IowaDee

Several years ago I was at a restaurant in Orlando. The woman in the next booth asked for her eggs to be cooked "rare". First and only time I've heard that. I'm another over easy person.

I guess my only real gripe stems from the pages which are printed in red ink on a black background. Add to that the tiny font and I find it super frustrating to read. The articles themselves rock. I have issue #1 in near mine condition...hum. I do know that these are magazines that I won't be passing along to the local book sale or putting in the library free rack!

Lucky Peach #3 arrived today and I think it is the best one by far. I have already pre-ordered #4! Write on...

Let me add my thanks for this amazing blog and to Mrs. Sheepish, Happy Birthday to Ewe!

Bryson's from Iowa. I think it may be in the state constitution that we are not allowed to be brash or to brag at all. Honestly, if Bill heard that tape, he would be the one laughing loudest and longest. He is a genius in a teddy bear suit.

Bill Bryson is a god in this house. I agree with anything he writes, even if I haven't read it .

Could it be "Fletcherizing?" I think you had to chew each mouthful 100 times or something. Shoving it all into a blender and hitting puree would be the way to go today.

I'm am so enjoying this. I grew up in your neck of the woods. Our first apartment was right across the street from Santa Monica High School. I was too young to appreciate the wonderful foods available to me and too poor to buy them anyway. I love going back and seeing all changes. Culver City and Venice are entirely new worlds and the restaurants are amazing. Off topic a bit, but I seem to remember you mentioning that you were an eBayer in your last blog. Do you still do that? I find it almost too easy to buy cookbooks from there!

Our local Mexican restaurant offers it for those who can't/won't eat salsa with their chips. I don't think they like doing it because of the way they plop the bottle on the table. Almost as though they want to shame the customer by calling attention to the stuff.

Daughter had a friend over to spend the night. I fixed pancakes for breakfast. The guest piled up several pancakes in a bowl after sprinkling sugar on each of them. She than poured milk over them and ate them as if they were cereal. She said that's the way her family has always eaten them.

I pick up a copy of Edible Iowa River Valley every time I find a new issue. Always at least two or three interesting articles. Love learning about local producers that I can use. Discovered the Milton Creamery less than 15 miles from home. They have some world class cheese. It is strictly a family operation that uses milk from local Amish farms. Glad the magazine steered me to it!

I too have enjoyed this so much. Sad to say, it looks as if I won't be buying or tasting conch anytime soon at those prices. If I could get a pound, I'd jump at the chance in the hopes that I would love it. Your week stirred up a lot of happy memories for me. Thank You.

I'm about half way through The Spice Necklace. Now, in addition to tasting conch, I want to make a necklace! When I was a kid, our family went through a rough patch and skindiving friends would bring us abalone. Most of them were from the Santa Monica beach area. At the time, it was "poor food" but I sure would like to afford it today! I'm so enjoying your blog, it makes me homesick, but it is worth it for the enjoyment of seeing my favorite part of the country.

I just finished reading An Embarrassment of Mangoes in which the author talks about cooking conch. From her description it sounds a lot like abalone. She mentions needing to beat it with a mallet. Is conch similar in taste to abalone?

Why not airline food in honor of Kare's parents and their former professions?

Another offspring of terrible cooks here. However they made sure I could have a martini mixed and chilling in the refrigerator for them. Four to one with an olive please. Gently stirred of course, musn't bruise that damn gin. Too bad they didn't have a Girl Scout badge in bar tending.

I have enjoyed reading your blog so much. Like others here, I am inspired to give pierogis a try soon. Now if I could just claim to live in the Long Beach of Iowa! Nope, not a palm tree in sight. And even squinting won't turn snow into sand.

Wish I could "read" your refrigerator. Bet there are some good stories stuck on it. Other than an attack of homesickness, I'm so enjoying your blog. I grew up in the Mar Vista- Venice area. My folks both worked at McDonald Douglas in Long Beach. Hubby and I were back there on a trip and stayed on the Queen Mary. What fun. And your aquarium is world class!

I recently bought the new Sunset Cookbook. I'm anxious to see what you think of it. I would give up all my magazines before parting with my monthly issue of Sunset!

I just finished Appetite for America-how visionary businessman Fred Harvey built a railroad hospitality empire that civilized the Wild West. Loved this book. Basically it is the story of how Harvey built his business from a single lunch counter to an empire The research and attention to details are amazing. The author has even included recipes served in the Harvey House restaurants. The author is Stephen Fried and the book is well worth reading.

I loved Kelbos. I worked near-by and went there for lunch. Later, it was a special destination for my husband and me. The layout of the tables made you think you were the only patrons there. Remember that cool screen in the entry way. Lots of disks embedded with everything under the sun. I recently bought a box of tiny paper umbrellas at a yard sale with plans to hold a Kelbos party next summer. Another find was a old copy of Trader Vic's cookbook. Come on Spring!

Licking spoons is so ingrained in me that I fully expect to lick one that I've used to dole out dog or cat food. I really need to stop, look and sniff before licking!

Before moving to Iowa, I worried a lot about the cold winters. In a letter my mother-in-law mentioned growing mangoes in her garden. Well this California girl was no longer worried in the least about Iowa winters. How bad could it be if they could grow mangoes? Visions of avocado, mango and papaya trees danced in my head. What a rude awakening awaited me. I have seen mango pepper seeds listed in catalogs and it still makes me angry!

Cranberry sauce, both whole berry and jellied. Never could make it as good as the canned stuff

My father-in-law grew many acres of field corn. He discovered that he could plant a small plot of sweet corn in the middle of some field corn. It was a way to foil the raccoons. One year I planted Indian corn next to sweet corn. Had a lot of cross pollination and ended up with amazing looking sweet corn.