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My problem in Baking With Julia is that the beautiful photos inspire and intimidate at the same time! Some day I hope to make the "Sunny Side Up Apricot Pastry" (pic p 177) and the "Rugelach" (pic p 325). I have made the (Blue)"Berry Galette" (pic pp 348-9) several times and it looked as pretty as the picture. SB (and tasted great too)

My maternal grandfather died when I was two and one-half, but I can recall him seated at his roll top desk in the basement of the clothing store, and cutting me a slice off his fresh pear. SB (used to know how to say "pear" in Serbian)(at least so I'm told)

Tickle Me Cake My grandson Zach, age two, is a bit young to understand the concept of menu planning. However, he isn't shy about offering, ne demanding, input into selecting food for his immediate gratification. Lately he's taken up grabbing me by the hand, leading me into the kitchen, and saying, "Cook Poppa." Last night, having preparation for dinner well in hand, I asked what he thought I should cook. "Cake!" Zach replied. (He's only recently learned to distinguish various baked sweets from each other. They all used to fall into his catchall category of "cookie".) I didn't have a lot of extra time before dinner, so I decided to throw together a simple pan cake previously known as Mock Chocolate Cake: For Cake: 3 c AP Flour 2 c Sugar 1/2 c Carob Powder (Cocoa would work as well, but more on that later) 2 tsp Baking Soda 2 c Strong Black Coffee (room temp) 2/3 c Vegetable Oil 2 T Vinegar 2 tsp Vanilla For Frosting: 1 Stick Butter 1 c Brown Sugar 1/4 c Milk 1 tsp Vanilla 2 c Powdered Sugar Preheat Oven to 350 degrees In a 9x13 Baking Pan combine all dry ingredients. Add all wet ingredients and mix well with flat wisk or fork. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. You can eat it unadorned or sprinkle it with powdered sugar. I like to use this Caramel Frosting: Melt Butter in heavy medium-sized Pan over Med Heat. Stir in Brown Sugar and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Add Milk, return to boil 1 for 1 minute. Allow mixture to cool to room temp and add Vanilla and Powdered Sugar. Stir until smooth and apply thick coat atop cooled Cake In honor of Elmo, the Muppet character we'd been playing with on the computer, Zach and I renamed the cake "Tickle Me Cake". Besides being distinctive, this name provides me with the opportunity to ask, whenever the subject of the cake comes up, (which is quite often), "What kind of cake is it?", to which Zach has to reply, "Tickle me!". Then he gets tickled and laughs uproariously. It works every time. The reason Tickle Me Cake uses Carob rather than Cocoa is because a significant portion of everything Zach eats ends up on the floor and is subsequently consumed by our three dogs. Chocolate isn't healthy for dogs, but they can eat carob. (In fact, the reason I used carob in this recipe the first time was because I had some left over from making Dog Brownies.) Zach always eats the frosting off his cake first and then asks for more. When told he must finish what he has on his plate first he either stuffs the entire piece into his mouth at once, or sneaks some to his fore-mentioned four-footed cohorts. Ah, a handful of Tickle Me Cake, a Sippi Cup of chocolate milk, and a Shrek dvd. That's Bein' Small and Livin' Large! Keywords: Dessert, Easy ( RG1557 )

Two of my favorites are "Baking with Julia (Childs)" and "Jacques (Pepin) and Julia (Childs) Cooking at Home". SB (do you detect a pattern here?)

For purpose of discussion, let's say this post of Mr. Talbot's was the only piece of his writing I'd ever encountered. How likely would I be to form an accurate opinion of his abilities, and, more importantly, how justified would I be to either advocate or deride his talent to other potential readers? SB (six of the goose, half dozen the gander)

Yes, but not very much. SB (try carob)

Wht don't we still speak English like they did in Beowulf then, when "gift" was "giefu"? SB

