shellfishfiend

Back in the 80s, maybe early 90s, Quaker used to make a rice cake that was either nacho cheese or taco flavored. They were crunchy, salty and just a little bit spicy. I loved them but have not been able to find them for years. They were the perfect snack (for me at least).

I tend to go for cruchy, sour, salty. Currently, the faves are homemade baked whole wheat pita chips (sprinkled liberally with garlic powder before baking) and pickled daikon dipped in sriracha.

I am not sure if it is the type of sauce you are referring to, but the suace that results from BBQ shrimp is plate licking worthy-imo. It is buttery, spicy and (especially if the shrimp are head-on) full of salty shrimp flavor. It is a dish that is always served with bread, because to not do so would drive diners to either ladle it up with a spoon or tip the bowls and drink it.

I would love to cook for my grandparents. My grandfather passed away a few years ago and my grandmothers Alzheimers is so progressed that she can't remember what she likes or doesn't like. I just never really got to cook for them when I was younger (no interest or no knowledge) and now that I cook, I hate that I can't share my food with them. I would cook all of their favorites and we would gather around the table and have good food, lots of laughter and long conversations, just the way all of our meals used to be. I don't want famous people, just Gramma and Pa.

NYC Mike, Your okra looked wonderful and I think it is great you are being so open minded about it. I love okra. growing up, my mother had to stop buying pickled okra because it was not cheap and I would eat the whole jar in one sitting. It became a special occasion treat (what?! you didn't know pickled okra was special occasion food/). My favorite way to eat okra is boiled. As others have rightly said, it is important to buy fresh, smallish okra. Also, if you avoid cutting it before boiling it, it will not be ropey(sp?), which is the term used to describe the sliminess it can acquire. No cutting=minimal slime.

Ah, the holidays, aka as the reason some of my winter clothes are a size larger than my summer clothes. I love dressing made with cornbread and torn up white bread. It is divine, especially the corner pieces that have the crusty bits. I also love the "traditional casseroles: broccoli-rice-and cheese and green bean (yes, the one made with cream of muchroom soup). These casseroles don't show up much through the year, but are expected during the holidays. I always looked forward to the smoked turkey my aunt would send each year. We would simply unbox it, slide it in the fridge and whack huge hunks off of it daily until it was gone. It never seemed to last long. It was second only to the spiral-cut, glazed ham in my book, and I'm not a huge meat eater. As far as sweets-give me my pecan pie and leave me alone. No, not cookies, cakes or candies, just slice after slice of pecan pie. Dislikes-cranberry sauce (although it was always the canned variety), the dreaded English pea that always showed up because my sister loves them and any kind of congealed salad (I like my salads to be of the greens variety). My dislike of congealed salad might cause some to doubt my Southerness. Oh, I almost forgot, I love the huge batches of very spicy Chex Mix my mother makes every holiday season. It pairs perfectly with an ice cold Coca-Cola.

Grillades are wonderful, thin cuts of beef or pork (I've seen both) pan fried and then stewed in a delightful mix of roux, stock and tomatoes and served with grits (no other starch is acceptable).

Do you go to several different grocery stores? Yes. I go to Kroger, Brookshire's (these is where I get my seafood) and a Japanese market. Do you clip coupons? Yes. I also watch the sale circulars and use loyalty cards. I love to save money on things I would buy anyway. What do you usually buy at the grocery store? I buy everything, with the exception of the asian products I get at the Japanese market. Do you tend to buy more meat or more produce? I buy more produce than meat. However, if you count seafood, it would be neck and neck. Are you too ashamed to make purchases from the "reject bin?" No, although I don't often see anything in the bin I would use. However, I am a fan of meat market specials (meats that are on their last sale by day), marked down breads and pastries. Do you make a list? Yes. that is part of the fun for me. I arrange it in the order the food is arranged in the store. This also lets me keep track of what items I have coupons for. How many refridgerators and pantries do you have for food storage? I have one decent sized frig, one chest style deepfreeze, and a woefully small and poorly built pantry. Do you enjoy grocery shopping as much as I do? I love to grocery shop. It is such a sense of accomplishment to bring home food. I love to search out and find the new items. I also love the sense of bringing home raw ingredients with thoughts of what I will do with them already in my head.

