Jaymes

I have a fabulous recipe for Puttanesca that you make by chopping fresh tomatoes, squishing olives, smashing garlic, squeezing anchovy paste, slicing basil, tossing well in EVOO, placing in a glass bowl with glass lid, setting outside in sun for about five or six hours. Then you pour it over pasta and grate P Reg overall. Wonderful!

This sounds a lot like a meal I was served in our guest's home in New Orleans, but a little less shellfish heavy and with the addition of sausage. It was called a "shrimp boil" and served on a long table, with newspaper, in their garage! It's still one of the most memorable meals I've had. So simple yet sooo good!! Was it just the presentation you objected to or did it taste bad as well? Ollie That is pretty classic. Many civic organizations down here have "Shrimp Boils" or "Crawdad Boils" for fundraisers and they are always huge hits. Everything is boiled in a big vat, usually with some beer and lots of Cajun spices in the water. They line the tables with newspapers, just like you said, and dump the whole thing out. Served with Louisiana hot sauce and lots of cold beer. HUGE hits. That's why they're fundraisers.

You have a right to be proud. What a fine compliment you got from them. (Hungry for the first couple of days, eh? Now, what did I tell you? "Lots and lots and lots!") It's impossible to cook too much for teenage boys. Congratulations, Aunt Helena! Sounds like you were a smash hit, and they'll remember it forever. AND, brag on you to all the relatives!

Helena - Waiting to hear. How'd it go? Successes? Failures?

In winter, when you can't get good tomatoes, have you ever tried this with canned?

Toby - Have you ever tried aged Weller? I was at a friend's house a while back. He's a real connoisseur. We got to talking about spirits and I told him the story (mentioned above) about the attorney who wouldn't go to Cancun without his Weller. My friend said that that was his favorite as well and asked if I'd like to try some. It was fabulous. My friend's Weller was 19-year aged, I believe. My friend also said that Weller wins most tastings. Perhaps you should give it a try.

Here's another thread for the Newbie to peruse! This should be plenty!!

Excellent thought, RP. In fact, reminds me to add that my Mex friends use flour tortillas like Norteamericanos use slices of bread... as sandwiches. When I order steak at restaurants and don't eat it all, the next day I slice it up thinly, smear a little refried beans on the tortilla, then the steak, then salsa. Perfectly fine as is. Ditto chicken.... RF beans (if you have them) chicken chunks, salsa. Also, my Mex friends heat a skillet or griddle (add no grease), then just fry (or grill, whatever you want to call it) the plain tortilla a few seconds per side before they use them. They call the tortillas right out of the package, "cruda" or "raw." They do this not just to heat the tortillas, but to also fry them a bit (although not til they start crisping, I should add), getting a few more brown spots on them. Sometimes I do it; sometimes not. But they are better fried a little. Then, you can just smear them with good quality butter and eat, just as you would a slice of bread. And Saffy, don't forget fajitas, of course.

I've done it for several trips. It has some effect, but mostly color. It wasn't much of a problem. Golly - Do you mean you poop pink?

We've discussed this at some length... most recently in the "Cooking" board... I'd do a link, but I don't know how. I can tell you that it's called something like "What's your favorite bottled pasta sauce?" or somthing similar, and it's currently hanging on at the bottom of page two. There was pretty lively discussion and I think you'll find it interesting. I can't remember what everyone said (other than that making your own is best by far) but I and several others highly recommended Moms when you're in a hurry. No sugar. Wonderful natural ingredients like you put in your own when you have the time. If it's not available at stores where you live, someone on the other thread helpfully put in a link to Moms website where you can order it. EDIT: Oh - and you also said you don't like sauce that's too tomatoey... scan the entire "Cooking" board. You'll find several threads that have "pasta" in the title. There are many quick recipes that don't call for tomatoes at all.... just olive oil, or beaten eggs, or clams, or cream, or wine, or tuna, or capers.... or whatever..... There are enough recipes and ideas here for pasta sauces to keep you humming Italian love songs for the next year.

I know that historically in the U.S. south, pretty much every recipe you ever saw for cooking vegetables said, "and a little piece of fatback for flavor." I often use a strip or two of bacon in mine, but it doesn't taste the same as my grandmother's.

