dockhl

As beautiful as this picture is, it has a little bit of the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" pod thing going on Now I know why (the finger )

Today's lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich on thin sliced seeded rye, w/ thin sliced tritip, Muenster (for that creaminess) and Tillamook cheddar (in the square log) Tiny crunchy dill pickles

russ~ do you have a central cost rec? Kahty

Apparently you need a dog K (whose floors are always very free of edible debris *different from clean *)

I would ABSOLUTELY eat/drink it ! Sounds yummy as is---the cloves remind me of an awesome TOMATO BURGUNDY SOUP that I love. Let us know !

Dianne~ please tell us more about the pig tails ! I never imagined them to have much meat, am I wrong? And what is the 'sticky' ?

Beautiful, restorer~ anybody around to help you eat that?

It seems to me almost of the essence of "typical home cooking" that it does not use a book. I cook most days. Over the course of a week, I suppose I cook probably 6 or 7 meals. It would be an unusual week when I actually opened a book more than once. But that does not mean that the books are not there in the background. The recipes came from somewhere, to start with, and that was often a book. To take an example, this past week: Last Saturday: Meatballs and pasta. No book used. In the background: recipe for meatballs from Marcella Hazan. (But I sometimes make meatballs using a recipe I learned from my mother, which is quite different.) Sunday: Carbonnade. No book used. In the background: recipe from Anne Wilan's French Provincial Cooking. Monday: Pasta vodka. No book used. Recipe taught to me by some Italian friends about 15 years ago. Greek(ish) salad, just sort of constructed from eating it. Tuesday: Risotto, with red wine and sausages. No book used. Recipe owes its origins to a sort of amalgamation of Jamie Oliver and Marcella Hazan. Wednesday: My boyfriend cooked a pasta sauce with bacon and olives, which I think he half invented himself and half got from a Jamie Oliver recipe on the internet. (Wherever it came from it was good.) Thursday: Ate out. Friday: Soft tacos for the kids. No book, just sort of invented on the hoof. Chocolate fondue (demanded by the kids) ditto. Today: Macaroni and cheese. No book. Basic recipe my mother's, but varied in that I use gruyere as well as cheddar, and much more mustard and cayenne than she does. Loosely based on the best macaroni and cheese I ever ate (at Soho Grand hotel in New York, years ago). So in a whole week of what I at least regard as typical home cooking (i.e., quick, unfancy, mixture of dishes from all sorts of places originally, all probably rather "nativised"), not a single book actually opened, but several there in the background. Two things I would add: (1) I've generally (with a few exceptions) found "restaurant" based books pretty useless for ordinary home cooking; they assume a different programme of preparation than the home cook wants. (2) There are a huge number of "typical" dishes home cooks, at least in the UK, actually cook that you won't really find in any book at all! ← Ditto.

Thanks for the dog pix. Dogs are the best. Loving your blog, Bruce!

PLEASE tell me that you found your old Firesign Theater albums in your trip down memory lane! I want a copy, please ! K (happy to pay for it in preserved lemons or any other currency that strikes your fancy )

Hi Rebecca, nice to see you ! Kathy

Lights in haggis? oathmeal ? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm................................

second

Sounds fine to me but here are a few recipes for Blender Hollandaise: Marlene's from Recipe Gullet Slightly different proportions and no mustard (my favorite) Blender Hollandaise From the 1961 New York Times Cook Book, updated with a little modern technology. It yields about 3/4 of a cup. * 1 stick butter * 3 egg yolks * 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice * 1/4 tsp salt Melt butter in microwave. Using a blender or blender wand, gently blend the egg yolks with the lemon juice and salt. Set blender at lowest speed and blend while slowly drizzling melted butter into the mixture. Continue blending for a few seconds after all butter has been added. Garnish with a pinch of cayenne pepper. I think doing it in a blender is easy and almost foolproof.

Jingoism is a food now? I guess it's got a strong but crass taste and no subtlety? ← With a garnish of minced oath............

Geez. Daniel...look what you have done......... interesting question, tho. K

I guess the good news is I had NFI what "sammies" were and had to check the thread to find out. Won't be part of MY life, guaranteed............

1. Rick James has long been linked with cocaine use. 2. Cocaine is a white powder. 3. Powder is the name of a movie from 1995 Starring Jeff Goldblum. 4. Jeff Goldblum was born on October 22. 5. 22 is the number of calories from fat contained in White Castle Clam Strips. Clearly I'm not going for points. ← This is very elegant though - neat, discrete steps, not leaps of the imagination. This is the gold standard folks! ← It is quite a beautiful thing

As an optometrist, I have to say that her glasses bug the crap out of me. *whew* I feel better now............

Thank you, Paula ! this sounds like one of the very best things I'd ever eat--not just the pork but the entire presentation. I can't wait to make it . Kathy

Hoooray! now that you, the respected Maggie, have said that......I can come out of the closet ! I hate undercooked green beans, and LOVE cooked one, esp almondine "Course, I really like almost ANYTHING with brown butter......... Thank you, Maggie.

Yes.

I am SO into the idea of new meats and vegetables ! Bring 'em on !

eje, I'm with you K (who REALLY likes bacon.......)

That's one gorgeous steak! ← Daniel~ When I saw that pic my mouth automatically began to water ( in my dogs I'd say DROOL ) Perfect.