emilyr

I use a springform pan on top of a pizza stone.

Last year I made a pork loin roast for the maternal side of my mom's family mostly because it was what was on sale and if I'd left it up to my Grandmama, we'd have ham steaks cooked to within an inch of their life. This year, I gave up meat for Lent, so I've been craving it. I called her last week to ask her what she thought of rib roast, a whole ham, steaks, Cornish game hens or something. She asked if we could just have the pork roast again, so that's what we're going to do! With garlic, sage and thyme. Also, because we counted up the cousins coming and there will be at least 6 boys between the ages of 16 and 26 there, plus another 12 or so people with regular appetites, we may get a WHOLE loin and cut it into two or three roasts. Grandmama wants one of those cheesy hash brown casseroles, and I want a beet salad, so those are in for sure. We'll probably also do a big salad, asparagus, and peas. I'm going to make some oatmeal lemon bars and macaroons, too. My aunt is bringing a big, fluffy white cake that is THE BEST!

St. Louis isn't really what I'd call a foodie town. You could head over to The Hill and try some toasted ravioli and St. Louis-style pizza (thin crust and with provel cheese). BBQ's pretty good there, but not as good as Kansas City's. There aren't really any "destination" type restaurants that I can think of. I've heard 400 Olive is pretty good.

Is it something like this? Torta Pasqualina This is the closest recipe I've found to one my Italian professor brought in college - texture- and crust-wise. But it was sweet. It had apricots and dried apples and a bit of spice like cinnamon or nutmeg along with the spinach and egg/ricotta filling. I think you could probably sub out sweet ingredients for savory in this one.

I don't know why or when it started, but in my family we always have chocolate chip ice cream with red velvet cake. I like the little hit of chocolate with the slightly chocolate-y cake.

My little sister really wanted this for Christmas this year, and I found it at Target (the real, as-seen-on-TV Perfect Brownie Pan, no less!!) for $19.99, so I got it for her. It really does work like it says, but you do have to rease it REALLY well when you do fudgier or stickier brownies. They do tend to stick. I think it's kind of a pain to clean, but I just make little sis do it! I love the edge pieces, so it works out well. We haven't tried it with a regular cake recipe yet, but her b'day is coming up, so I might make square cupcakes. Like the review says - don't use the recipes it comes with. They're pretty awful. I am debating getting one of these all eges lasagna pans for her as well. Think Geek also has a brownie version.

FG, is that rice inside of egg pockets in the last picture? Looks interesting. Did you make it? Could you explain how?

I almost feel like I should put this in the Hall of Shame thread, but our favorite garlic bread growing up was a French loaf, split in half, then topped with a mixture of cream cheese, butter (about equal parts), lots of minced garlic (though, we did do dehydrated garlic when that's all that was in the house) and parmesan-from-a-can. Then you run it under the broiler til the top's all brown. It was (and still is) delicious!

This Burnt Sugar Icing recipe is a lot like the one that I love from my Grandma. This one calls for a hand mixer at the end, but we always just whisk it a bit. It's pourable and hardens some with a nice matte finish - definitely stackable.

Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner.

I'm eating my favorite salty, crunch snack right now, Firecracker Mix. It's a grocery store bulk mix with peanuts (both plain and spicy), wasabi peas, Cajun hot sticks (Corn sticks). sesame sticks, and roasted cashews. Yum!

According to this BBC news article a recent study said diet can help reduce plaque build up, but not completely eliminate it.

I haven't started thinking about what plants I'm going to get this year yet - we're still in snow season. But if it's nice-ish (you know, comparatively) I'm going to fix the electric fence and cut back the brush around the garden. I keep mine out at my grandpa's farm in the middle of the woods. Last year he convinced me that the deer weren't that bad so we didn't get the fence up and running. We harvested 1 green pepper and 2 tomatoes. If we were lucky, we could get some baby lettuces before it was chewed down. The cabbages and peas never even had a chance. We also got about 10 potatoes the size of a baby's fist, but I think that was mostly due to the rain. I don't think the mounds were high enough to deal with last summers deluges. The rain also washed away all of my onions. I am determined to have success this year. At least the blackberries, raspberries and gooseberries should be good after all this snow. They grow wild around the outside of the garden.

