Suzanne F

Our household is only two (supposed) adults. Dinners at home are 99.9% together at the dining table, no TV, but almost always radio (music, though, not talk). The remaining 0.1% is a combination of together at the kitchen table when there is just too much work stuff on the dining table (which = our conference table); together at the dining table with the TV on, for the rare playoff game or series final; or together on the couch facing the TV, eating off the coffee table (same reason). I will admit that when we have family over with small children, we do not insist that they stay seated at the table for the whole meal. After all, that could be 3 hours, and even I have trouble sitting that long. Besides, they're not OUR kids (we have none). Anyway, I think meals at someone's home -- especially close family -- can be a little looser than those in public. (These same kids can and do behave well in restaurants, except for asking for a taste of my lentil soup and proceeding to eat almost the whole bowl. ) Growing up (1950s), I and my sister sat with our parents (or just mother, when daddy worked a second job) in our dinette. The TV was in the living room, so we could not watch it while eating. We did, however, listen to the new on the radio. We did not leave the table before the end of the meal. Period.

Is such a thing possible?!?!?!

Okay, maybe 16 is overly optimistic. Now HWOE says we should change the name to the Slow Suicide Club. Not funny.

elyse SuzanneF + HWOE alacarte Blondie johnjohn laurelmilan Picaman MHesse forkAndPen sherribabee SobaAddict70 and, we hope, Dave the Cook and some or all of his crew. as of 12/27, 10:14pm Have not made the reservation yet, but I will maybe tomorrow, for, what, 16? That gives us a little wiggle room (which we could have used in a few of the places we already hit). (If anyone will need to cancel, there will still be time. But I hope no one will.) 'K?

Fish Cakes (NOT because I saw them on Jackal10's blog!) made from the last of Belmont3's brandade (from the July potluck) plus some more recent leftover potatoes and grilled halibut. Garnished with out-of-the-shell mussels and sauced with the tomato/wine/garlic mussel cooking juice, buzzed with the immersion blender and reduced. Also some mayo/wasabi/chili sauce mixture that I made before I remember that I had to use the mussels. Roasted beets chunked up and mixed with pickled onion slices. Salad (the usual suspects), made by HWOE, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Paumanok Festival Chardonnay. For tomorrow, I'm thinking duck confit and potatoes cooked in duck fat. and the greens from the beets.

Suzi -- have you read Curries and Bugles by Jennifer Brennan, or The Raj at Table by David Burton? They'd be good companion pieces to the one you're reading (which I'll have to look for now )

I have Miss Edna sitting on my bookshelf. Not her ashes , her recipes, given to me by her granddaughter, my friend Mary. Mary is not much interested in cooking, but thought I might want to go through them. Miss Edna used to serve things like the "Tomato Aspic" that Julia Reed (?) wrote about sometime ago in the NY Times Magazine, being a lady from almost-the-South (the Ozarks, I believe). I really need to have a thorough look and report back.

I thought the pricking was to let some water in, so the membrane would be easier to remove when shelling them. Since I don't have a prick, I roll them around to crackle the shells. Although I really don't think gender has anything to do with it.

A question for any of you who cares to answer: how do the dried shrimp down there compare to the ones available in Asian groceries (esp. Chinese) here in the Northeast? I can get various sizes, although most range from tiny to small (although bigger than "salad shrimp"), maybe 3/4-inch long at most. I generally need to de-salt them before use. What are yours like? And do you think I could use the Asian kind for your recipes? TIA.

A lot of butchers in NYC's Chinatown carry Smithfield hams.

I also start the fat in a little water, because that's how I saw my mother do it with chicken fat. It helps to keep the melting gentle and the fat and skin from burning before all the fat is melted. If you do a search on "gribenes" (one of the Jewish names for "cracklings") you may find other methods. But really, the simple ways are the best. And if you need another disposal site, I'll send you my address. They ARE lethal, ya know.

