy and sweet. Unfortunately, at this point the apple is too ripe to ship. As far as sales go, watercore is considered a blight and they are economically worthless (at least through a distributor). But this is the point at which they are most delicious. So, watercore is not a blight as in a disease, but it means that the apples won't hold up to rigors of shipping, so distributors won't accept them. The difference between a watercore fuji and one from the store is amazing.

I'll put in another vote for the honeycrisps. My in-laws grow apples and I brought a bunch of honeycrisps to work and shared them. Everyone loved them. A few days later one of them came up to me and said she was now addicted to them and was eating five of them per day. They're good for pies and apple crisp/crumble, too. I'd also say that a fuji with watercore is most excellent, but you can't get those in the store.

I work with computers all day. The very last thing that I want to do when I get home is turn on another computer. I sincerely hope that we never go to electronics books in my lifetime or, god forbid, online cookbooks. I wouldn't be able to do it. Physically. But I love my paper cookbooks and scanning their pages for recipes is restful after a long work day. ← God forbid there already is an online cookbook. My Algerian cuisine blog is just that. I try to add recipes with photos at least every other day, sometimes everyday. I discussed it a bit with some of my food writing mentors. So far it's an "experiment" that I am not regretting at all. I'm having a fantastic time doing it and there are benefits to it. ← I didn't mean that there shouldn't be online cookbooks. I meant, god forbid if online or ebooks replace printed cookbooks. Then, alas, I will buy no more cookbooks.

I work with computers all day. The very last thing that I want to do when I get home is turn on another computer. I sincerely hope that we never go to electronics books in my lifetime or, god forbid, online cookbooks. I wouldn't be able to do it. Physically. But I love my paper cookbooks and scanning their pages for recipes is restful after a long work day.

The way I see it, there are three ways of looking at the issue: 1) We're no better than any other animal. In which case we should feel free to eat other animals for sustenance, just like the many other animals which do so. 2) We're superior beings to other, non-human animals. In which case other animals serve our needs, including sustenance. 3) Other animals are superior to us. In which case we should feel free to eat other animals in order to eventually climb (eat) our way to the top of the pile. Some people subscribe to position #1, but think that being equal to other animals means living in peaceful harmony. I'll check this with the fox and hen next time we all get together. Some people subscribe to position #2, but think that our intellectual superiority dictates choosing not to eat animal flesh. I haven't seen a good, logical explanation for this, yet. Some people subscribe to position #3, but think that means we need to worship animals as being better than us. This is simply repulsive, and, if true, I'd rather eat my way to the top than live in such slavery. Seriously, though, I do think that people should be aware from wence comes their food. I used to think that everyone should try to kill/butcher a food animal (so I did try it), but now I don't think that's necessary. I'll settle for people trying to find out how their food was raised and butchered. I know at least one woman who wants to believe that all meat comes from the store, wrapped in plastic and styrofoam, and frozen in geometric shapes. If it bears any resemblance to an actual animal, she doesn't want to eat it. And this is a farmwife. I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't seem right somehow. But I know that she knows from wence it comes.

I can get Durkee's from certain food chains here in Seattle. One thing I noticed about Durkee's, though, is that they have changed their formula. I don't know what they changed, but it's now more thick/mayonnaise-y where it used to be a bit more liquid, like a thick dressing. I think it may be less tangy, too, but perhaps that is my imagination. I liked the older version better.

I was in eastern WA this past weekend and picked up peaches at a fruit stand near Royal City. Delicious. Some of the best I've had for some time. My new favorite way of eating them (other than just normal bites from raw fruit) is to cut them in half and grill them and serve with vanilla ice cream. It's like pie without the crust.

Some ripe green flesh cantaloupe fresh from the farm for breakfast.

I gave my credit card out over the phone a couple of years ago to secure a Valentine's Day reservation at El Gaucho's. Nothing fishy happened with my credit card, but they still managed to lose my reservation. Luckily they were good enough to seat me quickly anyway, even though there was quite a line.

I just added 13 more. I found thirteen of the Time-Life Foods of the World series for $1.49 each.

I finally got around to counting all my cook books. So, if I include wine/beverage/food rather than solely cook/recipe books, I have 101.

I had a very good game meal at Angell's Bar and Grill in Boise a few years ago -- elk steak, quail and rabbit sausages. I haven't been in the area recently, though.

Tomato and fennel soup (from The Herbfarm Cookbook) and grilled cheese.

Well, your stories are more exciting than mine. The worst I can remember is a dinner guest who arrived late as dinner was being served and brought his own piece of salmon (we weren't having salmon, but I don't remember what the main course was), which he insisted on cooking for himself before sitting down with the rest of us. He had also brought a personal bottle of Perrier because he wouldn't drink wine that cost less than X dollars per bottle. I guess that I should at least be happy that he didn't want me to cook his salmon.

I haven't seen the chocolates, but do they still make the everlasting gobstoppers? I remember these when I was a kid. You could spit 7 different colors! Or something like that. It had different colored layers that would turn your mouth/saliva different colors as you sucked on it.

Oops, I totally forgot about the garlic. I do put garlic into it, duh. Okay, so maybe it is a bit different from the original post, but it is still delicious. Everyone loves it.

I've got a pretty similar recipe with similar results at parties. I sprinkle on the kosher salt and cook/saute quickly in olive oil with a few dried hot peppers. It gives them a hint of spiciness. Mmm. Then you have some bonus oil in which to dip chunks of bread.

This is a great question. It has gotten to the point where I am actually very surprised on the few occasions where the chicken is not overcooked into a dry, flavorless puck. edited to add: I've had a lot of friends who've had chicken at my house who ask, "How do you get it so juicy and tender?" The answer, of course, is that when it is done I stop cooking it! Okay, I don't say it that way, but that is the answer.

Well, I go left to right, but I, also, move up rather than down. I think because I get stuff between my bottom teeth if I move down, but not if I go up. I also hereby confess to being a secret roll-the-hot-corn-on-the-entire-butter-stick-er.

Mint jelly for lamb (et alii)?

The editorial page is about how grilling is the province of men. So, my take was that Gourmet thinks that men can not grill food more appetizing than this.

Apparently CNN Money has their own take on the survey.