Genny

Tony, although you are the best snark around, we don't need it to appreciate and enjoy No Reservations. The Ghana program was sincere, humble and priceless and still included the fun that you always seem to have. I loved the scene with the elephants! Doh! One thing that was missing for me was more detailed descriptions of what you were eating, the spices used and preparation methods. It all did look amazing! I have no idea how you will make Seattle seem interesting after this episode, but I have faith that you will! Genny

I think I need a dog to save me from hell

Thanks for the WS thought. I don't make my own stock ::gasp!:: so I'll have to try a reliable cheater method.

OK, someone brought up the difference between "jus" and "au jus" so bear with me! I am one of those (apparent) idiots who actually really enjoys the jus served with the prime rib at restaurants, so how can I make it at home. I'm of the "low and slow" camp and love doing a rib at home but there just isn't enough jus to share. I've looked up recipes that suggest low sodium beef broth but....ewww. How do restaurants do it?

Dave- I'm really enjoying your blog. The photos are amazingly sharp and the colors pop, are there any special settings on your camera you use to achieve that? What is your lighting like? I'm in need of a new camera but really don't have the interest in getting anything complicated so I'm hoping yours is mostly point and shoot . Now that I've seen your method for lamb shanks, I'm going to have to try it! Where do you find your cheesecloth bags and do you reuse them? Blog on! Genny

Alas for those awaiting with baited breath... we have pushed this meeting back until October 16... our collective lives were not able to accommodate the meeting any earlier. I have a helluva week but I will be attempting the poblano relleno and cream sauce hopefully some time this week. Perhaps there will be a photo of the first attempt. Hmmm, I actually have "extra" figs about and should stuff them with blue cheese for a small starter taste....sounds great! I've no reports from the other gals yet what they are doing so I'll have to nudge them for hints! I'll be back soon!!!!!

OK friends, I've decided to approach thusly: Seafood Rellenos: I will try both creamy sauce recipes provided in my testing (lucky husband!) starting with the one from Rick Bayless...thanks for the link ludja! Dessert: Yanno Fabby, the stuffed puffed pastry sounds delicious, easy and beautiful so I'm going to play with that! Thanks for the thought. I am thinking I may just TOTALLY CHEAT Semi-Ho Style and take the store bought puff pastry (yes, right from the store) and tuck one of these incredible frozen chocolate banana treats called Buon Bons (has anyone else discovered these gems???) inside and bake and see what we get! What the hell, its great ingredients to start, right??? I'll start this week and post results. Its a busy week anyway (every week is though) so bear with me!! Bug me if I don't have anything posted by Thursday, OK? Hugs, Genny

Our cooking club started about a year ago. Cooking Light has a section of message boards just for cooking clubs. I went on and posted that I was interested in joining or starting one in my area. We found about 9 gals who were interested so we all met out at a coffee shop to chat about what we thought we wanted the club to look like. Here is what we decided: 1) Meet once a month at a different member's home 2) Each month the hostess would decide a theme 3) We created a Yahoo Group to share information and post recipes After an unfortunate "cumin" incident, we decided to cull the heard. We found that there were a couple gals that were in it to find friends but didn't really have an interest in good food (and didn't know the difference between "good food" and "bad food") We also had a couple other gals drop out for various reasons. So now we have 4 gals who LOVE to cook and LOVE great food and everyone has a really good palate so it makes it so much fun. We try to do an ingredient tasting each time. One month it was chocolates, one month it was salts, etc.... We've decided that we are happy with this very small group and although we allow guests, we all have to really like anyone in order for them to be invited to join us long term.

Ohhh Carot Top, I'm pretty sure this is going to make it onto my table!! My birthday is coming up and I've asked for the book Silk Road and I bet a version of this is in there too. Thanks for the contribution!! You know, I think I'll see if one of the other gals wants to do this one.

I'll try your cream sauce recipe in my testing!!! That sounds great and easy too. If I make the banana/chocolate wontons, my darling husband won't let me share!!! The puffed pastry sounds like high-class doughnuts!!! I think those sound soooo yummy!!

Hi Emily, thanks for playing! So she shreds the corn tortillas and stuffs that into fruit? How interesting. Is it too "corny" tasting? Stuffed apples is a thought I'm willing to consider. I like the idea of drizzling the dulce de leche over it to match it to the rellenos. The cream sauce was cheezy with chipoltle (or something like that). Hmmm, that is a thought. Has anyone else heard of this who can provide some insight? Keep 'em coming!!