This was on CNN today. It seems the woman in question was a bad tipper in past situations, so they added an unannounced 18% tip on her 3-person lunch. She complained but paid it, and when she came back again, they said she couldn't eat unless she agreed to the 18% in advance. She's now circulating a boycott list to fight for fair treatment. I still don't know what I think on tipping as a requirement. I am a good tipper voluntarily, and I know many wait-staff survive on the tips. I think waitress minimum in Missouri is only about $2.50-3.00 per hour, so I'm pretty generous as long as the service is good. And I will tip poorly if you're a sucky waitron. If I do a crappy job at work, I'm going to lose money/get fired/mess things up for my company. This is where I'm conflicted on the above story. Some people are just bad tippers. It sucks for the restaurant staff, but since tipping is, in America, not REQUIRED by law (just general custom), I think the woman has every right to boycott the restaurant banning her. BUT! I also think the restaurant has every right to ban her, as businesses have the right to refuse service to whomever they wish. I really think having a separate minimum wage for those who receive tips is the biggest problem in this whole situation.

Liz - That sour cream thing may be the most genius thing I've ever read. I can't believe I've never tried it before! I know what's for dinner tonight!

I've made several of the dishes listed here and others: spaghetti and meatballs, pulled pork (in the crockpot - but that didn't warm up the house! should've done it in the oven), waffles, chicken soup (with curry, chick peas and lots of ginger and carrots), and mashed potatoes. I'm debating dinner tonight. Short ribs are on sale at my grocery store, so I'll probably do a braise. Mom's making country-fried tenderloin and gravy tomorrow! I was thinking of baking a loaf of bread, but I think my kitchen is too cold for the rise. I may put the dough in the living room!

I add a small can of tomato paste just after I sautee the onions and other aromatics, let it thicken and then deglaze and add the tomatoes. I think this gives it not only a deeper tomato flavor, but also thickens the sauce and makes it a bit more unctuous.

Also Al Bernardin, the inventor of the McDonald's Qarter Pounder. Story.

A Middle Eastern/Halal market opened in my town, so I'm going to work my way through the aisles trying new flavors!

Try not greasing/flouring the sides (only do the bottoms) of your cake pans. This will give the cake something to climb as it rises, and it may do so more evenly.

Kim, That did bother me. It seems to be a recurring theme on the Amazon comments as well. Kurlansky did such a great job in the intros, and the pieces he picked were so interesting, that the end did seem abrupt. I'm probably also going to read this book, America Eats!. The author, Pat Willard, went to many of the places the WPA writers also visited and tried to find out if the same foods were available today. I'm hoping that it wraps up the project a bit more. I also have a secret, niggling little voice that makes me want to try and find the missing Missouri recipes that were to be saved for a separate cookbook. You know, when I have a lot of extra time to go searching through the MO Library/Historical Society!

I read this this summer and really, really enjoyed it. It made me wish for a similar government program when I was unemployed! My grandmother and I discussed several of the articles, so it was also a great way to engage multiple generations.

I don't usually bother with things that seem too fussy, and I've never blind-baked a quiche crust in my life. Have you tried pressing in the crust, adding the custard and just baking? It seems like the filling would keep the crust from expanding too much, and since they're mini, you shouldn't have to worry about the crust not browning enough.

Nope! I like her, too. She's not overly cheery, seems comfortable on camera, and can obviously cook, which puts her head and shoulders above most of the rest of the female population of the FoodNetwork. I also have never had a dud with her recipes.

I do put knives in the sink, but usually only when I know I'm not going to walk away from it. I'd never leave them in there if someone else might be sticking their hands in. Plus, I put them all in the same place with the handle facing me so that I can grab them easily. I also put cheap knives in the dishwasher - just paring knives and steak knives and so on - but only in the little basket with a lid on the side of the normal silverware holder. They go in blade down and are held upright by the lid so that they can only be grabbed by the handle.