gini

Warning: I am a HUGE math geek. In fact, in university, I was the president of our math club! A leftover from those days always results in a pie eating contest with my friends on 3.14. Blueberry, cherry, and keylime were all present. The bourboun walnut was suggested, but all decided it was too hard to bite into with no hands. I have to go hide now.

First off - I think it's great that you teach a class. That is the most detailed guide I have ever seen. Secondly - we're Italcim (read: Jews from Italy) so most of our food is really different from what you stated above in the recipes. (I never got the hard boiled egg thing. Oh well). Third - here are a few of my family's traditions. They're not so much how-to as fun family activities and ones I don't often see at other's seders. 1) The matzah hunt is not preformed by the kids. Instead, the kids steal the matzah, hide it from their parents, the parents try to find it (don't), and then barter with the adults to give it back. 2) The telling of the story is round robin. One person starts off wherever they want (creation, Abraham, Joseph and his amazing technicolor dream coat) and then the story progresses around the table. 3) We have everyone that comes bring a dish (usually munchies, apps, desserts or wine - we make the main courses in house) 4) Our seder is really stress free. We only start cooking about 2 days before hand. Lists are pretty big, but we try not to stress. It's a multi course meal - how hard could it be?

Mr. gini has asked that I post this for him (just to help gather market data you know!): Cashew butter and jelly Anything on a grill Sushi Spice-tastic Korean dishes Pie - especially apple or walnut bourbon Oatmeal raisin cookies - and oatmeal raisin cookie ice cream Hot wings Chili Carrot Cake - and really just a vat of cream cheese frosting His favorite vegetables are: corn, green beans and potatoes. On our first date, he told me he only ate his vegetables in soup. GUINNESS, Smethwick’s and more Guinness. Oh, and a pile of salted cashews. Or a whole bag.

Hmm...interesting. Actually, out of all the people I know here in the states, only three of them have food allergies - mr. gini with his shrimp, my mother with any red crustacean - crab, shirmp, lobster-, and my cousin with strawberries. However, my family and friends in France, Italy, Hong Kong and Canada don't have any food allergies that I know of. Of course, my uncle in Canada drinks enough scotch to kill anything in his body . My mother's allergies developed when she was in her 50's, much like annecros. She started with shrimp, then began itching from being in contact with lobster shells (but the meat was ok, so she used to take them apart with rubber gloves), then finally it became full blown. As for mr. g and my cousin, they've both been allergic forever. That wasn't a scientific answer, just an observation. Thankfully I am free and clear of any allergies. Woohoo!

I think it really depends on your audience. If your guests want to try new things, that's one thing, but vehement dislikes in food? Some people don't want their taste horizons broadened. I say, who cares? More goat for me! One of my very dear friends is the most unadventurous eater ever. She thinks fajitas and ritas is Mexican. Shudder. Anyway, she has one dish she orders at any sort of non-American eatery. Indian? Chicken tiki masala. Malaysian? Mango chicken. Mexican? Nachos. If unavailable, chicken quesidilla. And she doesn't eat anything that comes out of the ocean, a steam, a lake or a similar body of water. I gave up about 5 years ago even trying to get her to eat anything else. She humors me and goes out to the places I love to eat, as long as there's something she's familiar with on the menu. She doesn't come over for dinners often.

RE: Part 1: After unsuccessfully trying to kill Mr. gini twice now, I can strongly say that his shrimp allergy is, indeed, a sure thing. Maybe third time is a charm? I've never run into someone who said that they were allergic to something they weren't. Maybe I just don't know enough interesting people. I remember a woman coming into the seafood shack and demanding to see the coating we put on our fried oyters. We brought her out the whole damn 25 lb. bag to inspect. RE: Part 2: We were out to a group dinner on Sunday night and Mr. g reveals that before he met me, he sustained on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for three meals a day. He's exagerating, but I certainly have introduced him to some varied foods. And he likes all of them - except for the ones with shrimp in them! Oh, and he's discovered cashew butter. To which he adds jam and bread in order to sustain while I'm away .

This semi-relates, so.... I used to work in a seafood shack in NH and we kept the fish/potato/what-have-you mixture seperate from the milk/cream aspect. (We made both clam and fish chowder) Every morning we would take a couple cupfuls of the fish mixture and mix it in a huge pot with some whole milk. So I'd say keep the non-cream part seperate and freeze, but I don't see any reason why an already made pot won't freeze fine even with cream in it.

