Jaymes

I'm gonna do this. Good idea. Had forgotten about it. And, since we're Southerners, we've got to do this with pimento cheese of course. It's our heritage. Y'all.

Yep, they love those "baby carrots." They dip them in what they call "white sauce." Because "white sauce" sounds ever so much classier than "Ranch Dressing." The Chicken Noodle Soup is a great idea for fall/winter. Too blessed hot in Houston now. But I definitely think I'll lay in a supply of "cup o soup" for the coming school year. And, I do love soups, and that's something I still enjoy making. So maybe I'll make up a batch of something and freeze it in smaller portions to heat up quickly. We really do eat pretty healthfully. When I was a kid, lo so many years ago, things like sodas and Wonder Bread weren't allowed in our house, and I followed that dictum. We do buy wonderful whole grain breads (right now, that's "Health Nut" by Oroweat - love that stuff), and smear some low-sugar preserves, and natural peanut butter on it, but that's what they often have for lunch, so not sure that would be particularly appealing for after-school snacks. And I'm going to be on the lookout for healthier chips. Great idea. They already eat a lot of fruit, and I mean a lot, but the chips will go well with their fruit plates. Man, definitely going to come up with some cookie dough to keep in the fridge/freezer ("Who's yo' grandma now?")! And a "good grandma" would make her own Chicken Nuggets. I'm not that good. I've seen them for sale frozen but never thought to try them. Heheheh.

So now I'm on grandma babysitting duty. I take care of my daughter's four kids every afternoon while she finishes up work. The oldest is in kindergarten; the other three in preschool. They're hungry when they walk in the door around 3pm and dinner is still many hours away. My "mommy with preschoolers" years are decades behind me and I can't seem to recall any fun and interesting and easy to prepare snacks to have ready for them when they walk in the door. I might as well just admit that, although, sure, it's nice for their food to be "healthy," my guilty truth is that that's pretty far down on my list of priorities. I want something that these old arthritic hands can whip up quickly, that will be tasty enough that the kiddos will want to eat them quickly, and will eat them quickly, and will enjoy, and will continue to reinforce my position as "the fun grandma" (my "grandma name" is Hootie, so that's a lot to live up to). I know that there's lots and lots of imagination here on eGullet, so I'm hoping some of y'all can help an old lady out. Sincerely, Grandma Hootie

I have a question for you Liuzhou... Is this something you make regularly? Because I'm by myself now, but love this soup. Wonder if there's a recipe/method that would be easy for me to make, and would be appropriate for a one-person household.

This is the recipe I've used since it was initially posted. Works pretty well for me. Also, FatGuy had some interesting thoughts on producing a simpler version in this thread: "An easy recipe for hot & sour soup": http://forums.egullet.org/topic/117630-looking-for-an-easy-hot-sour-soup-recipe/?hl=%2Bsour

I tried that a few times back in the day, when I was doing a lot of entertaining, but found it was more inconvenient than it was worth. I've got lots of ways to warm plates, but only one place to stick dirty dishes when dinner guests are arriving. A warm oven is the most obvious thing and, in cool seasons, did that. I found that if the oven was busy cooking something, I could just wrap the plates in a dishtowel and put them into that large drawer on the bottom of the oven. Or, I set them on top of the toaster oven. Or, my favorite thing, this plate warmer: http://www.amazon.com/Waterbridge-Electric-Plate-Warmer-Heritage/dp/B009NJ2D0Y I seriously don't know who has their dishwasher empty and available to heat a bunch of clean plates after messing up the kitchen, pots, pans, bowls, dishes, etc., preparing dinner. I sure didn't.

I'm having a hard time relating this to anything with which I'm familiar. Is the texture "cake-like"? Or more like a pudding? Or a quiche? Or what? Obviously, I'm just going to have to make it.

Not a problem. I lived for a time in Europe and have no problems with the conversions. I just really appreciate that you posted it.

So, shall I take this to mean that there really isn't anything good enough in Rockaway Beach to talk about? Or that everybody is so busy eating delicious stuff that they don't have time to post about it?

