Peachpie9

Thank you, Jason, but after spending twenty years perfecting my own potato salad (when my place of work published a cookbook, we got at least a dozen calls asking if my potato salad recipe was in the book), it would take a BIG vote of confidence from someone I trust to get me to consider changing anything. Suvir Saran engenders that trust somehow, so I want HIS favorite, made by this mysterious Ed person. I have to tell you, though, Jason...I have tried to get to Recipe Gullet countless times before, all failures. Clicking on YOUR link got me there! First time EVER!!! Thank you! Catherine

Also upthread, I requested pics of some of your wife's art. I know it's off topic and you are busy recovering and documenting, but the thing in life that runs a close second to good food, for me, is good art. Just one little pic? I'd love to see it. Thank you, even if you can't. I'm glad your event went so well. Bunch of lucky people, I say. Around here, big events are held in too-small facilities with icky bathrooms, because the weather is always a threat and the thin population doesn't warrant any nice BIG facilities. I dread going, but I always do. Catherine

I'm with Viva--DON'T mess with my Diet Coke! I'll take mine with LIME! Love that stuff. The aspartame "bitterness" must be part of it, because it's the BITE and the lack of syrupy taste that endear Diet Coke to me. I hate regular Coke, haven't availed myself of the watery syrup in a decade or more. That said, I WILL be trying the new Splenda Coke, just because I have to. Try new things, that is. Have to. We don't have any yet here, but I will get some when we do. It will have to be really good to come close to Diet Coke. And if it indeed tastes like Coke Classic, it will go in the sink. Catherine

All I can say is "Wow. and WOW. And WOW WOW WOW!" What an undertaking. I would never have the courage, although I would absolutely love to be the "helpful and pleasant staff." I wouldn't even require food. Ok, some shrimp. I think you have a wonderful attitude and a lot of hutzpah (sp?) (I'm not Jewish, but I love that word). The most I have ever served is 60, at my daughter's high school graduation barbeque. I had people hovering and snatching chicken and ribs off the grill as soon as they were done. I know nothing about doing large crowds, and some things were less than stellar, but others, like the potato salad, made up for them. Everyone left happy and full. I have really enjoyed your account of this event, Mayhaw Man. One more thing I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see in pictures...some of Robin's art??!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this, MM. Love, Catherine

It is exactly the same potato salad that made me wonder for years if I would ever eat a tasty mayo based potato salad. And after eating Ed's version, I have become a convert, but also spoiled for life. Few versions stand upto his. I simply get myself invited to his home when I have a craving. He is not a lazy cook. ← Who is this Ed person? Catherine

I confess that, when I had two to four baseball games a week in the summer and was responsible for bringing "snack" to many of them, I made cupcakes from mixes (please God, don't let my German grandma see this from heaven ). However, I too am from the camp that feels scratch cakes are worth the effort. The same flavor and richness just aren't available from a mix. I grew up on my parents' big horse and wheat farm, cooking for work crews and making everything from scratch. I use my Grandma's recipes and, with a little planning, I think scratch cakes can get to the oven pretty quickly, too (except for the Burnt Sugar Cake; that takes more time). I am also a firm believer, however, in doing what works. If time or ingredient availability is an issue and mixes fit the bill, hey. I WOULD also add that, if you have a free afternoon and want to do something special, bake a cake from scratch! The opportunities for embellishment are endless (frosting, filling, pairing with fruit, whipped cream or ice cream, etc.) and a scratch cake with a fine, moist crumb and a handsome profile can be sheer paradise! Catherine