Maybe you do? Keeping this OT - what I ate yesterday: 1 piece of greyere, balsamic glazed onion and tomato pie Varying spoonfuls of: Duck Larb Beef Larb Crispy Duck Pet Pet Noodles with Squid Golden Bags Fish Cakes Pra Ram Long Song Black Sesame Dumplings in Ginger Syrup Glasses of: 3 types of Reisling (2 recent - 1 sweet, 1 not - 1 1971) and 1 italian sparkling dessert wine 1 bar of Kinder Bueno (Thank god I ran 4 miles! )

I'm pretty sure it's not all that trendy and is pretty widely available (says the girl who's mother lives 15 minutes from a bison farm and gets bison shipped to her!). I've seen it all over bars and pubs now for about 4 years. Bison is not as fatty as beef, and the burgers are often very, very lean. I usually just sear them in a grill pan and eat them bleu (rawish) on the inside. Anything more than medium rare and they do tend to be dry.

What they said. Lemon Meringues Paul Wolfret's 7 day preserved lemons Or you could throw a cocktail party and make lot of Aviators.

Megan - thanks for this blog! One of my very best friends lives right near you on 76th and York. You're bringing back very fond memories of visiting his studio apartment and hanging out in the city. You can't even turn around in his kitchen - you're very lucky indeed. He always refers to 2nd ave as his restaurant heaven - do you feel the same? I've eaten with him and have to admit the choices are endless. (But Tasty Delite always wins )

SoHo - South of Houston Street. There's also TriBeCa - Triangle Below Canal Street. There are others too, but I won't go on. You get the idea.

Didn't catch the show, but I can comment on the few places you mentioned: The Helmand has really good Afghani food and is a local favorite. Elephant Walk (at least the one in Cambridge) is dreadful. Neither the French nor the Cambodian dishes are flavorful, well executed, or even tasty. Uni is lovely. The sushi chef turns out innovative creations. (At a price, of course!) Clio - the restaurant it's housed in - isn't too shabby either. I feel as though Sunset Grill is a college hangout in Allston. I've had some of their snacks at the Extreme Beer fest, and they weren't bad. King Fung Garden is an awesome little hole in the wall in Chinatown. It's housed in an old pizza parlor and turns out lovely Peking duck, scallion pancakes, and noodle dishes.

I respectfully disagree. I would say that losing weight is 90% diet and 10% exercise. Or as someone posted on another board I belong to: ← Actually, you're both saying the same thing. One of two things needs to happen to induce weight loss: 1) you eat the same amount as you normally do, but you burn more calories by working out or 2) you eat less than you normally do, but don't change your workout regime. The moral of the story is the same though: eat less than what you use. A combination of both (in whatever percentage you choose) seems to work best though....

I'm pretty sure it all depends on your body. I run every morning at 6am. I'd have to get up at 4 if I wanted to eat and let it settle in my body. Not going to happen. So I just don't eat beforehand. Afterwards, I have some water. Then an hour or so later I have some breakfast. For longer runs, something more substantial - but those are on the weekend when I have more time. (And on those runs, I take a Twix bar with me for nourishment halfway through - you heard me - a Twix bar! ) Do what your body tells you to do. If you feel you need a snack to last you through your workout, granola and yogurt or GORP as previously mentioned are pretty good. A piece of fruit will probably go through your system too quickly, so I'd nix that idea. Any sort of trail mix - dried fruit and nut combination - would do you well here. I hear you on the peanut butter/cracker combo - have you tried other nut butters? Cashew and almond rank pretty well in our house. Also, pumpkin or apple butter on a piece of bread seems to make people pretty happy. Good luck working out!

My DH is allergic to shrimp. On one of our early dates I didn't know and almost killed him with a spring roll. Tut, tut. When he is away, lots of shrimp. I mean, pounds of it. And dim sum too since he can't really enjoy that with me. Oh and as little cooking as possible - lots of takeout, bar food, and chocolate cake shots with the girls. When is he going away on business again?

Ditto to this cookbook. It's really wonderful.

Welcome Sam! Here in Seattle you can't smoke in restaurants or bars so that cures half your problem. If you make a smoke outside rule at your house I'll bet that will cure the second half! ← What she said. When I was living in Paris I doubled my smoking. There was also this hilarious moment in a bistro where my dining neighbor's smoke strated to waft over near me and mine over to him and we both looked at each other and laughed - we were getting second hand smoke from the next table over. But I found that when I didn't let myself smoke inside, in restos or in bars, that standing outside in the snow was not so much fun anymore! Try quitting in the winter - going outside at 7pm in the freezing cold to have a drag might jump start you. Also - I don't know if this will help you or not - but ask your partner to quit with you. There is strength in numbers!

