suzilightning

last night - after work - 9 pm monte cristo sandwich - and i don't eat pastrami - EVER. don't even like it maybe just a false alarm

when i was in college and anywhere from 8-13 hours from home i always went to thanksgiving service(yes, i am that old ) then to one of the local places that served dinner to the hungry. since i have done everything from washing dishes to working the line i slid in where ever i could lend a hand. for the 15 years or so i work the day after thanksgiving so i send johnnybird up to his family with some food(the tradition for him is lunch with this mom and whichever siblings are available, dessert out at his uncle with his dad's family, if the weather is nice it's 9 holes of golf the next day with his dad, one uncle and his brother then take his dad out for a birthday dinner friday night) and i am either counting hawks on the hawkwatch or, if the weather is bad, going with a coworker to a local nursing home to help feed the residents. then i go home and eat something i want to - this year may be macaroni and cheese and some green beans with garlic. randi, you're always welcome to come up north to visit though, if the weather holds we will be having a bit of snow

alinka - you just wanted to play with that immersion blender!! today for johnnybird - egg sandwich on untoasted cheap white bread with mayo and ketchup( they are free range organic eggs i buy from a 4h er up here) and a chicken salad sandwich on toasted cheap white bread with miracle whip light for me along with a hot chocolate (hey, it was cold standing outside for 4.5 hours counting 4 whole migrating birds)

for many years the library where i was the director had a "fine free november" where people could donate canned goods in lieu of the fines for their library books OR pay the fine and the library would donate all cash fines contributed for purchase of nonperishable foods. we coordinated with food pantries on both sides of town and the other things we collected were those not covered by food stamps - soap, toothpaste, diapers, toilet paper and paper towels. now whenever i drop a bag of items off at the food bank on my side of town i include those items as well as tuna, canned beans, toothbrushes and some "luxe" items like a few cookies and box puddings(milk is one thing you can get with food stamps so i figure it is both healthy and a treat) as well as bubble bath .

woo-hooh, a day off so i can start to clean the freezer out... chicken stock so made a kale and white bean soup - soaked the beans last night. after i got home today cooked them then - sauteed onion, shallot then garlic in some enova oil. added the cleaned kale, stock, minced carrot and a bay leaf along with white pepper. simmered and added cooked beans. will serve it with a salad and some bread. only two more weeks and the hawkwatch is done... then some real cooking

well, if johnnybird ever solves the problem that has come up at work... starters are a blue stilton, cashire meadows cheshire cheese, some crackers and a pear main course will be a white bean and kale soup with parmagiano reggiano romaine salad with avacado, black olives, red onions and a vinaigrette garlic bread if he doesn't make it home the starters will become the dessert with a glass of port

hello- i got my butt spanked for this inquiry in the gumbo cookoff: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=61289&st=180 ok- still haven't got this stuff down. post 190 on the page

in college when i had to pull an allnighter i smoked. when i was chambermaiding and had to be at work at 7 am - nope. when i worked in kitchens and did split shifts back to smoking - as well as the kitchen beer and the free drink per shift( after cooking and/or washing dishes all shift i wanted nothing to do with food - something to being satiated just by the smell). one of my best friends cooked for many years - hardest thing she did was quit smoking - especially after a meal. something like a circle completed. johnnybird used to use cigs as a pick-me-up since he can't ingest caffeine without great harm to his system but since he has hit that BIG birthday he has given them up. now i work late two nights a week but not around food and do not want a cig at all. when i get home i want a drink, 30 minutes to detox and to go to sleep. i do think this was/is partly cultural( i grew up in the 60s-70s), partly a function of the late hours( a la megan) and partly one of the hardest habits to kick. when i work with food for a long time (catering, etc) i want to drink or smoke but not eat - a new thread about the physicological affect of working with food?

sure, i am a professional librarian by trade

kath- it's almost over????!!! seems like it just started. ignore that eric guy he's just trying to make trouble, good cooking and don't let sam's "masterfulness" intimidate you to the sidelines. if you want to sous just say " what can i do chef" and go from there - or say " i want to make xyz" and let him fit your contribution into the dinner you have done wonderful basic, good homecooking i would be honored to eat - whenever or wherever.... keep cooking, baby

tommy, it's almost 70 degrees and sunny here - NOT red meat and red wine comfort food - yet. what country are you in? we got home and i made pasta with pesto, salad and chicken saltimbucco. a white with this dinner. since i'm off most tuedays "where should i eat" is almost always answered with "at home" let me know if you and mrs. tommy are game to venture into the hinterlands for a home cooked meal on a tuesday night - and i'll actuallly have an unfiltered newton chard and cook around it - just give me till after the hawkwatch season hmmmmmmmm maybe i should plan a holiday cocktail party then dinner out this way....

