suzilightning

we have the same problem here in nw nj when the farmers markets close. i have met through them and just being a big mouth people including 4hers who raise their own chickens, pigs and beef so i have access to birds, eggs, pork and cow off season. we are also lucky that there are several organic growers in the area and where the husband came from who do their own butchering. will also try to scare up some articles i remember about people who raised and slaughtered their animals "humanely" in the ny/vt area if that will be of use.

i have that as an advanced reader's copy but what i started at the gym today was another arc of Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson a Canadian writer who has produced this prequel to Anne of Green Gables. in 45 minutes on the treadmill i'm about 120 pages in. while not a good as lucy maude montgomery's writing it is quite close and has scads of food references - both to abundance and scarcity.....

tried a recipe from a recent Cooking Light - basically an Italian pot roast. the meat browned the veg, herbs and stock add in a bottle of cabernet sauvignon that had been reduced to one cup then into the oven for 2 hours. turnips and carrots sauteed then cooked with some of the strained liquid from the pot. finished with some honey and fresh herbs and served for a late lunch. those are the end pieces that i claim for me. we then used a good portion of this to try and coax a neighbor's Jack Russell, Rocco, who had gotten out off his leash to go home before the snow started. he at least seemed to enjoy it.

oh, maggie- i am so with you. a former coworker used to say she liked martinis. i said so what is your ratio? her answer was vodka with ice. and i informed her that was vodka with ice NOT A MARTINI!!!!!!! i am a 4: 1 girl myself. shaken briefly. make that grade b since it is tastier

unfortunately this seem to have gone to their heads. this is what i experienced a week or two ago: the last time i tipped 15% was at a local diner when there obviously weren't enough servers and the owners were so busy reveling in their recent "Food TV" apearence that they didn't see i had sat for 1/4 hour without touching anything on my plate waiting for the server to come by and a) give me my check and b) bring a takeout box for the leftover food. when i paid the bill the owner said "how was it" and i honestly said " the burger was a bit over cooked but edible" (i asked for it medium rare and it was medium well) and that i thought they might be a bit light on help for the volume of patrons since i had to wait so long for my server to get back to me to box the food up and deliver the check - not that she had time to ask if the food was cooked properly. all i got from the former owner was a blank look.

So??? I use my credit card for almost everything. I pay it off every month and I get to take a free trip every year because of it. Credit cards with rewards on them can be very... rewarding, as long as you don't carry a balance. ← it is good for you but for any place that uses credit cards they have to pay a fee for every transaction. that is why IF we use a credit card to pay the bill the tip is always in cash. even if it has to be split it doesn't lose value because of the transaction fee. course the other day i was having my e/o week lunch at a favorite place eating lunch at the bar when the bartender was also serving the 4 top in the dining room. the payer was the new owner of the restaurant about 1/8 mile away. bill was 67.00 - tip was 10.00 not quite but close to 15%. now i used to work the back of the house. i respect those people who work the front - something i could not do- and i will tip 20-30 % if my food comes quickly, is hot if supposed to be hot and i am not ignored. the last time i tipped 15% was at a local diner when there obviously weren't enough servers and the owners were so busy reveling in their recent "Food TV" apearence that they didn't see i had sat for 1/4 hour without touching anything on my plate waiting for the server to come by and a) give me my check and b) bring a takeout box for the leftover food. when i paid the bill the owner said "how was it" and i honestly said " the burger was a bit over cooked but edible" (i asked for it medium rare and it was medium well) and that i thought they might be a bit light on help for the volume of patrons since i had to wait so long for my server to get back to me to box the food up and deliver the check - not that she had time to ask if the food was cooked properly. all i got from the former owner was a blank look. guess i'm not going to the JEFFERSON DINER any time soon.

while thinking about the ceci i remembered the only way i could get johnnybird to eat lima beans. a spread of lima beans(frozen thawed or fresh cooked), olive oil, white pepper and rosemary in a food processor then a sprinkle of a coarse salt on the crostini that had been spread with the beans. he hates limas but will scarf this up.

it may be bad but you are in no way a bad girl. heaven hill this month and rob roys from the cocktail thread. and baked beans with hotdogs. and chips and dip. and fig bars(generic) and peanut butter m&ms. gotta go......

ok after almost 26 years of marriage this is a big day for us. john is due back from travel for work about 230 pm. i'm teaching in the morning then heading to the gym. he'll get home before me. his present is 48 godiva dark chocolate truffles that will be at his place at the table with a card. there will be some 5 year old canadian cheddar in the fridge and crackers he can snack on until i get home. since he still can't drink i bought some non-alcoholic wine for him. i'm not taking any chances and chilling a bottle of korbel rose for me. there will be a log in the fireplace with some color cones and ready to light along with the candleier. i'll set up some crab imperial and pre-cook some shrimps for shrimp cocktail. green salad for me - and artichokes for him. dessert will be....interesting. bon appetit. edited to add that the next day he gets to take me out to lunch after the class i'm teaching at a new steakhouse in town.

