Lori in PA

Oops, I forgot to report about Marlene's ribs. A success. Yum and double yum -- thanks, Marlene!

Use the pans, Gerhard, use the pans! First we crawl, then we walk, then we run, then we FLY!!!

Well, I suppose it was a bit much to expect a lifetime of failed baking to turn around in one go, but I'm disappointed with you, Gerhard. I felt heartened when I read Jack's "alas and alack." Commiseration is the beginning of comfort and renewed hope, I think. Idea for the failed loaves: Have sandwiches for dinner and tell the Artist it is a new invention -- panini that doesn't need to be pressed. She might go for it... Onward and upward!

As always, I enjoyed reading your descriptions of the process -- your thinking, the shopping frustrations, the cost, all of it -- and the photos make it even better. Thanks.

Lori, for me, the most consistently reliable way to replicate the temperature for this sort of thing has been a cheap, pastic cooler with one of those clip-on lamps attached to the lip of the thing and with a 40 watt bulb, and covering the cooler with both the lid (which of course won't fit tight on the cooler because the lamp's clamp won't allow it) and a towel. It's essentially the method suggested by Ed Wood in his Classic Sourdoughs, and it's a good resource for managing sourdoughs. ←

Thanks for the link about the bitter herbs -- romaine lettuce -- who knew? It makes sense, though.

You breaded chicken one-armed/handed??? Good for you! You almost make me think you really will bake while you're in labor, but I gotta say that was the last thing on my mind with all three births. Do let us know when your wee one arrives.

Quick question re the "bitter herbs" we read about in the Exodus account of the first Passover feast. I've heard it was horseradish. Is it so? I'm teaching an Exodus 101 class for ladies in our congregation. Tomorrow, coincidentally, we'll be studying this section of Exodus. When I teach this to children, I usually bring roasted lamb chop torn into bits, pita bread (I realize not at all authentic but it looks much like bread from the time), and a mixture of dried herbs for them to touch a moist finger to and taste. We "eat" (taste) standing up, with our shoes on our feet, ready to leave Egypt! For the children, I've always just given them the lamb at room temp, which is less than appetizing to me but never seemed to bother them. For the ladies, I wish I could have it heated, but can't think how to keep such a small amount hot without turning it to leather. I have shoulder chops, which shouldn't dry out so much, maybe, but I could use ideas. My crockpot is a 6 qt and they'd be lost in there, though maybe I could put the bites of meat in a little foil pan, cover with foil and set that in the warm crockpot. What does anybody think?

Thank you, Michael. Consider it bookmarked. Charts exist for people like me who shudder when people like Jack start out with, "Coverting to celsius is simple. Just divide..." I'd like to think that if Jack and I were friends "in real life," he'd often shake his head ruefully but affectionately at me behind my back and wonder at my ability to exist so blithely in a world of numbers, while I would count (on my fingers, of course!) him among my greatest blessings, a companion of concreteness and exactitude, a resource for figuring out the measurements of anything I want to build, cook, or grow. (Don't worry, Jack, my husband generally takes care of these things for me -- I won't be emailing you every time I design a new perennial bed or bookshelf.)

My comment about the rest of the world was totally tongue-in-cheek -- I promise I'm not an Ugly American. Ninety degrees F, huh? I'm trying to think where in my house I could replicate that at this time of year. If I can figure out where it can live, I would love to have some of your starter, Jack, and it is terribly kind of you to offer to go to the trouble to send it. Let me think, let me think.

I was excited today to find Foods of the World -- Italy for $3 in a used bookstore. I'd been to the library and come home with a boatload of cookbooks already, but this one already looks to be the best for the kids. I'm borrowing a friend's pasta machine, so we're getting geared up. Confession: For yesterday's Italy Day homeschooling learning activities, I wasn't feeling well, so our grand cooking portion turned out to be "make your own french bread pizza" with canned sauce, bagged cheese, and grocery store french bread. Where else can we go but up????

I made Marlene's Beef Ribs with Honey and Port (might not be the exact name but I don't have the recipe in front of me) yesterday, discarded the fat way and heated it up again early this morning before taking dd17yo to take the ACT, and am heating it again for dinner tonight right now. This might not be the place to report, but couldn't think of a better spot, so here it is. I'll get back here after the meal with reviews.

THIS IS SO EXCITING! I wanna bake sourdough bread, too. I've always been a bit afraid of it, though I've long baked yeast breads with commercial yeast. When I was a teenager, I visited an aunt and uncle -- nothing special about that -- I'd been their guest plenty of times before. This time, though, something seemed very amiss in "my" area of the house in the basement. Uncle ____ had begun experimenting with sourdough baking in his quest to learn about all things self-sufficient and was keeping his starter on top of the water heater. A most unpleasantly noxious odor permeated the basement, including my bedroom. The resultant bread birthed from said starter was, um, unusual, as in, not good. I got out while I was still alive... Am a bit confused by these celsius numbers being thrown around as though most of the world used the metric system or something. Somebody take pity on me and tell me what 30 degrees C converts to in Fahrenheit. (I'm guessing it means "warm".) One last question: is it possible to be an adequate baker of sourdough bread and without being the possessor of a scale? Somebody say yes. I lied -- one more question: Can somebody tell me how to make the start of sourdough starter? Please don't point me to the EGI course. I've read much of it a few months ago, but, good as it is, I remember a lot of metric system, right? Though this post probaby contradicts my assertion, I'm really not stupid, but I just don't do numbers very well. My intellectual functions on the planet are to write, appreciate and enthuse over history, art, and nature, and procure math tutors for my homeschooled children. Gerhard, I'm pulling for you. May your starter ever bubble and your loaves never meet your foot.

