Jaymes

And don't let the gloom & doom naysayers put you off. As I said above, I've always had fruit trees and I haven't found them to be much (if any) more trouble than regular trees. Which, by the way, also require care and also get pests, diseases, etc. Ain't nothing free in life, you know. I've always loved having fruit trees and I'll bet you will, too.

Don't have the 2FL one, but Julia's in Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume One is classic and good. ← Thanks. I've got that book (of course) and will earmark that recipe to try. Appreciate it.

I'd also strongly suggest you buy at least one good gardening book. This one, of course, is the classic and I wouldn't be without it: The Southern Living Garden Book You might go buy one today, and read the sections on fruit trees before you get in touch with your county extension agent or nursery. It will tell you which zone you're in and what works there and what does not.

I've had every variety you mention. But you left out the single most-critical fact. Where are you? The important thing is to be sure you're growing fruit appropriate for your location. Asking here is a start, and a wise one, to be sure, but you need to talk with your local nurserymen and county extension agent (assuming you're in the US) and find out what works best where you are. Citrus - I've grown Meyers lemons all over the US. But if you're in a state that gets hard freezes, you do have to grow them in a large pot that you can bring inside for the winter. I've also grown those little Key/Mexican limes. Same thing - inside for the winter, and they're not as freeze-hardy as the Meyers lemons. One of our favorite fruit trees was when we lived in Tucson. We had a 'fruit cocktail' tree. One side gave pink grapefruit and the other oranges. We loved that tree.

Some years back, I saw a recipe on Two Fat Ladies that was for peas with steamed lettuce. I made it several times with great success. Unfortunately, I misplaced the recipe and haven't been able to recover that exact same one since. Anybody out there have it?

I had a very nice dinner at Bangkok 103 over at College Place. It's run by an ex-GI and his Thai wife. The best Tom Ka Gai I've had in a long time. I still think about it.

Actually, it sounds good! So good that in fact I think I'm gonna have some really soon. Maybe even tomorrow. Thanks, Katie.

Well, when they say reds should be served at 'room temperature,' they mean 'wine cellar' temperature and not 'sunny southern summer day outside' temperature. I'm no expert, but I think you'd be fine to chill it slightly.

Brad's right. You might not be thinking that beer fits in with your desired ambience, but everybody loves it and you'll go through a lot.

When I think 'outdoor' and 'cool' and 'summertime' and 'wine,' I can't help but think Sangria! You might have several bottles of whatever wines you choose, but also some beautiful pitchers of sparkling Sangria with their colorful slices of lemon, lime and orange. One advantage of this is that you can buy cheaper wine, and you can stretch it with fruit juices and/or lemon lime or other soda water. Here's my personal very favorite summertime drink. Which, I might add, I've served successfully with barbecue many times. It's light and tasty and absolutely gorgeous. Peach Sangria 2 ripe peaches, peeled & sliced (in winter, I use frozen) 1 lemon, sliced thinly, seeds removed 1 orange, sliced thinly, seeds removed 3 T sugar (or to taste, depending on size of lemon) 1/4 c Peach Schnaaps 750 ml dry white wine (about the size of one standard bottle) Combine all and chill well, at least one hour. Serves two very jovial people at two generous glasses each. As is immediately apparent, there is no brandy, so this is a pleasant, light, fresh-tasting summertime drink. And on occasion I have, at the end of the evening, fished out any remaining peaches (now wonderfully marinated) and served them over pound cake and ice cream for dessert.

Yeah, but don't forget to wear your gloves!

I'm really curious what people's opinions are of what "slack-cutting" means. Does it mean that they are not held to a standard of most other restaurants? Are Q places somehow deified? Does it mean that a smoky, poorly lit, uncomfortable place is going to have all that overlooked if it has good Q, or does that just not fit into the equation? Just as it doesn't seem to affect the rating if a Q place has few choices of food on the menu? Is it like comparing apples to oranges? What kind of slack are we talking about? ← HA! Awesome question... ← And I find it ironic that this "insight" was posted in the barbecue thread. Austin has many barbecue restaurants. Despite the accusation that Texas restaurants, in particular Austin restaurants, are given "too much slack," I don't think I've ever seen a single Austin barbecue joint listed on anybody's statewide top ten lists.

Yep. Ladies of the days of metal-ice-tray refrigerators knew how, all right. You took out one of your ice trays, pulled that tough little handle while the cubes CRRRRACKED their way free, and rinsed the tray in cold water to rid it of any stray ice shards, which might melt and dilute the essential balance of the ingredients. A good drying with a cup towel, and you were set. Then, you popped two little triangles in the Pet can lid with a church key, poured the off-white stream into the tray, and inserted it back into its freezer slot to chill. Our original recipe reads: "Chill til slush.". Lots of the mixers of the era had glass bowls, which needed to be put into the freezer, with the beaters, at least half an hour before commencing with the pie. Actually, our recipe just like yours was called "Lemon Bisque," and since none of us had ever called a thickened soup anything but soup, our knowledge of bisque rated the word to be exotic and daring, especially when appellated to a dessert. And the crust was mixed (graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter) and pressed into the pan in the interim while everything was chilling. A teensy handful of unpressed crumbs were left to scatter daringly atop the finished creation, lending an air of creativity and elan whenever it was presented for serving. To preserve the mystique, it was also necessary to cut squares and transfer them to the serving plates, since my Mom made the entire thing in the ice-trays' counterpart, a handy aluminum pan about 8x10, which also came as a part of the new Kelvinator's trousseau.

