Jaymes

I like mine with tomatoes and onions and mayo on white, so there are lots of options according to whatever else you like. In taste, texture and appearance, liverwurst/Braunsweiger is far more like a pate than a slab of liver -- to which I see no resemblance. I've never seen it potted or canned although suspect it is available that way. You can always find it in packages and logs in the refrigerator case anywhere you buy other sandwich meats and cold cuts. And yes, you can usually order it at the deli counter. In fact, since you're just trying it, that's exactly what I'd suggest you do. Go to your deli, or the meat counter in your grocery store and buy a very small portion. Take it home and try it first spread on crackers. Or, go to your deli and order a liverwurst sandwich with whatever else on it that appeals to you from these posts. If you don't like it, you won't have lost much.

Hard to imagine that anyone could say that they had the "Central Texas Experience" unless they visited one of the BBQ temples. I'm assuming you'll have a rental car, and you definitely should hop into it one fine Texas morning and make the short drive over to Luling for BBQ at City Market.

As a veteran of many Chocolate Fondue Wars, I can tell you that bananas don't work particularly well, although they always sound like a good idea, and frozen ones work better than not. And they do taste great with chocolate, of course. Regardless, though, it's been my experience that they are too soft to hang on properly to the skewers, and they fall off into the chocolate. And the pieces are too soft and mushy and small to be able to hold onto with one's fingers. Still, they are a chocolate fondue staple, so what do I know. Apples do nicely and you can toss the chunks with lemon juice to keep them from darkening as they sit on the tray. If you do long apple wedges, you can just hang on to one end and dip the other into the fondue without a skewer. Also, those rolled Pepperidge Farm cookies (I forget the name) are really delicious and easy to manage. As are macaroons. Large strawberries (leave the stems on) are also easy to dip without skewers. Dried fruits (someone mentioned apricots) are always good, and hold up well during the dipping.

I'm guessing that you're particularly fond of your tarte tatin. Any chance you'd share with us your fave recipe?

Chris, I can appreciate everything you say. And even agree with it (especially about the 'condoms' bit). And even wince in sympathy with the targets. But I still think that much of it 's darn hilarious and witty writing.

That was absolutely hilarious. Especially enjoyed this withering observation about what must have been the overly-chummy hostess at an Italian restaurant: And a "Slow-baked cheese-and-onion tart" which the same critic called "snot in a box."

Perusing the international cookbooks at my local Barnes & Noble today and what did I spy but the new cookbook by our own Suvir Saran, "Indian Home Cooking"! So of course I picked up a copy. It appears to be chock full of excellent and very approachable recipes, as well as Suvir's terrific notes and comments regarding his remembrances of each dish. Although I couldn't resist bringing it home from the B&N, I did check to see if it's available on Amazon through the eGullet link. It is, of course, and ten bucks cheaper. Congratulations, Suvir. Well done. I know you're proud and you should be.

I was JUST going to add this - my dad and I both still get painful tingly cramps in our legs at bedtime, and the quinine in tonic water is one thing that helps - I suffered from severe cramps for years. They frequently woke me up at night, and were often incapacitating, striking everywhere from the arches of my feet up to the sides of my face. My doctor at the time prescribed quinine tablets, and they worked. They did, indeed, stop the pain. But then one day a different doc told me that most cramps, by far, are caused by varying degrees of dehydration. "Just drink your recommended 64 oz of water a day and you won't need to take the quinine. And furthermore, the water is a lot better for the rest of your body, which is undoubtedly dehydrated too." I was very reluctant to give up my quinine tablets, but decided to give it a go. That's been about two years ago and sure enough, the doc was right. I do try to keep my water intake high, and I have had not one single cramp in those two years.

Absolutely. My VERY favorite. Gawd I love that stuff.

My "most simple, yet delightful" drinks have only two ingredients, but I offer them anyway. Red & White 1 part sweet vermouth to 1 part dry vermouth, stirred with ice and strained, straight up Amaretto & Lemonade Healthy shot of Amaretto over ice in a tall glass; fill with lemonade

I've been to that restaurant many times, most recently about two months ago. It's still there, still great. But that meal of yours can no longer be had for $8.

So many threads these days remind me of earlier, also great ones, on similar topics. Like this one on the Greatest Restaurant Meal of Your Life.

And one last thought from me.... My favorite way to add nutrition: Mom's Mac & Cheese: Into the pot of boiling water add some fresh broccoli along with the macaroni. Drain and continue your recipe as usual. It was actually quite good, the kids ate it without complaining, and I felt a lot less guilty about the Mac & Cheese thing.

A few more ideas to save on money: Think "stretchers." For example, scrambled eggs: Buy a bag of frozen french fries. Take out several handsful and cut them into a dice. Crumble a little sausage or chorizo into the skillet with some chopped onions and green peppers and tomatoes if you like them. Saute til sausage is browned. Dump in the diced potatoes and stir. Add eggs and scramble. Serve with a little grated cheese on top. When you add the potatoes, sausage, etc., you can get one dozen eggs to feed a lot of folks. (Note - this doesn't work as well with fresh potatoes because they take longer to cook; frozen french fries are partly pre-cooked, so they fry up great.) Folks in the southwest do this same thing, but add torn tortillas instead of potatoes. Then it's called "migas." Try to serve your expensive protein on stuff or in stuff or over stuff. Cheaper stuff. Like noodles, rice, eggs, potatoes, etc. Chili and eggs were also a big hit. Make up your batch of chili. Then scramble up about a dozen eggs. Put the scrambled eggs on the plate and then dump the chili over them. Traditionally, this is served with grated cheese and chopped onions on top. And don't forget about soups made out of leftovers. One chicken would feed us three nights. First night we'd have baked chicken. Second night, I'd boil the chicken with veggies and then pull off the biggest chunks of meat and chop up some hard-boiled eggs and we'd have chicken a la king over noodles or rice. Third night, I'd take the broth and veggies from stewing the chicken and add some starch like corn, noodles, rice, potatoes, or whatever, and we'd have soup. Ditto on a roast. First night, roast. Second night, beef stroganoff. Third night vegetable beef soup. Yep, you've got to be creative. Either that or win the lottery.

