foodie52

Thank you , Jonathan! St. John it is!

Typically, people want them for stuffing in their holiday turkeys. Lots of folks are disappointed when they actually taste them because they are buying them canned or in a jar. They are dry and pretty tasteless...and expensive. Of course, you can roast the fresh ones just for fun, but that can be dangerous unless you know about scoring them first!!

Jeez...who cares about protein on Thanksgiving? I usually slice myself one little bit of turkey and then load up on all the forbidden delights like corn pudding, tamale stuffing. sweet potato casserole,frresh rolls. cranberry sauce Protein be damned!

What kind of food is Chez Bruce? I will be in England over New Year, and can go out to eat in the city ONE time only....I was thinking seriously about St. John....should I consider Chez Bruce instead?

I'm going to England for New Year's. Hoping to eat at St. John on the 5th...it's been on my wish list for a while. Also on my list is anywhere in Australia!!

There are some great recipes in epicurious.com. Some of them incorporate fruit. I found a Portuguese olive oil cake on the web. Olive oil adds moistness: it is very pleasing. Don't use extra virgin. An alternative is grapeseed oil, which has the healthful properties of olive oil but no flavor at all.

I always insist on bringing the wine ( this way I know that at least the wine will be acceptable!) So I sit and nibble, think about how cool it is to be skipping a meal, and drink a lot!

Or you can do what one of my customers does.... Wear white gloves. Double bag everything you buy, in plastic bags. Insist on handing all your groceries directly to the checker, thus avoiding using the contaminated belt. Wear aluminum foil under your hat to protect against harmful microwave rays zipping through the air.

A customer paid for groceries in one dollar bills today. She handed me 65 of them. She looked like a stripper... I wonder where THOSE bills had been, huh?

Maybe we should all just go out for pizza....

I love my own cooking. I loved my mom's, and mine is like hers. Most of my friends don't cook much, so we don't get invited over to other people's houses. Maybe they think I'll be critical. I love eating other people's food. I don't care what it is, as long as I didn't have to prepare it and clean up afterwards! Most folks don't understand that, so they stress about it not being "good enough".

I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for over 25 years and change my turkey methods regularly. One idea: make a compound butter, using unsalted butter and lots of fresh herbs and push it under the skin all over the turkey. Pop the turkey in a paper grocery bag, then into the roasting pan. Roast the recommended time, but ripping open the bag 45 minutes before removing from the oven so that the skin can brown. Another idea ( and this is NOT as hard as it looks!) Julia takes out the breast bones, being careful not to tear the skin, then slices the breast meat and layers it with cold stuffing and sews it all back up. The upside is that it is pretty easy and impresses the hell out of your guests when it comes time to serve. The down side is that you can't do the stuffing and sewing until you are ready to put the bird in the oven. Cuts down on roasting time too, because there are fewer bones. I've done this a number of years. As for turning a 22 lb bird half way through the cooking time....forget about it! Makes a giant mess... I cook my stuffing in a hollowed out pie pumpkin, then slice and serve.

John Cleese Spam Cheese

Hi. I'm using my mom's account and hope to have my own sometime soon. I spent the summer in France at Anne Willan's chateau as a trainee and one of the dishes her Chef de Cuisine, Randall Price, demonstrates for classes is his Tarte Tatin. His method is very similar to the stovetop methods, but he does one thing that blew me away the first time I saw it, but really makes a whole lot of sense. I'm going to try to explain this the best I can. After peeling the apples, use a melon-baller to remove the top and bottom of the whole apple. Then slice the apple in half and use the baller to seed the apple, leaving about half a centimeter of the tough part of the core that is above and below the seeds. So now if you are looking at the halved apple, you will have three scoops, seperated by a tiny bit of core. The middle of the apple has the majority of the pectin, so by leaving this bit, you are adding to the thickness of your caramel and you won't notice the toughness of this part of the apple because it cooks down. After the apples were placed in the caramel and cooked for what seemed like forever (we didn't remove any of the apple juice, even though it makes a big mess), we slapped a round of pate brisee on top, stuck the pan in the oven, and cooked it until the crust was done (I don't remember how long this was. I was too busy staring with horror at the caramel that I knew I was going to have to clean off of the stove-top). Hope this little tip helped. I thought it was pretty funky. Andrew King andrewpking@yahoo.com

I jes' LOVE you, gal!!

