BarbaraY

Having had in-laws that were a real pain at times I can surely sympathize. Seems to me the Lasagna idea would work very well if you had it ready to go in the oven. I'm assuming that there's an oven available. I don't think anyone (except possibly the SIL) would expect you to do a seven course gourmet meal after working all day and in the midst of a renovation. Salad, purchased rolls and dessert with, as mentioned above, plenty of wine should keep everyone happy. Don't waste your lamb shanks. Keep for yourself and your wife to enjoy with some good wine.

It's OK for people to hang out so long as they stay out of my way or actually help. My daughters and my sister are fine because we know how to work as a team.

This is SO common. I have a friend whose mother will not let us load the dishwasher when we visit, even if she isn't there eating with us. Weird! ← That's because nobody else loads the dishwasher right. Every day I rearrange mine because my daughter loads it wrong.

I made BB last week because it is finally cool enough to make longer cooking dishes. I used beef chuck that I trimmed myself, blanched bacon lardoons, no pearl onions in the store so I used small boiling onions instead, a bit of tomato paste, and of course plenty of mushrooms and inexpensive red wine. It was truly delicious. The little onions were so sweet and good that I wished I had added a few more. No carrots or peppers in mine. It's a combination of Julia's recipe and that of Morrison Wood plus my own twists. It's one of my favorite cool weather dishes.

When I was growing up, our neighbor for, some reason, called me Cupcake.

No, that's just being sensible. No reason to start something without reading through the recipe and seeing what you have to get ready. For instance, if one is cooking Oriental food, the prep had better be done or the dish will probably be ruined. Any sauté had better have everything ready that needs to be prepped. For example, last evening I made a chicken sauté. I flattened the chicken breasts, minced garlic, chopped Greek olives, spooned out capers, set the salt cellar, olive oil and sherry in the cooking area. It took about three minutes to do the whole thing. It was really very good.

I, too, have found that cryovaced meat often has an unpleasant odor when first opened. I rinse it off and find that usually takes care of the problem. Does it still smell bad in the marinade? If so I would take it back to Costco. I usually have good luck with their lamb.

I just checked several of my books. Oddly enough, I found that one author contradicts himself. One book says it originated in Szechuan and the other says North China. My book "Chinese Gastronomy" doesn't even mention it and it was the source that I expected would give the answer. Will we ever find the answer?????

I went to the Amazon website and found this book had some very negative reviews. Still trying to decide if I want to get it since I often don't want large batches of baked goods sitting around calling to me.

We have a rather large extended family so there are usually 20 more or less depending on where the military members are stationed. It just has to be the traditional: turkey, mashed potatoes, sage stuffing, and lots of gravy. I leave sweet potatoes to my sister who does them OK, without marshmallows. We don't do Green Bean Casserole with onions (gag) so I can play around with the vegetable dishes. Cranberries can be flexible but there also has to be a shiny roll of canned jelly. Desserts are changeable, too, so long as there is some pumpkin pie. I would love to give it a Southwest slant but would probably be stoned if I tried even though Southwest flavors are popular with the family at any other time.

Lifelong Californian here. Mom used to do apple pie with cheddar. A few people used to ask for it in the restaurants but I haven't ever seen it offered here. I haven't heard anyone ask for it in a long while but I remember some of the younger wait staff thinking it was weird. Since most people that now live here came from somewhere else, it's no surprise to see different traditions.

Yes, I have had occasion to kill my own food. Had to kill chickens after raising them to eat. Also shot squirrels. I detest sticky traps because they torture the mouse. Get some snap traps and flush the mouse. Or get one that traps them alive and deposit them on your worst enemy.

Many dishes served with mustard in this house. Vinaigrette with mustard is great on romaine salads. Pork chops in dijon cream is a favorite. A couple of days ago I charbroiled chicken with a Dijon, honey and ginger glaze. I make a topping for broiled cod with mayo, Dijon mustard and horseradish. Only some things get cheap yellow mustard, hot dogs (Nathan's of course) and hamburgers. Creole mustard in Shrimp Remoulade is a family favorite.

I remember driving by this place last time we were in Berkley but didn't check it out because we had already eaten at another restaurant. I'm going again in a couple of weeks. May get a chance to check it out.

Just to clarify - these potatoes are layered UNcooked, right? And it takes, what? About 45 minutes to an hour you think? I've made a version with canned chipotles blended into the cream - it is heavenly. But I'm trying to make a more kid-friendly dish - so want to avoid the chipotles. Maybe roasted garlic... And I'm thinking...maybe buttered crumbs on top too (after cover is off). ← Yes, uncooked. And chipotles would be marvelous in it. A great flavor combination, sweet potatoes and chiles. 45 minutes to an hour should be right.

This may not suit your taste but I don't see why you couldn't just add your onions and Parm. I've made this many times and I think it's heavenly. Layer dark sweet potatos in a baking dish, add salt and nutmeg. Pour on heavy cream just till you can barely see it between the potatoes. Cover with foil and bake at 400º for about 1/2 hour, then uncover and brown. This is the way I do it for holidays rather than the sticky, gooie, marshmallowy candied yams.

Well, Best Foods is Hellman's. Kewpie is available only in Japanese markets so unavailable to most people locally. Personally, I don't really like the flavor but my daughter is crazy about it so whenever I mail order Japanese goods I get her some. There is a Banquet Brand that's is sometimes sold here that is even better to my taste than all of the above. Tastes like home made.

Since I rarely deep fry anything, I don't think a couple of times a year are going to kill us. Jay's idea looks interesting so I may give it a shot sometime. Thanx.

It may seem strange to you but plain flour here is what you call cake flour 9-10% there an APF 10-11.5% protein level here would equate to bakers flour here LOL! Then is bread flour and protein enriched 12 -13.5% ← Thanks for sorting that out for me. I didn't realize that was the terminology used. I had heard of bread flour and plain flour but not bakers flour. My British friend refers to self-raising flour, whereas we call it self-rising.

I like the Mousseline Buttercream very much. It is great because it doesn't overwhelm the cake. The Black Forest Cake is to die for. I made it for my parents 65th wedding anniversary and it was a great hit. I find that you have to be careful when using these recipe not to overbake. If they get the least bit overbaked they will be dry. This happened on the first cake I made.

I just use all-purpose flour. What does that translate to in Australia, plain flour?

Serendipity! Last time I went to the grocery, I was perusing the soup shelf. A young stocker offered to help me. I told him I was looking for Cup-A-Soup. He looked puzzeled until I told him last time I bought it he probably wasn't born. It was a stand-by for backpacking. My niece still laughs about having it for breakfast when the bears got our food.

I didn't use a thermometer for this even though I have one. I just dipped a chopstick in the oil and when little bubbles rose from the tip I cooked the meat.

I made Tonkatsu for our dinner last evening. Turned out very good. I put it on the usual bed of cabbage and we had sliced cucumbers in sanbaizu and rice with it. I find this is a good dish to serve to those who have never eaten Japanese and think it is all raw fish.

The small amount of baking soda with the yogurt will keep the pastry light. It looks lovely when it's finished and even my mom who eats like a bird ate three of them one day.