You absolutely never fail to make me laugh Fabby! We used to give the dog pb too, but only when he was dressed in my castoff jeans (cut a hole to pull his tail thru) and t-shirts cuz dogs can't eat peanut butter. We made the marshmallow taffy too!!! Yeah it wasn't just us!! My mom thought it was disgusting though and highly discouraged it. Oreo's #1: Roll the filling into balls to eat. #2 try to see how many fillings you could stack by twisting off one side of two cookies, putting the filling together and then twist off one of the cookies and add another cookie filling. Repeat as often as mom lets you! Red Vines: straws!!!! Best with Coke! Halloween Food Fun: peanut shells on the floor = bones; grapes in the bowl = eyeballs; cold cooked spaghetti = brain matter (there are more but I've forgotten them!) JELLO! Who doesn't play with this wiggly-jiggly food??? They even encourage it in their marketing! I've read that some people have fun playing with their food in the bedroom...but I wouldn't know anything about whipped cream, chocolate sauce or other such stuff.

Hello fellow food fanatics! I am in a cooking club and I thought I'd open it up to you to help me decide from month-to-month what to cook and point me to the right methods and recipes for the different dishes. Once it is decided upon and the kinks worked out, I'll post the recipes and photos on RecipeGullet! Our theme for October is "Get Stuffed!" I'm fairly set on Seafood Rellenos for my main dish but I'd love a great sauce for this. I was thinking a light cream sauce would be good but haven't found anything that is "Mexican" enough for me yet. Any suggestions? Also, I was thinking about a stuffed dessert but haven't even begun to brainstorm that yet. Whattaya think?? Thanks in advance everyone! Hopefully this will be fun for all! Genny

Oh yes, I knew there were other items of note (sue me, I don't know how to do multiple quotes yet!) I have to have this shirt!!! I neeeeeeed this shirt to wear to my MIL's house...pleeeeeaaassssee where did you get it??? I saw one of the guys wearing it on Project Runway (oh sh*t, I just outed myself!!!) and almost died. PS: Note to Fresser: you are the best kind of twisted there is! A joy and a pleasure to behold. Please can we get the story from you if Fabby won't tell it??? And were there pumps to be purchased to go with the hosiery? You know, like in the infamous pix??? You certainly make a ravishing woman. Um did I say ravishing? Well, striking, I think we can safely say you make a "striking" woman. Genny

I smell a possible new topic: "FN Shows Most Amenable to MST3K Treatment." (The challenge, of course, will be to keep it relevant to food and eGullet, as opposed to totally spinning off on quirks of the host, etc.). I personally don't have the bandwidth to start such a topic, but I'm not above inciting someone else ... ← I do it every day I can with Sandra Lee! ← Ah, you stole mine!!!! She's too easy a target though, eh? How about Iron Chef Japan? Since they do voice over anyway, you can put your own text in See Fabby, I told you I'd make time to catch up on your blog!!!! The kitchen looks amazing, I can't wait to see the thread you are going to do to document the process....right????? Boys. Oh hell, getting married sure opened my eyes on what boys think is funny and acceptable. I love the tip jar...with graphics even! Um, I think you said you'd explain some on the kids diet? It appears they are carnivores and shun anything green? The pup is the cutest thing evah (well, except for my kitty) and the visual I got with the "like walking a vaccuume cleaner" was priceless! I've never had a dog like that so this was news to me that they eat everything in sight...ugh, gross!! Modesto???? I'm from San Jose, not too far off. And back when there were still orchards! (BTW, I love the pix of you on the other blog, finally a face to put with the shoes )

How do they feel in the mouth? Asthetically, they look like they can be worked into your design needs, but I also look at functionality and how the utensil feels in my mouth is actually quite important. Are they too thick, too thin? Is the feel of the fork or spoon awkward in the mouth, i.e. too bulky? OK, some may think these questions are odd, but it is a primary concern when I am buying flatware and is somthing I notice when it is wrong at a restaurant. Good luck with the school "project" Bryan!

Robyn, If you are going to Manresa anyway, go a few hours early to walk around Los Gatos. I've not seen much written on it in this post but it is a quaint old-school town that is a bit hip and has a lot of old money. I always loved hanging out there for an afternoon there. There are the ubiquitious chain stores but there are also a ton of cute independant places as well to poke around. Enjoy! Please be sure to update this with a report of your experience, I'd love a shot of home . Genny

We have a stainless gas grill. The cover isn't so much for rust corrosion but to keep the thing from getting so dusty and generally crappy looking. Also, as it is set in a place that gets the direct afternoon Arizona sun, the cover keeps it from searing the flesh off your skin when you initially start to cook. Form or Function? Mostly form, a little function.

