Jaymes

Thanks! Re the suet. Do you buy it ready-to-use, or do you render it yourself?

We also like that Cook's Illustrated meatloaf recipe. But for the glaze, we like this recipe much much better: forums.egullet.org/topic/126538-meatloaf-glaze/?hl=meatloaf+glaze

In that fabulous "how to" book about the way to throw a proper Southern funeral, "Being Dead is No Excuse," there are several recipes for pimento cheese, "the paste that holds the South together." My book happens currently to be packed up, but here is a link to a discussion about it, complete with recipes: community.tasteofhome.com/community_forums/f/30/p/639505/5372463.aspx

I do use that Waterford and have gotten a great deal of pleasure from it throughout the years. I especially have enjoyed the heft and cutwork sparkle of the brandy snifters and the "rocks" glasses. Just trying to say that, unless one is independently wealthy, if you are contemplating purchase one of the most expensive brands, you might be well-advised to consider the cost of replacements going forward.

Hard for me to be "over" runny eggs since they've always been served that way in our family. I remember my grandmother talking about how to achieve the perfect soft-boiled egg, sometime back in the early fifties, and the beautiful set of delicate English porcelain egg cups that she served them in. She showed me how to lightly tap tap the egg with the side of your spoon so that you could start eating without having all of that yellow goodness go running down the sides. And in our family, a fried egg sandwich has to have one perfect egg, over easy. Grits are always served with runny-yolked eggs. And another of my favorite breakfasts, even going back to when I was a small child was a piece of lightly-toasted bread with an over-easy egg placed on top and then cut into bite-sized pieces. My family has eaten runny yolks from the time we were a family. To tell the truth, I had no idea until that TC episode that they were trendy and "in style" because I didn't realize that they had ever been "out." ETA - However, do want to say that I have no desire whatsoever to have a runny-yolked egg on a hamburger. That sounds just ghastly.

Agreed that Kale is overused right now, but I love braised Kale -- especially in the winter. It always seems more flavorful than standard greens. Still, the folks getting Kale as the ingredient definitely got jammed. It was a good challenge in concept, but completely unbalanced. They didn't really take advantage, but the people getting "smoked" had a big leg up since you can smoke just about any ingredient and make it work in a dish. Well, of course our greens are always very flavorful. Thanks to the bacon, of course. Somebody should have done a dish of kale and smoked bacon with an egg on top.

And it isn't just the initial expense. Speaking as someone that has a lot of Waterford, and uses it, I'm sorta nervous every time I drag it out. And when the inevitable guest breaks one, and insists on replacing it even though I insist he/she doesn't, it's awkward for them. After insisting that they are going to replace it, and discovering the cost, they have to demur. Although I did have one funny thing happen a few years back. I don't like for anyone to help me set or clear my dinner table when I'm using all that Waterford. I prefer to handle it, and I do it gingerly, one glass at a time, etc. So a friend, Macy, said, "Here, I'll help you set the table; I'll get the glasses!" and before I could stop her, she had gathered up two or three in each hand and headed for the dining room. I could hear those delicate rims crashing together, so I blanched and said, far more excitedly than I had intended, "Oh, no, Macy! I'll get those!" and leapt across the room in her direction. "Well, okay, fine!" she said, clearly taken aback. "I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like they're Waterford or something." As a matter of fact, Macy, they are Waterford, I thought. But even if they weren't, I'd just as soon they weren't all chipped and broken. My point here is that even though I spent all that money so long ago, I can't really afford to replace them now, and am hesitant to use them. So it isn't just the initial investment that you have to consider.

And, although nobody has yet exhibited any streaks of meanness, what would stop a particularly ruthless "cheftestant" from saying, "Here, you go; perfect spice mix," but, in fact leaving out a few key ingredients from the spice mix that he gave to others.

It is weird, isn't it. I'd think that even if Emeril or Paul or somebody equally fabulous had mixed up some of their Cajun seasoning and handed it to you and you were sure it was perfect, you'd still taste your dish to be sure it had salt (after all, a great many seasoning mixes don't include salt), and to be sure you had used enough of it. But, especially since it wasn't Emeril or Paul mixing up the seasonings, how could you just put it into your finished dish and make no effort whatsoever to determine whether or not it was sufficient in every way.

