Lori in PA

Let me guess - placenta? Oddly enough, this would not be considered odd in any way among most of my friends. ← Pardon me, but I really don't want to know. SB (happy with a Pooh Head) ← I guess placenta(s), too.

C'mon flamin' cognac!

Oooh, thanks for all the replies! Question: I have a Le Creuset Oval French 9 1/2 qt. oven which has been getting a lot of use. I'm intrigued by the shallow LC braiser (I've also seen it called a buffet dish). I have an All Clad 3 qt. saute pan with a lid. I wonder if the LC braiser is any better?

sounds wonderful! even though i have not analyzed your blood yet! i could add the historical background of the recipe, the variations from region to region ... ← Yes, yes, yes!

Thank you for the responses, Anna and Susan (?)/Snowangel! I only have this book for another week, so I need recommendations for what to focus on.

Thank you for the nice words, Lucy. That was a neat experience -- it turned out well but made me want to experiment more and time doesn't permit it at the moment. Foodman, I don't have time to check my facts, but I think kiwi and fresh pineapple are no-no's in gelatin because of enzymes in them, not acid.

Oh, and was the fame of the pommes puree justified, in your opinion?

Thank you for the mini French vacation -- so refreshing for me! Looks like you had some lovely days.

bumping -- c'mon, I want to know!

In our own family, everynight dinners often feature a "question of the evening." Someone poses a question and each person at the table has the opportunity to answer. These range from "What is the best thing that happened to you today?" to "If you could travel anywhere and money was no object, where would you go?" to "If you could be an animal for a day, what would you be?" I'm waiting for one of the boys to say something like, "Describe the most interesting booger you ever saw," but so far so good. I started this practice in response to reading the following quote somewhere: "Small people discuss other people, Average people discuss events, Exceptional people discuss ideas."

I must have some unknown French blood in me, because I like to talk about the food! How the cook came to decide to make it, how the ingredients were procured, the cooking process, how it tastes, etc. Failing that, I like to talk about other foods, recipes, ingredients...

Tell me: --My single most favorite recipe from this book is: --The most helpful thing I learned from this book that continues to benefit my cooking is: --My favorite braising vessel (include a clicky if you wish) is __________ because:

"Stir-fry crisis averted -- return to your stations."

I have finally temporarily obtained a copy via interlibrary loan. I made the Bisteccas Rancheros (sp. from memory) the other night and we really enjoyed them. I want to make the beef rendang but must locate some of the ingredients first. I remember way upthread someone saying they'd made one of these dishes with chicken instead and really liked it. Anyone remember which it was?

I agree with Jmahl. The biggest thing I learned during my terrine adventure is that winging it was fine. I WOULD NOT assemble the terrine without first sauteeing a small portion of the meat mixture, letting it cool, and tasting it for seasoning, though. That's got to be the only ironclad rule. Good luck!

I was thinking that a milestone birthday like #50 might be a good chance to do a "greatest hits" themed meal -- choose his favorite appy, soup, main, dessert, etc. that you've made over the years and combine them into this meal.

I could really enjoy lunch with Julia Child or someone else like her, but right now I'd prefer to lunch with Lucy aka Bleu... and someone like Molly Stevens, because the kind of thing they do very well is what I'm exploring more of at the moment -- Lucy's writing of late has inspired the part of me that always longs to live a richer, more deliberate everyday life and the Le Creuset oval French oven I got for Christmas combined with the winter season has me braising, braising, braising. (Unfortunately, I didn't receive Molly's cookbook during the holidays. I've drooled over it in a bookstore, but the budget just won't bear it for now, so I was extra-delighted to see an article with recipes by Molly in the Feb. Bon Appetit. I'm planning to try the bean soup with sausage in a day or two.)

This has been a treat. I've been doggedly trying to turn my first cassoulet cookery into an essay, but haven't gotten far. Your good writing makes me think perhaps I'd better use it to line the birdcage. Thank you, Mr. Whiting, for letting me accompany you through the week.

