Lori in PA

You might have better luck with the newish Rosemary variety called Arp. It is hardy to a somewhat lower temp., apparently. I used to replace my rosemary annually here in south central PA (zone 6), but since getting two Arps, they've been surviving. They are in a slightly raised bed near my house. The one in the corner closest to the el fares the best. The one that is more exposed is smaller but hasn't been killed.

Thank you for the glimpse into one woman's life in Amsterdam. You make a very appealing ambassador.

So, Mel, where did you eat?

"...an agreeable mess..." That is exactly what I think the very best dinner parties at my house are. Formal events are great, but there is nothing better than casual, yummy food shared with close friends and family. I'm glad your Sunday birthday dinner became that, in spite of uncooperative puffs. I suppose, though, you could be thankful even for those -- they gave an extra jolt to your 37 year-old heart. (I can tease you about aging, since I'm 39. Really. ) (Do people in the Netherlands tease about remaining 39 forever or is that an American thing?)

Thanks for the update. EACH member of my family has asked me at some point or another in the past couple of weeks, "Has there been any more news from the guy who's learning to bake bread?"

I am sitting in my quiet house (all offspring sleeping in a bit) in my corner of Pennsylvania and enjoying the spring sunshine pouring through the kitchen windows, thinking about the gardening I hope to continue today, plus doing the Soccer Thing, and contemplating how lovely it is that there are a few million folks in Amsterdam who, at this moment, are participating in the annual Redistribution of Household Castoffs. For some unexplicable reason, it's made me want to make an apple pancake with the tired apples left from last autumn. I made this for the first time a few days ago from my new Marion Cunningham cookbook, a compilation of The Breakfast Book and The Supper Book. It was a hit and seemed sort of Dutch, although I think it is really German in origin. Anyway, I was telling my mom about this week's blog the other day. I said, "Klary from Amsterdam is blogging -- you remember that butter-braised beef I made last winter and brought to your house -- that's her mom's recipe..." She was amused that your mom's pot roast has been made all over the world. Do any of you ever stop and think about how COOL this blogging thing is? Remember 15 years ago when you'd never heard of a blog and had no idea Butter-Braised Beef even existed? Or Queensday garage sales? Or how stroopwaffels are made?

Gettysburg doesn't have much good food, like many tourist towns. I second the recommendations for Sydney and Herr Tavern. If you want a quick lunch, you might go to the Dobbin House on Steinwehr Ave. It is the old stone building. Lunch in the Springhouse Tavern in the cellar. The food is fine, but the atmosphere is the main thing. Ask to be shown the Underground Railroad hiding place. At a shopping center on West St, there is a nice little Mexican place -- can't remember the name, but get someone to tell you how to get to the center with the Medicine Shoppe and Dollar General and you'll see it. At The Yellow Canary on Chambersburg St. (G-burg's one and only gourmet store!), you can get picnic fixings and eat on the battlefield.

How does it work to sell things? Do you provide your own table? Is there a fee for the space? Do people get the same spot year after year? Do you get a sort of reputation for the kinds of things you sell, like, "Oh, I must get to Klary's booth -- she always has great cookbooks!"? Do you sell anything you've cooked/baked?

Inspired by this thread, I made Veal Saltimbocca tonight, using the fold-over method, cheap prociutto, and sage from my garden. Very nice with risotto and broccoli.

Does anyone know how she is now? Is her health good? Is she teaching or writing or simply cooking nice little suppers for herself?

I've just gotten a secondhand copy of Marion Cunningham's Good Eating, which is a combilation of her two books, The Breakfast Book and The Supper Book. I've borrowed the breakfast one from the library a few times in the past and enjoyed it -- her Knothole Eggs are well-loved in my household and by my cooking class students. This summer I'll be using her Cooking with Children: 15 Lessons for children Ages 7 & up who really want to learn to cook in my children's cooking classes. This will be the second of three summer classes using the book as the text. I've taught kids' cooking classes for years, but am currently using her book because I'm impressed with Cunningham's excellent ability to give simple directions to beginners. What I like most about her books isn't really even her recipes. They are fine, by and large, although I often like "mine" better. It is her tone that I love, warm and welcoming, beckoning me into the kitchen to cook something yummy and satisfying, assuring me I can do it very well if I'll only try. I appreciate the personal way in which she shares her feelings about a particular dish, especially how she describes the sensations preparing and eating it gives her. For example: "Sometimes eating supper alone feels private, quiet, and blessedly liberating. You may eat anything you want; you needn't be conventional. I like a baked potato with olive oil and coarse salt and pepper followed by vanilla ice cream, which proves to me that money doesn't buy a good meal. One night not long ago I had freshly baked cookies and milk, and found that uplifting. If my spirit is less than cheerful, it helps me to fix something restorative when eating alone. Split Pea Soup is easy to make -- it takes only a few minutes to get started and is ready in 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Kitchen preparations, the busyness of chopping, stirring, and watching a bubbling pot, can help dispel any gloom, at least for me. I like to fix supper on a try and carry it back to the desk in my bedroom. I have a fireplace there and I can sit and eat while listening to music or watching the news on TV. Eating in bed will always seem like the height of luxury to me, but spilling one's soup on the bed destroys the mood, so only food that doesn't slosh is recommended." --Marion Cunningham, The Supper Book Unpretentious, lovable, like an older neighbor or friend who stands to the side, sharing stories and offering a bit of guidance with the knife now and then while one gets familiar with how to pare and dice the carrots for the soup.

au poivre = oh pwahv Can anybody do a better phonetic spelling?

