Susie Q

I'll fess up. My parents taught my brother and me table manners and we dined out regularly at an early age. Perfect young children we were because I do remember getting compliments from people and desserts on the house. But one night the planets oddly aligned and my brother and I, for the first and only time, were just way too loud and disruptive. After issuing warning my father walked us out of the restaurant, gave us a swat on our behinds and a good talking to then made us apologize to the owner and diners around us for ruining their dinner. We died from embarrassment. The owner wanted to give us ice cream later and Daddy said "No, we didn't deserve it." He was right. It never happened again and now I have no problem correcting other peoples children or shaming the parents when they refuse to discipline their "no-necked monsters", a favorite term of mine that parents seem to take offense to, Once a kid was bounding around a dining room almost tripping a waitress carrying food. I corrected the no-necked monster and the mother said "How dare I call him that!", I said "How dare you let him act that way in public. Shame on you." People clapped as the ill-mannered family quickly finished and left. I'll support the owner on this one.

I put this on my Birthday/Christmas List and my boyfriend noticed in the Amazon description of the Searzall they use the word "Small" are they coming out with a bigger or different version? Thanks for the heads up on getting the trigger at Home Depot for $50, it's nice that it comes with a canister of Mapp fuel for home repair projects. Upon searching he also saw that just the trigger itself is $50 at Lowes, still $15 cheaper than Amazon.

I hope someone can start me off in the right direction. I want to make macaroni and cheese for my father, but not just any macaroni and cheese. It is the one he always talks about, the one he compares all others to. It is one he used to order at the Clifton’s Cafeteria in Southern California. There is just one left in Los Angeles and it is closed for renovation. This mac and cheese, he said, was in an egg custard base. It was light just like a dessert egg custard except it was savory. If anybody has made this type before I’d love to know how to make it. If not any guide lines to start with would be appreciated. I was wondering what ratios should I start with and what type of cheese should I use? How would I go about adding cheese to an egg custard base without becoming a sauce or breaking? I’ve made egg custard a few times and I figured it would need to bake in a water bath. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Ruby Mae's sugar cookies! My daddy's cousin gave me her recipe for her thin crisp sugar cookies. They are great at room temp but crispy ice cold with a glass of lemonade...on a hot summer's day...bliss. There is another thing I like frozen but I'd like to try and sell it in some fashion one day. I won't say what it is.

Check out TJMaxx if there is one near you. I bought 2 large porcelain glazed trays from them two weeks ago and they worked great. $15 each...couldn't beat the price.

I recently broke my 2 cup Pyrex measure. After seeing the new ones I just went to Goodwill and found and exact match to the one that broke.

I used to have lots of boil-overs with pasta, oatmeal, and when making candy. Now I just use a bigger/taller pot than required. Boil-overs now rarely happen but if it starts to creep up the sides the bigger pot allows me more time to lower the heat.

Keurig coffee cups. Why....why? My boyfriend uses these. He fills the water container with fresh water. For each cup of coffee he drops in a cup, puts the coffee cup underneath, presses the button and then does it again for the next cup, and the next. There is a regular filter coffee machine right next to the K cup machine. They both require the same amount of work, and with the regular filter pot you have a wider variety of coffees to choose from that more likely would be cheaper per cup, also the materials used for a regular filter machine are less wasteful then individual K cups. I personally like a french press. I also don't understand smart water, msg, premade PB&J sandwiches, canned spinach, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus, and fruit cocktail.

The fat looks rendered and the rind looks fried.

I made a blackberry pie from a recipe on line that had rave reviews. For a 9" pie the filling used 4 cups of fresh berries, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of flour to thicken. You mixed most of the berries with the sugar and flour, and mixed till there was no "white" on the berries. You put in in the pie plate then topped with 1/2 cup of reserved berries and a top crust then baked 425 for 15 minutes then 25 minutes at 375. I made a 9.5 " deep dish pie and used 6 cups of berries. I added more sugar about 1/4 cup...still the filling is too tart. I dotted it with butter. Put a lattice crust on top. Now. I baked the pie to the directions and it looked beautiful on the outside,the crust is good. The filling was runny, too tart, but more worrisome was the floury color and taste of the filling. It doesn't taste cooked. I need this to be perfect for next weekend. What did I do wrong? What can I substitute for the flour? How much should I use for 4 cups of fruit and also for 6 cups of fruit? How long should I bake it? I wondered about tapioca as I have minute instant and also tapioca starch powder that I got at the Asian market. I appreciate any and all help.