I did this a few years ago for my two siblings and our parents, so I made four copies -- one for me, of course! My mom ended up scanning hers and making four more computer-printed copies for 4 of my aunts, so 8 copies total. My four were done in 6x6" spiral scrapbooks (Canson?), scrapbook-style. I assembled them all at once, so it went fairly fast, but it did take a fair amount of time for the whole project. I'm so glad I did it though -- can't think how often someone thanks me again for his or her copy. I included family food-related stories, too. I asked aunts, etc. to send their favorite recipe they made for their own family and a favorite of their mothers' -- my grandmothers -- and stories. The ones I expected would do it did it and the ones I thought wouldn't get around to it didn't. Also, I put in my Mom's two "standard" company meals -- lasagna/salad/homemade bread/cheesecake and veal paprika/rice/green beans almondine/squash casserole/lime jello salad/homemade bread/dessert -- with stories about those. I did a page each of my dad's Christmas Day memories, Mom's, and my own of our family's, including the traditional foods we had for them. I'm a big believer in honoring loved ones' memories by remembering them accurately, so I included my Dad's story of how he loved his mother's cooking except for one thing, her jam cake. She mistakenly thought it was his favorite and baked it often, but he thought it was dry and awful. Dad's two sisters got a bit offended about that story, I think, but I reassured them that Dad and I and all of us loved Grandmother very, very much and thought her an admirable cook, but that didn't mean every single thing she made had to be perfect, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, you have to be a bit careful about balancing the authenticity for history's sake vs. being careful of family members' feelings. Another thing I'd do differently -- the books became so thick with the scrapbook paper and photos that they don't close flat but sort of fan outward. Annoying -- I should have gotten albums with much larger spirals or used a different format altogether. Oh and re getting responses from family for the book. Consider phoning and chatting with family members. Just ask them to tell you the story of the time..... while you take notes. I think that works especially well with elderly family. I did that and read it back to them when they were finished to see if I'd gotten anything wrong. Good luck with your project -- it can be frustrating but mine was very rewarding as well.

I'm wondering about your kids -- are they able to be with you in the "main house" or do they go to daycare or something? Can you bring them with you to your employers' other residences?

This has been such a fun thread to keep up with, Shalmanese. You've cooked a slew of different things, but I like the "reality" of how you used the ingredients you needed to use, like the crate of plums.

I inaugerated the LC on Friday with Chufi's Dutch Braised Beef. We like it very much, though we noted it is similar in many ways to our Mom's American Braised Beef! Saturday I braised a six pound pork roast. After cooking, I drained off most of the broth/drippings for gravy and added two bags of drained saurkraut. I reheated the pork and saurkraut for our New Year's Day meal, with mashed potatoes and gravy alongside. We will have leftovers of that meal tonight. Thanks for the ideas for braises. I have many more things to try in this lovely pot.

If you inadvertently turn on a different gas burner than you intended at the same moment that someone else drops plastic wrap on said burner, do not attempt to rescue the plastic wrap by reaching INTO the flame to snatch it. If you ignore my advice and do it anyway, you will probably experience the pain of burned digits for a few weeks like I did.

Not off-topic: braise=lamb=prevalence -- works for me. Definitely I think we eat more beef and pork, but lamb seems to be gaining in popularity/availability. Back to the lovely Miss LC: I really, really want to do short ribs of some kind. I'm serving three who don't care for lamb (unlike myself) and one who barely tolerates veal shanks because of "all the weird bones and things." My problem is budget. This week the specials are all about pork since we're gearing up for New Year's Day. I want to braise the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch pork and saurkraut for Sunday, but first want to inaugurate the pot with something for Friday or Saturday night. We're just finishing ham from xmas, so beef is calling to me. But I expect when I go to the market tomorrow I'll find short ribs cost more than my purse wants to pay. We'll see.

Marlene, how many pounds of meat do you use in your recipe?