suzilightning

susan and paul - happy anniversary!!! ok- no cabin - boo-hiss!! this is a big one. a really good bottle of wine/champagne to accompany whatever you want. cheese and crackers? some smoked fish - want me to fed ex some Perona Farms salmon - choose your flavor.? i buy it out the back of the building since i work in town. since you didn't send me any of that wonderful fish paul caught did you dry or freeze any? or you could go old school with herrings and deviled eggs. really good sandwiches? muffaleta? steak sarnies? i know you really kick butt - in more ways than one- but do you have anything in the freezer that you can feed to each other? chocolate covered rasberries? chocolate covered strawberries? any chocolate? and sweetie - get a room then suprise him with a new..............pm if you have to! have a wonderful time

Ahem. That's Marlene to you. I've got a period coming up with the boys away. I'm thinking rack of lamb would be really good one night! sorry marlene <hangs head in shame>. how much is a quick trip up to canada these days? i can be your kitchen helper... for rack of lamb. i am a good dishwasher...

john has been trying to finish his 35's and become a member of the club:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catskill_Mountain_3500_Club since his trips tend to be 2-3 days at the most i send some hard boiled eggs and dried oatmeal with him for breakfast. lunches tend to be pita bread and peanut butter. for the first night it is a hamburger/carrot/pea/onion/potato stew that i make and freeze. it thaws out on the hike in and can be cooked retort or in a pot over the msr/whisper. for trail noshes he really likes Pemmican turkey jerky and a trail mix of blueberries, cherries, dark chopped chocolate, oatmeal that i bake in the oven with honey, sunflower seeds and almonds.

But is it better than the same tired old bread tray introduction to a meal ? ← gg- i don't mind bread (warm thank you) with olive oil or a lima and parmesan spread(one place we used to go did this - when they saw john walk in they knew to send out two ramekins of the spread)or an interesting mix of breads(one local place here in nj, An American Grill has the most diverse bread basket i have seen). i have, however had some horrible chicken liver served on a cracker with some sort of a jam made with fruit, garlic and eggplant rollatini - emphasis on the garlic, and even mini cheese burgers. nice but it doesn't exactly set the mood for the roast pork, venison or even pasta i will be eating later. in my taste mind it can many times be a clash. since i have had some bad times now i usually ask what the amuse for the night might be and if it doesn't fit in with my head's flavor profile i will just say something like "i'm sure it is wonderful but please save it for someone who might appreciate it more".

i'm with maggie - lamb, lamb, lamb, lamb, lamb. the only time i can cook this at home is when johnnybird is away. (hmmmmmmmmmmm he's down in GG's neck of the woods this week. i say lamb burgers are in the future). french fries. i'll do oven baked fries, though. sushi - specifically rainbow roll for the birdy i need lamb now...........in an onion pita with raita and sauteed onions - bye

nothing hot unless it comes off the grill - though on a positive note i am compiling a list of foods i want to make and the recipe boxes have been pulled out... buffalo chicken salad cobb salad gazpacho fruit soups one trick from many years ago - i always try to poach chicken or tuna steaks very early in the morning - they become salads for the evening meal with pasta or greens and when they come in the freakin New Jersey tomatoes for the BEST BBT's - bacon, basil and tomato.

i would prefer NOT to be amused most of the time - many times what is presented isn't necessarily something i would even order off the menu. if i want something to amuse me i will order it - unless it is cheese - ohhhhhhhh, cheese...... good cheese doc - it isn't even high end but medium to medium low end that seem to feel like they have to send something out....

not as of two sundays ago and that's about 25 minutes from vernon. went to a private function and ate salad and fresh fruit because everything else really didn't look good or smelled horrid(is poached salmon supposed to smell?!)

chef- friends who are from up there like: harpoon bay on 94 in Warwick http://www.harpoonbay.com/ 10 railroad ave also in warwick http://tenrailroad.com/ i like yesterdays on main street http://www.yesterdaysnet.com/ peasant on 23 in hamburg restaurant latour has gotten very good reviews. i wanted to go there for my birthday last year but with a broken ankle johnnybird couldn't sit too well http://www.nj.com/dining/reviews_ledger.ssf?20286?20286 and finally gigi's folderol II in wettstown http://orangecountynyrestaurants.com/folderol.htm personally i love the dogs that the DQ serves!!! hope this helps - oh, and stay away from chumley's - it sucks big time

daniel - we need pictures, man!!

