Lori in PA

After much dithering -- wants vs. needs, ya know -- I decided to keep it. I made Sort Of Beef Paprika in it last night for dinner with chuck steaks. I think I made the right decision re the pot -- very nice to use and a terrific size complement to my 9 1/2 qt. LC. The thing I liked best was that, unlike my LC, the dish maintained a perfect simmer on the lowest setting of my "simmer" eye. Now I have to figure out where to store the thing... Thanks for all the advice -- it helped me make my decision more confidently.

No more opinions on Boulud cast iron cookware? I'm trying to decide whether to keep it, so speak up!

I've had to watch my tendency to envy Marlene ever since I saw her LC buffet/braiser pot. I'm the proud owner of a 9 qt LC oval French oven, but I've felt the "need" for a shallow braising vessel for ribs and such. At TJ Maxx's yesterday, I saw a Daniel Boulud 5 qt. "braising roaster" that looks very nice. I brought it home with me, but 2 things may make me return it: 1. Hearing from egulleteers that the quality isn't up to snuff 2. Hearing from The Husband that $40 is still not enough bargain for our budget. So, what say ye?

Thanks, Greg. It does seem pretty straightforward. Who knows? I may give it a whirl...

Thanks very much for the advice. I have read the yogurt thread and am not wanting to commit so much time and effort. If I get desperate enough... I am buying my Fage from a Trader Joe's -- it's just very far away -- for $4.19 for the almost 18 oz. size.

Nice looking meal, Julia! Your pic makes me think you might want to try browning the meat even a little more next time, but I know pix sometimes lie.

I just saw this was resurrected and saw I hadn't replied back after our trip. Sorry -- I really like it when others do that. We ate at Zola's and very much enjoyed ourselves. As I remember, I had the tuna -- very slightly overcooked beyond my preference, but not enough to bother me. I remember good bread, or rather, I remember my hungry dh not keeping his hands off the good bread and filling up more than he should have on it. The second night we ate at the Tavern and were pretty underwhelmed. It got funny as they kept coming back to tell us they were out of things we'd ordered. I was tempted to say, "How about you just tell us what you've actually GOT, and we'll pick one or the other?" I thought we paid more than the food was worth, too. After we walked around the town for awhile, we (still a little hungry) stopped in to the State College Diner (or Grille, or something) and had one of those "famous grilled stickies." Now that was good! We ordered one to share and then ended up ordering another. (I feel sure dh ate more than half each time.) The last night we ate at Mario and Luigi's. We were way tired, and not terribly hungry, but the server was kind and didn't seem to mind at all our request to share an entree. I can't remember what we ate, but we preferred it to the Tavern. Dh was attending a conference during the days and I was busy with a project in our hotel room, so I breakfasted and lunched on items from the nice Wegman's grocery at the edge of town. Zola's was our favorite, and those grilled stickies made a nice snack. Thanks, everyone, for your help in pointing us to decent food.

Maybe. I mean, no, I don't really want to: I don't have time, space, or desire, and I think it will be about as expensive as buying Fage. But, I'd like to eat Fage more often! Perhaps if I change our town's ordinances to allow sheep and goats, fence the backyard, and... or, maybe I'll just keep campaigning my local markets to carry Fage.

So far, I've tried straining Stonyfield Farms whole milk yogurt overnight in the the fridge. It's ok, but not Fage. The trouble is, I live over 1 1/2 hours from the nearest source of Fage Total Greek, so I'm looking for alternatives. Is anybody else as addicted to this stuff as I am?

I just had 7 egg yolks a few days ago. I put them into a double batch of waffle batter and served PA Dutch "chicken and waffles" for dinner. In our case, it was turkey on the waffles, with turkey gravy on top. MMM.

I suppose I was led there by my own curiosity and, most importantly, welcomed there lovingly by my mother and both grandmothers. They are/were all good, homey cooks and I am blessed to have been given such an encouraging start.

Lovely, Diana! And, thank you, Susan, for resurrecting this thread. I didn't know it existed.

I don't think most of us should be too protective about our food heritages -- people all over the world take the food they have available and figure out ways to preserve it, combine it with other ingredients in season at the same time, and generally make it something good to eat. It totally makes sense to me that any culture with cucumbers, vinegar, onions, and salt would combine them. Got black pepper? "Hmm, I bet a little of that pepper would be good on those cucumbers..."

As much as I love and respect southerners, being one myself, I gotta disagree. Cukes in vinegar and hot bacon salad dressing are considered to be Pennsylvania Dutch recipes around here and I think they have a case for it -- both sound very Germanic to me.

Marlene -- ribs! Goody!

I've been away from egullet for DAYS, so I've just now done a fast blog catch-up session. Such impressive ways with fire and smoke, everyone! And Susan, I love my big orange Tupperware bowl so much, I own two!

Yay!!! I noticed something was MISSING from my routine this week and realized it was a daily check-in with a stranger about his/her life and food habits. This should be fun...

What a lovely patio garden beginning!

Have we done roasted chicken? That seems so spring-y to me, though I cook and eat it year round. There does seem to be a lot of opinions about the best way to produce the perfect roasted bird.

Rachel, your writing is so evocative -- thank you!

Hoagicide. That's too wonderful.

This time of year, I'd want to include asparagus if possible. An asparagus and potato omelet with cheese sounds good to me.

Crockpot or electric roaster on the back porch. I've also been known to cook the next night's dinner in the evening after supper, then just reheat in the micro before eating at mealtime.

I'm happy for your success! Were you as exhausted, physically and mentally, as I imagine you must have been at the end of that day?

Did the dinner for Grandmother happen yet?