NWKate

Frankly, the dumbing down of cookbooks is simply to be expected given what we see in society in general. When I was in graduate school a few years back, I was appalled by the number of my classmates who could not construct a decent sentence let alone a paragraph- and this was in an education program! Not only that, but given the basic editing functions of most word processing programs, I found this simply frightening. So, if these are the individuals who will be teaching our kids, what can one expect? Honestly, I think the general cook would be better off if he turned off the Food Network (yikes!) and picked up a cookbook. But that would presume a basic literacy! Kate

Thanks, Pam! Kate

Pam, Could you post the recipe for the chocolate-ginger crust please! Many thanks, Kate

I had a college roommate who used to fast on Yom Kippur- and ate bacon the rest of the year! Ah, the power of bacon!

...or you might want to post this in the wine forum. Kate

I have this book and it has been sitting on my shelf- think it's time to start baking! Kate

Frankly, it would probably be more dangerous for me to be on the road without coffee! Isn't that why travel mugs were made? As for shucking oysters, i can't even safely do that in my own kitchen although my afficionado friends have told me that wearing a glove and using a paper towel help! Kate

Actually, I use my tea kettle to boil water for coffee several times a day so IT'S STAYIN' ON THE FRICKIN RANGE! A funny little quirk in my house is that it has also become the repository for AM messages. My son used to put them on my bedroom door where they were promptly ignored but now they are placed on the tea kettle's handle where I always notice them! Kate ( who staggers to the kettle first thing in the morning in search of morning coffee!)

I'm guessing she has a gas range Stephen ← Yup! Kate

We have been losing power off and on all day and finally lost it for good around 11:30 this morning due to a tree on a power pole. Generally, I have enough freshly ground coffee to get me through but not today. After standing vacantly at my coffee grinder for over a minute, I knew I was in trouble. No problem, I thought- after all, how long can it take to cut down a tree? After 4 hours, I was getting desparate! Finally, I dumped some beans in 2 layers of paper bags and started whacking them with my rolling pin. At this point, my teenage son walked in, took one look at me and said, "Um, Mom, are you okay?" (always a good question when faced with a menopausal woman with a raised rolling pin!). My point is, I have now ground enough reserves ( and safely placed them in my freezer) to get through a prolonged outage. What lengths have you gone to to get your fix? Kate neo-Luddite

Besides Joy of cooking and anything by Elizabeth David, I also enjoy James Beard's various tomes. Kate

I love the NYT Passover Cookbook, Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook, and Evelyn Rose's The New Complete International Jewish Cookbook. I also enjoy picking up synagogue cookbooks at garage sales and the like. My own synagogue's cookbook is well-loved and well-stained! Also, in my document file, I keep a subcategory of Jewish recipes further subdivided into holidays, meat, dairy, and pareve. Kate

Oh sure, but can you make them in a toast-n-serve bag? Kate

I believe in Ruhlman's book "The Making of a Chef", the head of the institute set down particular instructions for the construction of a Reuben to prevent sogginess. Kate (Often wrong but never in doubt)

In Olympia, we have our own roaster and I relish my freshly ground organic french roast. In fact, when I travel, I bring enough for gifts and for my own consumption. Gotta know your supplier! Kate

What isn't wonderful about triple chocolate anything? Kate

I generally don't notice except for the "Little Schoolboy" cookies- First, I bite their little heads off and go from there! Kate

When I quit smoking, I discovered a treat that helped me through the worst of the cravings: Take a bite of the best dark chocolate truffle you can get you fat paws on and, while holding it in your mouth, take a sip of very rich, dark, French Roast coffee and let the chocolate drip slowly down your throat. Repeat as necessary! It can be done! Regards, Kate

For medium bad, it better be baked ziti. For a real bad day, mac n cheese with a chocolate cheesecake chaser! Kate

I used to buy pancake mix, mashed potatoes, pizza, pesto and salad dressing but now make these myself. Most recently I made a variant of shitake/soy dressing that was marvelous! Regards, Kate

I'm with you on this one. I have failed miserably at managing clipped recipes in notebooks et al and find it a lot easier to manage electronically. Also, this enables me to pull up several recipes at once and compare! Kate

As a convert to Judaism, MATZOH BALL SOUP! But I'll also vote for pasta carbonara, baked ziti, cioppino, and hot and sour soup! Regards, Kate

Okay, there was the time I dated an attorney who shared an office with several other attorneys. One of the other lawyers was a skinflinty Germanic nightmare who micromanaged her staff into constant turnover. For their office potluck, my friend polled his staff and had the lunch catered by the local restaurant of their choice. The other attorney? She bought her staff Subway sandwiches and a soda! I kid you not! Kate

We used to call the church ladies "The lime jello brigade"- the Catholics were the best- not to hijack the thread but does anyone remember the sandwich spread they made out of ground hot dogs? Kate

Remember the buffet scene where Officer Marge Gunderson piles her tray high with steam-table goodies? Surely some green bean casserole found its way onto her plate. ← Oh, God, Fargo! My nominee for Best Coen Brothers Film Yet Made--and the Coen Brothers have yet to make a bad one, though Barton Fink was just a bit too surreal for me to handle at the time I saw it. That stoic expression on Gunderson's face as she's driving back from just having dealt with the guy who fed his ex-partner in crime into the wood chipper was too freaky for words--in its own way more chilling than tossing the guy in the wood chipper. But then, that's an Upper Midwestern thing. I wouldn't know from that down my way, where everyone's Glad To Meet You. (That aspect of Central Plains culture gives East Coast folk the creeps.) ← I loved the movie too- probably because I lived it- having been raised in the land of "Ya, sure, Bob ya betcha" I have more bad food memories than there is time or space to relate! for example there was the time with the lutefisk dinner at my boss' house...never mind! Kate edited for computer illiteracy!