Loved the idea of preparing something wonderful using a trend that is so over and so annoying. However, I always have and always will love smoked foods, and bacon, and some of those dishes with the egg on top really looked terrific. But the kale thing. It's probably just me; I never did get the obsession with kale. No surprise that the two worst dishes were kale something. Kale salad, and a fried kale concoction. Glad it was kale that sent somebody home. As a southern girl that grew up eating all sorts of greens, I think there's a reason why kale was such a late arrival to the Greens Party.

I've been buying from Replacements.com for years. Even back when it was named something else. They are very very reliable. I regularly give gift certificates for Replacements.com to my daughters-in-law to fill in sets of family china, crystal, sterling that I've given them. You can find stuff cheaper elsewhere in the secondary market, but you have to look, and you can't always trust the sellers.

It's on Friday nights, but I'm sure you can find lots of reruns so you can tune in from the getgo. Yep, Ramsey & Company judging. One really cute episode had their kids joining in the judging. I think it's adorable. Really have my favorites. Love the pudgy Asian girl with the big red plastic bow. OMG what a cutie, with such a zest for life. Hope she never loses that. I'm thinking of getting a big red plastic bow for myself. And Alexander, a chubby big kid that is the clear front-runner. It's certainly possible that with his terrific personality he's one of the most popular students at his school, but I think it's more likely that he's not. And it is so wonderful that he's got this love and appreciation for cooking as his "thing." Like the dweeby violinist in the school band, you know? Somebody that's so very good at something else that you know that no matter what the other schoolkids throw his way, it ain't gonna affect him one bit. Usually, I root for the underdog, and not for the obvious front-runner. But in "Big Al" (his nickname), I'm totally on his side. Then there's little Sarah, at only nine years old. Everybody keeps expecting her to fail because she's the youngest. But thus far, she's stuck it to 'em every time. Here's a link to the Fox website. You can see that the judges are covered in something white. It's whipping cream. to determine the final winner from one challenge, the top three finishers had to whip cream by hand. They had to whip it to stiff peaks, stiff enough that it wouldn't fall out of the bowl when they turned it upside down. So to judge, each one of the three kids went up to stand behind one of the judges and turn the bowl over to see if the cream was whipped enough to not fall out. As you can see, not everybody was so successful! http://www.fox.com/masterchef-junior/

Anyone watching the kids on Masterchef Junior? Love the little dude in the Hawiian shirts. That clip of him chopping like a maniac cracks me up!

I'm wondering if you ever came across any lingonberries/cowberries/low-bush-cranberries? And, if so, what did you make with them?

"Haggis with a whiskey based Cumberland type sauce"? I'll take just a bowl of the sauce, please. As for your Nanna's "ambrosial Bacon and Onion pudding made in a cloth".... Do you have that recipe? Gawd that sounds good.

Chili. Got to make a few tubs of chili and freeze it. Can't be without chili when brisk winter winds blow.

While perusing the various thread titles, I noticed the "Seasonal" thread, and it occurred to me that, when autumn arrives and the leaves begin their downward meander, I always think of apple butter. When I was a kid, apple butter invariably appeared on our fall breakfast table, to be dolloped onto hot bran muffins, or spread over toast made from some crunchy variety of bread - something with nuts or berries and whole wheat. I have family in Southwest Missouri, and "Apple Butter Festivals" are a very big deal around there. They get these huge copper pots and set them over fires and add apples and stir, stir, stir. The aroma is utterly incredible. Here's info about one of the largest of these festivals: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/DO/20131012/NEWS01/310120008/Mount-Vernon-Apple-Butter-Makin-Days-festival Excerpt: "The recipe? Apples, of course, and water, red hots, cinnamon and ground sugar plus smoke and a little bit of ash from the wood used to heat the apple butter for seven hours or more. There’s no butter. It’s called apple butter because of the consistency." Of course, not all of the varieties have added sugar, or cinnamon. That was the kind we kids always preferred, naturally, but Mom never approved. She only bought jars of the "no added sugar" variety. Dad had to sneak in jars with the cinnamon and sugar added.