this may fit your criteria: i was listening to the food network special on diners(hey, i do live in jersey where they are thick on the ground - 2 in my town alone) while entering hawk data and they mentioned The Modern in Pawticket, RI which seems to be really upscale on the weekends with up to 35 specials on the weekends only. during the week it is regular diner food... tim russert is interviewing tom brokaw - gotta go. hope this helps

robyn was right - it was the Georgia Pig. the pork is chopped and the vinegary peppery sauce is great. not just in the restaurant but all along the southern part of georgia and in florida i could smell that sulpherous smell in the drinking water - what can you do. before you get to key west - about 10 miles there is Bobalu's Southern Cafe at MM10 on Big Coppitt Key (305)296-1664. we had fried chicken, fresh mullet and smothered pork chops there. not bad prices and good southern style food. if you get off in maryland at Havre de Grace try Tidewater Grille on the bay at the foot of franklin street(410)939-3313. this is johnnybird's ususal stop off place when coming from or going to Aberdeen. fresh, fresh seafood - crabs and oysters especially. have fun - we leave sunday for 10 days down the shore

Three Pigs BBQ in Brunswick, GA- think it is exit 29 - the first Brunswick exit on I-95 N. the best coleslaw, pulled pork sandwiches and Brunswick stew(even if they use chicken). buy extra sauce - you can drop some off here in nj, daniel. there are a couple of other restaurants we ate at that were good - one was at the foot of the seven mile bridge and the other was just before key west and jimmy buffet hangs out there... will get the names for you.

thanks for a wonderful birthday week blog and all the pictures of amsterdam. brings all those romance novels i read set there to life. great food - great friends - great husband... who needs a mechanical dishwasher? as for that age thing... lie up. when i was about 45, i used to say i was approaching 50. now that i am about to be 52 i say i am approaching my mid-50s. everyone can't believe it and tells me how good i look for my age. freaked one of my coworker's husbands out since i was saying i'd like to learn how to ride a bike(motorcycle) before i was 50. he said i had plenty of time. "no, bill. i've got two days" he thought i was about his wife's age(33). you can do it, too!!! happy cooking and see you on the dutch food thread

No Reservations is #5 on The Must List in this weeks Entertainment Weekly....

rebecca - it is probably wild garlic. i just pulled some from my backyard to use in johnnybird's potato salad. you might like to check your library for a book on edible wild plants.

johnnybird and i loved the las vegas and the canada episodes but for very different reasons. the vegas one had good food but the book references were what did it for me - as well as the sidekick. last night it was fun watching the chef trying to kill bourdain(and the amount of bleeping really reminded me of some of the guys i have worked with), the cookware store/gun and ammo store which made a lot of sense when followed by the seal hunt. but - like the pig last season- the fact that tony actually was connected to where that meal came from impressed me. i grew up hunting and fishing and if you caught it you ate it - or with fish guts used it to grow something or catch something else, hopefully crabs or lobsters. the reverernce for life and the gift of sustainance was celebrated and came through. when i work with children doing projects about colonial history you would NOT believe how much of a disconnect there is in their minds about how food was provided in colonial america. they are horrified that people had to go out and catch the food they ate and can not even imagine cleaning a fish, skinning a rabbit or squirrel or wringing a chicken's neck then plucking and singeing it . i haven't had the heart to tell them about pig sticking or where veal comes from.... one of the best, keep up the good tv and submit the canada episode for an emmy, please

tonight will be vegetarian so i'm making vegetable soup with some leeks, carrots, yellow squash, fresh peas and potato in a chicken and vegetable broth. anyone have any ideas for some lighter brothy soups? this time of year can be somewhat problematic - a bit too warm for those hearty soups but not quite right for the gazpacho.... oh, yeah, guess i'd better check pam's book, too.