It's always been my understanding that if the maker is related to a French company, the product will only be called Sparkling Wine. (A glance at our case of Roederer Estate from CA confirms this.) Ditto if the maker is respectful of tradition (e.g., Macari Brut from Long Island). But remember that for years and years, lots of horrible fizzy stuff from NYS and CA has been called "Champagne." Gah. Sadly, it's nothing new.

Elizabeth Rozin's The Primal Cheeseburger. I finally admitted to myself that Near a Thousand Tables requires more concentration than I can give it before going to sleep. So that's back in the bookshelf.

I also do it Julia's way, although my timing varies anywhere from 10 minutes (for really soft yolks) up to, umm, whenever I remember them. And I also cool them down asap (assuming the former timing, not the latter), lightly crack the shells, and leave them sit in cold water in the fridge until I'm ready to peel use them. No problems peeling, that way. And rarely a dark ring, unless the eggs are very old. When I worked (briefly) in a Russian restaurant, we make dozens of hard-cooked eggs at a time, to use for caviar garnish. I used the same method, and pretty much the same timing -- about 15 minutes no matter how many eggs -- and it worked fine.

Do you mean already rendered? As long as it is well-strained, with no particles in it, you can keep it in a tightly-closed jar in the fridge for a long time (that's what I do). Then you have it handy to use -- it is soft enough to easily scoop out what you need. If you mean globs of raw fat, yes, freeze it. Very well-wrapped, since it can pick of off-odors and -tastes. When you have a critical mass, render it, strain it, and cook with it. YUM!!!!!

Fendel -- no eggs?

Marie-Louise, you're right. However, if you notice, project didn't quite cook the noodles all the way -- so they could finish cooking in the reheating. Although I find there's something oddly comforting about slightly mushy, slightly overcooked noodles. Especially if you don't bother reheating, and just eat the dish right out of the fridge.

Perhaps some chopped fresh herbs added to the final mixture? Tarragon if you like it, thyme if not. Chives. Shiitake mushrooms? If adding Worcestershire, try the "Worcestershire for Chicken" fka White Wine Worcestershire; sprightly but not as assertive as the regular kind. Try turnip/rutagaba in its own before you add any. Very sharp flavor, as a member of the Cruciferae family. If adding, cut in small dice and only lightly blanch, to maintain texture. But if parsnips are too strong, so might turnips be. Ham: if so, NOT smoked, or at least not highly smoked; it will throw off whatever balance you've achieved.

HWOE suggests that we might change the name to "Dangerous Dining Club," but I told him the Philadelphia crowd already have that patented. If I were to worry about that, I'd die of starvation. I'm still in.

Ah, but invert sugar is invaluable for making sorbets -- GO, TRIMOLINE!!!!!!!

Oh, you can buy REAL egg whites, under several brand names. (At least in NYC) "Just Whites" is the first to come to mind. Why? Are you suggesting that mjg just buy whites, and proceed as if nothing happened? Well, yeah, why not?

Oh, yes, please, Kristin! Right, Jack: Saveur is a highly glossy food magazine. Rather fatiguing after a few years (actually it's almost 10 years old!). Nowhere near as personally compelling as your blog. However, they did sponsor a by Mark Kurlansky when his Cod book was just out, accompanied by tastings of salt cod dishes by (I think if was) Tom Colicchio (of Craft here in NYC).

And bring a plastic spoon (NOT knife!) so that you can scoop some off, eat it, and offer it to security should they question you -- on the same order as the former ritual of turning on your laptop computer.

Thank you tommy, you are a gentleman and a scholar. No wonder I had no idea. Seinfeld??? Never in my life, snob that I can be.

But good coffee and good tea need no sweetener, and bad coffee and tea are not worth drinking. Why bother either way? Splenda, being closely related chemically to sugar, apparently works well in cooking. I find it much too sweet. Why bother? Sodium saccharine was banned in the US 30 years ago or so as a suspected carcinogen. Again, why bother?