Ahh! A kindred spirit! I'm the same way. Love the Duralex Picardie glass. I have a cupboard full of them in all sorts of sizes also and more are boxed and set aside for when they are needed or not made anymore. I grew up with these glasses and I took them with me when I moved from home the first time. I began hunting for them again 5-6 years ago when my supply was getting low. They were hard to find at one point so I kept buying them as I found them. On the sidelines I even watched an eBay bidding war a couple of years ago where group of glasses went for over $100... insanely stupid of the person. I guess the same could be said of me with my doomsday stash. I also followed the company's woes as they went from plan to plan, and was hoping somehow they would find a way to save the company. It looks like they did. You can find them now at Williams and Sonoma, Sur la Table, Cost Plus Imports, and Costco. You have to be careful of and check the quality at Cost Plus. The cheapest is Costco $25 for 18 in SO. Cal. Yes I bought 2 boxes...just for the large tublers which are $3.99 a piece at Cost Plus. My personal favorite has always been the 6 oz. Good for coffee, hot tea, cafe su da, wine, juice.

Costco Kirkland jumbo paper towels. I go through them like crazy and I don't care. They are BIG and that's why I like them. I hate select-a-size they always de-select the size I wanted by tearing. I also keep a roll of paper towels on a holder in the bathroom. Love 'em, plus when I have a party everybody gets a fresh guest towel when they wash their hands.

Canned bean girl here, especially when making hummus. I'll sit with the rest of them as long as nobody toots. Tomato seeds means homemade right? In a pinch... a pound of bulk Italian sausage browned with some extra fennel seed, a couple jars of Ralph's grocery store Arribata Sauce poured in. Simmer a bit. Quick, flavorful and easy.

Butter Whole Milk Lemons - I have 2 trees Meyer and regular. If I cook somewhere else... lemons go with me. Kosher Salt - Diamond Crystal Fresh Pork Mayo - Best Foods ONLY Fish Sauce - 3 Crabs Srircha Sauce Basmati Rice Fresh Ground Pepper Garlic Onions Ginger - fresh, powdered, and crystallized Caravale Sweet Chili Sauce Couscous Fresh Fruit - There has to be some sort of fresh fruit in the house. Who can have just one. It would be like trying to choose which child to save. I just picked some of the things that I always keep back-ups of in the pantry and freezer, or are always in the grocery cart each time I check out.

Raising my hand vowing never to put a jar of just fed sourdough in the icebox, with a screw-top lid, and forget about it.

I've been wanting a food mill but didn't know which brand would be best. Thanks for all the info.

Being a leftie I loved my Lamson Sharp in the southpaw style so much I also bought the right hand version. I use it mainly with the left to lift food and it's there for other cooks in the kitchen to use. Kerry Beal, what brand is the metal/silicone spatula?

I wash dishes, clean meat, rinse produce... and my hands in a double sink. I don't care which side I use . A splash of bleach after I've cleaned a chicken, a drizzle of dishsoap if it's something else., a good scrubbing at the end of the day. It seems to have worked all these years. Nobody has ever gotten sick from the food coming out of my kitchen nor the home kitchens of my relatives and friends. We pretty much all clean the same way. I guess we've all got a cast iron stomach from being allowed to let dogs and cats lick our faces and hands as we crawled around on all fours putting intresting things in our mouths when we were kids. I personally think it was the sun hot, unwashed tomatoes pulled from the back yard vines and eaten on the spot, the fruits and veggies I ate while I picked them with my grandpa, and the hole-in-the-wall restaurants my parents took us to becauuse they looked interesting.

Regular pancakes: butter and real maple syrup, or butter and sprinkled brown sugar. Thin or eggy pancakes: butter, powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice.

I use a small, oblong plate that I got at Cost Plus Imports. Long enough and wide enough to hold a spatula when needed.

Good for you! I think it's better to lose weight to a level that you can maintain than to drop so low that you are constantly yo-yoing, struggling to maintain, and feeling deprived. Losing the weight is the easy part, maintain the loss requires the greater commitment.

In the kitchen I use that same luminarc dish and cover. Found it a TJ Maxx for $5. I love it. I tried using a butter bell before but the butter kept falling down into the water. I gave it to Goodwill. On the table I use a footed cobalt lions head soup bowl with lid. It holds two sticks of butter.

Noriega's in Bakersfield has always served it up family style. Customers could have a drink at the front while waiting for the doors to open up to the dining room in back. You paid as you went in, took your seat at the long table next to someone you more than likely would never see again, and passed the dishes to each other. The Original Pantry in Los Angeles used to have a community table. I remember sitting at it one time with my dad to have breakfast. It's been awhile since I've been to both.

I have several Westcott rulers from the office supply store. The 18" and 24" gets used the most. They are metal, measuring starts at the edge, have both metric and imperial measurements, have a hole for hanging, and I find them thick enough to use as a cutting guide. They come in many lengths.

15 years ago I lost my grip and poured a stock pot full of boiling water on my foot while wearing canvas slip on sneakers. I flicked off the shoe and blister after blister formed and broke before my eyes. I ran to the bath tub to get cold water on it, wrapped a soggy wet towel aorund it, stuck it in a trash bag, threw on some ice to keep the towel cool, and made the long trip to the hospital. It was a very bad second degree over all of my foot, including the sole, that was treated with the silvadene cream for a few weeks. I was lucky... no scaring. The cream requires a perscription and I keep a jar in the icebox to use when needed.