you guys are awsome - and brave!! i have a black thumb and no sun to speak of up here in the hinterlands. plus we can have a frost as late as mid may. all the military families who are assigned here from further south don't believe us when we say don't put your pansies in until 15 may!! havubg said that i couldn't help myself this morning and bought three herb plants - tarragon(my favorite), rosemary and thyme. i do get a goodly amount of afternoon sun outside my back door so thought i might put them in pots on the back porch. i want to relandscape that side of the house and add a small raised bed - definitely some italian parsley and maybe some oregano. our local farmstore starts out with plants and johnnybird wants 2-3 tomato plants so we will buy them there. thinking of staking them on that side of the house in a tub. if my backyard wasn't the consistency of heavy clay i might try some lettuces.

it got really warm here so when i got home from work - and grocery shopping- i WANTED a beer so had a tsing tao - first half quite cold, the rest with dinner. light, a bit hoppy and just what i needed.

i would second the hudson suggestion - besides the antiquing there is also Olana, Frederic Church's home and across the bridge Cedar Grove, Thomas Cole's. another thought would be Rhinebeck - lots of things to see there including CIA, Locust Grove, Samuel F>B> Morse's home, Vanderbilt Mansion, Roosevelt's home, etc.(get the feeling i'm a history nut, too) if you want water how about where i originally came from: Shelter Island. some good food, access to wineries, the only drawback is the drive from manhattan. more info here: http://www.shelter-island.org/index.html

butter braised beef (minus the butter) for dinner on saturday. since john can't handle butter i used olive oil. served with mashed potatoes and roasted garlic and honey glazed carrots. john inhaled it and couldn't believe that the beef was only good beef, salt , pepper, bay leaf and 2 cloves - course he didn't remember that i had made it for him before and told him the recipe, either. this is the best - thanks so much again, klary!!

an hour soak in the tub, a glass(ok- maybe two or three) of a Francois Montand Blanc de Blancs and i'm 107 pages into the book and loving it. since i am an aural learner as i read i hear julia's distinctive voice. when i read how she sent her foolproof mayonnaise recipe to friends in the states to try and comment on - then got no response . "All I received in response was a yawning silence" all i could think was oh, my, she would have loved eGullet and probably gotten an overwhelming response. but those were different times!! no mention of Jennifer in the index. and i miss those wonderful women as well.... now that i've had a slight fix - and the taxes are done- i shall take a glass of Pama and Blanc de Blancs and Julia's book and repair to the living room...

didn't know this was coming up but last night i made my first risotto - asparagus with prosciutto. i cobbled a recipe together from the article Lydia did in Fine Cooking and one in Cooking Light. since i wasn't sure if johnnybird would like it or not i halved the recipe so it would provide 3 servings - one each for our dinner and one for john's lunch. 8 stalks of asparagus 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 shallot 1 medium onion 1 cup arborio rice saffron 1/2 tsp dried thyme 3 cups vegetable stock 5 medium slices of prosciutto 1 cup mixed cheese - grana padano, aged asiago, parmigano cook the asparagus in salted water about 4 minutes. remove and when cooled slightly cut into pieces, reserving the tips for presentation. place the prosciutto on a pan that is sprayed with non stick spray and put into a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes. it should have dried/crisped up nicely. heat the olive oil in a pan. add shallot and onion. cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. add the rice and cook, stirring constantly until the rice is coated with the oil. add the saffron (i used what was left in a jar - maybe 1/2 tsp?) and the thyme and cook about 1 minute. i added a ladle of heated stock at a time stirring constantly - about 15 minutes. about 10 minutes in i added the cut asparagus stalks. the risotto was basically done at this point so i took it off the heat and added half the cheese. served in a bowl with the rest of the cheese, the asparagus spears and the crumbled prosciutto as well as a green salad.

poach with peppercorns, sugar, lemon zest and juice then i use to do a duck breast with quince dish - about half the quinces and some of the sauce finishes the sauteed duck breast . serve with some rice and garlic green beans. then the rest of the quinces and sauce over vanilla ice cream - possibly served over gingerbread