This is very intriguing, and doesn't sound like anything I've ever had before. I really appreciate your taking the time to post it. I've just got to try it!

I'm extremely curious about this. What is "fake cheese curd"?

Don't forget the Rancho Gordo store in the Ferry Building.

I don't live in SFO, but used to, and visit often, as I have a son and his family that live there. And we're all very fond of Korean food. My former husband spent a year in Korea and came back as a fan, so there are several Korean dishes that I learned to make. In San Francisco, there doesn't seem to be a formal "Koreatown," but there are a great many Koreans that live there, and there are lots of good Korean restaurants. I've noticed what seem to be Korean restaurants and stores near the "Japantown" area. There is a high concentration of Korean Restaurants here: http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=best+korean+restaurant&find_loc=San+Francisco%2C+CA We've eaten at several of them and, while wandering the neighborhood, noticed several small markets that seem to cater to a Korean populace.

Wow. I guess if you're raising blueberries and somebody is willing to pay top dollar to export them, that'd be the wise choice. Still, seems kind of sad to me. Are there places where you can go pick your own blueberries? I remember when we lived in Alaska, blueberries grew wild in a great many of the forests around where we lived. We'd each tie a transistor radio around our neck in order to make enough noise to scare away the bears, who also love blueberries as it happens, and spend the day picking and eating. And also, not coincidently, singing loudly along. Do the blueberry farms in Maine that are doing all that exporting allow locals to pick some before they're all shipped off? Or, are there any roadside stands? Or are the locals SOL?

Howdy y'all Oregonians. I'm going to be spending a week at Rockaway Beach in mid-August. If it were you, where would you plan to go for your tummy-time enjoyment?

I, also, am pleased to meet you, Ms. Dotus. Hope you post about the unique foods of Maine. It's such a beautiful part of the US and I've very much enjoyed my travels through that region. I see you've got a toddler. Although my children are grown and gone now, I enjoyed my travels through that region as well. So I know I'll enjoy your posts. I'll be watching for them!

Please translate me yours. I'm only familiar with the Hungarian one. With lots of Hungarian paprika.

In our family, beef skewers are the number-one most-popular summertime meal. We prefer a Greek/Med/Middle Eastern treatment. And the sides are good, healthful, easy - hummus, tabuli, labneh, preserved lemons, pita bread, etc. Thread an assortment of veggies onto the skewers along with the meat - onions, peppers, big button mushrooms, squash. Marinate, and then grill outdoors over the barbie. If it's raining or something else precludes the outdoor barbecue grill, we broil them in the oven. Here's a typical marinade: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/middle-eastern-beef-kabobs-recipe.html Oh, and PS, just in case you're going to be using wooden (rather than metal) skewers and you're not familiar with them - you need to give them a good soaking in water first, so they don't catch fire on the grill.

Well, I wouldn't worry about getting the exact "right" beer. Especially if it's a bit of a hassle for you. Even if you decide on making something else this go 'round, it's obvious that sooner or later you're going to have to give the Carbonnade a go. After I first recommended it way back at the beginning of this thread, there have been two more recommendations. So, three of us can't be wrong, right? And, I seriously have been making this for some thirty years, at least once a month during cool weather. It's an especially terrific choice for entertaining groups that have just come in from the cold - like from the skate pond, or ski slope, or sled hill. That's a lot of beef & beer under the proverbial bridge. Of course, as with all recipes, some ingredients are more ideal than others, but the basic recipe is so good that even if you can't find the exact perfect beer, you should just go ahead and try it with what you can find. It's one of the world's classic great dishes. And don't forget to get back with us and let all of us Carbonnade fans know how it went.

Golly, I'll admit that I just make it with whatever beer I have in the fridge. That's usually a dark beer like Paulaner or Spaten Octoberfest. The other dark beers I always have are two that you probably are not familiar with and can't get - Shiner Bock and Dos XX dark. Honestly, I have made Carbonnade so many times throughout the years, and as long as you don't use a light beer, I think you'll be fine. If you have a particularly bitter beer, be sure to add just a pinch of brown sugar to counteract it.