Hello Swiss_Chef, You have many very beautiful things. Obviously you've spent years in the careful accumulation of exquisite pieces. The vignettes I am talking about, and I feel certain you know more about these than I could hope to learn, are the focused, ambitious ones with maybe between 12 and 20 pieces involved. The plates are arranged in a grouping, usually taller than wide, with the key peices at the center and top of the grouping. The rest of the pieces in the grouping are smaller, lesser items designed to showcase the main pieces. Usually they are consisent in color but always are different in pattern and style. The vignette has a balance in that the count is symmetrical, but the ones I like best DON'T have the same pieces to the left and right of the key pieces. The mismatched effect IMO yields more in the way of interest and artistry. Looking at the photos of your beautiful home, I'm not sure this concept would work. You have achieved a very formal, sophisticated classicity in which a vignette would probably ring with incompatibility. Anyway, it was an idea. Your home is stunning. I would love to cup my hand around one of those huge old crystals in that chandelier. Catherine

French toast made with thick slices of dense Italian bread, butter and maple syrup all over; bacon, fresh sliced California strawberries, and fresh orange juice. Catherine

I want to massage those shells! My mother and grandmother used to make cream puffs from scratch for special occasions. They were a hands-down favorite with everyone in the family. The puffs had a flakey, shattery shell with moist, eggy interiors. My mom would uncap a little opening in the shell and introduce a spoonful of blueberry compote, then a spoonful of lemon custard. Then she filled the rest of the interior of the puff with whipped cream (don't leave out the whipped cream!). Sweet nirvana. Certainly I would travel far to relive this memory. Catherine

I'm always amazed at the things people come up with. For less experienced cooks, people without cooking utensils or area, or people very short on time, this idea seems like it would have merit. It takes care of the planning part of meal preparation. For me, the planning is the crucial part. I, too, want dinner in a flash when I come home (it's the time I'm most susceptible to grazing because I'm HUNGRY!), but I accomplish this by making things ahead. I do desserts and breads on the weekend, along with soups, stews, sauces...anything that benefits by keeping for a day or two. Lots of things, I take to the almost done stage and then store it. I just raise the dough, prep the veg and simmer the sauces in between other weekend chores. I prep salad greens and veg a day or two in advance. Then, when I come home, I just put it together and pop it in the oven or slide it onto the cooktop. While THAT is cooking, I usually do something for the NEXT night's meal. At least as important as good food are flexibility and spontaniety, so I allow for last minute changes in plans, like if we decide to go out for dinner. Also I often have meals ready that I can drop off at the house where my law student son lives with four other young men. I love to cook, but the romance dims when I'm starving, my husband is starving, the light's fading on any outdoor activity, and dinner's still an hour away. This pre-made dinner idea would be a good solution, but I like to use my own recipes and kitchen. Catherine

Tonyy13 et al: This is a wonderful thread. I am considered a good cook among my friends and family, but presentation has never been paramount to me although I love to see it. Now that my kids are grown and I am helping my husband lose weight and control some health issues, I am looking at presentation as well as improvements in flavor, nutritional value and portion size. Instead of just cooking the usual things in the usual ways, I am researching the creation of satisfying textures and flavors, presented in appetizing and stimulating ways, in smaller portion sizes. This seems to me to be much more fun than diet food. I have to tell you, the food on this thread looks wonderful, even that that the critics (usually self) panned. I applaud the efforts and thank you for the ideas. Doctorandchef, your chops look as good as anything I've seen in print or set before me. The color combination, pink and green, is a whirlwind favorite with me (my bedroom sings with it), and you've achieved a serendipitous perfection in this regard. I say serendipitous because even though your plate looks deliciously perfect, it is in no way plotted or proscribed. Very, very nicely done. Behemoth, I think you are so right that white is not universally the perfect foil for food, although it is right MUCH more often than anything else. I agree with you that rustic Latin and Mediterranean food is set off to advantage by rustic, earth-toned framing. Anna N, I have noticed the same things you have with the subtly colored, substantially built dishes in food magazines. I think the point is to keep it interesting. There is no absolute in color of serving dish. It’s art. White fish, for example, looks more appetizing on one of those thick, celadon plates you mentioned than in any other setting. Think how Swiss-Chef’s pasta dish would look on celadon! Swiss_chef, your pasta doesn’t look dead; rather it looks eminently edible. Perhaps you could have accidentally spilled a few more capers in one or two spots around the edge of the pasta to provide delineation from the plate. I loved your family style plating, too. When I serve myself from a plate like that, I know I’m among friends. As to plating with highly colored/patterned dishes, I am going to opine that your food impact will always be (at best) competing with the plate graphics, or (at worst) upstaged by them. The pics you offer from a cookbook of food served on busy plates are obviously designed to feature the PLATES. Some of the food isn’t even edible, like the roses. The antique plates you have are real treasures. Have you considered arranging a wall vignette of them and some complementary ones near where you eat? That way, they are available for you and your people to enjoy, their design won’t get in the way of your food efforts, and they are safe from the breakage that can occur with regular use. Vignettes have been used for years in England to showcase their beautiful blue and white pieces, but I have seen contemporary ones done with stunning effect, using antique pieces. Abadoozy, your plate is brilliant. Hot rich spicy juxtaposed with cool crunchy. Mmmmm. I think I would have tried to curve the flank steak slices around the salad, like a croissant? Nestle the salad in the curve of the steak. Then the food wouldn’t look like it’s trying to emulate the squareness of the plate. But keep the hot from touching the cold. Tonyy13, your food pictures are inspiring, and I love that you did these because you had time to experiment, no other reason. Your “bad” food pictures, were I to come up with something that good, would make me very happy. I know I am going to have a lot of fun trying. You are a really magnificent teacher. Catherine

