Emily_R

Ooooh -- this looks amazing! Any chance you could post or PM the recipe? I looove barley, and am always looking for new ways to use it... Emily

Great topic! First meal was also my first date with my husband. I invited him over for dinner, and now I'm amazed that I had the nerve to make something I had never made before rather than a tried-and-true. I made a Cambodian dish, Pork with Peanuts and Dried Lilyflowers! Can't remember dessert... Our next date, three days later, I guess I wanted to show I could do something a little more traditional, so I made homemade mac and cheese... Emily

Oh my god Simonne -- right now I would do just about anything for those Nutella filled chocolates. All of you chocolates look just gorgeous! Emily

Thanks for posting this Alex -- I adore the I Hate to Cook Book, and pull it out at least once a year when I am looking for a good laugh (though probably not when I am looking for a good recipe!) Emily

Oh man, I could eat Doritos and / or Cheetos all the time! Almost never do... Sigh....

I would definitely say I use an 8 ounce container every 3 months, and I don't even think I do that much baking! I wonder if storing it in the freezer would make any difference in keeping the aroma and flavor fresher for longer? Emily

Susie -- Are you sure the Cape Cod Robust Russet's aren't what you're looking for? Perhaps 15 years ago they were sold under a different name (and in fact until recently they were called Dark Russets, but now the name has been changed to Robust Russet)? They are always what I go to when I'm looking for an extra dark chip... http://www.capecodchips.com/products/chips.aspx Emily

Hi all -- Lunch was so pretty today I had to post... My garden has been yielding huge numbersof tomatoes, some of the best of which are the Kelloggs Breakfast orange tomatoes... Lunch was a luscious tomato salad, with the creamiest feta cheese (those of you who can get the Israeli feta from Wegmans will understand!), my favorite olive oil, salt, pepper, and a well buttered english muffin! Perfect! Emily

David -- That smoked tomato soup sounds OUT OF THIS WORLD (not to mention the butter poached prawns. Drool) ! I don't have a smoker, but it is making me think of trying to rig something up with my gas grill, as I have a large supply of dried applewood from trimming our apple trees this spring... How long do you typically smoke the tomatoes for? I'm assuming it is at fairly low smoker heat? Emily

Hi LLC45 -- Your recipe sounds delicious -- one question -- I don't know what "chili sauce" is (I'm assuming its not hot sauce, since there are 12 ounces of it!) Is there a brand you use that I could look for? And do you find it in the same area as hot sauces? Or is it more with the ketchup type stuff... Thanks! Emily

Oh yeah! That reminds me of the time I had made gingerbread men and was making icing. I added just a few drops of water to the powdered sugar, but for some reason, it didn't come together the way that royal icing normally does. I added more and more water, until finally I got something that looked like it would work. Iced a few cookies, decided to try one, and then discovered that what I thought had been powdered sugar was--- CORNSTARCH! Mmm. Cornstarch icing....

Oh man, dinner was good tonight. Made Puplewiz's calabacitas, added lots of fresh cilantro and it was great. Served with homemade corn tortillas and homemade refried beans, loaded up with onions, garlic, spices, and cilantro... Take tortilla, add beans, top with calabacitas, more cheddar cheese, and a fresh slice of tomato = heaven!!! Emily

Just chiming in here that I have tried the 30-minute mozzarella making once, same method as munchymom, with the microwave, using store-bought pasturized (not ultra) milk. Then tried I tried another mozzarella making process again, but instead of microwave warming it by dunking cheese in boiling water, this time using raw milk from the dairy farmer a mile from me... Same outcome both times -- essentially string cheese. Sigh. Haven't really had it in me to try it again lately...

