Rebecca263

I will never again do my daily cleaning of the stove AFTER dinner instead of BEFORE breakfast. Although removing the still heated gas covers with my bare hand DID give me a good excuse to have a glass of rum for bedtime snack! [Moderator note: The original I will never again . . . topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: I will never again . . . (Part 2)]

I miss my LC collection! I'm really curious as to which cassoulet tasted richer.

Both of my favorite favorite drinks are muddled! Dark rum, with ice, lime and raw sugar; and dark rum with ice, milk and raw sugar! I love muddling them, too, it's just a fun process and I like the feel of the sugar in the bottom of the glass during the action. I really SHOULD learn something new, though. These have been my standby bevs for almost 20 years now! I'm going to search for a new drink, perhaps a smash? edited to add: my muddler is glass.

Shalmanese, I've just read and reread your recipe, an although there are extra steps in it(separating the fat for crackling, running the bones through a pasta roller), the basic is very similar to my mother's lamb gravy recipe. She didn't add bay leaves, and she often added parsley. "Too time consuming! Only for special occasions!", she would say, but it really wasn't a lot of work, and she just wanted to make sure that Dad was appreciative! It ended up being made often, because my father adored lamb with gravy. I think that Kim Shook can adapt your recipe a tiny bit and make a delicious, amazing gravy. I would take Jackal10's advice and for marrow, buy and roast a leg bone, instead of worrying about the juice from the rib bones, and I would probably also cook the stock for a very long time, and perhaps do shallots or spring onions in place of plain yellow. My mother would NEVER have put the extra marrow into a gravy, she always ate every last bit herself, I think that she would laugh if we asked her to share! Maybe some parsley, too. But, that's just my Middle Eastern self! Also, Meat Fat? It tastes delicious. Especially with a little wine, and finesse. edited by me to add: lamg, jejeje!

I live in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. Here's my list from today's shopping: Route 9 Farmer's Market (not a farmer's market per se, but a fruit and vegetable shop) 3 pineapples US$1.00 each 4 cucumbers US$ .25 each 3# Roma tomatoes US$ .69 pound 4 heads romaine lettuce US$ .79 each 6 California navel oranges US$1.00 for 6 9 Florida Valencia oranges US$1.00 for 9 4 pink grapefruit US$1.00 for 4 2 heads red leaf lettuce US$ .69 each 2 pound bag yellow onions US$ .79 bag 2 heads chicory US$ .69 each 2 10 ounce bags spinach US$1.19 each 1 bunch curly parsley US$ .69 each 4 bunches scallions US$ .25 each 1 head red cabbage US$ .49 pound 1/2# portobello mushrooms US$1.98 pound 1/4# Parmesan Reggiano US$9.98 pound 1/2 gallon organic milk US$2.69 AND my splurge, for my daughter: a mango at .89 cents. I also got an Aaron's brand Kosher chicken at Pathmark for .69 cents a pound, I found this sale last week, and I had space in my freezer for one more, so I ran by and scooped it up.

Oh, that's rich! I completely think of apple cheeked farmers and the food pyramid when I hear the word! Must be all the hospital chatter I've been filled with this past year! edited by me: imbued! ha!

Hmm, I may need a new source for my "tartare". The question is, what?

I suppose that this is a bit OT of busboy's theme, but: I don't care for the word "healthy" when it's used to describe portion size. What does that mean, exactly? If it's pasta, am I only getting a half cup, because THAT'S what a "healthy" portion is supposed to be, and I don't want a "healthy" 1/2 cup, I want a big plateful! A "healthy" drizzle, well, THAT really takes the breath out of me! WHAT, do tell, is a "healthy" drizzle of chocolate sauce? Does that mean that the sauce is made with 78% cocoa, or, even healthier, NO SUGAR? I have read this word used as a menu description three times in the past month, and it's annoying the usually un-annoyable me.

The single most ubiquitous book I find to be: Joy Of Cooking. Various editions. It's everywhere! Usually I sell them right away after acquiring them, but last month , I kept one! Not my thing, it's going next week. My best food related find in the past few months? A flow blue platter, US$2.00. I was wont t keep it, but I'm not working right now, and we sold it for.. hold onto your mice, folks!... US$750.00. US$74.80 of that was immediately donated back to the thrift shop. I always give 10% of my gross profits to charity, and it only seemed fair for them to be the recipients!

Let's see: Park & Shop(I just called my sister and we squealed the name together!), lovely gin drinks, personalized Bloody Marys, amazing food from a kitchen of tiny space, a cat named Mookie, and you live in SF, our next planned trip! Yay! Thanks, and I agree, I'd like to see your take on marrow!