Ah Tony, my crush, please be careful. I'm the first to admit I have absolutely no depth of understanding the politics of the middle east, but I do love the food. This would have been an episode to record. You apparently have leagues of friends here wishing you safe sojourne out of your current pickle. Genny

I'm bumping this topic up to see if there is any "new" information or other favorites anyone wants to weigh in on. Per AB's rec, we made friends with the butcher, and boy are we happy! He had a customer order in a couple whole legs of goat but never picked them up. He came over to rotisserie one with us on the grill (I braised the shank). It was somewhat lamby in flavor but so little fat that it was quite dry. We sliced it up and had tacos with the leg, and added the leftovers to the braised shank for soup a couple days later. Now, I still have a whole leg in the freezer. We love regional Mexican cuisine. How can I cook this in the style of northern Mexican cuisine? I'm thinking of Monterrey, Mexico in particular.

How exciting Bryan! I've had waaay to much life lately to be on eG much but I will certainly try to keep up with you this week! I'm surprised with your bend towards molecular cooking that you are not majoring in a scientific field of study such as molecular biology. No worries on knowing what you want to be when you grow up, most of us don't, or rather, didn't. And unless you are very single minded or averse to change, the likelyhood that you'll have multiple sequential careers is high. Can you say why you have not chosen to go to a culinary school to be the next big thing in the culinary world you have such a passion for? I've not looked much into the molecular cooking thing so I have no idea what you are trying to do with the butter. Can you explain more? I'd love to hear more about your work process: how do you plan your menu, is it around the fresh produce you find at the grocer or do you start with a protein in mind and go from there? I imagine you are feeding the whole family when you cook, are there any foods you stay away from because of general dislikes? What cookbooks do you own or use the most? Last question: will your sister be making your birthday cake since shes the baker? Thanks in advance for a whirlwind of fun this week!

Ummm. Do I understand this correctly that Useless SIL doesn't help cook OR clean??? I don't think so Scooter! In my family I do the cooking because we all prefer it that way and whoever hasn't assisted me gets to clean . Oh, and I have to remember not to read these types of topics during lunch My worst family cook is my sister. She tries and some things are just fine but if some cheese is good a pound is better. Literally. Not in the Sandra Lee "literally" kind of way. Actually Literally. She made a 9x11 pan of au gratin potatoes with a pound of sliced russet potatoes topped with a pound of grated cheddar. Bake until you get an oil slick. To this day my husband, who is gracious to a fault, is leary of her cooking and will bring up those darn potatoes. (I've also seen her make a pan of chicken enchiladas with a pound -literally- of cheese...ugh!) eta: my story

Marcia, thanks so much for your time this week. It has been a very interesting peek into a life well lived. Best wishes!

I will never again... Think I'm smarter than those idiots that don't know enough to respect a mandoline. Sorry everyone!!!! Yes, I too fell prey to the cutting edge and snarky wit of my mandoline. I thought I could cut a carrot on the bias starting with the thick end and holding the thin end. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know. Doh!!!! I was a beer into prepping for dinner, chatting with my husband and waiting for company to arrive and I thought I could slice the carrot faster this way, I've done it before, just only holding the thick end. Nice job on the ol' pinkie! Cut about 1/2 cm long strip out of my knuckle. No big deal, I'm tough . My superiority complex took a bigger hit than my knuckle and damn if that doesn't itch lika a mother fuck after a week!!! Sorry to make you cringe again JudiU!!

Hi Jesse & Bill and everyone else that did such a wonderful job of pointing me in the right direction last year! I've got my tickets in-hand and am getting ready to go back to Oregon next month and I wanted to know if there are any additions or deletions to the culinary landscape that I should know about? We only have 4 days this go-around but two things I think are on the list are: 1) Ashville for a day: maybe pick up a play and eat at Chateulin. Probably go back to Ashville Winery to see what offerings they have this year. 2) A day of wine tasting: I was bummed that we didn't hit Paschal last time so I want to go there. My family is expecting a new foal in a few weeks so we'll be there in time to play with the new baby. I'm so excited!! So *hit me* what else should I do?? Thanking you in advance I remain, Your Culinary Sister, Genny