Make your own tartar sauce: 1 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickle 3 tablespoons chopped green onion 1 tablespoon capers, drained 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce Stir all ingredients in small bowl. Chill 1 hour. Keeps for a couple of days. Recipe from Epicurious.com. Lavish. Catherine

Appreciator, Thanks for the info on the pear pic. Found it! Catherine

It's considered bad luck! ... and no whistling allowed. ...and don't paint your hull blue. ...and... ← Thanks, JohnnyD. I read up a little since I posted that, and the literature didn't preclude the idea of female workers per se, but it DID say that there is absolutely no privacy on the boats. The bathroom facilites are out in the open and shared by all. Sounds pretty romantic to me! Catherine

Appreciator, This is an interesting topic. I like transfattyacid's reply because he includes how he feels and what he eats. I would have thought a chef would always want the power of the kitchen, even on his day off, but I see that's not true. It's consistent with how I feel: everyone in my life wants me to do for them what I do professionally--for free. I DON'T want to come home and perpetuate the grind, only for no pay. I want someone to do it for ME (it's not food, though). I also liked it that transfattyacid liked to be "pleased, not impressed" by the food he ate off hours. I worry about people who have to have an event every time they take sustenance. I'd like to hear other Vancouver chefs talk about this aspect of their precious time off. Appreciator, I am interested in getting a better view of the pic you use--the pears. It's lovely. Any chance I could find it on the net, or did you shoot it? Thank you. Catherine

Maybe the TV special will explain this, but if these guys spend the rest of the year dead drunk, no wonder the injury probablility is 100%! I can't imagine taking on work like that unless I was very fit and stone cold sober. Catherine ARE women allowed on these boats, BTW?

Transparent, What do you mean by brown "candy?" Do you mean brown sugar? Catherine

I don't think I could do this again if I tried. Last Saturday, I was boiling eggs for potato salad, marinating chicken and putting together a lasagne--all while hurrying to try to beat the rain so I could mow the lawn. I noticed a curl of smoke near the stove and saw that the egg carton had been too close to the gas flame and had begun to burn in a sluggish way. It was just a tiny burn, about the size of a nickel. I pinched it out with my fingers and put the carton away in the refrigerator. Fifteen minutes later, eggs boiled and peeled, I went to the fridge for mayo. Still in overdrive, I grabbed it open, grabbed the mayo, and slammed it closed...only to realize that a waft of SMOKE had come out with the mayo...??? I open it back up and yanked out the eggs. Sure enough the carton had continued to burn...had actually burned about a third of itself away. I put the dumb thing under the faucet and black ash littered the bottom of my sink. Finally my little personal conflagration was contained. But that was not the end of it. The fifteen minutes of smoke had had its effect inside my refrigerator. The whole thing stank of it, including the bowl of baby greens and the ice cream in the freezer part. The steelhead steaks were the only things to actually benefit. I had to add wiping out my refrigerator with baking soda water to the list of chores that were keeping me from getting outside. BUT!!! I DID get the lawn mowed. It was just DARK when I finished. Catherine