What do you mean areas that "think the SEC is the toughest football conference in the country"? We don't think it, we know it!!!!

This might not count, but I use an empty, glass coca-cola bottle to tenderize meat. there are redges on the bottom of the glass and it is very comfortable to hold. I hope it never breaks, as it is hard to find these bottles these days. FWIW, coke out of the glass bottle tastes so much better than it does out of plastic or cans.

I do have to disagree with the exclusion of Arkansas. Having grown up in southern Arkansas and having lived five years in central Arkansas (Little Rock) I think the cuisine screams Southern. All one need do to prove this is go to any church's covered dish supper/potluck and see things like turnip greens, hot water cornbread, sweet potatoe casserole, fried chicken, baked ham, okra and tomatoes, etc. and know that they are without a doubt in the South. I will admit that this type food was not as prevelant in restaurnats in central Arkansas, though it could be found. However, all it took was five minutes of talking to people about what they ate at their gramma's house when they were growing up to know they were Southern.

I too have been astounded at times when I look at my checkbook and realize how much I spend on food. Like you, it is just my husband and I at home, yet food costs seem to make up a large portion of what we spend. To keep it in check, I have gotten in the habit of buying meats and seafood on sale when possible and freezing them. I have a chest style freezer, and this really helps. I tend to cook basic, hearty fare during the week and then we celebrate with "the good stuff" on the weekend. I tend to cook mostly from scratch and this helps save money. I also try to balance costs throughout a meal. i.e. if I am cooking a bacon wrapped pork tenderloin (not the cheapest cut of meat) I will serve it with a side of potatoes of some sort (very economical). I also cook many dishes that get served with rice (red beans and rice, gumbo, swiss steak). The rice, which is very cheap, helps stretch the meal a little without sacrificing taste. Finally, if I just really want a big blowout meal (king crab legs, lobster, T-bone steaks), I figure I only live once and I can't take anything with me and it is my duty to eat and enjoy while I can.

To me, the South is a feeling more than anything. it is a feeling of ease and contentment. It is a relaxed and easy feeling. It is the feeling that you get from others that they really do care when they ask, 'How are ya?" it is the sense you get from others that they would help you if you needed it, and would do so without being asked. I have felt this in places outside of the South, but I feel it most strongly in the South. To tie this to food: In the South, people feel joy in being able to feed people and feed them well. It is not necessary to know the people you are feeding. It is enough to know that they came to your table hungry and you were able to provide them with nourishment of both the body, and maybe, the spirit.

Penzey's , www.penzeys.com, sells an item called Rasberry Enlightenment. They say they developed it as something to use instead of balsamic to add both tartness and sweetness. I haven't tried it yet, since I love balsamic. However, everything I have ever ordered from them has been great.

Racheld, Taht brought back memories! My grandparents had a farm and everyday, my grandfather and whatever hired help was working would come in for a hot lunch. The leftovers from that lunch never got any colder than room temp before we ate them for supper. My grandmother even had a specific tray that sat up in the counter and on this she would palce left over biscuits and breakfast meats from breakfast (sausage, bacon, ham). It stayed up in the cabinet for people to snack on throughout the day. what was left on it the next day thankfully went to the dogs.

I would love to buy this type of book. Like OnigiriFB, I too am frustated by the fact recipes only list umeboshi as a filling. I would love lots of seaweed recipes, served both hot and cold. Also, I think it would be great to have a pickle section. I love Japanese pickled vegetables. I also think it would be great to include an overview of how the Japanese construct a well-rounded meal, I.e. the starch, soup, protein, etc.