Well, I must say I'm ashamed. My mother was a WWII bride, and if she knew canned milk could be whipped, she certainly never shared that with me. Fast forward to my adult years where I went to pastry school, and have now spent 18 years in the business. Nobody ever told me that you could whip evaporated milk. I mean, I had cream to work with....why would I want to go to the trouble of whipping evap? This thread is the first I've heard of it, which just means that as much as you think you know, you never know everything. I'm imagining that perhaps during those WWII years, for some reason, it was much easier to obtain (and afford) evap as compared to heavy cream. That, combined with Jello, made for a fun, delicious, inexpensive dessert. It's pretty easy to come by a pint of heavy cream these days, so I'd probably whip up some cream as opposed to taking the time to chill a can of evap and whipping that. Sure it would be higher fat, but perhaps a bit richer and yummier. ← Absolutely. Which is why, as soon as rich cream was again easily available, nobody ever bothered to whip canned milk again. So it's no wonder that few of us modern gals even know it's possible. However, I will say that when I'm trying to defat fattening recipes, it is knowledge that comes in handy.

Well, as I am a mother-in-law, in defense of mothers-in-law everywhere that scribble out recipes for pissy daughters-in-law with chips on their shoulders (not, my dears, that ANY of YOU are those because I can tell by your posts that you are not), let me point out that one generation's "easy" often has to do with something that in that generation everybody was doing and everybody knew how to do. For example, whipping canned milk. My mother, a bride during WWII knew it whipped, knew what to do to make it whip properly. I, on the other hand, was utterly gob-smacked when, at 32, she gave me a recipe very similar to the Lemon Whip we are discussing, and it said very clearly that I should begin by whipping a can of evaporated milk. I mean, who knew? Every single WWII bride knew, that's who. And when giving someone a recipe, would never think to write out how best to do it. But when I telephoned her asking for help, she explained it immediately and thoroughly and it was obvious that it was something she had done many times, albeit long ago. There are many things this current young generation knows how to do that, should they write it out in some sort of shorthand in a recipe, their mothers and grandmothers would be completely stumped at exactly how best to go about doing it.

Thanks for the heads up about this place. I'm moving to Houston in a couple of weeks and one of my very favorite restaurants on the planet is the Banana Leaf, a Malaysian place out in the SF south bay area. So I'm pleased to know that along with all the other fine eateries in Houston, Malay cuisine is also available.

All you need do to find "beans on breakfast menus" is to go to Latin-themed restaurants. Like you, Hispanics and Latinos love beans for breakfast. And Soba - I, too, am happy to see you back and blogging. I applaud you for including your physical condition in the discussion, especially since I'm sure that directly impacts upon your food choices. And getting a bunch of cyberhugs can't hoit.

Hope that the prediction that Susan's resignation will mean more time for her posts comes true as, to me, she's one of the best things about eGullet! I'll be watching for many more good thoughts and ideas and inspiration from Snowangel.

And sometimes I add walnuts, too. The combination of the sweet & sour slaw with the cranberries and walnuts works really well. In fact, thinking about it gets my tongue tingling. Think I'll toss some up for tonight.

We've had some other slaw topics throughout the years and I think I posted this, my favorite recipe, in one of them. But here it is again: Red & Green Coleslaw 1/2 head red cabbage 1/2 head green cabbage 1/2 large red onion 1 Cup dried cranberries - Crazins Dressing: 1/3 C cider vinegar 1/3 C flavorless vegetable oil (not olive oil) 1/3 C sugar 1 tsp celery seed In a small jar, combine the dressing ingredients and shake until sugar is dissolved. Slice the vegetables very thinly and put into a large bowl. Add cranberries. Add dressing and toss well. Cover and place into fridge. Let sit for about 3 hours for flavors to combine, stirring occasionally. Drain and serve.

So we're looking at a minimum USD300+. And we also have to stop in at the DHL office to ship stuff home. Sigh.

Bacon is closed Monday and Tuesday for lunch. Tétou on Wednesday. They are open for lunch the rest of the week. You need to call to reserve; if there is a congress or festival in Cannes, as there frequently is, they can be booked up. You don't need to tell Tétou you will have bouillabaisse; that is all they serve. I imagine that Bacon always has the ingredients fresh and on hand. ← Several people have cautioned that bouillabaisse for two is "quite expensive," and that they don't take credit cards. Can anyone tell me how much is "quite expensive"? How much should we expect to pay?

I think 5 or 6 (or even 15 or 20 dollars) for a basket of bread is a small price to pay to assist in the battle against global warming.

Thanks y'all! Do you know if Tatou and/or Bacon are open for lunch? Would they require 24-hours notice for the bouillabaisse?