Interesting and enlightening quiz Rona -- I bombed it -- I think I only got 5 out of 11 right! Emily

Ok, surely I can't be the only one out there with Peg Bracken's I Hate to Cook Book series... I first read them at my aunt's house, as she does actually hate to cook... They were written in the 50's / 60's (I believe), for women who hated to cook back in a time when that wasn't socially acceptable... I've never cooked from them, but love to read them for the hilarious intros to each recipe, and the bastardized French she throws in there for good measure... Emily

Jumanggy -- that looks OUTRAGEOUSLY good! Seriously drooling here... Emily

Sigh -- I hear ya! Between yesterday and today I now have 18 zukes and yellow squash... One of my favorites is in a pasta sauce, a little like a ratatouille without the eggplant / peppers... Lighly caramelize a bunch of onions, add garlic and two medium sized zukes and two medium sized yellow squash that have been diced... Saute for a little, then add a can of Muir Glen crushed roasted tomatoes, a splash of red or white wine, a handful of fresh basil, salt and pepper, and let stew for a good 30 minutes... Serve over pasta with parmesan... Very very yummy! Emily

Ok, feel like I have to report back, even though I'm afraid I can't rave... Somehow, even though I love Thai beef salads... Made a flank steak with Octaveman's marinade and it just... didn't quite pop for me. I'm thinking the dressing might be critical for giving it a really fresh flavor... Flavors just felt a little muddy. Maybe I just don't love the flank steak cut itself... Must say I prefer a london broil, coated with Lawry's Seasoned Salt and grilled... In reference to the grilling question, we grilled a 1 pound flank steak (I know, pretty small, but its just two of us) on high, got the grill up to around 470, and it was done to medium -- still pink in the middle, but certainly not rare in there -- with 4 minutes per side. Emily

Oooh -- Octaveman, that sounds fantastic, and so easy -- will be sure to try it soon! Thanks for posting! Emily

Ok -- Got CoF from the library, and I think tonight I'm going to try making the shrimp sate... Will let you guys know how it goes!

My husbands favorite is one I make with... Basmati rice Fresh corn (super yummy if grilled, but just boiled and cut off the cob is fine) watercress or arugala toasted pecans cubes of mild cheese (munster or monterrey jack) red onion (or scallions work too) I make this with a lemon or lime vinagrette made with lots of fresh ground black pepper... My husband swears that adding fresh blueberries to this is fantastic, but I don't think they're necessary... Emily

Ah, ok Gfron -- your pixie stick vs. malt ball powder description got through to me... I can imagine (or taste in my mouth) the textural difference... Lucys suggestion sounds intriguing to me -- I bet getting baking soda involved might help produce the texture desired... Now I blame you if on my road trip later today I get a spontaneous malt ball craving! (Or pixie sticks for that matter!) Emily

I'm confused -- if you are eventually going to chop it up to get powder, doesn't that essentially take away its malt-ball consistency (that air-puffed thing?) In which case, if you aren't going for the taste of malt balls, and you won't be biting into some kind of puff, what's the point?

Robin -- Dishwashing Hunk! I love it! That is certainly what I mean when I use the term, as in my house, the cook doesn't do dishes -- Hooray! As for what I'll cook next, ok, you inspired me -- I requested the book from our library again, so I should get it in a few days and will be able to give something else a go... On a side note, I have what I believe to be the most phenomenally delicious indonesian chicken sate and peanut sauce recipe, from some other indonesian cookbook -- I copied the recipe, but am not sure I even still have the original cite. I traveled in Indonesia as a kid, and this tastes just like my memory of the sate we had there... Perhaps I can PM you the recipe, and you can test and let me know how it compares to the CoF version... Emily

Rarerolling -- not exactly on your topic, but if you are actually getting tortillas overnight mailed to you I thought it might be relevant -- I have recently started making my own corn tortillas, and have become a total convert... While it is a bit of an effort, I think the results are amazing -- I was never really a store-bought corn tortilla fan, but home-made are another animal -- I started making them, and now can't get enough! Seems like this way you'd get fresher tortillas, they'd likely to be cheaper, and you could keep the ingredients for them on hand for those Mexican food cravings! Looking at that site you linked to, I see they sell the yellow corn and white corn masa required to make the tortillas -- basically the recipe I use is 2 cups masa to 1 cup water, which makes 12 tortillas... They get rolled out between sheets of plastic wrap, and then (without the wrap) get cooked for a few minutes on each side in a cast iron skillet... Sooooo good! Emily