If you bought a whole chicken and cut it up yourself, breading and frying the tail makes a good "test run". PS: A bit Off-Topic, but since today is Christmas by the old calendar the Orthodox churches still use, I'll sneak this story in: Before modern political considerations took over, a primary source of conflict in East-Central Europe was differences between the Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity. My maternal grandmother used to call the chicken's tail the "bishkoup" in Serbian. This translates literally as "bishop's hat", and was intended as a slur against the Catholic Church. To make things worse, my grandmother used to tell us it meant "Pope's Nose". SB

The chewiness of brownies is dependent upon a complicated relationship between surface area of pan, depth of mixture, oven temperatue, baking time, and even the material and color of the pan. Lots of experimenting is called for. (I find there are always plenty of volunteers to teste even your less than successful brownies!) Using one less egg than called for in the recipe will make any brownie chewier. Oddly. GF and her daughter both dislike brownie edges, and will cut pieces out from the center of the pan! SB (if that ain't maddening)

It's marked on my calendar! SB (with BIG RED LETTERS)

There are some cookbooks authors who I just can't relate to. I know they're good cooks and writers, but something about their recipes just doesn't work for me. Although I'm a fairly adept baker, some recipes from James Beard's Beard on Bread just don't turn out right even after repeated attempts. Other selections from the same book have become staples in my repertoire though, so I keep the book with the offending recipes crossed out. On the other hand, I found Chris Kimball's The Yellow Farm House Cookbook to be near totally unuseable. And I bought it because I'd always had good luck with recipes from Cooks Illustrated? I gave the book away, with a warning, but the person I gave it to likes it. I suppose there's a parallel to other types of literature, or even face to face communication. There are plenty of people who I'm sure are interesting and intelligent that I just can't communicate with. SB

My Mother makes an excellent pork pasty (pork pie) she learned from my Scots/English Grandmother, (her MIL). Half the trick is her crust, which she makes, most appropriately in this case, with lard. SB (never dared attempt it myself)

Chocla-teer, Like Mouska-teer. SB

Meatloaf #400 On another discussion board, which is finance and investment oriented but has threads for cooking and other subjects, I'm famous for this meatloaf recipe It isn't a gourmet recipe by any means, and those adverse to processed foods or watching their salt intake may wish to make appropriate changes, but my advice on mixing and shaping is pertinent to any meatloaf recipe. Since I'd begun cooking every night about 12 years previously, I figured to have made approximately 399 meatloafs (NOT meatloaves) before I developed this version. I'd tried many recipes and combinations of recipes. I made Italian Meatloaf, Mexican Meatloaf, Polish Meatloaf, Stuffed Meatloaf, Mini-Meatloafs, and even a pretty accurate version of my own Mother's Meatloaf. While most were pretty good, lots were great and a few were excellent I was still trying for the consummate item. Finally one night I came pretty damn close! Giving credit to the October 1996 Cooks Illustrated article on meatloaf for the platform for most of my experimental meatloaf ventures, and a nod to FoodTV's Alton Brown for a key tip, (noted in the recipe), along with the old spirit of "use up what's left over and laying around", here's the recipe for Meatloaf #400: 1 egg 1 pack Liptons Onion-Mushroom Soup Mix 1 small carrot (Alton Brown Tip) 1 stalk celery (Alton Brown Tip) 1/4 c Campbells Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup : 1 lb regular ground beef 1/2 lb lean ground pork 1 c fresh bread crumbs salt & pepper to taste Optional Glaze: 1/4 c Campbells Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup 2 T Ketchup dash of Worchester dash of ffavorite hot sauce (if so inclined) In a food proccessor, chop the carrot and celery and blend in the egg, onion soup mix and soup. In a large bowl, add this mixture to the ground beef, ground pork, (I save trimmings from pork chops until I have enough and grind them with my KitchenAid's grinder attachment), bread crumbs, (use the English Muffin Bread if you have it), and salt and pepper to taste, (remembering the soup mix and soup contain salt). Mix Carefully! This is important. I rapidly fold everything together with a little plastic spatula. If you have the time, wrap the mixture in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for an hour or so. As with the mixing, Shape Carefully! The final texture of meatloaf contributes almost as much to the finished product as the flavorings. To me, a meatloaf must be free-standing, and have a firm enough structure to slice neatly. However, if you mix it too much, or shape it too tightly, it won't drain while cooking. This could result in it being too greasy. I shape it roughly in the plastic wrap, about twice as long as it is wide or tall, and roll the loaf out of the wrap onto a small shallow pan, then pat it lightly into final form. I score the top with a sharp knife in a cross hatch pattern because my mother always did it. Place it into a preheated 350 oven for an hour. After about 20 minutes you can brush it with the glaze, made by heating the remaining soup, ketchup, Worshester and hot suace in a small sauce pan. I don't know why, but applying the glaze after the loaf has been cooking 20 minutes seems to produce the best crust. After the hour is up, LET IT REST for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving. It was hard to convince myself of the need for this step, but like with any other roast, meatloaf needs time to re-absorb its juices. I felt Meatloaf #400 was near perfect in taste/texture/crust. Your Perfect Meatloaf criteria may differ from mine, but this is meant to be more of an inspirational story and guideline than a strict recipe. PS: It makes a great sandwich the next day using my toasted English Muffin Bread! Keywords: Main Dish, Easy, Beef, American ( RG1551 )