And who was the woman that invited a bunch of lively dancing party guests to jazz up the evening? Seemed a little odd, but hey.... Everybody on that show seemed a little odd.

That was the first thing that came to my mind, as well. One of our family's very favorites, and a favorite for entertaining. Flemish Beer Stew - "Carbonnade" You can google for recipes, or try this one. It's basically the one I use: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Beef-Beer-Stew

Sounds like egg drop soup to me, too.

And that is absolutely the God's truth. It's easy for folks to view this from afar and whine and moan about the "rich and greedy" restaurant owners (is there really even such a thing?), and the "rich and greedy" lobbyists, and the poor "exploited" waitstaff that "has no choice." But the truth is that most servers like the current system just fine. If they didn't, there'd be a big revolt, and that would be that. I myself waited tables eons ago, as have all three of my children. One son hated being "exploited" in the restaurant industry so badly that he decided to make a career of it, and got his degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management. But for this example, I'm going to tell you about my daughter. She has an advanced degree in Spanish and is, by profession now, a Spanish teacher. She worked waiting tables at various times throughout her highschool and college years, in addition to other odd jobs such as coaching and refereeing volleyball and basketball and even flag football and tutoring Spanish. She met and married a man who was working for Dell at the time, but who had always wanted to go to law school. She had graduated from university by then and had a really good job teaching Spanish at what is one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation. It's a boarding school, so there are pupils there from all over the world and, as one of the "boarding faculty," she lived in a nice apartment on campus. All in all, the timing was good, so her husband quit Dell and headed off to law school. She was teaching during the day, and waiting tables at night, in order to help pay the bills. Fast forward to a few years ago; hubby graduated from law school and passed the bar and found a job in Houston, a place where neither of them had ever lived. The timing was not right for my daughter to get a job teaching Spanish in the local school system, so she walked into one of the best "celeb-chef-restaurants" in the city, and that night came home with nearly $300 in her pocket. There's only one other job I can think of where you can walk in to work on day one and that night have $300 cash, and it's not something that she would like having to do, let alone something of which her family and husband would approve. "But, but, but..." I can just hear some of you saying. "Sure...but not everybody is working at a fancy celebrity chef's restaurant hauling home that kind of cash." And you're right about that, of course. Many, perhaps even most, servers are toiling away for much less, sometimes not even making $300 in a week, let alone the first night on the job. They're working in diners and small corner cafes and burger joints and short-order dives. In fact, they're working in the exact same sorts of places where my three kids and I got our starts in the food service industry. You call that "exploitation." In our family, we called that "an entry level job." And we were glad to get it. And that's where my daughter worked for years and years and years, in order to get enough experience and knowledge that she could one day walk into a fancy, upscale, high-end, celebrity-chef-driven restaurant and be hired immediately on the spot and that very night be serving "big reds" to fancy, upscale, high-end diners who leave fancy, upscale, high-end big fat tips. Every single poll I've ever seen wherein restaurant servers are asked if they want to change the system, the overwhelming majority say "no." As for the "job lock" of all of these poor, exploited servers, it seems to me that there are restaurants on practically every corner of every town in the nation. It's easy enough to take advantage of the many, many choices open to servers. The most obvious option is to switch and work BOH. Or if they don't like the restaurant/management/system, etc. where they're currently working, they can quit and go work at another restaurant. Or, they can do what countless servers (and my kids and I) have done - work hours that suit your schedule and go to school and learn to do something else. Now, just to be clear, I'm not saying that I, personally, am or am not in favor of the current system. But I am saying that it definitely has its advantages and benefits and its enthusiastic supporters and if the majority of servers decided to end it, end it would.

"Foodie" pretty obviously, and pretty simply, means somebody interested in food. I'm a foodie. I'm crazy about being a foodie. I love being a foodie. Often I get together with my foodie friends and we do foodie things. Whole new worlds have opened to me because I'm a foodie. If somebody wants to insult me by calling me a name, they're going to have to do better than foodie. And that's not hard to do. In a world where people routinely call one another the most vile, hurtful, insulting things they can think of, taking umbrage and getting all wrapped around the axle over "foodie" requires far more negative energy than I've got. .