Emily_R

Hi all -- Some good looking food happening folks -- that skate looks delicious, and Peter, while I've never had sweetbreads, your photo made me want to try them! Dinner tonight was a good one... My favorite beet green / beets / walnuts / feta salad in a lemon vinagrette, with blackened shark, done on the grill... The blackening spice mix was a nice one... I modified from a few recipes I found online and was happy with the results! Emily

Never heard of them, but wow do they sound good. Potato chip around peanut! Genius! I will start looking...

GTO -- that looks phenomenal! The peach and almond combination sounds amazing to me. Where did the recipe come from?

Hi all -- I very highly recommend the green Evert-Fresh reusable produce storage bags (which you put your produce in and then store in the crisper of the fridge). I found mine in Whole Foods, but have seen them at other markets too. They apparently have some kind of mineral built into the plastic of the bags that neutralizes /absorbs some of the gases given off by vegetables that cause them to ripen. All I know is that they keep my produce fresh WAY longer -- something that is critical for me when the garden starts producing in spades. I've kept zukes in these bags for nearly two weeks and they still look great and have real snap to them... They have worked miracles for me with cukes, broccoli, lettuce... I've attached a link to them below which has some product information on them... No affiliation with the website, as I bought mine in a brick and mortar store, but I do know these bags work! (Note that the bags indicate that you are supposed to dry the produce off as much as possible before putting it in the bag, so it seems that water is the enemy of fresh-staying vegetables across the board)... http://www.reusablebags.com/store/evertfre...edium-p-27.html Emily

Mmmm. Some great looking desserts here folks -- that almond joy panna cotta looks amazing, as with the strawberry tart... And those rolls look amazing, Domestic Goddess -- Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is one of my all time favorite blogs! Dessert tonight was a new brownie recipe, from the Nick Malgieri's book Perfect Light Desserts. Actually the texture of the brownies was excellent, considering that they only have 3 Tbs of butter in them for an 8 inch square pan. Only problem is that they are made with all cocoa, and so I thought they were a little too sweet and a little not chocolately enough. Nonetheless, quite good with vanilla ice cream and strawberries straight from the garden. I think I will play with the recipe a little, decreasing the sugar and adding just a little bit of melted chocolate for richness to see if I can still get something without the usual stick or two of butter! I also made a cantaloupe granita, which is yummy, but not necessarily that much better to me than eating a nice cold slice of melon with a squeeze of lime... Emily

Bueno! Those photos are to die for! Please please please tell me if I lick my screen I'll taste potato? Last night was roasted lemon garlic chicken with fresh oregano and mint, roasted over some new potatoes... Mmmmmm... Tonight is burgers -- am making my own buns for the first time. A new recipe for me -- the recipe has bacon fat in it, which sounds just about perfect. I'll let everyone know how they turn out! Emily

Wow! She is a lucky woman! I have no experience with fondant, but looks beautiful, and they look like flowers to me -- I particularly like the shaping on the water lily at the top of the cake. But two key questions -- how did it taste, and was she appropriately appreciative?

Oooh Robin -- while the food looks great, that scale has me seriously green with envy! Love it!

Prawncrackers! That is amazing -- looking at it again, I totally see the Pizza Pac-Man munching on a rabbit! Love it! A Rorschach test for foodies!!

Hey Chris -- Thanks for letting me know -- I didn't realize kecap manis was such a different animal -- I think I thought it was just like soy sauce with sugar added. I will be sure to pick some up the next time I'm at the asian market here! Emily

Hi all -- Just finished off my first attempt at sate sapi for dinner tonight... I didn't get quite enough char on it... It was cooked just right for me in the middle -- still a little pink -- but I think next time since it cooks so quickly I will leave it on the same side for almost the whole grilling, just flipping it for 30 seconds at the end. That way it will get a really good char on one side but not overcook... I must say, it was good, but to me, somehow just didn't really quite pop... I think more char would help, and perhaps using kecap manis would give it that sweetness that I think was missing -- I only had regular soy for the soy / lime / chile dipping sauce... I did have it with one of my favorite sides though -- broken rice. Jasmine rice that has been broken into little pieces -- feels sooo good in the mouth! Emily

