suzilightning

will be following very, very closely. we are hoping to actually do our long longed for maritime trip next summer and will be taking notes. are there any places you feel that are not miss ones in PEI, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland? are there any artisians - cheese, fish, etc that are must check out? merci in advance

scotty - just to reiterate everyone else - WOW what an image. the first south jersey corn has come in and our local corn will be available the middle of next week. also found some local tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes. made a blt on toasted rye for lunch with some of those tomatoes. dinner is finishing as i type and finish the laundry. squabs that were stuffed with some bacon, garlic and sage leaves, sauteed in some olive oil then pan braised with some stock and white wine. will serve with some white and wild rice that is cooking as well as some asparagus. tomorrow sandwiches as we check all the bluebird boxes on our run. i'm trying some uncured turkey hotdogs. new england rolls, sauerkraut with beer, the white corn and either potato salad or pasta and red bean salad. will also do the food for at least the first two or three days : salmon cakes and poached chicken breasts. the salmon cakes can be paired with leftover rice for a dinner or served with tartar sauce to be eaten for lunch or even breakfast. the chicken can be sliced for a sandwich or chopped and made into pot pies - again for lunch or dinner. a little container of one of the salads and john is covered even if he has to work until 8 or later. course when he comes home there is smoked salmon or even some eggy potatoes for a late night snack.

i attend a noon meeting that i currently provide food for. very simple cold cuts and cheese for sanwiches but then i use my forum to try out some salads on a larger scale than what my husband and i can eat. some are recipe testing for other chefs; some are for contests some of the things i have tried lately are midwestern potato salad: had a cooked dressing that went over boiled then steamed potatoes ceci agrodolce- sweet and sour chickpea salad : this one needs serious work!! pasta salad: radiatore that are tossed with a bit of vinaigrette then finished when cooled with a green goddess dressing, fresh herbs and olives chick pea and pasta salad: chick peas with a vinaigrette when hot, minced mini sweet peppers(red, yellow, orange), shallot, green onion and mini farfalle with more of the vinaigrette.

just noticed this: http://news.yahoo.com/norma-lyon-iowa-fairs-butter-cow-lady-dies-222959615.html how sad that she will not be able to sculpt again. really. since this is so iconic of the iowa state fair.

i grew up with molasses drizzled on both pancakes and waffles. husband grew up with "pancake syrup" on his. we have now come to the middle with one of several options: true maple syrup grade b use above and poach some blueberries in it some margarine(husband can't eat butter) and toast dope

toolprincess- i fondly remember the triangle from many years ago. after our first year of marriage in Hooks, Tx and environs this was the first place we could have food that WASN'T FRIED while moving back north. we were still tx bbq oriented (beef over open pit) and the first thing we both ordered was broiled fish. are there any places that do mutton bbq around you? or any variations of bbq? how prevalent are other food styles such as various asian or traditional soul/southern? now one of my old coworkers has retired and live in your town and we just lost a good friend to a new job in the triangle.

i grew up on shelter island from the 50's to the 70's but have never heard of it?! don't know that i would ever take an openfaced sandwich out in montauk or hither hills - the gulls would be on you like...... a flock of flying rats.

it varies. right now i am going back and forth between two: 1. black forest ham with provolone picante on a hearty rye bread. 2. grinder: sub roll that is cut in half and slightly hollowed out. toast in the oven. miracle whip on one side, italian dressing on the other. ham, cappacola, sliced peppadews then provolone and back into the oven to melt the cheese at other times it will be: open faced tomato sandwich on white bread beef on weck - either buffalo style(hot with jus) or fredonia style(cold with swiss cheese, tomato, lettuce and thousand island dressing) grilled cheese pb&j - especially for breakfast

it it has turned cool and damp around here AGAIN... i made a gravy with some frozen meatballs, drained off some lactose free cottage cheese and made a lasagna that is in the oven right now. nice simple green salad with some shaved fennel and red onion. i have a piece of tuna that i am going to poach tomorrow to make tuna salad and incorporate some with noodles to make my lunches for the first part of next week. roasted chicken thighs for meat for some "pulled chicken" sandwiches for johnnybird. will also make him a peach kucken he requested.

stash- great to see you blogging again. looks like you are doing well and feeling healthy. i would go for one of Madur Jaffrey's books. johnnybird is now going on a bean/lentil/other legume - fish/seafood kick right now. along with pasta/potatoes/rice but NOT spicy. when you visit Quattros do they bring anything other than the duck and chicken eggs? if they have any of their venison, duck breasts or pheasants they are a bit pricey but worth it for the flavor that has developed. are there drumfish where you shop? they are just coming in down the shore and are nice and meaty - they remind me of monkfish and can be quite useful. try poaching in a court bouillon then shredding for your own fish salad. the jersey strawberries and asparagus are in down south - we will see what this hot weather has done for the northern crops. love your food and can't wait to see what comes up next.

don't have anything to suggest but... how do we get an invite for the pyro display? it sounds awesome!!!!

i second that request!!!

i have to figure out how to use my new camera and get a new computer that will let me post pictures...i want to play, too. we are getting ready to head down the shore to our place so i will have a working grill to play with - though rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the whole week we are down there. oh, well - i can still grill and smoke in the rain. the yucky weather started here yesterday so i did one of my fallback recipes - beef stew. 2 1/2 hours after browning the meat and shallots and popping it into the oven was a meltingly soft stew. served with some green beans and some almost stale bread instead of potatoes to soak up the gravy. currently a pound+ of shrimp are chilling in the bouillon they cooked in - a jasper white recipe for retro shrimp cocktail. will have it with some white wine. a simple pasta with garlic and oil for dinner. i also did an apple and blackberry crumble last night and the remains will be dessert tonight with cool whip for john and some lemon greek yoghurt for me.

