Kouign Aman

You could keep track of how Colin responds to what you eat. Does he like it when you eat spicy foods, etc. Thank you for blogging. I've enjoyed reading your writing. I am stunned at your energy level.

baby food...my main hobby for the past year. I was given the cool little grinder and found it useful as it made a very fine puree, but coarser than commercial babyfood. I didnt want our kid to get too used to the very fine texture, so we made our own puree as soon as we figured out a favorite food, and started 'texture training'. My friend used hers as SnowAngel did - travel, meals out, family dinners etc. (The angelmonster eats much more nutritiously than I or Mr KA do, so grinding family dinners didnt seem like a good idea (pureed potato chips and dip, anyone?.) I was more likely to pack frozen pre-made puree and a hotpack for warming. But for extended road trips, that doesnt work and the grinder is a godsend for a critical few months. note: the grinder really struggles with meat - its ok for a single serving, but not much more at a time. I made most of our baby food at home - either foodprocessor-pureed or hand-chopped, then frozen in "plops" on a cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap. The frozen plops were transferred to long term storage in ziplock freezer bags. As baby aged, the plops got bigger and the texture coarser. Eventually we were freezing sticks or tiny cubes of food to allow for picking-up practice. (I found 'plops' easier in many ways than icecubes). The funny thing to me was that babies start with puree, then go to finger food, then they want to use spoons "allbymyself" and its back to sticky pureed food that will grip the spoon! Then the fork comes into play and its back to those soft practice chunks.... sort of deja vu. babyclothes... these get obsoleted every couple months by the stores, so if you want to make returns, do so ASAP or you'll only get credit for clearance price which would be a huge shame if the giver spent full price on them. Car seat - if you know which make and model you want,there would probably be time for your husband to run out and buy it after you start labor & before you are admittable at the hospital. O'course, you may not want him running out at that time..... and you almost certainly wont want to be selecting one at that time. :eek:

Why do students talk about cooking instead of cooking.... I can relate. Its the resistance of forming new habits and breaking old ones is what does it to me. I think Rochelle put it well; it seems overwhelming. A bit of fear of the unknown. Plus its hard to take a gamble on making an inedible dinner for your family, or on it taking too long to get to table. I've been reading thru Rochelle's diary of going to culinary school, and hathor's question reminded me of the entry when she came home and made mayonnaise because she was out of Hellmans, and she found herself wondering why she hadnt been doing this all along. Tapas: Marinated mushrooms are easy to set up, tho they wont really be ready in 2 hours. I am really enjoying this blog. Thanks.

"Spices up in Carmel Valley for Thai if they're still around" Yup, and they opened a branch on Mira Mesa Blvd, near 805. editted because I meant to ask what you think of Japengo in the Golden Triangle area? (calls itself La Jolla, but its not).

tempura eggs snickers bars icecream

In your opinion, what vegie/non-meat dishes freeze well? I've done ok with rice bowls (precooked vegies) (note - OK, not great), and frozen portions of spaghetti (sauce & cheese frozen on top) & vegie lasagna, but would like to branch out with other homemade frozen dinners. I also appreciate food that can be eaten with one hand (because the other is supporting "the baby"). Those truffles look delish. Cheesecake squares might be easier to cover if the coating is poured on, but that would take a lot more melted chocolate. And they look perfectly delicious as they are. (with thanks to Bergerka: its 8 am and I do not need chocolate....).

Good morning. I hope you had a restful sleepful night. They're darned precious. another guess ...you're going to teach them how to deconstruct a chicken, but use the thighs for the actual cooking. The eggs are a challenge. Frittata perhaps. I keep wanting to add baked goods, but from what I remember of the syllabus, thats at the end,if ever. maybe you'll fry the chicken and use the eggs for battering or crumbing them. dessert - lemon mousse wtih strawberry garnish Please have mercy, tell us the real menu!

chicken cacciatore and strawberry fool.

Our angelmonster has eaten many a lunch consisting of Costco samples. Her dad likes to get his shopping done midweek, before 1, which is sample-central time. We'll have to try the pizza-oven hotdog/polish sausage request. And ask if they have any sauerkraut hidden anywhere. I like the 'deli' mustard. Drinks are tough as I dont like carbonated beverages, and the fake lemonades are best icecold so they cant actually be tasted. I like the churros. Sadly, we dont have the italian sausages out here. I like the Kirkland Icecream bars pretty well; I liked the long vanished Hattie Brook's bars (Price Club brand) much better. I love this :

My kinda mom! FWIW, it's gonna get harder to prepare meals after his royal highness makes his appearance. How do you do with meals frozen in advance? (Easy to freeze meals, sounds like either a cooking class or a column.) We like the Costco hotdog dinner too. Our local branch also has churros - mighty fine after a hotdog (if they havent been sitting too long).

CaliPoutine beat me to it! Great ways with Mac 'n Cheese. Although ... I have a fondness for mashed potatoes. They make great baby food, especially after said baby has gone from the pick-it-up-in-my-fingers stage to the Yes-I-Can-Eat-With-A-Spoon-All-By-Myself stage (no darlin', you cant. but you can try....). They also made great mom-to-be food when the baby-to-be put her darling little foot across key digestive organs during the last couple months. Plus (is this foodie sacrilege? ) they freeze well in "plops" on a cookie sheet. They nuke warm fast, and make great fast meals. Your midwives might photocopy your column and hand it to every new client. And the opportunities for debate beyond the add-ins (horseradish, yum): creamy or chunky? Thin or thick? With or without the peels (no peels, pleeeeeeeease!) etc etc etc.... I've talked myself into hoping you'll do the mashed spud column!