Thank you, Jaymes. God, I love easy. You're welcome, BB. I also love easy. In fact, upon reviewing my post, I realize I said "grate" the cheese. I don't, of course. WAAAAAAYYYY too much trouble. I just slice up a few hunks and lay 'em out. To get really fancy, I serve some avocado slices alongside. If I've got company, I garnish with some sour cream and a few cilantro sprigs. Easy all the way!!!

Buñuelos - Cut into strips or triangles (about the size of tortilla chips). Deep fry. Dust with sugar and cinnamon, or drizzle with syrup. ~~~~~~ EDIT: Just re-read the post - you asked for "favorite ways of using flour tortillas." Well.... I make pretty darn good salsa, and my "favorite way" of using flour tortillas is just to grate some good-quality cheese into them, fold them once, to make a half-moon, zap in MW til cheese melts, then pour over some of your good, cold, home-made salsa. If you don't make your own salsa, or are not in the mood, buy Herdez brand salsas. For red sauce, buy the Salsa Casera in the jars. Their salsa verde (with tomatillos) is fabulous and you can use it for chilaquiles as well as omlets, burritos, quesadillas, etc. It comes in small cans as well as jars. Of course, store-bought isn't as good as good homemade, but it's better than crappy homemade, and Herdez is BY FAR the best commercially-prepared salsa I've tried. As it says on the label, Herdez is the biggest-selling brand in Mexico, and it's darn tasty. So that's really my "favorite" way to eat flour tortillas and I go through a lot of tortillas, cheese, and salsa that way.

Golly - can you do that? I'll admit, I would like to see it.

I have been told that the practice of taking a Pepto Bismol daily, or something similar, as a prophylactic can mess up your digestive tract so that you are worse off than had you not.

No. I don't "stay" at the Hilton (although frankly, I don't understand why it'd be such a crime if I did). In fact, I usually stay at some small dive that I can afford, one of which was nothing but a hammock in a hut, and the most-recent of which was $35 a night right off the plaza in Playa... The sorts of places where I must, indeed, "brush my teeth with bottled water" after checking to be sure the seal is intact. What I said I did, and what I do, is go EAT at the "Hilton" a few times the first two days. It beats starving and I know I probably won't get sick before I learn my way around. I have frequently arrived in foreign countries where I know absolutely no one, and have no access to those "local foodies" with whom you so helpfully suggest I get in touch. So after I get to know the waiters, I then go with my new friends into all sorts of small restaurants, alleyways, markets, etc., and follow their advice as to what is safe to eat and what is not. They usually speak English (I am not fluent in, for example, Chinese) and are an invaluable resource... friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Also because I am a woman, frequently traveling alone, there is a safety issue here and I believe these people are likely trustworthy. And I'm often invited into their homes (twice even being an honored guest at weddings, one of which included, for the marriage banquet, throwing just-killed monkeys and iguanas onto the open campfire along with the fish). Which I don't think they'd do if they actually "assumed the worst" of me. I don't consider Singapore to be included in the same class, sanitation wise, as the countries we are discussing. When I lived in Hong Kong for example, I ate street food probably daily; in Manila, I did not. Hong Kong at that time was a British Crown Colony, and I did not interpret this question as pertaining to places like that. I am sure that, as always, you're undoubtedly brilliantly correct as far as what works for you. And you can look down your nose at me all you want, but I have made it to the ripe age of nearly 60, and have both traveled and lived all over the world (including places that use human excrement as fertilizer for their vegetables and other crops), had a damn fine time of it, enjoyed myself immensely, and eaten plenty of exotic dishes. I am hardly a squeamish or paranoid traveler or eater, but I have never one time gotten sick, so whatever I'm doing works for me. And I felt compelled to share it in good faith in response to the question. I recently escorted a group of 90 to Ixtapa. I told them to avoid a picturesque little shack-restaurant about a mile down the beach from our "big fancy hotel." The waiters at our hotel had told me that many touristas had gotten sick there and I shared that information with the group. Of course about twenty of them believed that I was a wimp who didn't know what I was talking about... and off they went to have a real "authentic" native experience, complete with frozen margaritas. They came back later that evening laughing and talking about what a great time they'd had and what a silly worrywart I was and how everyone who had listened to me had "missed out." Sure enough, by the next day, every single one of them (those who had the margaritas as well as those who had not) was sick and I had to deal with it. One of them got so sick there was even some question as to whether or not she was well enough to get on our plane to fly home; she had to be hospitalized immediately upon our return. And by the way, in my post I also said, "just use common sense," which you seemed to have overlooked, but which you basically repeated: "just use your head." Obviously a roasted turnip is not the same as shave ice. EDIT: I'd like to add that it appears to me that you write well enough to have adequately expressed your own opinion, without ridiculing mine.