It was amusing to me that the chefs/judges pretty clearly were extremely irritated at the notion that, because he "looked like a surfer," he could use that instead of his cooking skills. We all know that there are some gorgeous chefs out there, but they're not supposed to so openly and obviously rely on their looks over their cooking skills. Right, Tyler Florence?

Well, it's a bit of a drive (about an hour-and-a-half north), but you can get really fresh produce up in the Sacramento Mountains at various "you-pick-em" farms like this one: http://www.cadwalladermountainfarms.com/

Ummm....apple butter. A wonderous thing. Lindsey, I second this. Especially if you're unfamiliar with it, you should definitely give it a go.

Apples are so versatile that it's almost easier to think of things you cannot do with them. During apple season, we always slice, cook and freeze a great many of them to use throughout the year. And we definitely bake at least a half-dozen or so loaves of apple-nut bread. It freezes beautifully and it's so handy to pull out a loaf to slice up for breakfast, or as a quick dessert with ice cream. And, recently my go-to company dinner dish has been from Dorie Greenspan's "Around My French Table" - the Chicken, Apples & Cream Normande. But I make it with pork tenderloin. A divine dish.

Well, just to clarify, my post was primarily supposed to be informative, in the vein of the earlier posts about "wild wild food" and how Alaskans eat and live. Not really as advice for cheechakos. .

Right, and since I mentioned dip-netting, should add that you have to be a resident to do it. And although weather is indeed a cruel mistress, she's thoughtful enough to only show up after freeze-up. Summers in the interior can get quite warm. As for planning any hunting/fishing expeditions, one would hope that you only plan on doing that with a licensed tour company.

I always love it when a thread pops up about Alaska. Doesn't happen very often for obvious reasons. Not so many residents there and what there are don't need advice as to what restaurants are good - they're more than familiar with every single place to eat in their region. Also, it's not like living in the Lower 48 where you have multiple destinations within easy driving distance. Nobody, for example, would say, "We just decided on a last-minute quicky trip to Fairbanks this weekend. Anybody got any great recs?" The folks that might drive into Fairbanks for a weekend could live in Tok, or Salcha, or Eagle, or Chicken. And they've been to every Fairbanks restaurant often enough to have the menus memorized. Food, like everything else brought from "outside" (which is what Alaskans call every single spot on the globe that is not in Alaska) is always extremely expensive. And there are many places in Alaska where it's impossible to get unless you pack it in yourself. Plus, there is wildlife all around, and subsistence hunting and fishing is a traditional way of life. So yes, everybody in Alaska hunts and fishes. When the salmon run reaches the river on which your town is located, the cry goes out: "The Kings are in the Chena," and businesses, schools, offices let out so everyone can go dipnetting. There isn't really an autumn, or fall. There's "freeze-up." And by freeze-up, everybody wants their larders full with at least one moose, one caribou, and a wide assortment of fish. Freezers are bursting with halibut, salmon, crab, trout, rockfish, grayling, and pantries have jerky, jars of homemade preserves and jams, home-smoked and canned salmon and halibut. And yes, everybody does trade. Two packages of moose hamburger for a whole salmon. Reindeer sausage for smoked halibut. A few pints of frozen wild blueberries for some low-bush cranberry (lingonberry) liqueur. Anyone considering a trip up there would be well-advised to do it. And speaking of eating what you've sourced locally, here's the place to stay: http://www.gustavusinn.com/

I do think it's helpful in this, as in all things, to do a little research to be sure what you're boycotting and why. I boycotted Target for years for something that I had read somewhere that they were doing, which offended me mightily. Actually, there were several things that they were doing that I found offensive. One was that they were not allowing the Salvation Army bell-ringers to stand beside their doors during Christmas. A Target exec said, "It irritates our customers." Well, that irritated me. Until a dear friend pointed me to the Salvation Army policy on homosexuality. And then, roundly chastened, I decided to do a bit of investigation into the other supposed Target policy that I had found so offensive. A quick stop by Snopes proved that that had been a myth, and was, in reality, completely untrue. So the folks I liked turned out to be undeserving of my patronage, and the folks I disliked turned out to be terrific.