Carolyn Tillie

Oxymoron!!!! Okay, I confess... I actually LIKE British Food... When it is cold, there is nothing like Steak & Kidney Pie with a pint of Stout and I like a proper British High Tea.

Maybe you were looking for this: Egyptian Beer Experiment. Here's the Japanese Story. And through this company, Pharaoh's Brew, you can reserve a bottle...

Yep, according to This Article, they are Jewish and French, respectively...

My thought exactly! Actually, the label seems awfully Andy Warhol-ish to me...

This is part of what Paula has been teaching me -- do an experiment yourself (if you have a clay pot) and cook the same bean, side-by-side, in both a metal pot and a clay pot. There IS a difference and I'm not a Clay Pot Convert! I'm sure she can elaborate more on the chemistry of it all...

Regarding copious amounts of water... From Paula's new book: This is part of what I discovered between my two experiments. Despite the first attempt with the diffuser, I used copious of amounts of water and literally drowned my beans. Last night, I used far less with a better result!

According to Food Timeline.com, it is Pumpkin Cheesecake, Mud Pie, and Jelly Beans.

My God... I feel so guilty - I ate there last night! (It was cold and rainy and I thought a Bol might be slightly comforting.) Shame, shame on me.

Mom, trying to be "creative" grilled Kielbasa and then placed them within a tray of cornbread. Doesn't soung that bad? It was.

You are talking about MY Mother!

Here is the ONLY good thing I have ever heard about boxed wines... A friend of mine is an avid sailer -- I'm talking months at a time on a large yacht in various oceans around the world... Needing to utilize the space on his boat to the optimum, I purchased a box of wine. He then emptied the bladder entirely of the swill within it, carefully refilled it several times with hot water, and THEN refilled it his favorite wine (I believe at the time it was a Ridge or a Silver Oak...) I guess it wasn't perfect, but it was better than expected with HIS wine lasting longer than he thought, offering him several weeks worth of decent wine to drink. I thought it was pretty clever of him, actually.

My Specialty! I've done Bastille Day parties, Chinese New Year parties, 70's-style Cocktail Parties... I've even organized a Cole Porter-inspired banquet for 1,200 people (a different buffet for each decade he wrote music, with tidbits about his life as inspiration). I staged the cast party celebration for Into The Woods with a different buffet station for each fairy tale... Go ahead - do your party! It'll be fun!

Some of us folks in California are sick of the Arnold-hype. Yet I guess a beer producer in Oregon is going to ride some of the coattails. Story here - in USA Today.

Oh, but Cesar's don't! I had to ask for one... But they were happy to comply, actually. I used to get the Spanish Table newsletter, but got kinda annoyed with the owner's political rants and hideous misspellings and bad grammar... I will take another look. I never bought anything, but then I wasn't as aware of the Mediterranean bounty as I am now...

Ahh.... merci! I knew not of this SPLENDID article...

Oh god... I used to Meltykiss at Marukai in Gardena in SoCal. I so miss that place (no Meltykiss at 99 Ranch in Richmond! )

I always poo-poo'd the fact that whenever Niles came to visit Frasier, a glass of Sherry was offered. I always though of Sherry as a hideously sweet, but occasionally necessary cooking ingredient (my potato-leek soup NEEDS a dash). However, last weekend, I was invited for cocktails at Cesar's in Berkeley. It is a Tapas restaurant with its own cookbook (I guess every restaurant that goes from good to Great has to print a cookbook, huh?). They offered a Cognac flight for Shawn so I asked for a Sherry flight. Here's what I had: Lustau Almacenista Olovosode Jerez Barbadillo Amontillado Principe de Barbadillo Manzanilla La Gitana Bodegas Hidalgo What a revelation! I had no idea that Sherry could be so diverse. I'm intrigued and want to taste more! Sadly, it was too dark in the bar to be able to write any notes and I feel lucky I got the names (but now can't remember which was which!). Can anyone offer me a primer about what makes Sherry so special? (Yeah, I could google stuff like this, but I trust my eGullet buddies more!) I may convert from Port to Sherry...

Okay - I'm sorry... I didn't look at the forum from which it originated - just that it was an active topic. Mea culpa.

Borscht. I've been fighting something and haven't wanted to cook diddly -- but boy, am I craving Borscht.

Funny... THAT was a nick-name given to ME by New Age author Don Michael Kraig about ten years ago when we were writing and editing a Pagan-based newsletter together. Right before going to print, he changed my editorial name as Carolyn "Boom-Boom" Tillie... It kinda stuck.

Eight years ago, while living in SoCal, I visited my sister in Napa who introduced me to the show. Back then, it was only showing in San Francisco on some weird late-night channel. It was not dubbed or subtitled and we didn't even know the name of the program - just watching frantic chefs prepare unknown ingredients was good enough for me. Then, a year later, it showed up on a Los Angeles station on Sunday nights, at the odd time of 6:45 in the evening. I was terribly addicted and started recording them. Then they started adding subtitles and I was in heaven - I could actually figure out what was happening. There was a small following of addicts like me who recorded the shows, shared tapes, and discussed the show. (I cherish a challenge which was staged in The Forbidden City; Battle Chicken - I don't think it has ever been shown in the U.S.) We were located in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Hawaii - the only places Iron Chef was being shown. It was pre-Morimoto time. I used to have Iron Chef parties -- I would invite friends over to watch the show and they thought I was nuts but also watched with rapture. Then The Food Network stepped in, adding silly dubbing. Soon there was the American knock-off with Captain Kirk. I miss the genesis of this phenom but am proud to have felt apart of it. I still watch my old tapes but rarely bother with it on FN. I was given the IC Cookbook and calendar, but am sorry for its commercialization.

I always make sausage from my Nebraska venison supplier. Every few months, I get a shipment and will grind some up for sausage. I usually add 50% fatty pork, lest it be too dry. For seasoning, I do the *very* California thing of soaking dried cherries in cognac to add to the mix. Seasoning includes juniper berries, and tons of fresh herbs (thyme, sage, parsley). I don't have an exact recipe but enjoy tweaking them each time.

The San Francisco Chronicle just published this review of the city's best Dim Sum: Here Interestingly, it does not include Koi Palace in Daly City which was recently suggested in another thread. Shawn, my friend Heather, and I went there last weekend and were astounded!

I don't know what one is - do tell!

It was that article that inspired me to begin my hunt for the Cassole (and I loved the idea of the Order wearing garments inspired by the Cassole). However, in my research, the Not family does not <ahem> have a website or import their pots. I have seen numerous cookbooks on Clay Pot cooking (including one, I believe, by the Nitty Gritty Publishers), but I have it on good authority that the DEFINITIVE Clay Pot Cookbook is currently be written.... I can be patient and wait for that one.