kumquatmay

Just picked up my share today--cabbage, two kinds of lettuce, new potatoes (YUM!), parsley, basil, beets. Course I still have some mustard greens that I'm not sure what I want to do with--maybe mix with the beet greens in a gratin? And kohlrabi--no idea what to do with that sucker. And like 5 daikon radishes. We've been getting a bunch of radishes the last few shares, which I love. I am so exicted for the start of the potatoes though!

I went this weekend with the mister, finally! I'd tried at least twice before--once we got there 15 minutes after closing, and once on Sunday. Man was it worth the wait! I had a schmerio and a limeade, the mister had a melt and a plain (I helped on the plain), and we split the fries. Love the dogs--crispy and juicy and the cream cheese was a more than perfect combo. And oh my god the fries--the crispy salty fried goodness. I really think I am going to have a problem, living less than five minutes from y'all.

my favorite chicken salad is fairly simple but tasty. Leftover roasted chicken breast (usually roasted with lemon and garlic), pulled instead of chopped, finely chopped onion, a lot of chopped celery and chopped and seeded cucumber, salt, pepper, celery seed. Dressed with homemade lemon mayo. Best way to eat it is piled in the hollow of a really ripe avocado, with some sliced ripe tomato and wheat bread on the side.

Mmmm. Green butter. The perfect food. -Lots of coarse salt, a little pepper, and a squeeze of lime over slices. -Same, but slices on a baguette. -same, but cubed with thin thin shavings of red onion and the addition of a little vinegar. -an open faced sandwich with slices of avocado, some nice sharp aged cheddar and really fresh tomato on whole grain bread. Oh, and salt and pepper. -chicken salad with a homemade lemon mayo, celery, onion, diced cukes in the hollow. Rich, but SO good. -Add me to the list of those who do a tomato and onion salad (with lots of salt and pepper and a little red wine vinegar) in the hollow of an avocado. I don't really care for olive oil on avocado. Seems to me to be overkill, but then I prefer a really tangy acidic vinagrette in the first place. I also find that rather than scooping the slices or cubes of avocado out with a spoon, a silicone spatula pops those suckers out of the shell very nicely.

with a mushroom brush????? ← or even better, water! (yes yes, I know that some folks think they'd get waterlogged, etc etc. I don't.)

I find it interesting that with both Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart, those who hate them both cite their followers as one of the main reasons why. Now I'm not a big RR fan, but I don't really know how much you can hold her accountable for her followers--she can't control them, their intellect, their cooking capabilities, or their behavior any more than Martha can control her annoying Stepford clones. Sure, RR isn't shying from the spotlight any, since the magazines and the tv shows and books are freaking everywhere. But frankly, she's smart to take advantage of her 15 minutes of fame and work it into an empire while she's still riding high. Ultimately, the rest of the world has just as much free will as anyone, even if you think their tastes suck, or are too hoity toity or too trashy or what.

I really like the flavor of Brown Cow yogurt, its a nice mellow tangy, not super acidic. I prefer the plain and interestingly, the maple flavor. The maple isn't too sweet, I don't think, certainly not as sweet as any of the fruit flavors.

personally, my preference is for a tangy-ier dressing--I ususally use a whole lot more cider or red wine vinegar than a standard proportion. I've never used sugar in my dressings. But then I also don't really like sweet dressings, or raspberry vinagrettes or anything like that. They taste too candy-ish for me.

Most likely Cynar, an Italian artichoke based bitter liquor. It's great to use it in place of Campari for an interesting change of pace. ← yep, I think that was it. Very interesting taste!

Subway for me equals portion control. If I go to a good sandwich shop, I'll get a hoagie. Complete with evertything that entails, all the good fatty meats and giant 10" "small" size. Subway I get a 6" turkey and cheese, on a better piece of bread I'd get at the local crappy deli. With mustard and all the veggies, and a diet coke, it's a lot more balanced a meal than I would get elsewhere, it's a decent lower calorie lunch (6 WW points!), and it's $5. All the overpriced crappy delis in Soho near my office charge $10 for an overdone piece of chicken on stale bread. That said, it's not a "dinner" place, at least not for me. And I'm pretty ehh on the heated subs, for some reason it squeeges me out, a lot.

just went with a few folks for cocktails yesterday on the basis of all y'all's reccomendations, and LOVE. I think those are some of the most friendly and helpful bartenders I've ever encountered. At one point I asked what one of the ingredients in one of the drinks was, and not only did my new best friend the bartender explain it was artichoke based, but he poured me a taste. Very cool place, and beautifully done in all aspects. and now I need to go get me some orange bitters so I can make myself a fitty fitty at home.

all the better to make it yourself! that's why I really just can't do the sf/ff processed foods thing nearly as much as I used to. I'd so rather make my own (when I allow myself to eat it that is!), even if I do use by-products of various wood/petroleum/tobacco/otherwise-evil industries, at least I KNOW what I'm using! I wonder if using a custard base rather than gelato-style receipe might help more with the mouthfeel and melting point, what with the richness and emulsifiers?

diabetics? I've never tried making ice cream with a sugar substitute, but I know that I'd probably prefer a homemade sugar free ice cream to a store bought one, what with the control over the ingredients and the lack of additional preservatives, etc. But then I am someone who struggles with weight and portion control (if one's good, ten's better!)--for ice cream there is not 2-3 tablespoons, only cups or none at all.

a good friend of mine once mistook the bisquick jar for the flour jar, and finished her standard pie crust with a couple of tablespoons. That crust was the lightest and flakiest of hers I've ever taken. I'm suspect it's the additional leavening that makes the crust a little lighter and flakier. I don't really know about the lack of blind baking though. methinks that it would lend to soggy tart crusts, though I've never risked it.

for the first bit of spring grilling, I like grilled or roasted asparagus with a little lemon and olive oil. I'm also fond of spring artichokes with steaks, though I think that's just cause I'm fond of artichokes in general. If I'm roasting the asparagus, I may toss a few roasted potatoes with a quick dijon sauce, or roasted carrots. When those aren't in season, but tomatoes are, nothing is better than sliced ripe tomatoes with salt and pepper and maybe a little vinagrette. And grilled corn on the cob. Best summer meal ever.