Re squash blossoms: I use blossoms from my zucchini and crookneck squash plants. If you harvest only the male blossoms, you'll still get plenty of fruit. The male blossoms have a longer stem and the female ones have a swollen base, so it's easy to tell. Harvest in the morning when they are still fully open, stand them in a glass of water like an arrangement of flowers and put in the fridge to use later in the day. I don't even rinse mine -- just inspect visually for any critters. I remove the stem and the stamen and stuff with a mixture of goat cheese, fresh thyme, s&p. Close the petals over the stuffing. Bake in a casserole dish on top of a fresh tomato sauce with a little garlic or onion and fresh basil until the cheese is softened and they are hot through.

Seconding the recommendation to eat small amounts frequently. I used to keep a couple of crackers on my bedside table and nibble one if I awoke during the night. I'd eat the other immediately on waking in the morning before I even sat up -- it seemed to help a bit. If you are the cook, it can be hard because raw meat made me sick and the smell of cooking food made me sick. One thing that worked pretty well was to get a one-dish thing in the crockpot right after I'd thrown up sometime in the morning and PLUG IT IN OUTSIDE to cook all day. If you have a covered porch or something, that is ideal. That way, dinner was ready even if I was nauseated during regular dinner prep time, so everybody else could eat, BUT, I didn't have to smell it all day. Good luck with everything -- babies are a blessing that makes all the puking worth it. :-)

Following is a post from my blog for April Fools' Day a few days ago. That my friends reading it almost all guessed it had to be a joke is testament to their level of gustatory adventurousness, though a couple thought ME capable of being serious. More French Food – I’m so excited! One French recipe I never thought I’d be able to taste, much less prepare, is called Ris de Cheval a l’Ancienne. This is another old dish, but one can hardly find it anymore in France, much less expect to see it on an American restaurant menu, because of the unusual protein utilized as the main ingredient – horse meat, or more specifically for this recipe, horse brains. The English translation of the title is Brains of Horse in the Old Manner. It is prepared by soaking the cleaned brains for a few hours in a light brine mixture, then simmering them gently for an hour or so to tenderize, and finally browning them in hot duck fat. The brains are further stewed in a wine sauce flavored with garlic, capers, and olives. If possible, bits of horse liver are sautéed separately and served atop the dish as a garnish, though often this little flourish is left off, as horse liver is highly prized as a sausage ingredient in France and so is hard for the home cook to obtain. I can hardly believe my luck, but an acquaintance of mine just emailed with the sad news that one of their horses injured himself so badly yesterday that he’ll have to be put down this morning. She knew my reputation for cooking unusual things, plus I think I’d once even mentioned to her that I’d like to try horse meat sometime, so she asked if I wanted anything from the carcass. But of course! The brains are really perishable, and as described above take a long time to prepare, so I’ll be spending the whole day on this project. I’m sure it will be so worth it, though! I’m leaving in a few minutes to pick up the brains – just need to grab the cooler and some ice. Oh, and she said I was welcomed to the liver, too, so we’ll get to experience this recipe in its most authentic form. Whoohoo!!! I actually have all the other ingredients here, so I should be cooking within an hour. This recipe makes a huge amount and has to be consumed within a day or two or it will go bad. I think I’ll have an impromptu dinner party tonight. The problem becomes who to invite. I know all my friends reading this are crossing their fingers hoping it will be them. I'll ask The Husband and call somebody later today. Off to get my horse meat...

I finally planted a couple of kinds of lettuce and Ruby Swiss Chard yesterday. The tarragon, chives, and sorrel are up and the rosemary survived the winter this year -- yay!

Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies. I knew choosing would be hard! I'm leaning toward Marcella at this point, but will probably request a variety of your recommendations from the library -- I tend to be thorough that way.

I've really enjoyed reading about your large-group cooking adventures. The almond cake intrigues me -- any chance of a fuller recipe?

In preparation for our homeschool support group's International Fair in May, our family has voted to study Italy. We will learn the geography, history, natural resources, and culture of this great country. Food will be important, too, especially as the International Fair ends with a big potluck where the families bring food they've prepared from their countries. My children are almost 18, 13 1/2, and almost 11 and their cooking skills are commensurate with their ages. I know we'll want to try making our own pasta and will seek out some of the best-known Italy-produced ingredients to try. Please recommend one cookbook that isn't too difficult for children of a fairly able cook/mom but that is "authentic," too. If it also has good explanations of the history of dishes and other info, that'd be a plus. I know this is a tall order since Italy's food traditions are so diverse, but thought some of you might have a good one in mind.

One thing I often make in big quantities for freezer meals is stuffed peppers, done one of two ways: 1. Traditional -- I like to add an italian tomato sauce to the top -- more moisture if being frozen to protect from dry rice. Just before serving, I usually add more grated cheese to the top. 2. "Unstuffed Peppers" -- Make favorite filling and add bell peppers cut into big-ish strips. Freeze in gallon ziploc, pour thawed mixture into baking dish to bake and serve.

I have one magnetic strip mounted to the side of a high cabinet at the sink. It holds my most-used knives. I've been very pleased with it.

Thank you very much, Gerhard. I have thoroughly enjoyed my brief "escape" to your home.

Is this a be-early April Fool's Day joke? ←

If not, do you share? We'd love to see. ←