MaggieB

Chromedome- I'm truly enjoying your blog - you must be a high energy guy. As one who is also considering a career change in the direction of food, I too would like to read a boatload of food related books. Can you give me your top ten suggestions? Also, what does an expediter do?

Just reporting in that the white spotted mayonnaise did not kill me and my family ...in fact it was delicious in the best (and maybe the only) macaroni salad I ever made! I used a Martha Stewart recipe that includes a bit of sour cream mixed in the mayo with the other usual ingredients.

I made this sandwich for dinner for my family last night: Cut a round loaf of bread into 5 layers. First layer: horseradish and roast beef Second layer: mustard and turkey or ham, swiss cheese Third layer: bacon and tomato Fourth layer: onion and American cheese Fifth layer: bread that tops the loaf Brush melted butter with onion salt and sesame seeds over all and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Slice or wedge like a pie. Sloppy to eat but delicious, and it has something for everyone. This is an old recipe from Taste of Home.

Lazyamerican-thanks for sharing the "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" spotlight with me - I don't feel so alone now! Since embarking on this journey of mayonnaise, I'm thinking this may be the ideal time for me to purchase one of those stick blenders - as a matter of fact I did some online shopping this morning. Mayo is certainly possible by hand, but this looks like a really good excuse to buy another piece of equipment to me!

Success! Yay! Third time's the charm! After 2 additional tries, I am now an experienced homemade mayonnaise maker! *Takes a bow* Another bout with the blender failed, at which point I decided I would keep doing it until A) it worked or B) I ran out of ingredients! As somebody said, it's only an egg yolk. The third time I used room temp everything except the egg, and stirred by hand with a whisk, and the magic happened! And after 3 tries, it does feel like magic. It is a beautiful and subtle flavor and color, mostly lost on my family members, but I enjoyed it on a multi-layer sandwich last night, and will make macaroni salad with the remainder tonight. Unless...this morning there appears to be white spots on the surface of the mayo. It's been covered in the fridge all night, and it tasted OK, but I thought I'd mention this in case I'm about to poison my family. Given no additional input, I will probably just stir it up and use it. Next - aioli. Can't wait.

Rachel what a wonderful story and a precious memory!

I attempted and failed to make my first mayo last evening. It never thickened I used a chilled bowl, chilled egg yolk, and my whisk. Is there some measure of time that I can use to know if I have whisked the egg yolk long enough? It looked creamy to me, as the recipe said it should. I added other things as per instructions, and whisked 'til I dropped. Then I put the whole thin batch into my blender and blended it, until it started to smell like cooked eggs, but was still not thick! Once again, is there any indication of how long approximately this should take in the blender? I'd like to try again tonight - any suggestions?

I just watched my first episode last night...part of what makes it so entertaining is reading everyone's reaction here on eGullet. The too salty risotto was quite bad, I guess! I ask you, have you ever taken one bite of something so salty that it made you throw up? Couldn't that poor woman just have drunk some water? Extremely over the top!

I'm so glad to see another eGCI class being offered. I've never made homemade mayonnaise before, though Lord knows plenty of people mention it in various threads! I'm anxious to have my first experience. Could I possibly substitute the yolks from one double yolk egg for the "yolk from an extra large egg" that is called for in the aioli recipe?"

I'm pleased that in last night's episode the correct person was eliminated. I know she's hot, but Harmony needed to be gone. I'm getting worried about my favorite Eric, though, he's looking weaker. I agree that Hans is very strong. And yes, Susannah does look a lot like Rachel Ray. People have told me that I could have my own cooking show. This production has been helpful to me in demonstrating what really has to happen to be successful...and even though I maybe "could" do it, I really don't want to, and like Harmony, I feel like I'd be in way over my head. So for that reason, it's very informative, and I have a new respect for those who are successful at this. I realize they may not all be classically trained culinary artists, but they have a unique set of skills that makes their cooking programs educational and entertaining.