Could you use rosemary instead of thyme? Milagai ← oh definitely! I'd probably use a little less rosemary than I would thyme, but I throw like handfuls into the roasting pan. I've also done it with parsley, and when desperate, basil. I've also used dried thyme and rosemary and it turned out great.

I like 'em roasted with garlic and thyme. I've been known to roast 5 pounds of carrots with two heads of garlic. It's like crack. I slice the carrots into 3/4 inch angles, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme, peeled cloves of garlic, and roast at 425 for 30-40 min, shaking the pan or stirring after about 20 min.

in high school I worked for the local HD. Interestingly I actually lost weight working, despite the sundae dinners. My favorite, which I don't think they're making anymore, was the soft serve raspberry sorbet. That, swirled with vanilla yogurt, or the vanilla ice cream, was to die for. the perfect soft consistency, and just sweet enough. Man, i miss that stuff!

To a certain extent, I can understand his feeling that way, especially if he traveled 80% of the time. My mom does this, and she's pretty adventurous eating-wise. On a business trip, unless you're in a place well-known for it's local food, do you really want to struggle to find the one decent local place that'll may or may not pass muster? It's a whole lot easier when you're tired and hungry to just suck it up and go into the chain resturant where at least you can get a dinner salad where you know what you're going to get. It's really hard to be traveling, working, and trying something new for three meals a day. And it gets really discourgaging if most of those meals end up being worse than anything you'd get at OG. I wouldn't want to only eat at chains when traveling, but I can understand the impulse. Now, that's not to say that I personally don't research out most (ok, every) meal I can when I travel, but I think non-foodie folks don't really feel the need to take the time and effort to do it. Even my husband, who loves food and resturants, thinks I'm a little crazy when I present him with lists of possible places.

I'm a heathen too, then. I love white chocolate, that is, good white chocolate. Course, the name's kind of a like a bait-and-switch for true cocoa-solid-fans, so I'd guess that's where the rancor comes from? It's really just "butter" and sugar, and that's a pretty tasty combo for me. I don't like "real" chocolate anyhow; I'd much rather have some good white chocolate any day. To each her own--plus, that's more chocolate for the rest of you.

fridge: eggs / milk / dairy / cheese / butter soy sauce (the mister's idea) natural peanut butter opened mayo counter/pantry: the fast-moving homemade breads (cut side down on the cutting board) olive oil garlic tomatoes avocados apples onions potatoes flour (after 2 week stay in the freezer to kill bugs) freezer: homemade raviolis the slower-moving breads mason jar of vodka gimlets my grandma dates all her groceries with a sharpie, then shoves them in the cupboard. I thought it sounded practical, until I found the opened bottle of ketchup dated 6/02, in 2005. I started keeping all my condiments in the fridge. Except for homemade mayo, which has a brief respite on the counter (acid at room temp supposedly kills bugs), then lives in the fridge.

I think the appletree market's produce has only really gotten better since when it first opened. The traffic's definitely picked up some. They're prices are still the best in the area (it's around the corner from my mom's, so I'll often make the drive for the dual produce/parental visit).

I also don't like fish, or shellfish. I know. I'm a freak, I'm missing out on so much good food, etc. Yep. I know, and I want to change my tastes! I try, at least once a month or so, to pick some seafood off my husband's plate. According to him, I have really really disliked some of the best scallops, the freshest lobster and the most amazing red snapper. I don't know why, fish just tastes bad to me. Course, I also don't really care for chocolate, and I used to hate cheese. I still don't really care for super chocolately things, but I adore cheese now. I figure if I give it long enough, I'll come around to fish. I mean, I like butter and lemon, so I'm halfway there, right? But I've never claimed to be allergic to seafood. I order around the fish, and for tasting menus, I ask for a substitution, and most places are very accomodating. I am allergic to penicillin, avoid blue cheese because of it (and also, I never really liked it in the first place.). Interestingly, my dr thinks that I may have developed the allergy partially because of exposure to antibiotics in dairy and meat. Now I'm all about the antibiotic free organic meats and dairy. The whole trickery thing is if a friend tried to pull a "gotcha" all it would prove is that my friend is a jerk.

I went to Haverford--small world!--and while Haverford and Bryn Mawr students could eat at any of the dining centers on either campus, I believe the food services were separate entities run by separate staffs at either college. At the time, I ran the then-student-run pizza place on the campus, and so got to know the head of the food services fairly well. At Haverford, they ran the Coop (casual cafe) in addition to the main dining center. While I would say they definitely made efforts to source responsibly, the majority of the foodstuffs were from Cisco. My sophmore year they did create a fabulous garden outside of the campus center with tons of herbs and some veggies, grown and maintained for the dining services. Though because of its size, the garden could only really be a supplement, though a welcome one.