I just saw my friend who harvests and processes it yesterday and reminded him to bring me some. Somebody on another board once took umbrage at my calling it "wild horseradish". I guess it's just regular horseradish, Amoracia Rusticana, growing wild. I've seen menus from fancy restaurants that serve horseradish greens, but I've never tried them. SB (maybe next year?)

I assume hunting and fishing don't count as foraging? Up here in the Northwoods we have berries, (straw/blue/ras/black), and chokecherries. There are lots of mushrooms, and I had an aunt who could id those safe to eat but "puffballs" are the only ones I can vouch for as edible. There's a wild horseradish that's really HOT! SB (oh, and I can't forget wild rice)

The "King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Ccok Book" has a recipe for Golden Angel Food Cake. It's made with whole wheat flour and uses the yolks left over from their regular Angel Food Cake recipe. SB (I've made it. It works!)

One person's excess may be another's necessity? Perspective is individual. Freedom to express opinions based on it are a luxury. Anyway, some day our Sun will burn out if it doesn't explode first. All life as we know it will cease to exist. How we treated lobsters, other creatures, or each other will become a moot point. SB (In the meantime, in between time .....

vermontcountrystore.com has them, and a lot of other neat stuff too! SB (and good service)

RE: "These essential foods must have enough taste to be eaten plain and unadorned as is as if in a Zen like simplicity. They must shine their essence through themselves without requiring fussing, heavy seasoning, complicated cooking methods or other trickery to coax taste." If I may add butter, salt and pepper, I nominate the humble spud. Baked, it's simplicity incarnate to prepare, and is avialable nearly anytime, anywhere. SB (okay, and maybe a bit of freshly grated nutmeg too?)

Cheetos! I'm eating the entire 99 cent bag I just picked up when I bought gas. And I'll be having Reeses PB Cups for dessert! SB (wiping the cheese powder off the keyboard and mouse)

What I want, in either human or crustacean incarnation, and what I can realisticly expect, are two different things. SB (expects lobsters to be lobsterely treated?)

In selected test market areas, (anywhere within spittin' distance of a Whole Foods Market), you can buy Nascar brand live lobsters! SB (and you can run over the little suckers with your diesel crew cab dually pickup for all anybody gives a damn!)

If Wall Mart had made this announcement everyone would be protesting how greedy corporate America is tyrying to dictate our tastes? Whole Foods Market can get away with it, of course, because they're so much smarter and more sophisticated than us. SB (It has something to do with nuance, I think?) PS: I hear you can now buy Nascar brand live lobsters in some areas!

"The reasons Castellini Group became involved with NASCAR are legion, but chief among them is what drives most other companies to become involved in the sport: demographics, reach and staying power." FYI: I heard a rumor Viagra is buying a banner ad on eG! SB (hmmmmmmmmmm....