Emily, I made that last week also! Only when I discovered that I had just one can of chickpeas, not two like I thought, I put in some sliced sauteed chorizo to bulk it up a bit. Not that that's a bad thing! Ate it with crusty bread and a salad with sherry dressing. It really was delicious, a great cool weather meal. ← Eilen -- YUM! Chorizo makes nearly anything better, but I can really imagine it paired well with the flavors in that chickpea dish. I'll have to try adding some the next time I make it!

Peter -- I'm so glad you joined this thread, as I loved reading about you and your wife's black-box challenges! The fried goodies look fabulous! Ann -- That antipasto plate made me swoon! Have had a frustrating cooking week here... Tried out five new recipes, three of which were bad enough to not bother with eating! ARGH. In protest, I'm ordering pizza tonight! The recipe that was a winner, however, was quite delicious -- Catalan Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Almonds from the fabulous food blog www.travelerslunchbox.com Emily

Chufi! Looks divine! I'm wondering if you could share your pita recipe -- I have tried several, and while all tasty, have never managed to get any to consistently puff. Yours look incredible! Emily

Maggie -- glad you posted this, as I had always heard and believed the big lie too... Now your blood orange and blackberry pavlovas sound absolutely outragous!!! Any chance you've got a picture so I can live vicariously?

Menton1 -- those apples most likely *were* grown by the seller and then stored in cold storage (apples store very well, and certain varieties better than others) by the seller over the winter. I don't see why this is "too bad" at all!

GASP! Wendy... I'm dying here! What does it take to get invited to one of your dinner parties! And Rocky, that salad looks stupendous! Thanks for the inspiration! Emily

While I agree with the comments about a lot depending on climate, I must recommend (albeit up in the north, in NY state), Eva Purple Ball. Grew it last year and was thrilled with it -- thought it had the taste of a brandywine but not as massive in size, which is nice when you are looking for something smaller than a two-pounder! Emily

Hummingbirdkiss -- did you add the extra 1/4 cup of butter or leave it out? If so, when did you add it? Emily

Oooh -- that reminds me... There is a fabulous cheddar-cheese beer bread recipe on the great blog Farmgirl Fare... It is drop dead easy and delish!! http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2005/11...beer-bread.html Emily

Thanks all -- Jon, that recipe sounds delish -- I will try it soon and report back! Emily

Snowangel -- I want to try your recipe too, but I have a question. As posted, it lists 1/2 cup of butter, which gets cooked with the oatmeal, and then it lists another 1/4 cup of butter that isn't referred to anywhere else in the recipe. When / how does this other 1/4 cup of butter get added? Thanks! Emily

Hi all -- Just wondering if anyone a) thinks it is possible to make a really good chicken (or turkey, I suppose) sausage and b) if so, if you have a recipe you'd share. I typically have shied away from poultry sausage, figuring it just couldn't be as good as luscious fatty pork... But then I figured, I'd actually wind up eating sausage more often if there was a tasty version that wasn't made with luscious fatty pork... Thanks in advance! Emily

Hi Stone -- My favorite bread book by far is Whole Grain Breads by Machine or Hand, by Beatrice Ojakangas. Fabulous recipes, provided in three sizes each, so you can do a small, medium, or large loaf... Includes some information on using a poolish / biga type thing, but is not exclusively focused on "artisinal" breads, which I like because often I just want to make a delicious whole grain sandwich loaf. Each recipe includes instructions for baking in a bread machine, as well as mixing the dough by hand, kitchenaid mixer, or food processor. Not one of her recipes has ever failed me, and I'd say I've made probably 12-15 different recipes out of the book. Highly highly recommend it. Emily

And of course, when I crumble my own feta, that means I get to lick my fingers after! For any of you with a Wegmans nearby, I cannot recommend their Israeli feta highly enough. So so so creamy (requires lots of finger licking)-- just divine!