Jaymes

What a great idea! Frozen french fries are blanched in oil before being packaged, so they're halfway to cooked. I bet the packaged potatoes that are in the veggie or dairy section - I think they're called Simply Potatoes - would work too. Or are those just precut and not cooked? Don't know about that - but those frozen ones are so handy - keep forever and they're easy to stack up like square-cut logs, and dice.

Well - I DID go on at some length in the other "scrambled egg" thread about chili & eggs, so felt like I had given y'all plenty of opportunities to try it. And if you weren't interested - well - too bad for yew.

Migas.

This is really difficult for me because I can't even begin to count how many cookbooks I have in my collection. And at any given time, at least twenty of them are lying in various states of perusal upon my kitchen table. Right now, lying there open, are several well-known Italian ones, including Leone's Italian Cookbook. And one I bought in Hong Kong years ago: "Chow - Secrets of Chinese Cooking" by Dolly Chow - with recipes given in both Chinese and English. "Can't do withouts" include: Mexican Family Favorites Mastering the Art of French Cooking Larousse Joy of Cooking The Best Damn Cookbook (You Ever Found) And also, my large collection of Junior League-type cookbooks. When I decide to prepare a regional specialty, the first thing I do is get two or three of these "recipe collection" books from that particular region and leaf through them. Then, I take four or five of the most-promising recipes and combine them.

Well - I think maybe putting some chopped potatoes into the eggs is a Latin thing. It's very typical here in the U.S. Southwest. Most of our "breakfast" tacos or burritos have chopped potatoes in the scrambled eggs. And also, in Spain, those wonderful Tortillas Española con Papas.... basically potato omelets. I have put potatoes into my scrambled eggs for years, but it was a LOT more trouble before I discovered I could keep bags of those frozen french fries around, and just chop up a handful of them for the eggs. I think those frozen french fries are partially cooked, maybe. Because they cook up quite nicely in the scrambled eggs. You can just add them right to the eggs, and don't have to pre-saute them, as I did when I added fresh, raw potatoes to my scrambles.

Fritz - try keeping a bag of frozen french-fried potatoes in your fridge, and next time you're whipping up your "Specials," dice those french fries and put them in, as well. Simply fab. And easy. As you'll see.

Not my favorites. The two I sometimes use when in a rush have absolutely no sugars of any kind added. They are not sweet at all.

Goodness, Jaymes, you needn't feel you have to reciprocate with a " . . . secret recipe or two" in exchange for that of Mama's Pimento Cheese! Well, it seemed only fittin'.

Well, I (as I am sure do most of us here) have several "secret" recipes. Some were given to me by friends in the catering biz, some by "competitive" cooks accustomed to winning bakeoffs and county fairs, some by chefs. I treat the sharing of those recipes on eGullet the same way I treat it in "real life." That is, I am very careful with whom and how often and in what way I share. And I mean, very careful. Which is all I was asked to do when I was entrusted with them.

Yankees don't have pimento cheese? You cannot be serious. Hummm... Kind of like.... Italy???

I would absolutely love Mama's recipe for that pimento cheese. Any chance??? Hey, Jaymes, I gotta check with Mama first. The recipe is one her own mama perfected, and she's pretty picky about its distribution. But I'm sure I can sweet-talk her into sharing it . . . Perhaps you could PM-it to me. I SWEAR I won't be promiscuous with it. (And, I'm not asking something for nothing. I have a "secret recipe" or two I'll trade trade )

I learned how to scramble eggs from my granny, who was in the restaurant biz. This was decades ago. And through the years, I began to notice that the way she taught me to do it was NOT the same way that most other folks do. So, imagine my suprise when I was reading in Larousse that the way to scramble eggs was to not add ANY liquid during the beginning of the scramble; but rather, to FINISH with cream. And that's how I do it. I put butter in the pan, scramble away furiously, and then - at the penultimate moment - add heavy cream and keep scrambling until the cream is incorporated. It stops the cooking, but the eggs are fully cooked - no slimy uncooked bits - and light, fluffy, creamy. Heaven.

I would absolutely love Mama's recipe for that pimento cheese. Any chance???

I absolutely love the sweet & sour flavor. I like it always. In Chinese food, in German food, wherever I encounter it. It's gotten a bad rep (of course) because of that dayglo orange glop that bad "American Chinese" restaurants pour over everything. That stuff is horrible. But good sweet & sour, with crunchy green peppers, onions, pineapple, etc. I love it. And Hot & Sour Soup. And German potato salad. And red cabbage. Can't even have a PB&J sandwich without a sour pickle on the side. It's one of my favorite flavors.

i may have been high on LUV but i swear that on my honeymoon in guatemala my husband and i sat underneath an avocado tree on lake atitlan and the avocados were falling off around us and they were ripe. but, like i say, i could have been high. Or maybe that first one conked you on your pretty little head.

They have a fucking bar? Wow, how terribly advanced. Down here in Texas we have to do that in the restrooms.

When I visit Seattle, I usually stay at the Inn at the Market. One of the very best things about that hotel is how adorable its rooms look when decorated with lots of items from those bakeries.

Speaking of "Matt's in the Market," how about that string of little deli's right across the street? In particular, the Russian one. Or is it not still there??

This sounds wonderful. Does anyone know if it is something we could prepare in our kitchens? Helena???? Have you ever made these?

Aren't avocados one of the fruits that won't ripen on the tree? I know I've read that somewhere; anyone know if that's correct? When I lived in Panama, we had five avocado trees in our yard. The avocados would "hold" on the tree indefinitely. They wouldn't completely ripen while on the tree. Depending on when you picked the avocados (early or late in the season), they took from 2-7 days to soften after being picked. So, they certainly could have been picked on, say, a Thursday and very easily sliced up for StellaBella's lunch on Saturday.

Katz's Reubens are one of my favorites for "plan ahead take-homes." I order the sandwich and an extra pickle and the take-home container at the same time (actually I do that a lot, and remove up front that portion of the meal I'm taking home - reminds me when to stop eating because I've had enough, and is far more appetizing BEFORE I begin eating from the plate rather than after). And I remove at least half of the corned beef from the sandwich before taking a single bite. At home, the next day, I use that corned beef to prepare a PROPER Reuben Sandwhich, which Katz's are not.

Who pretend to be taking food home to their "dogs"

How very true, but it happens. I suspect the residents of Iraq feel the same way too. You are probably quite right about that one. As soon as they can express themselves freely, it would be wise to ask them.

Most certainly not. That's different. The French welcome and appreciate it because they are so good at doing the exact same thing themselves.

how is this in 'the interest of fair play and reciprocity? You have already told me what the entire population of the United States of America thinks of me. I have? I'm quite stunned with this news. I doubt that I've said what the entire population of the U.S. "thinks of you." In fact, I don't believe I've even said what I think of you, which is generally quite favorable. What I believe I said is that I am quite certain that no resident of any country (including mine and including yours) likes it when residents of another country start telling them what is wrong with them (particularly insulting implications that they are fat primarily because they are lazy, greedy and wasteful), and what they (the residents of the "superior" country) suggest be done about it. All of which has nothing to do with what I, or anyone else, thinks of "you." I get angry with my mother for the exact same reasons, and I'm positively crazy about her.