Suzanne F

Or a touch of turmeric or an atom of annatto, which (the second, anyway) are what is used to color cheese "naturally." Creaton, with all due respect, I disagree. A flour-based roux need not be gritty -- in fact, mine never have been. A bit lumpy, perhaps, but that's why god invented strainers. If one is making a meatless bechamel (Escoffier #25), it's flour and clarified butter for a white roux (Escoffier #15) plus milk, onion sweated in butter, thyme, pepper, nutmeg, and salt. There is no place in bechamel for rice flour, corn starch, or any other starch. However, I do agree that cheap cheese can work very well here. The main concern is not to cook the cheese; just let it melt in the warm sauce. I grew up on mac and cheese made with Velveeta, and it was indeed a velvety delight. Also, the addition of cream cheese works very, very well -- I always add it if I have it; and I use a combination of cheeses, whatever's on hand (excluding any blue-veined cheese; too strong and salty). Cabot Hunter's cheddar, asiago, kashkaval -- whatever. Anything to make up for the blandness of the macaroni and the bechamel. BTW: I've heard that some people believe there should be NO white sauce of any kind: literally, just macaroni, and cheese, mixed and baked. Does anyone do it that way? If so, are there cheeses to use that are better than others?

Oh dear, guess I need to teach the stevedore more stuff. Nuoc cham = nuoc mam = nam pla = fish sauce Got it yet? Or, to tell the grossest joke I ever heard: Why are a woman's anus and vagina so close together? So that when she gets too drunk, you can carry her home like a 6-pack. I hope I haven't offended too many of you out there.

That's only because the only thing he's heard from you is your order, Ms. Stevedore.

At Liberty Plaza, lower Manhattan: Peaches. mmmmmmmmm Tomatoes Okra Kale Green Swiss Chard Kirbies Flat-leaf parsley Onions. The guy at Migliorelli's said the arugula was all washed out. Almost forgot to mention: HWOE was in San Francisco earlier this week, and at a farmers' market near Civic Center bought some tomatoes for a snack -- at 50¢ a pound. [/jealous]

Yes, please. As long as they don't contain any baby chicks.

To address your points specifically: One: you're probably right. Roux that is not cooked properly has different thickening power from good roux. Two: I do that too (dry mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, etc.) and have no problem, so I don't think that's a probable cause. Three: AHA! You were right to remove the sauce from the heat before adding the cheese -- but if it was indeed hotter than necessary, bingo, stringy cheese. Four: well, you'll just have to keep trying to teach the little buggers, now, won't you?

At least we're not the ONLY industry that ignores the grunts who execute the Famous One's brilliant inventions day in and day out. Show me an industry in which one of its captains tells the press, "Yes, we had a great increase in profits last year because Joe Schmoe and his crew of Jane Bane, Steve Reeve, and Dale Pale did a fantastic job at our Podunk plant" and THEN I'll tell you you're nuts. Sure, a lot of companies give lip service to everyone being on the team (gah!) but you know it ain't so. The other night I ran into one of the top managers from Myriad Restaurants. I have not worked for them since 1997 -- and back then not even at his particular restaurant -- but he remembered me. And when I see Drew Nieporent, he too remembers me; he seems to remember EVERYONE who ever worked for him. That to me is more important: that the folks who run the business know their employees and appreciate them.

Anything with rosewater tastes like cold cream. So do some Alsatian wines Tequila tastes the way I imagine gasoline does. And I did once get some butter cookies that unexpectedly tasted of cayenne, but I know how that can happen (besides, I liked it!)

Soba, is the cafeteria run by a contract feeder (e.g., Sodexho, Aramark, RA) or does the firm hire its own staff for it?

Actually, I think early in the book (introduction or acknowledgments or some such) she explains how the magazine articles came about, and what the editors told her they wanted. (Can't check, I took it back to the library this afternoon.) That's why I was so pleasantly surprised by the book. In the book she seems rather more direct and intelligent, even introspective and somewhat analytical. The voice is similar, but less breathless-and-wide-eyed; less prissy-pissy; more like a real person, not someone writing for a very specific audience of whom I am not a member (yuppie/GenX/whatever the youngsters with no taste but lots of pretensions are called these days). I attended a panel she spoke on shortly after she got engaged. The Amanda I heard then, talking about her career to that point, the articles, and herself, all quite honestly, was much more in evidence in the book than the snippy "Amanda" of the magazine. I'm not saying you have to like her persona, but really, she's not what she seemed to be in those god-awful articles.

I consider that whole "Food Diary" in the magazine to be a very unfortunate use of her talents. And I still blame that on her editors, not on her directly. Not that I think she's the next MFK Fisher, but she can be a decent writer, and actually does know something about food. Anyway, don't we have threads going on being embarrassed by dining companions?

Welcome, Mousse! You're our kind of . . . um . . . mousse!