cool.... just scored a copy of Fat Guys Turning the Tables that was on the For Sale shelf at work

as the prepetrator of the FREE cookbook thread thanks for the vote of confidence, chris. alex i have no problem limiting myself to under 100 cookbooks as well as, at present, two shoeboxes 3/4 filled with recipe cards. i don't HAVE to own everything but do make use of the library where i work and the interlibrary loan department. if it is something special i want to make again and again it goes on a recipe card rather than hanging onto a book that has one or maybe two recipes i use on a regular basis. if i do find a book that has more than say, a half dozen recipe, like pam reiss' soup cookbook , i buy it. it may be hard for you to do at first but, believe me, the books don't feel a thing...

well, it's johnnybird's birthday today so, besides letting him sleep in, i'm making him blueberry pancakes for breakfast. let the dough sit a bit, toss the previously frozen blueberries with some toast dope and add them to the pancakes. there's turkey bacon to microwave and real maple syrup. his cup of earl grey is brewed and i'm on my second cup of hot cocoa with 2 tsp of orange cappaccino instant coffee(essensia brand - albertsons/acme home brand). upppp.... got to go - sounds like the birthday boy is up and stirring oh, ling- what a way to go girl

suzi, this one's for you.. I never read one of Betty Neels' novels but I can just imagine the heroin in one of her novels munching on these cookies while waiting for her dashing beau.. thanks, klary!! i printed out the recipe and when the weather gets a little cooler here (it's supposed to be around 21C today) i'm going to give them a shot. i also want to do that beef dish as well. great topic - thanks muchly

kathleen- that hot and sour soup looks incredible. that is the standard by which i measure all restaurants serving it because it is my favorite thing to eat(actually i have to make some in a week or two for a party at work). and i want that first cocktail - the last word! what about making something from the Dining and the Opera in Manhattan book i sent sam? there were a couple of recipes in there that you should be able to whip up very easily. keep cooking....

heather(steve's female alterego) - probably with stevia or splenda. that was what it was developed for.. suzi

sure you aren't pmsing??? i know i would with the blue and apple

evie - don't be too upset by the 3 blind moose. yeah, they are bigger thangallo but canandaigua wines tend to be really sweet..

ok katie and evie- here's a thread on johnnybird's toast dope http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36283&hl=dope that i use for anything from toast to a topping for fruit to an ingredient in breakfast cakes. you should find it amusing evie if you remember what john actually looks like and what he can eat - hope to use it in something if we make it to the spring nj get together(as long as we aren't down the shore) there is no real "official" recipe for johnnybird's offical outrageous toast dope but it is sugar, orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and other assorted spices - a la each family's recipe for garam masala...

i love smoking loon but.... my very favorite is a gift from the johnnybird many years ago. i have never had the wine though it would be lovely to have a bottle it is a framed print of the original artwork and the label signed and numbered by the artist 103/3000(sorry, can't read the sig). it is Belvedere wolf picture called Gifts of the Land 1984 York Creek Vinyards and it is one of my most prized posessions

hey, katie- no sugar beast here anymore... want some of johnnybird's toast dope to add to that peach crumble? just send me your snail mail and i'l sen it to you or should i leave a container with karin next may? hmmmmmm, maybe i should market the toast dope to pms ing chicks (though that isn't what i want - grease, salt and protein)

ok ladies - and steve since you are obviously monitoring this thread my dear heather- i could give a rat's a$$ about food today. all i want is a hot bath, heating pad and a pot of tea... see y'all next month(unless at age 51+ my body decides to give up )

another one just came across the circ desk. i have told it many times back in the day when i did children's programming. The Funny Little Woman retold by Arlene Mosel. set in japan a woman who made the best rice dumplings. she follows one into the land of the oni where she is taken prisoner and made to cook for the oni with the help of a magic paddle. she escapes, taking the magic paddle with her and becomes the richest woman in japan from selling her dumplings.

well, guess i should get ready for THAT time of the month again. today at the hawkwatch i had tomato and cheese sandwiches, i had a banana, i had yoghurt, i had the snack box filled with fudgy bourbon brownies, welch's fruit bites and baked doritos. did i want those? NOOOOOO all i wanted was a freakin whopper junior with extra pickles and a vanilla shake. unfortunately the road the BK is on is under construction so i hit up our local mcdonalds and had a big mac (discarded the center layer of bread and added ketchup) and my shake. not good for me but it tasted wonderful....