Sanitation in underdeveloped countries... After traveling to many third world countries, and living in two of them, this is what works for me. When I first arrive into the country, I go immediately to one of the big, fancy, tourist hotels to eat. I know that their income is dependent upon not getting foreigners sick. I eat there at least two or three times the first day or two, chatting up the staff, especially the portly ones. THEN, I begin to pick their brains about other good places to visit, eat, sightsee, etc. This technique has never failed me, and I've been invited into homes, gone to family parties and celebrations, and even one wedding, with my new friends from the hotel. If I'm in a big city, I do much the same thing by immediately taking the "City Tour." I see a lot of things really fast, in an hour or two, and have a guide to chat up. Other than these two tips for making new friends of the locals, I follow the usual advice... commerically bottled drinks, water, etc. (Also want to add that when I was in China, I was talking with a Chinese about the water and said that because I was foreign, it might make me sick. To which he said, "It's not just because you're a foreigner. It makes us all sick. That's why we drink so much tea. We boil it first. I'll be happy when we get good water like you have in the States.) Try to eat in places that are obviously clean, reputable, have a good name. Avoid food stalls. Unless I am in very well-known, even famous, restaurant, I don't eat anything uncooked that has a large surface area to wash...like lettuce. I don't drink anything that has irregularly-shaped ice cubes that look as though they've been chipped off of a large block sitting out back in the alleyway covered with flies. Even in the largest and fanciest of restaurants, I never eat any kind of ground meat.... absolutely no hamburgers by the pool no matter how luxurious the hotel nor how good the hamburgers look or smell. If I'm in a seaport, I eat lots of fish... it seems to me that the fish is invariably fresh, just off the boats. Basically, I just try to use common sense...but I sure will not give up the experience of trying new things. Even though I have munched on extremely exotic items (Creamed Chicken Testicles in Hong Kong comes to mind), I have never gotten sick. Giardia... By contrast, my youngest boy contracted Giardia while we were living in Panama City, Florida....so there you go. You never know.

Ok, I know this is restaurant lingo, but what is a 4-top? SA A table that seats four people...as opposed to an eight top, or a ten top.

Yeah, her name was Nancy, and she was one of the funniest people it has ever been my great good fortune to call a friend. But she was one lousy cook.

A cook who made a "Chicken Supreme Casserole," but forgot to pre-thaw the frozen chicken pieces (legs, thighs, breasts, etc.), comes immediately to mind. She started the evening with what she called "Cheese Surprises." The "surprise" was that they became lodged in the roof of your mouth and stayed there. There was no removing them without sticking your fingers into your mouth to pry the things off. My erstwhile hostess said, by way of explanation, "Well, that's why I called them 'Cheese Surprises.' They were originally called, 'Cheese Delights,' and I don't know what I did wrong, but I tried one before you came and it wasn't delightful at all. I had to serve them anyway, because I didn't have anything else to put out." Now, I submit to you that I received the far richer experience this way than had she offered us a sublime paté. (And, by the way, we never DID eat the Chicken Supreme. At 11:00pm, the sauce was as dry and cracked as a desert riverbed, and the chicken was still not done. It was supposed to be "finished" by flaming with brandy, but instead, we all just ate the rice and vegetables, drank the brandy, laughed our butts off, and then went home.) PS - I lifted this from my post in the "bad cook coming for dinner" thread. It seemed more appropriate here.

Wow. Impressive. Tomato season is pretty-much over down here Deep in the Heart, but I have hardcopied that, and am looking forward to trying it next year, when we Texans are "up to our eyeballs in tomatoes." Thanks.

I dream about food all the time. A while back, when I was trying to lose weight, I took phen/fen for about a month. For the first time in my life, I didn't dream about food. That tells me there's something chemical involved. But as for the dreams: Even if I'm having a bad dream and a monster is chasing me, we'll wind up at an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet.

Singles ad in the personals?

Why are all these people posting on the Texas board??

It's called getting each other's goat.To keep with the food references.