suzilightning

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

tuesday was cool so when i got back from the gym - chicken and sausage gumbo made with chicken thighs and emeril's kicked up sausage, red and green peppers, onions and green onions for garnish sefved with some beans and rice. not quite spicy enough for me so i added some jalapeno tabasco to my bowl. definitley helped break a sweat... and the sausage was pretty good.

Hi Suzi... Where do you live? I am in southern MN, and if you are close, sure, come and play in the kitchen with me! Lynnette ← thanks lynette - i'm in nw new jersey though johnnybird(the spousal unit) used to travel a lot to minneapolis and we are planning on spending a bit of time in duluth when he retires - so we can watch migrating raptors!! this weekend it was using the leftovers from a chicken roasted with lemon and garlic made into chicken and rice soup. i love soups but now i have to think about some lighter ones if/when it ever gets warmer....

we're supposed to have snow flurries tonight and tomorrow... i hate spring. in nw nj we don't even plant pansies until the middle of may - though my primroses are doing well in the west facing kitchen window... i need my herbs and i bought my morning glory seeds

grinders with banana peppers and sweet gherkins, hot cappacola, provolone and virginia ham potato chips with french onion dip and cold coffee with international delight creamer for breakfast

i have a phrase for you - "EGULLET POT LUCK PARTY"

and how many of those bunnies were missing their ears? rachel - your foods sound yummy. johnnybird just informed me he will be home about 3 on sunday so i guess i'd better start thinking about what to make. growing up we always had lamb but john can't abide it. for the last 15 years or so if we aren't in poughkeepsie we tend to be eating pb & j sandwiches on a mountain somewhere(i always find a place to go to mass on saturday!!). if in pok it is a preformed ham(that my mil buys) or lasagna, asparagus and sweet potatoes with brown sugar and of course heavenly mush(cool whip, coconut, grapes and mandarin oranges). mid april - i'm thinking i want to see what the weather is like. if it is cool up here maybe a lasagna john can eat with lactose free cottage cheese instead of ricotta, asparagus and something i was known for when i worked in the kitchens - lemon charlotte made with a lemon mousse and homemade lemon ladyfingers. if it's warm maybe something on the grill (lamb burgers for me and duck for johnnybird) and grilled asparagus, yellow and green squash.

up until 26 years ago it was coffee - 12 cups per day. then i got a hiatal hernia and had to cut out all caffeine(coffee, tea, chocolate), alcohol and spicy foods. as the cataloger at the library i worked in said "why not kill yourself now?" now it is water with lemon - hot if it is cool when i get up, cold if warm. and i drink it throughout the day. alcohol - one glass of wine, beer or a cocktail per day NOT good for me - any more than my one glass which can happen on the weekend

while coming home from a conference in massachussets over the weekend i saw a sign that prompted a longing so for lunch today.... a grinder. slightly hollowed out steak roll lightly toasted, pickled peppers, virginia ham, thinly sliced gherkins, hot cappacola, sliced provolone. run it under a broiler until the cheese melts and then serve with some coleslaw.......... almost as good as the ones elsie made at tony's restaurant in sag harbor.

actually that's UP to West Milford...thanks and pm me if you are serious...

can i come to your house, please? i can wash dishes and do kitchen cleanup... i just happens that easter falls on my brother-in-law's birthday(almost) and i have to work friday, saturday and monday - so johnnybird will go up and they will have a big party on saturday. i am not allowed to cook lamb at home( i do go to aag if lou has the lamb sandwich for lunch specil) so i have no freaking idea what i may cook........ gumbo? chicken? spaghetti with meatballs? whatever it has to have leftovers for monday since we both work then......

chappie- no hawk migration conference to go to so.... maybe johnnybird and i can be there.