When I was young, during the summer when school was out and we neighborhood kids were unsupervised, I would play restaurant with a friend of mine. One of us would sit at the dining room table and select items from the menu...the other would construct pretend representations of the menu items, sometimes using real food, sometimes not. Interestingly enough, this particular friend has no memory of playing restaurant!

Thanks jesteinf...I see I could have found that out by looking at the website. Anyway, I'm votin' for Eric, early and often, if possible. And I agree that it's cool to vote for those you want to keep. instead of kicking people out.

I only saw the first show...and predicted that the blond with the braids would soon be "voted off the island" or "86ed" or whatever. Has anyone been eliminated yet?

Only on eGullet can you discover Pocky, see cool commercials and then have them translated! I love this place!

Great commercials!

I was surprised and delighted (shocked and incredulous, actually) to notice that my local Wal-Mart carried Pocky! This is a small town in Central PA and I never in a million years expected to find something so exotic! I of course immediately bought a box (dark chocolate), and presented them to my family. They were not as excited as I was (who could be) but they said they were "fine". If I hadn't recently descovered eGullet, I would not have known what those little sticks were!

So how does Rachel Ray prep greens? Sounds like I might want to do the same. ← She orders her millions of minions to wash, chop, wrap and store her groceries. Seriously though. She claims to wash and sort and chop and store all her fresh produce as soon as she brings it home so it's ready for her 30 min meals. ← I still would like to see RR prepare a meal in 30 minutes with a toddler (or two) at her knee. Anyone notice that rock of an engagement ring she's been wearing lately? Maybe in a couple of years she'll have a new show -- 30 Interruption Meals: How to Get Dinner on the Table Between Diaper Changes and Cub Scout Meetings. ← I recently took a bunch of fresh parsley and "re-hydrated " it in a sinkfull of water for five minutes. I put it through my salad spinner, wrapped it in a paper towel, and sealed it in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the fridge. That parsley lasted at least 3 weeks prepped that way. I do not chop anything ahead of time - I feel that shortens shelf life. PS - I am my own minion, and although I clean as I go a little, my husband does all the dishes. Also, I like many of Rachel's recipes, but I never attempt to do them in 30 minutes. I do enjoy watching her fly around on TV though.

My meal planning and production method gives new meaning to Anal Retentiveness! On weekends I plan the entire week of menus, taking into account evening commitments (kids sports, yoga, etc) that will be influencing my meal plans. I make a complete, typed store list for my husband. The items are separated by category and the categories are in the same order as they appear in the store When he brings the groceries home, I prep all my greens per Rachel Ray. Each evening, after work, I take great pleasure in laying out all of my ingredients that I know are going to be there, preparing everything, then cooking. All items are assembled on my cutting board, chopped, sliced, diced, schpliced, whatever. To the left of the board is my recipe and my garbage bowl (idea from RR again). Sometimes I lay out my non-perishable ingredients before work on my cutting board, but one day I watched my cat jump onto the counter and sit squarely in the middle of the board, like it had been put there just for him, so I don't do that too much anymore. Occasionally I do make a quick lunch hour run late in the week if there is a particularly perishable item to be cooked that night, but I usually try to plan around that.

I have always heard from my husband that "you shouldn't eat right before sleeping". Twice in the last month, however, I have defied his advice and eaten a late, and not small, snack (once a hoagie, once a slice of pizza). On both occasions I woke up the next morning feeling better than usual, and realized it was because I had slept better than usual, and I believe that was because I had those late snacks. I have always been blessed with "good" metabolism - perhaps this is why I can get away with this.

Recently I fried one slice of bacon. In the grease, I also browned two slices of leftover polenta. On my plate I placed the two slices of polenta, then one sunny sides up double yolk egg, and crumbled the bacon on top of that.

Last night's dinner: Fried double yolk eggs, bacon (cooked on counter top grill), toast (white bread with butter), sliced kiwi.