Just curious....are any of you posters in the supermarket industry?

Best Italian in town is Vespaio on South Congress. Get there at 5:30, or be prepared to wait for a table. They don't take reservations. Ask to sit in Aaron's section. Awesome service! I lived in Milan for 3 years. Vespaio comes the closest to northern Italian...we just don't have a lot of that down here. Also on South Congress is Guero's. Nice Tex-Mex. Bill Clinton ate here and has the #1 dinner named for him. Lots of atmosphere. Lots of people, though and noisy. Next to the Continental Club on South Congress is the Texas Music Cafe. Open REALLY late! Great tapas-style food and a complete menu at all hours, including breakfast. I had a wonderful chicken-fried steak there one time. The chef used to work out at Hudson's on the Bend.

I love this thread! And I also love the fact that most of you folks replying are men!And it makes everyone really uncomfortable... Remember mama? And toilet training? I rest my case....

Are you thirsty all day long, or is it only when you eat?

Oh my goodness! Two customers have shown up with the most amazing LL Bean bags I have ever seen. BIG and heavy canvas, they are like large cartons with handles. How do they get them to stay so stiff??? The one customer told me that hers was 15 years old...the other customer has had his LL Bean bag for 30 yeaesrs! I want one. I need one...

Ever tried armadillo? Possum? Raccoon? Snake? Squirrel?

Finney and York were eating turkey legs. Sexiest meat scene in the history of cinema, in my opinion!

Well, I forgot to tell you all that , where I work, the checker is also the bagger. So while I am checking, I am also bagging and talking to the customer if it appears that he/she is in a sociable mood! Everyone has an opinion about how their groceries should be bagged. I say,"Paper or plastic?" The responses vary as follows: 1.Paper, please 2.Plastic 3.Dry stuff in paper and wet in plastic, please 4.Dry, heavy stuff in paper. Put the wet stuff in plastic, but then put it into a paper bag. 5.I don't care. Whatever is easiest for you. 6.I don't care. Whatever will get me out of here the fastest.(I usually don't talk to these customers, but concentrate on "speed bagging!") 7.Neither. I brought my own bags. 8.I don't need a bag for that. 9.Paper. And double bag it because that stuff is heavy. 10.Plastic. And double bag it because I have to drive two hours to get home and I don't want the ice to melt. In fact, if you could double bag it and put it all in a paper bag, that would be great. And there you have it.... Thanks very much and have a great day!

Well, I'm still a part-time checker and have been enjoying your responses! The latest news is that I have developed an allergy to the paper bags: I guess it is the wood fibers? Anyway, unless I wear long sleeves, the constant brushing up against the bag while filling it causes red welts to come up on my arms. Nice. My favorite customer ( and I mean this ) this last week was the gal who 1. brought her own canvas bags and, 2. sorted her groceries on the belt according to wet/dry, heavy/light. I know, I know....let's not get too anal here! BUT...I was able to check her out quickly, she had something to do while in line and we were both happy at the end of the transaction! I am making the effort to give customers their change in a user-friendly way. I give them the loose change first. Then the bills. Then the receipt. This is all new to me: I'm a foodie and am checking temporarily while hiring is going on. It's been an eye-opener. Remember: your cashier is a real person! A smile goes a long way. And keep on bringing your own bags. Think of it as a grass-roots campaign.

I modestly claim responsibility for the Whole Foods policy of refunding you 5 cents for every bag you bring back. When WF opened here in Austin in 1980, after a few months of shopping there, I wrote them a letter suggesting that. A few months later they implemented it. I think all grocery stores should encourage their customers to reuse and recycle.