CindyG111

I've never been to Grape Vine Market (although I need to!), IMHO World Market has better prices on wine versus Costco. Has anyone tried the new Vin 100 in Lakeway? My friends and I are taking a cooking class at Faraday's and they recommended this new store. Cindy G.

Bumping this topic - Your Texas Sheet cake looks scrumptious Fifi! I've been making Texas Sheet cake for years. I use whatever cookie sheet I have that's deepest. I got my recipe from my Mom, (actually she submitted it to a church cookbook - which I bought, Mom was never good about passing on recipes. That cookbook is a gem and has seen better days. I should encoat it in plastic). She got the recipe over 30 years ago when we used to live near Philly. Whoever she got it from called it Texas Sheet cake. Go figure it's new to Texans!

Well we finally got to go and it was very very disappointing. Food was not good. Oh well. On a high note for dessert we went to the Gelato shop around the corner. Yummy!!!!

We need some Europeans to comment on "burger". I was in Scotland a couple weeks ago and saw a magazine ad for a "burger" which was chicken not beef. In the US, burger means hamburger, man!! At the time I thought it was because of the "mad cow" scare that maybe burgers are now chicken burgers not beef. I dont' think that's so, but especially now seeing this ad and knowing it's German. One last thing - I really like BK's ad "Wake up with King". At the end the guy in bed with the King gets a little creeped out. That is freekin hilarious.

This topic is great! I was in Scotland 2 weeks ago and had Walker's Sensations crisps. Walkers Sensations These were SO GOOD, I thought I'd never eat another US chip without a tinge of sandness. My favorite flavor of Walker Sensations was Thai Sweet Chilli. YUM YUM. Very tasty and very very crunchy. Our chips just seem so oily now. Tangy tomato and Red Pepper Salsa was pretty freekin good too. I'll have to try some of the other flavors and chips listed in the discussion, just so I don't get depressed. Cindy G.

Thanks!!!! Can't wait for the next Gumbo go round.

Ms. Fifi - I would personally love it if you would post your tricks and techniques on roux making. I made my first roux last night for Seafood Gumbo and I didn't think it was dark enough. CindyG's attempt at Seafood Gumbo The reciped called for taking a cup of the just boiling Creole sauce, adding 1/2 cup of the roux (actually now that I think of it, the roux was supposed to be cool -oops). Making a paste and slowly adding that to back to the creole sauce. Boy was that a bitch and a 1/2. For a while there I thought I was going to end up with Seafood Gumbo and Dumplings. Fortunately the voice of my Mom piped in to my head and said put some elbow grease into your whisking!!!

Hey Dude!! I was born in Philly but have never been an Iggles fan.. LOL I loved your Patsies comment - LMAO I WISH I had Scrapple for breakfast. I also miss calling subs Hoagies. Calling that carbonated sugar drink soda. I've swapped Y'all for - rats - I can't remember - yous guys? Wahter for wooter. Swore I'd never drop my 'rs' even though we lived 13 years in NH. When my son, who was born in NH, went to school and started dropping his 'r's I knew it was time to move. Seriously, I think Romney didn't want to take the bet because Philly just plain ol' has better food. humph! Patriots are still going to kick the Eagles ass!

How exciting!!!! I made my first Gumbo last night and I can't wait to try again.

Yum - the Mexican Pot Roast looks fantastic!!!

As an ex NH chick and fervent Pats fan I think Romney wouldn't go with the Lobster bet because every New Englander knows you don't eat Lobster with months that have "r" in them. At least he could have come up with something local though - I like the clam bellies idea - how about oyster bellies? I miss both here in TX. Chowda!!! Gotta be chowda.

Wow what a fabulous pot roast... I hope Costco here in the States has similar sale on LC!!!

I've been dying to post to this thread. Now I feel worthy!!! LOL I had most of today to myself as the son was at his girlfriend's and my husband had to work. What a great day to create! I decided to make Seafood Gumbo out of the "The New Low Country Cooking" by Marvin Woods. I LOVE this cookbook. I got it for Christmas (among others) chosen from egullet Cookbook threads. First I made the Vegetable Stock: Next I needed to make the Creole Sauce. I had looked for Thai Chili paste at the grocery store but they didn't have any. I knew they had ancho peppers, so here is my homemade chili paste: I had to dig up some kind of glass container to put it into. I think this is a bud vase. Here's a picture looking into the paste - nice bits of hot peppers - yum! I also had to make a brown roux. I've never done this before and it wasn't hard! Is it supposed to be browner??? I then made the Creole Sauce. I made a big mess because my okra was frozen and I couldn't chop it up so I put it in the blender. It was okay. I should have taken a picture of the mess. I forgot to take a picture of the Creole Sauce. Once I got the Creole Sauce made the rest was easy. Fry up the Trinity. Add corn. Didn't add more okra - my husband hates okra. Add the Seafood. Add the Creole Sauce! Voila!! here is the Seafood Gumbo!!! It was awesome!! Very flavorful! Spicy but not too hot. My husband is not a big fan of hot food. Here is the skillet cornbread I made too: Finally - here is the seafood gumbo served: My husband loved it!!! But he said he could taste the okra. I think he's full of bologna, don't you?

You know come to think of it the best coffee maker we ever had was a Braun. Hmm. I'd go pick up one up now if my Le Creuset entry level (not cast iron) dutch oven didn't need to be replaced. It's glass lid has a chip which cuts you if you're not careful. sigh... All these coffee pots just have poor engineering!! Is Braun German? Like the Mercedes of coffee makers.