Hot sauce is fab on popcorn, especially the soggy bits on the bottom of the bowl! My standby is popcorn sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt, but we also add cumin sometimes, and there are times when I mix the kosher salt with raw sugar and then coat the popcorn, yum!

Meyer's, I wouldn't call it the WORST, but it's never been a rum I'd want to drink. Of course, mixed into other things... it isn't completely terrible. Still, blah.

I have severe rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, and the accompaniying 'allergies'. Besically, if it tastes good, I can't eat it without a reaction of some sort. PM me if you need ANY commiseration.

Over? It's OVER? Geez, this week seems short! Thank you for blogging for us, and good luck with your move! Any chance of selling copies of that family cookbook?

Tonight I had Mount Gay and Mexican Coca Cola, 4 ounces Mount Gay, 12 ounces La Coca Cola de azucar! I hit a Mexican place on my way home from Bayshore Hospital, and then I hit my cupboard for the rum! Who needs pain meds when there's this lovely concoction? Hopeful news after the surgery and a good drink! Yay! Oh, I should add: I put some milk in the glass, too. Sorry, I like it that way!

This post alone is priceless. Your blog is wonderful! Thank you!

BUMP! I am thrilled with this restaurant! My sister, who is much more financially gilded than I, takes me here a bit, and it is my FAVORITE Italian restaurant in NJ. BTW, I can't say about the wine prices, but the wine list is decent...and the bar is thorough as well! Plus, where in NYC are you all eating? This place is a lot less expensive to me, than most places we frequent in the city. Unless you order the Sea Bass, at around a hundred bucks, of course. I mean, most entrees are less than 20 bucks, and salads are around 7, that seems light to me, for the quality. The Bolognese is addictive (14.95 March, 2006), as is the salmon, and they will prepare anything as you wish, which I adore! The broccoli rabe is FANTASTIC, as well. One night, I was just not up to a meal, and I had the minestrone. It was really divine! I'm usually a happy girl, but I rarely enthuse, so believe that I mean this: SamVera is wonderful!

Mark, Kudos to you! Now, if only I could figure out where Monmouth County ends and the other counties begin! <Floridian on pain meds.

Since we've moved up here I've awakened kiddle a few times for midnight adventures, or she's awakened me. We went to the ocean a few times and could only find Dunkin' Donuts and Wawa. We tried a few diners on Rt.9 from Manalapan down to Howell, nothing great. Now, we drive into the city, park wherever, and walk. We eat wherever, but I did take her to a great bakery near my old hangout, Alphabet City, Good Old VD!, and we found some good pizza and noodle houses. Plus, it's so much easier to get around NYC at the midnight hour! We've often found free parking!

I'll keep my eyes open for that issue, and let you know if I find it.

Here's a link to a website that hosts some Bon Appetit/Gourmet etc. recipes, there are 35 crab cake recipes featured when you search, maybe one of them is similar? I'm "Curious"?

No doubt you've realized by now that there is a bit of a (albeit very well hidden) packrat problem in our home. Well, I've just sold a few lots of science magazines and Architectural Digests on eBay, with quite good profits! Maybe you could try that. If you happen to have Victoria or Martha Stewart Living, those go for a premium. Kiddle is not willing to eBay her magazines as yet, and I am NOT going to allow her to accept your offer, otherwise.

I am so, er, "frugal" that we don't use paper napkins! Paper towels are only for the odd clean up, most of the time we use the rags from the old towel box. Really, this is because when I look at my garbage I feel ill, thinking about landfill! Since I'm concerned about germs (Staph is a daily worry for my condition), we have a lot of small towel scraps and they get thrown in the dirty bin right after each use. I do about a load of kitchen rags and a load of clean up rags each, once a month. Speaking of frugality, does anyone else put their coffee and tea leavings in the garden? edited by me :concerend! hahaha

'm heading out to Collingswood today for a political errand of kiddle's. (Even anarchists have have to follow the driving laws when they live with their mommy!) I hope that we get to eat at least 3 times, and I'll report back!

I apologize, my esteemed Carrot Top! I was NOT going to wade through this book, then I was, then I read this and searched a bit more for reveiws, and decided, non, this is not a necessary read (especially in times of reading Gunther Grass at my home). I stopped reading the thread. Although, I must admit, the writing has been entertaining and the disagreement a source of amusement. I felt mean, taking sides. And then, I happened upon this thread once again, and saw that there was still some delightful parrying and thrusting, peas were flying all over the place, well, I simply MUST have a read now. Not that I was in DISAGREEMENT with anything that you said, you see! My poor grammar, and lack of painkillers at the time of writing, such a distraction!