Maybe they're from the South of Israel. Terry is an Israeli? Who woulda thunk! Oh, shit, I did it again: inadequate transition. Sorry. No, no, the mention of Terry had nothing to do with the Israelis. It's just that years and years ago there was a story about her background, that I now suspect might have been as made-up as the "Georgia Barbecue Council" or whatever the name of the supposed prize-giver named on the sign in the window. Of course, I could be wrong, and she could very well be a former model who learned to cook from her granny in East Frog Holler or wherever.

fredbram, that sounds so much better than making it the usual way, with pears!

We've had brunch at Bistro Bis (within the past year) and enjoyed it very much. The bread basket is excellent -- little fruit muffins, biscuits. I remember having a pissaladiere-type item that was very buttery and delicious, and I think we may have also had a Mediterranean-stype fish soup. Good charcuterie plate, too. In fact, we usually time our return train to NYC so that we can eat beforehand at Bistro Bis, we like it that much.

And then there's the famous Plum Torte that appeared in the NY Times all through the second half of the 1980s. When it was last printed in 1989, Marian Burros suggested that readers paste it on their cupboard doors, which is exactly what I did. It is simple, delicious, and can be made with virtually any other fruit as well. It never fails to please. You can bake it in just about any size cake pan, and you don't need to prepare the pan. However, I've found that it helps to butter the bottom of the pan, line it with parchment or wax paper, and re-butter. 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour, sifted 1 teaspoon baking powder Pinch of salt 2 eggs 12 plums, halved and pitted Sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cream butter and sugar, mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat in eggs. Pour into 8-, 9-, or 10-inch springform pan. Arrange plum halves on top, skin side up. Sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon to taste. Bake for 1 hour. (The fruit will sink into the batter a little, but that's okay.) Serve warm or at room temperature. Can be frozen, wrapped well. Thaw and reheat at 300ºF. (This is not a word-for-word version of the recipe, for those who worry. )

HWOE's Reports: On Monday night's attempts to find dinner, on the order of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie: And on Tuesday night: Again, thanks to all for your suggestions.

Or for a real DIY, Martha-type project, everytime you have a bottle of wine, cut the cork into neat slices. Then when you have enough piece them together and glue them down. If you're somebody like Tommy, it won't take you more than a few weeks until you've got what you need.

Suzanne, considering that probably about 90% of everyone who was around us was gay, I just felt that it was an incredibly amazingly stupid thing to say aside from his obvious asshole-itis. We coulda been killed! I've tried to make better choices in my life since then, esp when I fly across the country with someone I think Suzanne was talking about this: That definitly cracked me up... Yes. Exactly. Sorry I didn't make that clear. As for the ex -- well, drawing, quartering, and throwing into boiling oil is too good for him. Of course.

Vacation reading included Cooking for Mr. Latte, which turned out to be quite a nice book. Whoever wrote that Publisher's Weekly review must have been expecting -- and therefore reviewing -- a completely different book; of course it's lightweight. But it was not nearly as precious as the pieces in the Times Magazine (not all of them seem to be in the book, and I didn't remember reading some of the chapters before). Not that I much want to know more about Ms. Hesser, but she does show a capability for self-examination that was lacking from the Magazine installments. And the recipes are good. I may copy a few out before I return it to the library. Just one quote that I rather like, in the headnote for Caramel Ice Cream: "It's a touch salty, which makes it addictive, and not a bit flabby, thanks to the sternness of toasted sugar."

I've always had my doubts about New York City barbeque restaurants owned by Israelis. I mean, foie gras I could see, but barbeque????? Then again, I did fall for the story about Terry Mangram and so I used to eat at the Hog Pit when I worked nearby. Not real barbeque, but not bad; at least the greens there were nicely meaty.

13 more for me. Ah, the used book stores of Southern Vermont! The spiral-bound recipe booklets from the Time-Life Foods of the World series are finally showing up, bit by bit. I'm now complete on Africa, American Cooking, Japan (scored both hardcover and spiral this time), British Isles, and Spain & Portugal. Also Shizuo Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art), another Italian cookbook by Ada Boni, Marguerite Patten's Cakes & Baking, and a paperback with 4 food-related mystery stories.

My answer: neither. I have a liner in my shopping cart, and use the "pack it yourself" lane at the Pathmark, so I just fit everything in without any bags at all. Only if I have overflow do I need to use a plastic bag. If I let them pack for me, they'd use one bag per item, or so it seems. When we get bags from smaller shopping trips, they are usually plastic -- it's hard to find paper in the stores I frequent. These are used to line trash cans, or wrap clothes and shoes being packed for trips, etc. In my building, we just told everyone to keep separating out their recycling the same as always, when the city cut down last year on what was being collected. Our super preferred it that way, and didn't mind pulling out what wouldn't get picked up. So now that more is being recycled, we still have everyone trained. As for garbage disposals in NYC: they are limited to only certain neighborhoods. Personally, I'd rather have drop-off composting sites all over (instead of just at Union Square on Greenmarket days).

Aw, thanks. I should have said that I DO make an exception for certain other eGulleers. But only certain ones, right, Soba?

I'm with Tommy on this one: when I'm by myself, I'm more likely to go out. Most often to a new place, or at least one we haven't gone to yet. My rationale is that if it's good, I'll know and be able to bring HWOE there eventually; but if it's NOT good, I'm only out the cost of one dinner instead of two.