A couple years ago, my husband bought me a Cuisinart Grind & Brew coffeemaker. The thing made great coffee - but what a serious pain in the ass to clean up. I really hated that thing. I bitched about it constantly. Then last Christmas I got a Hamilton Beach Brewstation Brewstation The kind where you put your cup in to get the nectar. Yeah! Happiness! Then one morning I put my cup up and it would not stop giving me coffee. Coffee all over the counter and onto the floor. EEEK! Reese diagnosed that a coffee ground had become stuck in the delivery apparatus and cleaned it out. Voila - all fixed. Ha! Instead it was leaking, every brew cycle. It got to where I'd put a paper towel under it every time I made coffee. 8%$*!$##!! :angry: Last month for my birthday, Reese surprised me with a Mr. Coffee. Simple, easy, works like a charm. But then we noticed a small problem. The plastic holder where you put the ground coffee in (swing out, coffee in - swing in to brew) wouldn't close completely. It wouldn't latch right for some reason so by the time it finishes brewing the brew holder thingy starts to swing out. This morning, not awake, make coffee, sit down on computer. Here the beeper, go look for coffee and see coffee all over the counter and almost to the floor. Sigh. Even worse, the circuit board switcher thing got wet and the on/off switch doesn't work now. (all the buttons on the right side) But I did get coffee this morning. I used the delay brew button on the left, switched the time to a couple minutes later and prayed. Does anyone else have these issues or is it just me? Any suggestions for a new coffee maker? Help!!!

I second "La Reve". Best restaurant I've eaten at in SA.

Leftover smothered chicken I made from 'The New Low-Country Cooking'. One of the best chicken recipes I've ever eaten.

I mostly use mine to steam veggies for dinner. However I recently saw you can make risotto in the microwave. It wasn't that great, but that was probably because I decided to adjust the recipe (wrongly). Sigh - story of my life. Will try this again - but only on a week night when the need to cook quickly is there. I love my microwave oven. It melts butter. If I'm making cookies and I forgot to take the butter out so it is room temperature (a critical component for cookies!!) a microwave can attempt this. Chicken/Beef Stock - ok - who really has time to make stock?????? I would love to make stock once a month but gimme a freekin break, I'd also like to clean my closet (desk, other closet....) Put a cube of chicken boullion in a 2 cup glass measure add a cup of water, nuke 3 minutes and voila!

God Love ya Nacho - I despise Olive Garden. Maybe I'll go with ya. I have my own sad Italian out eating story. A couple years ago I wanted to go to Bellagio for Valentines Day. This was a down year for the hub & I. (anyone married a long time knows what I mean). We had a reservation and when we got there the frazzled greeter told us we'd have a 30 minute wait (there were about 15 people jam packed into their entry area). Hub had a mini cow and we left. He suggested El Mercado (which normally would have made me happy considering how much time I've spent there imbibing Mexican Martinis), but nothing would suffice. Sad V-day at Chez G. Have yet to eat at Bellagio. I'm thinking Tintinio is at least within reach.

LMAO Jaymes ----

Hey y'all! I went to Chili's for Happy Hour with the hub last Friday (183 & Burnet - close to both our offices) and couldn't find a freekin' parkin space. Would have voted for a new location but the hub had already got us a table (what a great guy). On the rounds of the parking lot I noticed Tintinnio. It looked pretty cool and Rob Balon gave it a pretty good rating: Dining out with Rob Balon Has anyone out there been? What do you think? Is it worth the parking debacle?

Sorry for the much delayed post On Christmas we spend so much time drinking wine and doing the appetizer thing that the ham didn't go in the oven until 8 PM and we didn't give a poo about the glaze. and used the mix that came with the ham. And - sad for me kept the ham in the oven too long. However, my spectacularly wonderful Scottish friends loved it. So I gave their family all of the leftovers. A note to Jaymes: Now I know why you specified Norwegian Salmon for your wonderful appetizer. When I went to buy my salmon for this I was completely lost as to what the heck this was. I bought salmon that was slices (like I normally get at the grocery store). When you try to roll this up you get a GIANT log. ok - it was yummy and everyone howled at the presentation. oNE OF these days I'll get it... probably when I quit drinking while cooking. (does anyone else call this the Julia Child method?) Cindy G Ps - sorry for the whining 2 previously

Got too tired yesterday after shopping at Central Market to try out the Texas Ham shop. I could have bought a ham at Central Market but they had the bloody things wrapped up in gold foil. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to spend $50 on a freekin ham I want to see what it looks like. So now my girlfriend & I are off to HEB plus to finish off the Christmas feast shopping and will buy a ham there. Now ...... what glaze shall we do? May pick one from here http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/res...+glaze&x=10&y=8 unless my pals here in Texas wake up and help me out here..... hey! where are y'all? I know it's cold outside.... whine whine whine..... I could use some help!

My best pal & I are cooking a ham on Christmas Day for our families at my house. I just read in today's Statesman about the new Texas Honey Ham Shop on Bee Caves. Think I'll run over there today to see if they are as good as mentioned in the paper. Has anyone tried these hams? What's your favorite place to get a ham in Austin? I want a spiral ham for ease of cooking...

YUM!! I'm making Jaymes' salmon, cream cheese, caviar app tomorrow night when we do seafood base appetizers for dinner. Gracias Jaymes! For Christmas dinner, I'm making my Mom's famous stuffed mushrooms: Mushrooms to stuff, Filling: 1 T chopped onion, 1 t oil, 1/4 c finely chopped salami, 1/4 c cheese spread, 1 T ketchup, bread crumbs Wash & hollow out mushies. Cut up the mushroom stems and cook with the onion in the oil. Stir in salami, cheese & ketchup. Drain off oil. Add bread crumbs to thicken. Stuff mushroom crowns and sprinkle with extra bread crumbs. Place mushrooms on baking sheet - bake at 425 for 6-8 min or nuke till barely cooked. Serve these greasy yummy babies with lots of napkins. Drool!