Jhlurie, Thanks for posting this. I rarely watch TV, so appreciate heads up on stuff like this. Trying to think if there's anything I would NOT do if someone paid me $140K for five days of it. Hmmm. Kill people. Hurt children. Steal. Eat spiders. April 12, 2005 is my husband's and my 30th wedding anniversary. Probably I will record the crab show to watch at a later date. Thanks again. Catherine

Hi Lreda, If your sides are indeed quality and are often left unfinished, perhaps your portion sizes could be trimmed. I sometimes volunteer at charity event where food is served, and I too hate to see food thrown away. One place I volunteer has a serving line where the patron indicates whether and how much of each item she or he desires. Alas, the waste is just as prevalent in this instance as in others! Not sure why. I like to see that you care about this. Wish there was a way to whisk that leftover food, newly fresh and sterile, to someone who could use it. To answer your question, I prefer to have a starch and a vegetable with my entree, but a small scoop is guaranteed to disappear where a large clump will probably come back to you. And I loathe lemon anywhere near chicken, but that's my problem. Catherine

We had a lot of oatmeal growing up, but it was the domestic rolled oats variety. I read about the pinhead/steel cut varieties some time ago, then was shopping in the World Market and saw them. I bought them, and they have been taking up space in the pantry ever since. This morning, I roasted some of the steel cut oats and then simmered them in water, nothing else, for 30 minutes. Threw in a handful of IQF raspberries and a spoonful of plain yogurt. Delicious! I am required to take a certain med first thing each morning, and cannot eat for at least an hour after I do. So there's a perfect window to make the steel cut oats every morning, which I plan to do for the forseeable future. Thank you for the information. Catherine

Huh? The amount the government gets (the sales tax on your meal) is not changed by the amount you tip. In the sense that the waitron is reporting her/his tips and paying income tax on it, yes, that tax amount is changed...but even then, this comment makes no sense: "Don't give me a raise, boss. I'll just have to pay income tax on it." Maybe I should stand up, but this one went right over my head. ← Perhaps the waitron honestly pays his/her taxes, and feels the one or two dollars extra perhaps adds up to a few thousand per year, and just enough to put one in a different tax bracket as you stated. It may be their concern. It is not mine. I agree with you...Taxes be damned, the more you make, the more you make. ← Well said! *breathes sigh of relief*

The idea that once a species is declared commercially extinct or endangered, that species is now safe to luxuriate and recover is unfortunately absurd. Seafood poaching is a multibillion dollar business worldwide, and the controls in place are less than 5% effective. Unfortunately, there will always be people who don't care about a species' plight, just about their own satisfaction. And there will always be people ready to take money to satisfy those losers.

Bochalla, Well done! To JSkilling's suggestion I would add: "roll your eyes..." and wear a smug grin! Catherine

Some people here have mentioned the value of $2 and what it can buy. At the risk of getting yelled at for being off-topic, I want to comment. I am an accountant with special interests in estate planning and personal financial planning. I think many people do not realize the power of thinking like these people I mention. Over a year, carefully NOT dropping that extra $2, parking further away and saving the higher parking fees, bringing lunch from home three days a week and saving the difference between that and eating out...all this taken together can have a shockingly big effect on a person's financial picture. It makes me happy to see that some people still practice thoughtful stewardship of their assets. I like to see people think out what they want to do, and include themselves as one of the beneficiaries of that planning. Being generous is NOT the same as being sloppy. Plan fairly and stick to it. Pay yourself first. That way, you live to dine out another day, and offer another generous tip! Catherine