first friday in lent so cornflake crusted haddock "fish sticks" with tartar sauce, green beans and mash.

an olive tapenade like Jaz's then topped with some thinly sliced smoked salmon - i'm partial to Perona Farm's.

growing up on the east end of long island we had rat cheese or hoop cheese but not rat trap cheese. it was always a good, aged cheddar we would go to Dawson't Market to buy a pound or so to go with the apple pies we made when the northern spies came in the fall. not oily but sometimes it would crunch a bit as there were small crystals in it.

i subscribe to Cooking Light and asked for subscriptions to Cooks Illustrated and Fine Cooking as birthday presents. from work I get the discarded, year old issues of Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Food and Wine. if I see a recipe I like I will copy it out onto a recipe card then pass the Cooking Lights on to a girlfriend and put the Cooks Illustrated aside to send out as a bit of a extra when I get rid of cookbooks on the FREE cookbook thread. the ones from work go back to work and into the kitchen for meal time reading.

oh, rachel, what a wonderful time. belated happy to chris, too!! but i am surprised. on that nibbles table - NO pimento cheese!?!

no.... just grab a can of crescent biscuit dough,some mini franks and some brown mustard. it couldn't be simpler.

so about 9 pm last night johnnybird got a little peckish so this is what we made: grated cheese, Yancy's Fancy X-sharp cheddar, with worcestshire sauce and (don't tell johnnybird) a splash of hot sauce whipped egg whites incorporated into the cheese mix 20 minutes later i was able to snap this before johnnybird snarfed it up. not the prettiest picture but it tasted good

whenever we get together with the inlaws my fil gives johnnybird a hard look and the NO DOUBLE DIPPING lecture. (his mom was a bit ocd about germs and dirt. even made the repairmen take their shoes off or, if they refused, climb in the kitchen window). i'm with sandy on this. i mound some dip on a plate and eat off that - and i do double dip but from the other end of the chip.

last night i was off from work so i could cook! picture of dinner before saucing: asparagus, wild mushroom pilaf and chicken breasts - cooked on the bone, though skinless- that were rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil then sprinkled with a mix of lemon peel and white pepper. the sauce was chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice and capers thickened with wondra flour. about 2 hours later johnnybird and i split a piece of english muffin bread i had baked that was covered with Tupelo honey. didn't quite get the consistancy that my mom's used to but good none the less.

yesterday at The Thirsty Moose. the ONLY thing i go there for: i freaked the kid waiter out because he went to hand me a menu but i said "i know what i want. wings, medium, no celery and a salad with blue cheese dressing". something to drink? "no, but get me those wings". hot and spicy and plenty of sauce. i even have three left for today. sorry about the fuzzy picture. i had already eaten one before i remembered to snap a shot.

it's all jersey next week. more information here.

i checked all the resources we have at the library but could not find that superstition. i made both the groom's cake and our wedding cake almost 26 years ago and we are still married. if you feel like it - do it.

Thanks for your kind words, Ellen. They mean a lot to me. Ah yes, Crescent Dragonwagon (the last name kills me). My parents gave me another of her books, The Dairy Hollow Bread and Soup Cookbook many, many years ago. That book isn't vegetarian, though. But I liked it and when I'd heard good things about her vegetarian book, I ran to the store for it. I cook from this a lot, but I probably read it for the fun of it more. This may be the book where she writes so eloquently about her partner's death -- it breaks my heart every time. The headnotes for the recipes are written in such a way that you Must. Right. Now. Run to the kitchen and cook. ← she should come by her writing abilities honestly - her mom's the children's author Charlotte Zolotow. and quite an impressive collection of books you do have, my dear.

KIM don't f*&k with your health. know from experience that that can truly debiltate you - i came close to dying about 15 years ago. tonight it was really bad picture wise. sauteed onions, mashed potatoes and CHICKEN FRIED STEAKS WITH MILK GRAVY. but oh my freakin goodness. i smashed the steaks out to almost paper thin so they would cook quickly. then milk with the remaining flour/salt/pepper mix with extra pepper to make the gravy. i also added some succotash since johnnybird wasn't around(i still don't get what he has against lima beans - course i grew up with some of the best around. aiiieeee so good and so comforting on a cold night. i almost feel sorry for him having to eat at a restaurant tonight. tomorrow will be red gravy with onion, red pepper, sweet italian sausage and rice fettuccini along with a salad and maybe some foccacia after work.

for johnnybird's lunch (since he is in a no wheat position now) deconstructed ham and cheese sandwich - finlandia heavenly light, nature's promise black forest ham, roasted red pepper and a smear of light mayo. the center was filled with baked potato chips.

the low carb pizza (read thin crust and not too much crap cheese) at Casa Mia in Lake Mohawk, Sparta crispy crust, a smear of great sauce then a dusting of cheese and it is totally incredible unfortunately we lost the pesto pizza from Pies On Pizza when they closed.....