Terrasanct

I read Kitchen Confidential when it first came out, which reveals the true Bourdain. He can be sarcastic, strange, dark, depressed, and more than a little crazy, but I can't see him as pretentious. If anything, he pokes fun at any elements in the show that might seem pretentious. Seems like a real guy to me.

That's a lot of cookbooks for a university library! I had that Pat Conroy cookbook; it sold pretty quickly. I remember it--looked interesting. I wish I had time to read all of the cookbooks that pass though here, but I wouldn't have time for anything else if I did! I used to be very familiar with my library's cookbooks, but I haven't looked for a few years since my collection has grown larger than theirs.

Small and large angled and straight spatulas, some disposable and regular pastry bags with tips and rings, a flower nail, colors and flavors for the icing, maybe a stand and strong cake board. It can get expensive, so just the basics at first will probably suffice. Wilton has sets that have all of the necessary stuff in them.

What don't you like about the Cuisinart?

That Sam's Club set looks pretty good, and there's a Sam's club in Casper. I'll tell her about that one, thanks.

That's a good thought about buying just a few pieces but better ones. I'll have to ask her what she thinks about that. I was just out at the kitchen store looking at things--what about the Cuisinart or Calphalon stainless or aluminum Which do you like better, stainless or hard anodized aluminum?

I have a few pieces of Emerilware that I picked up at a yard sale, but I don't have any opinion on it, really. My friend looked at a Cuisinart set in her small Wyoming town, but I asked her not to buy anything at the discount sports/household/jewelry store until I could help her compare prices. It seemed overpriced. I think I have a Cuisinart skillet, but I don't know how they are rated, either. I bought a lot of kitchenware this summer at yard sales and haven't had it long enough to know what I think.

I have a friend who doesn't really enjoy cooking very much, but cooks for her family. She'd like to get a nice set of pots and pans that will do a good job, nothing fancy, and not over around $200 for the set. I think the Costco Kirkland Stainless would be a good set for her at about $229, but I wonder how good it is. Or whether Costco has a hard anodized aluminum set that might be better for her. She's been using the same set of cheap cookware for 20 years, so I'm hoping to steer her to something that would work well for a long time. All Clad or anything in that price range would be too expensive and she really doesn't need it. Any ideas?

I felt that way too, but maybe only because I love the show so much.

The wild cherries I've had are all sour, but they make great preserves.

I agree about carob. I'm not sure why anyone thought it was a good substitute for chocolate. As a normal kid, I was so chocolate crazy that I tried to munch on the rubber things under the sofa legs. Well, they looked like chocolate! When you're two, anyway. I can't believe I can still remember that. And if I went to a restaurant and was served yesterday's brownies instead of the new one, I'd complain until I got a fresh one. Sheesh.

When I was a kid, the biggest disapointment of all was finding a huge chocolate bar in the cupboard and taking a big bite out of it...you probably know the rest...Baker's Chocolate.

Geez, you could cook for me any time, and I won't complain about a thing!

Bread makers are a dime a dozen, but the Zojirushi are hard to find, and expensive, to boot. I'm having a yard sale of my own this Saturday, at which I'll have three or four bread makers for sale. But I remembered that my best friend had asked me to look out for a Zo for her so she could make full-sized loaves. It's programmable, too. Most of you aren't too far from Montana, right? I'm the second house on the left. I'll have cookbooks for sale, and Pyrex bowls, too.

David, will they still be available in Spokane at the end of September, or is that too late? I'll be going through Missoula and Spokane on the way to Seattle then, but that's probably too late in the season.

It really was a great episode--true Bourdain; in the kitchen with loads of pork products, eating local foods (and probably drinking a lot, too) and hanging out with strange and interesting people. Oh, and the bookstore made me want to visit Cleveland, something I've never thought about before.

Even here in Montana I've never really seen a commercial source for the berries. They're not found in the grocery stores either that I know of. I've only found them at the Missoula Farmers Market (and I imagine the other farmers markets sell them, too.) I'm 300 miles to the east of Missoula. Huckleberries don't grow here, and I've never seen any for sale, either. I just found a website that sells frozen wild berries, pretty cool: http://www.nwwildfoods.com/products.cfm?CatID=6

Do huckleberries grow in New York/New Jersey? If so, are they wild, and are they the purple ones? It seems a lot of different berries are grouped under "huckleberry." In Washington, we picked a red huckleberry, here it's a much tastier purple one that is used in pies, etc. Hmm...I just remembered I have some in my freezer. Sorry, off track a bit but I'm curious.

I've never seen such a thing, myself. Seems it would be heavy, not to mention breakable. Did she say why she wanted glass in particular? Also, that's a HUGE amount of bread dough. I can't imagine why you'd need such a large bowl.

Surprisingly, I found another Zojirushi bread machine at a yard sale today. It's not in perfect condition--the pan and paddles have a bit of wear, but I'm going to test it to see if it works well. I thought about putting it on ebay but I figured I'd check here first if anyone wants it.

I can't see any problems if you use the supports.

I noticed her on the Today Show, too. At first it seemed strange, but really, she can do other things besides cooking. She's beautiful and personable, which is more than I can say for some others who have migrated.

When we went to our county fair last week they were offering deep-fried Pepsi. I have no idea how that works. It was in addition to df Twinkies and cheesecake and snickers. I'll share an elephant ear or funnel cake, but that's my limit for greasy food. (You have to eat something bad for you, or it's not the fair!) I had a deep fried burger in New Zealand about 25 years ago, at a Greek take-away place. We watched as he put the burgers together, clamped them in some kind of thing, and submerged them in the deep fat. We were speechless. I don't remember what they tasted like, but the cheese was nice and crispy.

Like others have said, the roasted cauliflower and the onion confit. Most of the time the posts and photos just make me want to eat! If I were still in active canning mode I'm sure I would have made the tomato chutney by now, too.

That recipe sounds really good. I just bought corn on the cob the other day and froze most of it after dinner. I was thinking about making a simple creamed corn with cream, onions, and minced jalapenos. Tastes nothing like the canned stuff, fortunately.