this morning john wanted eggs of some kind so i made an omelet with some of the leftover asparagus from last night's dinner and some canadian bacon. served with toasted whole wheat goldfish bread

happy mothers day to all of you who are. last night was one of the best meals i have done in ages: venison tenderloin simply brought to room temperature, salted then sauteed in a hot pan with a film of olive oil and a touch of butter. pan sauce of shallots, madiera, a splash of sherry vinegar and some sour cherry jam. steamed asparagus and some oven fries completed the meal this is some of the best vension i have ever eaten. it was actually half of the tenderloin we got with some gift certificates at christmas from Quattros in Pleasant Valley, NY. it is organically grown and treated well so the flavor is so rich and i have found the way not to overcook it so it is moist and tender. there is enough left to thinly slice and tuck into some crusty rolls with a small cup of the sauce for dipping. have to go upstairs and finish dinner now. quail are marinating in a miso and scallion mixture. will brown on each side and finish in the oven. there is some brown rice that i had made a day or so ago so will freshen it with some herbs and stock for the starch and am thinking about doing something humble/simple - carrots cooked in a chicken stock then finished with some dill and honey, peas and some butter.

over the weekend we were down the shore for our condo meeting. the advantage of being down there is that there is tons of fresh seafood so we had shrimps steamed in beer and sauteed flounder for dinner and lunch each day. granted i didn't do it the way my mom did but it was good just the same. just finished up sauteing some salmon cakes for john when he gets home. will serve with some orzo i made risotto like with some chicken stock, shallot and saffron. oven roasted grape tomatoes to go with them as well as some zucchini. also had defrosted some ground turkey so made an asian turkey meatloaf to use for sandwiches. last night was whole wheat linguine and chicken tenders that had been pounded out. sauteed them then made a pan sauce with some onion, garlic, mixed olives, capers, grape tomatoes and white wine. tomorrow - leftovers for all!!!

a chicken vegetable curry for dinner last night - carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, the eggplants and a lonely chicken breast. for me some peppadew peppers cut up and tossed in. i used a commercial mild curry brick i have now found two places and it is one john will actually eat since it isn't too HOT. unfortunately johnnybird emailed me that the curry paste, though mild, gave him a lot of intestinal distress this morning. guess i'll have to just go to my local thai place for their killer curry puffs and tom yam gai.

is it the whole leg? any access to a bandsaw if it is? if you can butcher it up you can dry hang and age part then maybe brine, lard and roast the other part? i've only had fresh hog to deal with not the lovely, gnarly wild version but have had experience with other game. ship it to new jersey? just kidding

i am about to pull my hair out about this... i love to cook but everyone i the hubs family are sooooo pain in the neck - or lower!!! i grew up with lamb, roast potatoes, asparagus. my husband, and all inlaws but the mother-in-law hate lamb. mil used to serve ham but she hates ham but will eat it if i cook it. husband and mil like asparagus, everyone else hates it. so far the menu is a roasted brined turkey breast, potatoes of some sort(small new roasted?), green and yellow beans that have been blanched then frozen - with garlic and olive oil, some portugese sweet bread for sandwiches later?

my comfort place, where i feel best able to walk in to eat, is about a mile from my house. The Warehouse Grill and all the folks working the bar know to bring me a non-alcoholic arnie palmer (if it is warm) or a mug of tea(if it is cool). other than that i order different things. if i head for Thai Nam Phet (www.thainamphet.com) they see me and bring a Thai iced tea and the curry puffs then ask if i want anything else. recently i have been going to Texas Smoke BBQ (www.texassmokebbq.com) on tuesdays after the gym and on the way to a meeting. when i walk in the owner asks me which empanadas i want. i am soooo prectible. when we go to Quattros in Pleasant Valley it is so nice to just be able to talk to other folks about how they raise their animals and share recipes with them.

i emailed melissa the other day. i noticed on one of the sites i monitor that there is a new book coming out called The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure. it is about her infatuation with Laura Ingalls Wilder and how she grew up. me... i'm a Jean Stratton Porter girl. though i disagreed with my mom who preferred Freckles and i preferred Girl of the Limberlost. as well as Lucy Maud Montgomery and Anne

thank you....i saw him do it on our local NJN channel and was freaking thrilled.

JAYMES i like the individual retort packs of light tuna for tuna salad if i'm not using freshly cooked. i have used oil packed in the past but found it was too......something. i can't put my finger on it but i didn't care for the flavor/consistency.

leftover poached tuna(or any other fish) egg noodles sauteed mushrooms bechemel with some nutmeg, tarragon and worchestershire sauce in it thawed frozen peas pulverized ruffles potato chips for the top

i have john's grandmother's recipe that i had to transcribe while she showed me how to do it. she came to america in the early 1920's from Schweisheim, Germany and had a diploma from a cooking school there. she only used water and would quickly shave the dough off of her cutting board into the water by dipping her knife in the boiling water. the only other person i have seen do this is a german chef from philadelphia who cooks at one of the historical taverns there - sorry can't remember his name.