This blog shines with generosity, creativity and courage. Thank you for sharing everything; the struggles, successes and the fabulous food. And I learned so much. Best wishes to the bloggers and all the quitters in sustaining your successes.

I'd expect it to get hotter in dishes with few carbs and a lot of fat (capsaicin is fat soluble). For some reason, starches/sugars are the best way to ease the pain of an overdose, so I wonder if a starchy dish would in fact be less spicy after storage, due to the interaction with starch. Someone else mentioned this as well.

:green-with-envy icon: I recently read up on home-made guanciale. It requires hanging for several weeks at <60F. There is no place in my neck o' the woods that is likely to remain consistently below 60F for three weeks. I'd have to rent space from my local friendly meat-merchants, should they be inclined to let me. And you can brine meat, store leftovers, etc in your garage or on your back porch. Major envy! Those dinners looked so delicious. Butter-braised beef has gone onto the to-do list. <edit typos 'cause its past my bedtime>

Or venison? Or does the marbling issue come into play with game?

Da-amn. That's big. I need to remember that in my life. (Substitute "x" for smoking.) Thank you.

My husband was once charged for 22 one-gallon bottles of milk, instead of 2. He'd bought a lot of groceries, and tho he thought the total a bit high, he didnt take time to review the reciept. The reciept-checker at the door to the club-store caught it.

I had to clean a fridge when the tenant left food in it and had the power turned off. There were maggots in both the fridge and freezer compartments. But I doubt a judge would have let me break the lease.

I'd like a combination approach. An abbreviated summary of the daily specials, bolstered by a printed menu insert with the prices. It annoys me to sit thru a recitation of "smoked rack of baby lamb dressed with gently simmered acacia berries macerated in locally-produced Oregon Wilden-berry blue-label wine and dressed with thinly sliced freeze-dried macaqueberrytree roots, accompanied by a puree of three-process mangled rootveggie and sweet baby peas". Give me three of those in a row and I'll forget every word. I can see the appeal of FoodTutor's restaurant's approach, tho I'd still prefer to get prices without having to ask. Perhaps at the end of the list, the server could say, "those cost $19, $17, & $99 respectively". And I'd like to add a big Thank You to management, TFT. Yes, I KNOW you're "my server". Would it be taken amiss to reply "Oh Hi! Im Ermintrude and I'll be your customer for the evening"?

It works better if you slice 90 degrees from the seam, or up to the flat sides of the pit. SB ← That's good to know.

I'd blanch the peaches before I halved them, to make it easier to slip the skins off. This is what I'd do to halve them, but I sure hope someone else chimes in with a slick trick that works better: Stand the peach on its pointy end, and run a paring knife around the seam, top to bottom, all the way around, all the way to the pit. If you were lucky enough to have freestone peaches, your work would be essentially done at this point. With cling peaches, I'd grab the two halves and twist, wriggle and wrestle with it. One half should eventually come loose. Then use the paring knife to cut the pit out of the other half. If the twisting fails, I've had to resort to fishing around with the tip of the knife, trying to carve the pit loose from one half. If you are willing to sacrifice a central slice of peach, you could try slicing down both sides, just to the outside of the pit (like slicing the cheeks off a mango).

Until I read about cleaning the hood, I thought my least fav was pulling the stove/oven out of its nook, and cleaning the sides of the stove and the nook. Until my oven died mid-roast, it was a job I'd never thought of. Apparently neither had the 20 years of previous residents. blech.

I've known people who gave up cocaine, heroin, etc, who say that giving up cigarettes was harder mentally than all those others combined. You've been smokers for years. You've been non-smokers for days. You are not only giving up smoke, but working to break a myriad of habits that form around smoking. This has to be bloody hard. And you are persevering, and making progress. I am so very impressed by your fortitude, courage and grace. If I were doing something this difficult, we'd be eating drive-thru in my house! And I'd flay the person presumptuous enough to photograph it. <editted to fix 'tie-po's'>

Fat Guy, that was hilarious! Jason, I've used a similar method. Am also running out of 'candidates'. Bad day first choice - anything deep fried. Onion rings usually win because they are easy to get. accompanied by vast volumes of Kahlua and milk. A brainless book to read is a nice accompaniment.

Damn, dont you love a world in which being called a quitter is a huge compliment? WholeFoolds make a good housebrand tatertot. Which of course, I am now craving. Along with a cake donut with rainbow sprinkles. And anything with horseradish. Sigh. Good morning, "all you quitters"! May you have strength, luck and ample distraction in your endeavor today. Perhaps you only have to postpone that next smoke until you get the next little task done, and then perhaps just this one more little thing, and then.... but its never really being put off for a lifetime. That might be too long to contemplate. Maybe a serious case of the "but first"s would do the job. (I'll do such&such, but first I just want to write this list, but first I just want to fold the laundry, but first I just want to check the blog, but first I just want to....)