My guys got pretty adept with the microwave. I always had tortillas around and I also kept gallons of my homemade salsa. I'd keep fajita meat ready to go in the fridge as well -- cooked chicken or beef strips, and shredded cheese. The boys would take a couple of tortillas, put a little beef or chicken into them, then top with cheese. And we often had either leftover refried beans, or charro beans, or they'd open a can of refried beans that they could add if they wished. Fold over and stick into the microwave for a few seconds. Take out and spoon salsa over the top. They could do this by themselves from a pretty young age. It's true that quesadillas are better fried, but when they were quite young, I didn't want them heating up a skillet on the stove if I wasn't there. Also, these quicky microwave quesadillas are a great way to use up leftovers. My guys never got tired of them. And microwave popcorn is a relatively cheap and safe snack for kids to master.

Part of the problem is that teenage boys crave protein. I remember once I was on a health kick. I had been feeding us lots of fruits, veggies, rice, fish, chicken, etc. One crisp fall day my oldest son walked into the kitchen and said, "What's for dinner, Mom, and it'd better not grow, swim or fly." So I put the salmon I had planned to have into the fridge and went to the store and got some great big ol' fat juicy beef steaks. And happiness settled back upon our family.

This thread reminded me of one a while back wherein helenas said that she was going to have some teenaged boys as houseguests. She was asking for advice as to what sorts of foods to prepare. Having been through the budget-busting nightmare of keeping teenage boys filled up, I had some advice -- here.

It's always "worth a visit" to me. It began life as a gas station back in the 30's, selling that ol' good Gulf Gasoline. In those days, it was out of town, north, on the Dallas Highway. In the late 30's, my daddy used to drive that highway, from Austin up to Dallas to court my mother. And his first stop was always Threadgill's gas station to fill up his '39 Fiat. In 1933, with the repeal of prohibition, Kenneth Threadgill decided to add a small diner to his gas station. He stood in line all night long to be the first in Travis County to get a liquor license, and you can still see it nailed to the wall -- Travis County Liquor License #1. The food was good and he liked to warble a few country tunes to the folks that stopped by. Threadgill's became a favorite hangout for the college kids at UT, and Wednesday's "Open Mike Night" became legend. Janis Joplin got her start here. It has been said that other folks in Austin (like Tony's Soul Food, and Hoover's) now serve better home style cookin', and maybe they do, but I still like Threadgills. The chicken livers are fabulous, just like Lovebenton said. And it's pretty hard to beat that kind of history. At least for me, sitting there and thinking about my daddy as a young man, full of love and hope in his heart, just wishing and praying that sweet Ann would love him back. Happily for young Bill, it turned out that she did. And to this day, she still does.

When my middle child was five, I was making him a PB&J sandwich. He stood at my elbow watching. "And I don't want that piece of bread," he said, pointing to the heel. "That's the one with the scab on it."

Hey, you're welcome! It's always been my theory that when visiting a new area, the first thing I want to do is to plop myself right down in the big middle of wherever is the local "touristy" spot. That doesn't mean it's all I see. That doesn't mean I EVER have to go back. But I DO want to see (and have an opinion regarding) whatever the fuss is all about. After all, there's got to be a reason why the touristy area got touristy in the first place. There very well may be something there to see. I have a friend that thinks it's the mark of a sophisticate to NEVER go to those areas...."So touristy," she sniffs, with her sophisticated nose in the air. As a result, she's been to New Orleans at least four times and never been to Bourbon Street. So la ti da, bully for her, but I'd rather at least know what it is I'm looking down my nose at.

If you are still in contact with any Mexican friends in Texas ask them about the tamaladas. Traditionally, the women -- wives, daughters, cousins -- gather in the kitchen to make the tamales while the men lounge around the living room and yard drinking beer and inhaling the enticing aromas from the kitchen. The men will tell you, though, that their job is equally important. They serve as the "tasters." The tamalada takes place sometime around mid-Nov--early Dec. And, just as Memesuze says, that's when all the tamales are made for the holidays. The family will make hundreds of them so that the supply lasts through New Year's. If, when you grew up in Texas, you were not close to any Mexican families, you quite likely would not be familiar with this tradition. But there is no doubt that it was going on when you were here. It is centuries old, for sure.

Yeah, but everyone knows that you hang with the wild girls

Mucus?

Yes, and whatever you do, set aside one day to hop into your rental car and make the drive down to Lockhart to sample some true Texas 'cue. Actually, flying in from the East Coast, you should be able to arrive into Austin around lunchtime. Lockhart is just a short (20 minute) drive south from Austin's airport, and that'd be a great way to kick off your visit. Go to Smitty's and Black's. Sample the food there, and take a little to go to snack on later. At Smitty's, be sure to walk through the whole building. It's a holy temple of BBQ. On your last day, you can go back down there and have them freezer pack some for you to take home and share with those nice folks that were watering your plants and feeding your dog and picking up your mail and newspaper.

Let me add a resounding second to the nomination of Black's brisket. I send some every year to my kids in California and it's wonderful. If you like Southside sausage, then order brisket from Black's, and sausage from Southside. As for the tamales, why not have a traditional "tamalada"? That'd be really fun and give your relatives a real taste of Texicana.