I second what Dana said. Boudin is a very soft product-rice is the filling. You want something firm to contrast the soft bread part of the pigs in blanket. We always had them with lil'smokies and the blanket part was often more biscuit like than puff pastry like. Either way, they are the first things to go at any event. We often served them with bbq sauce and a variety of mustards. Most of the people I know, when given a choice between a pig in the blanke or a pate will go for the pig in the blanket (actually more like 5 or 6 of them).

I have exactly one oven mitt and I think I have used it about one time. I always use pot holders and I have a variety of sizes. I don't feel like I can get a firm grip on things with the mitt. I try to avoid using towels because if they are even slightly damp, you will get a bad burn.

007bodn-jb, Your gumbo does sound very good, although I love okra so it is almost always included. I have seen recipes for roux made in the microwave and I am familiar with the method of browning flour (dry) in the oven. Is your oven roux recipe different? if so, please share. I am always looking for ways to save myself the arm strain whne making dark roux.

I think many Japanese food words are beautiful, but my favorites: miso, hijiki and wakame.

I highly recommend James Peterson's Fish & Shellfish. I use this book at least once a week. I love the fact that for each recipe, he gives alternate fish to use if the one called for is not available. There are photographs demostrating how to cut up or shell different types of seafood. For just plain ol' good food, I love The Cotton Country Collection. It was put out by the Jr. League of Monroe , LA and is full of terrific Southern recipes. It has the best ever recipe for roasting a turkey. I also have one of the Cooking Light Annual cookbooks and use it all the time. The recipes are healthy, full of great ingredients and they don't tend to go overboard in cutting out fat. I really like the fact that these are arranged by month and take advantage of seasonal products.

Make a lobster seviche. Lobster meat, lime juice, red onion, garlic, avocado, bell pepper, cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper. You could eat this as is, or serve with mixed greens or tostados. BTW-Ienvy your problem and would love to have too much lobster (is there such a thing?

NYC Mike, that pound cake looks wonderful. I remember growing up and going to relatives' houses for visitin' and half of them would have that pound cake to serve with coffee. We never had it with the glaze, it just didn't need it. And moist—it brings tears to my eyes to remember how moist that pound cake was.

I usually try not to "geek out" on people who aren't into this. When my friend David (a fellow researcher & my cowriter on a couple articles) and I really get going Bill runs screaming from the room (he says he doesn't scream, but I know his eyes roll back in his head ) Must is Wine Must, which can be either the juice pressed from wine grapes (pre fermentation) or a mix of the juice with the skins pulp etc. i.e. raw wine. In the case of italian Renn. cooking it generally refers to a reduced wine must also known as saba or sapa. You can find very nice Saba here in the US at some specialty Italian Import shops (like DeLaurenti's here in Seattle) but the good stuff is quite pricey. The cheap stuff tastes a lot like concentrated concord grape juice for kids. I'm using an actual (albeit fairly cheap) saba in the dressing for the carrot salad because it's going out uncooked, but for the pizza where it's mixed in with a bunch of other ingredients & baked I'm using middle eastern grape molasses. yes, summer savory. and to answer another question we're probably going to use good local frozen peaches, there were a few peaches left in the market on sunday, but probably won't be by the end of this week. Chicken on a raft in my family (I've heard other opinions) is a piece of toast with a hole ripped out of the middle that you pour an egg into & then fry up. I like to add a little cheddar, Bill prefers his with just salt & pepper. Time to go play with the ferrets & tuck in for the night... ← I am so excited to see your chickne on a raft. i have never met anyone else who had these growing up. We called them nest eggs and the round circle of bread that ws removed was perfect for sopping up the egg yolk.

Mustard on a BLT is an offense to the bacon gods... But they are generally pleased and well-served by the consumption of that most perfect of sandwiches, the BLT. ← I'm glad to hear I can lesssen my offense to the bacon gods with the consumption of a BLT. I wish I could make up for all my offenses this way