← This is actually a huge problem up in Maine in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Fryeburg and Poland - where Poland Springs derives their water. Nestle is not getting a very warm welcome right now!

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? Even after reading some responses, I don't know how to answer this question. My Dad is from Italy, my Mom is an American - she was also a professional chef - so meals were pretty diverse across cultures - but definitely focused on the Napoli region of Italy for dinners. We also lived in Geneva at some point, then Paris, and I went a way to prep school for high school. What it did entail would be best categorized as a "European" way of eating. Forks and knives in hand and all. The whole knife/fork dance is mesmerizing and foreign to me. We ate starters, mains and desserts every night as a family at the table. The TV was never involved. I didn't know Kraft mac & cheese or pre-packaged TV dinners existed till I got older. Was meal time important? Incredibly. Dad came home at 7 and we always had dinner at 7:30 or 8. Even when I was a tot. The family always sat together through a leisurely dinner. Was cooking important? Insanely so. Even when my Mom started her catering business, cooking for the family was still her top priority. When I got into my later grammar school years, we would "pic-nic" every once in a blue moon - ordering take out and camping out in front of the TV - but that was always a special treat. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? Mom sat to my left and would smack my elbows out from under me if they were on the table. After you fall in your soup 2 or 3 times you brighten up a little. Who cooked in the family? Mom cooked all the time. We weren't very big on breakfast though - a trend that carries on till this day. Mom had tea and I had Ovaltine. I don't think Dad ate breakfast either - just cappuccino. Dad didn't cook, but he brought my Mom tea in bed every morning. I think he also grilled in the summer - during BBQs. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occasions? Restaurant meals were pretty common. When I was younger, we would meet dad for lunch in the city at some fabulous restaurant or another. I regularly went out to dinner with Mom and Dad. If I got tired, Dad would just lay his jacket on the floor for me by the table and I would go to sleep. We also traveled all over together; thus eating in restaurants pretty consistently. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? No way. How else do children learn how to behave if they're not sat with the adults? When did you get that first sip of wine? 4? 5? Wine was always served with dinner. When I was very little, I had a tiny little wine glass filled with a thimble of wine that was then diluted with water. I'm pretty sure my paternal grandfather put coke in with my red wine when I was smaller. Was there a pre-meal prayer? Nope. Well, I take that back. We are Jewish, so on Shabbat etc we would light candles, bless wine, bread.... Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? No. Dad would call home everyday around 3 and tell Mom what he had for lunch. He'd also ask what was fresh in the market. Then Mom would be able to devise the menu for dinner. Did dad have fish for lunch? Then we wouldn't have it for dinner. It was like having a personal chef. Lucky bastard. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? Like my Mom, I don't like to eat in front of the TV, and I think meal times should be family time. I cook everything from scratch just like she did, and I don't really like to bake either - trend Mr. g is trying to change. I also try not to use frozen anything and try to cook using seasonal ingredients. Additionally, I got her obsession with hormone-free, free range meat and organic veggies. However, unlike my Mom, I give into my urges for take-out Chinese, delivery pizza, and eating them in front of the boob-tube during football games.

I've never actually eaten Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Am I un-American? The other day, Mr. g made me mac and cheese from scratch and that was the first time I'd ever even eaten it. I don't think I'll be trying it a second time.

Dave - I also picked up smoking when I started working in restaurants (at the tender age of 15). All the line cooks smoked, all the waitstaff smoked, and we all smelled like a fry-o-later anyway! How was your dinner at Bern's? We never got their on our last trip to Tampa - spent too much time in Ybor city - man those hand rolled cigars are killer!

I still have no interest in breakfast. ← Dave - I still don't eat breakfast until 4 hours after I've been awake - a leftover I think from my smoking days. I also had to give up my morning coffee and replace it with green tea because coffee made me want a smoke (thankfully I have gotten past that association). To all - I don't want to sound corny, but I think that you are all doing so great! And I love all the bacon - I ate an entire plateful of procuitto de parma today for lunch because of it!

A few acorn recipes: Acorn delight! A few pointers: The black oak's acorns have better flavor and make less of a hassel to remove the tannin. Don't eat acorns that have lost their hats! It's a bit of work to process the acorns. I might be interested though in making soem acorn grits if I could find acorn meal around here somewhere.

How about a Jarlsburgh, mashed potato, bacon, broccoli gratin? I saw it on an Oslo foodblog...click! Otherwise I'd vote for a bluecheese and broccoli gratin.