Jaymes

Like someone else said, I also 'fall back' on the Joy of Cooking. Not inspirational, of course, but after I'm inspired in another book to try something, I pull out the J of C just to see what they have to say on the matter. And also Mastering the Art of French Cooking by St. Julia.

Hey, thanks. I guess the best thing is just to try it. After all, if it doesn't work, it's not like I've lost that much. Cutting back on the sugar works fine with the Cook's Illustrated recipe, so......

Becca -- Pound Cake is my dad's very favorite. But he doesn't like it really sweet. Whenever I bake things for him, I usually cut the sugar back by at least 1/3. And often half. Do you think I could make your recipe and only use 2 cups of sugar, rather than the 3 cups called for and still have the cake turn out properly texture-wise, but just not so sweet?

Well, I guess I'd ask if the other people that used to love the soup also think the taste has changed. Or if they still love it and only you no longer do.

I got this wonderful tip (over in the wine forum) from that nice Mr. Wozencroft: "Cut the heads and tails from the shallots then put in a bowl and cover with boiling water for 1 minute then the skins should come off real easy." And that's exactly what I did. After the skins fell off, they were easy to chop. My very favorite topping for steak is chopped shallots sauteed briefly in butter. Yum and double yum.

Well, since it supposedly was invented at the Waldorf Astoria, maybe one of their restaurants still offers it?

I agree that it is utterly inexcusable for US restaurants to serve wines from their own country. As opposed to restaurants in, say, France....

From a website regarding the history of the settling of St. Louis: "A large influx of Italians came to St. Louis in the 1890s to work in clay mines in the Fairmount area. Factory expansion nationally increased demand for fire brick, including that made in St. Louis. Many of these Italians came to St. Louis via the Illinois coal fields, replacing German and African-American clay miners. By the turn of the century, they were living on what we now call 'The Hill.' The neighborhood grew most during the first two decades of this century." I had a friend of Italian heritage that was born and raised right there on that hill. She told me that during her youth, which would have been the 1950-60's, it was called "Dago Hill." Thank goodness that unfortunate bit seems to have been dropped.

Memories of grandparents are surely among the sweetest and most poignant we have. They often pop up here on eGullet, in individual posts, in bios, and in threads like this, and in previous threads like this one: Days of our Grandmothers, a life in the kitchen. I've written about my own grandmother, a legendary southern cook, restaurant owner, and former Harvey Girl. Those of us that are privileged to know our grandparents are lucky indeed.

Regarding what seasoned salt contains, I think that depends entirely on what brand you're buying. My current preferred brand of seasoned salt contains "salt, garlic, black pepper and other spices." But even with that fairly innocuous ingredient list, I don't use it all that often. Most generally, when a recipe calls for "seasoned salt," I just add salt in the amount called for, along with whatever herbs and spices I think would best compliment that particular dish.

Okay, so I got choked up when I read this. I'll remember this kindness tonight when I'm watching the news, which is always so full of unkindness. Thanks for letting us know.

I want to thank all of you that responded. I'm going to print this topic, and take it with me to my local wine shop tomorrow. Again, thanks.

Two pounds of shallots? Seriously? Not to mention that I'm doubling the recipe. Jeez, I'd be peeling and chopping shallots for weeks.

So I'm having a dinner party. Serving Stifado. It's quite highly spiced, with vinegar, cinnamon, cloves. Recipe follows. Which red wine would y'all recommend using in the preparation? And which to serve? Greek Beef Stew (Stifado) 1/4 C olive oil 2 lbs beef stew meat 2 lbs white or yellow onions 1 C dry red wine 1 can tomatoes, undrained 3 T vinegar 2 t salt 1 stick cinnamon 4 whole cloves 1 tsp sugar In Dutch Oven or stew pot, brown cubed stew meat in olive oil. Cut onions into quarters and add to pot. Break up canned tomatoes and add with juices to pot. Add all remaining ingredients. Simmer, covered, on low heat or in slow oven until beef is tender and all flavors are well combined.

Chilaquiles. Any good Mexican cookbook should have several recipes. It's ubiquitous at breakfast buffets in Mexico, and extremely easy. Some recipes will add chicken or other meat, but for breakfast, I just like them plain.

Actually, add a little lemon, Worsty and Tabasco, and you're darn close to a Bullshot.