Another idea that I originally got years ago from the back of something but heavily adapted is Horseradish Cream Carrots with Sand Steam or boil carrots. (This is a good one for those pre-peeled "baby" carrots.) Place into a gratin or casserole. Mix equal amounts of mayonnaise and sour cream (about 1/4 c. each for 6-8 servings) and add a tablespoon or two of prepared horseradish and salt and pepper to taste. Thin with a bit of milk if it is very thick until you have a not-quite-pourable sauce. Spoon atop the carrots and sprinkle with buttered, fresh breadcrumbs. Bake in a hot oven (500 degrees) or broil for a few moments to brown the crumbs and start the sauce bubbling. This always gets scarfed up.

I don't think this idea was mentioned yet. The idea is from one of Patricia Wells' cookbooks and I think she calls them Provencal Carrots. I've been making them so long that I have no idea how much I've strayed from her method, though. I slice the carrots with the thin slicing blade of the food processor. Put them into a lidded saute pan with butter and/or olive oil, perhaps 2 T. for a 3 qt. pan filled pretty full. Add peeled and smashed (or slivered) garlic cloves to taste (I use about three) Stir to coat with fat and cover. Cook on very low heat until the carrots are tender, stirring occasionally. They will braise in the fat and their own juices. Uncover and cook a few minutes longer to lightly caramelize, as desired, stirring rather more frequently. Salt and pepper to taste. I think the original recipe called for adding sliced Provencal olives at the end, but I don't do that.

I hope you enjoyed your meal, Jamie, as much as I enjoyed your words. I, too, live in orchard country, and it is just as you described.

Your meal sounds great, Tammy. I'm always happy to hear of a good way to cook chicken thighs -- such an economical protein and often used at our house.

Lunch at The Real Taco was very nice. Dd and I shared a salad (first time I've had cactus, I think) and an order of carnitas. Everyone really enjoyed themselves. Dinner was a picnic from Trader Joe's. We went to White's Ferry just above Leesburg (on our way home) and ate overlooking the Potomac. We had ham, brie, and fresh basil leaves rolled up in lavash, Dubliner cheese slices cut with great dexterity with a plastic knife (our pocket knife which normally lives in the van was awol), crackers, and strange honey tangerines (some were good and some were horrid). I'd brought homemade choc chip cookies with espresso powder from home and we had a couple of chocolate covered bing cherries as we drove home. I did not open one of the FOUR containers of TJ's Triple Ginger Cookies I'd bought. They are hidden on a high pantry shelf to tide me over until my next TJ visit. Thanks for all your time in making recommendations. It is SO valuable to people like me who "don't get out much."

Mmmm, Marlene.

Easter is also ds#3's 11th birthday -- he was born on an Easter, as well. In our family, the birthday person gets to choose the menu for the day. Initially, he requested hot dogs for lunch but was "guided" toward ham instead. His final choices: Baked Ham Mashed Potato Baked in a Casserole Green Beans -- "Plain, please." Carrots -- "Not roasted, not sauteed -- just those baby carrots, plain, please, Mom." Yeast cheese bread Birthday Cake made from a mix by the birthday boy Icecream In desperation, I'm adding an apple/date chutney as a side for the ham. I think I get the award for most boring Easter dinner, yes?

Thanks very much for all the ideas. I expect one meal will be eaten "out" and the other will be a picnic of some kind. I definitely plan a trip to Trader Joe's while I'm down there (is the closest one in Centerville?), so we'll prob have savory thins, cheese, fruit, and Total Greek yogurt for our picnic, though I love Wegmans and could go for something from there, too. Is Wegman's in Chantilly or _____?

I am SOOOO pleased for you, Gerhard. Edible bread! Think of it! What is the Artist's assessment?

I plan to be at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum this Saturday with dh, our three kids, and one extra kid. We'll be celebrating ds #3's 11th birthday. A look at the museum's web site offers the disappointing news that the food within the facility is limited to McDonalds. Can someone point us to something close by that would make a day of looking at planes more fun for me? Thanks.

"The only three things that, to my mind, could cause this are the water, the flour and the environment. The flour is an unlikely candidate, as it works fine in the preferment. The water also works fine in the preferment. If it is the environment, I am buggered - there is no way we can sort that one out. That leaves me more or less up a gumpole. Jack? Someone? I swear I did not sing." You forgot possibility #4: You are cursed. I don't really believe that, but just thought I'd throw it out there as grist for the mill. I'm a big supporter of talking kindly to inanimate as well as animate objects. (By this method alone I've kept our '92 Toyota Previa van running for 225,000 miles. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the regular maintenance the Husband gives it.) Bread dough seems to fall sort of in the middle of those two categories -- have you been giving encouraging pep talks to your doughs? Maybe don't sing, but talk.

This should be great! I've made risotto a few times and didn't find it difficult, but there may be nuances I'm missing. My first few spears of asparagus are saluting me in the garden and I find risotto great for when I only have a few of them to use.

I am waiting with bated breath for the outcome of today's experiments. I can hear Gerhard now, "Sorry, guests. I can't serve your needs right now cuz I have to stay in the laboratory, er, kitchen, to supervise my doughs." I imagine the Artist is either hovering nearby or staying far, far away. I read excerpts from this whole thread to my family last evening and they've gotten into the spirit of your adventure, as well. BTW, the Husband refutes my claim that every light bulb in our house is fluorescent -- says some visible ones are not -- so I publically apologize for misrepresenting the situation. But, he did visibly blanche and made audible distressed noises when I read the part about the mother and/or preferment requiring a light to be switched on for about 12-14 hours every time one makes bread. I'm thinking he'd handle the heating pad method better -- no obviously visual evidence of electricity being used, you know. Wishing you at least one loaf of successful bread today, Gerhard!