I've been thinking about this post, and have decided that this is not my experience at all. Our family doesn't like sweet drinks, especially not with meals. JAZ says that "water's about the only non-sweet thing we drink." I guess that "sweet" is in the tongue of the taster, but the fact is that almost every consumable foodstuff except water has some natural sugars in it (I think so, anyway, although I admit I'm not a chemist and could be wrong) but by our commonly-accepted definitions, you don't call things "sweet" unless the sugar has an overriding influence in the taste of that particular thing. You wouldn't call an onion tart a "sweet" just because onions have some natural sugar. And I don't think that dry wines fall into the "sweet" category either. In fact, isn't that the very definition of "dry wine"? As a child, we were never allowed sweet drinks, unless it was somebody's birthday, or other special "kid" occasion. At our house, the kids routinely got water, or milk, which we drank a lot of, and we all still do. Our juice of choice at the breakfast table was usually tomato juice or V8 with an extra squeeze of lemon or lime. The adults drank iced tea or iced coffee (not "hot usually" with meals), unsweetened, or beer or dry wine. We lived for four years in Germany, and for "nice dinners" served at the dining room table, as in the households of our European neighbors, my parents gave us kids dry wine, greatly watered down via some mysterious formula associated with our age...more wine as we grew older. And on summer afternoons, the neighborhood ladies often got together to visit over tall glasses of iced dry white wine with soda water and a twist. I don't consider any of those a "sweet drink," although most obviously contain some natural sugars. And as far as "savory cocktails" go, assuming (by that somewhat odd nomenclature) one simply means "non-sweet," I would put all of the "booze & water" ones (Scotch & water, Bourbon & water, etc.) in that category, along with the "booze & soda" and "booze mist" and "booze rocks" and "shot of booze with beer back." And certainly the many drinks that are made with various vegetable juices, bouillons and broths, raw eggs, etc., with no added sugar. A Salty Dog may be sweet to some folk, but to me, it's tart and salty. And although I've never tended bar and again well may be wrong, I'd even go so far as to say that I believe if you ask the average bartender which are his biggest sellers, sweet or non-sweet drinks, he'd say "non-sweet." Although exactly what he'd mean by that is probably the crux of what we're discussing. But in my opinion, I think there are lots of "savory" things "humans...drink," including cocktails. I suppose, like most things, it just depends upon one's definition.

I like to eat a lot of fish. And if you want a quick, easy and healthful treatment, try this. It's my best 'shortcut' fish dish for nights when I drag home at 6pm tired and hungry. Take out your little tray on your toaster oven and put some fish fillets on it. Then spread over them some Herdez Salsa Casera, or Salsa Verde. Bake for about 15 minutes. You can also do this with a jarred pasta sauce, or whatever else you have. Of course, it goes without saying that this treatment is much better if you have some homemade salsa or pasta sauce handy, but if you don't, it's still darn tasty. And quick. And as healthy as your sauce. If you don't add any extra sugar or fat to your salsa or pasta sauce (and I don't), it's hard to get a dish any easier or healthier than this.

It's easy to blame it on the cooks, and on the US diners, but there is also a matter of ingredients. When we lived in Texas, we had a German exchange student for a time. There was a well-known German restaurant north of Austin so, when Anna got homesick, we took her there. She said that the food was delicious. For example, when I asked her if the potato soup was "something your mother makes," she answered, "Yes, but this is better." The owner/chef was making his rounds, and Anna greeted him in German and he sat down to chat. He said that when he first came to the States, he tried hard to make the pork dishes taste like they did back in Germany, but couldn't. He did a little investigation and discovered that the hogs most commonly raised in the US are a different breed and fed a different diet. So he imported a few German pigs, which he raises himself. Now, he says, the pork tastes 'right.' Perhaps this is a load of pig hockey, but the food was wonderful. I do think that the ingredients available make a huge difference. I can tell you that the Mexican food I prepare when in Mexico, and the Mexican food I prepare in the US, containing all sorts of substitutes, often tastes considerably different.

Read through your list, but didn't see any dim sum. Is there any?

My dad doesn't drink, and doesn't like any really sweet beverages with his meals, so we never, ever had any sort of sodas with meals when we were growing up, and I still don't. But in restaurants, Dad usually gets water and a handful of lemon slices, squeezes the lemon slices into his water, and adds just about a half-packet of sugar. Kind of refreshing and citrusy, but not too sweet. Nothing like the heavy, syrupy sorts of lemonade served in most restaurants. And non-alcoholic beer, while not as tasty as the real thing, of course, can be a nice substitute to drink with pizza, burgers, Italian, etc. Oh, and I have a friend that always orders hot tea at the beginning of the meal. Often they bring out a tea box with all sorts of interesting options. She makes her hot tea at the table, sometimes using two tea bags, and then asks for a glass of ice. If we're at a nice, white-tablecloth place, and she doesn't want to risk spills, she'll ask the waiter to "please pour this over some ice for me in the kitchen." For her, that solves the problem of "the non-sweetened tea at most places is just yuck."

Personally, I love this thread: "How we ate growing up...." It was, and continues to be, utterly amazing to me how different all of our families were, but yet how alike. I think that when we're little and sitting around our own dinner table, we just assume that what is normal for us is what's normal for everyone else. And also, there was a great funeral thread a while back that hit upon the differences in how various cultures handle funerals and food. Terrific.

Hey, thanks! I love authentic Chinese food and will print that list to keep handy for the next time I'm in KC.

But....it doesn't "taste good." Even if the flavor is good, having a big mouthful of mush that's supposed to be meat isn't tasty to me.

I think we've done other pound cake threads here, so you might try doing a search. There was lots of good info in them, I think. But as for me, after years of trying every recipe out there, I settled on the Cook's Illustrated recipe. And in my opinion, it's the best. You can indeed make many variations, and they give instructions for several, including orange or citrus pound cake, and ginger pound cake, which has small flecks of crystalized ginger in it. Absolutely delicious.