hummingbirdkiss

I am reading The Alice B Toklas Cookbook my mother scored an original English version at a thrift shop in the Caribbean ..her score became my score I love that whole Gertrude Stein/Hemmingway/Picasso period my grandmother was a big fan of Gertrude Stein ... this is quite a good read actually I looked online and now they have this version and all her stuff in paperback

I found a couple of bottles of my extract! I thought I had given it all away. .it is fantastic btw.. ....I have to say ..no curdling yet but have not tried it with milk dishes like custard or anything .....since I just found the bottle. ..whipped cream did just fine ..I whipped the cream and added the extract towards the end of the whipping and it was perfect no curdling ..I will however try just putting a spoon of it in milk to see I wonder why it is curdling? there are milk based drinks that have alcohol in them so that should not be it ..but now you have me curious and you are right you can not overlook that ..dairy and vanilla go so well together hopefully there is some resolve for this

bumping again for a good tip on Dim Sum this next coming month in Seattle... ..I know folks are not thrilled with Kowloon but the parking is so easy and this will include some older family members who have trouble walking .. is Kowloon enjoyed by folks now? (I liked it actually when I ate there a couple of years ago) .. or where would you take a great big family for a birthday dim sum ..they know how to order ...enjoy a wide variety...price does not really matter if it is good... love cart service and good parking ...wow I am asking a lot huh? help please

ok this is how you do it and no it is not traditional or probably not even the "correct" method but I have spent a long time trying to learn to make a really good version of each type of rice I can find.. ..and all the "regular" ways people told me or showed me for Jasmin rice just ended up with those soggy results you started this thread talking about .. so for Jasmin rice and also Mahatma long grain this is what I do with consistantly good results you need this pot this is the best pot I have said that before and I will say it again this pot can make some rice! it is less than $10 at most Hispanic markets .. I buy jasmine rice that is not coated with anything so I don't have to or barely have to give it a quick rinse put oil in the bottom of the pan put 1 part rice in (this pot for me makes a perfect batch of 3-4 cups raw rice)..saute it around just until opague then add 2 parts water (so I add 6- 8 cups water scale up or down I have made as little as 1 cup raw this way) bring boil and continue to boil (no lid) giving a stir with a wooden spoon once in a while just to move it around when the water is about 80-90% absorbed and the rice is starting to poke through the water on the top...turn the heat down to low cover with a tight fitting lid wrapped in a tea towel or even paper towels folded over the top (so when you put the lid on you don't catch fire..as I have..) ....this absorbs the steam so it does not drip back down into the rice perfectly cooked, fragrant, firm, individual grains that remain as individuals while sticking together just enough to handle curries with chopsticks ...took me years of people giving me recipes, tips and advice...even showing me...I used the tips and ended up with this ..is exactly what I was looking for ..so I hope this helps

My mother of my heart was a tiny 90lb woman from Providence RI ..she was the most amazing and totally crazy lady on the planet..well traveled..love to eat wonderful food ...a horrible cook but she knew what was good that was for sure ... and a hard core Irish Catholic said a Rosary every day...raised me to believe that "your soul is your business so you better be good" ..that said ...at 87yrs old a little dementia had crept up in her ..she was off the wall anyway so it was pretty hard to notice ..but she was always sweet, polite and as she said "I would not say the word s$%t if I had a mouth full of it"....that was about as bad as it got for her ....ever..... So a couple of years ago I went to visit her and we first had to go to our absolute favorite Italian place in South Providence..(still there/still fantastic...thank God something's never change) we walk in, graciously seated...we order wine ..sip away ...and are looking over the menu ...two sips into her wine my dear sweet Helen looks up at the waiter at the table next to us ..who is taking someone's order btw...in a very loud and puzzled tone and a good old fashoined Providence accent ..."Look at how tight yaw pants ah where the Hell do you keep your shloong(sp?) ????" that not only set the tone for the evening it also added a considerable amount to both our bar tab and our tip ...the staff was wonderful ...treated her like gold..

We had a monumental tragedy strike us in November ... I have not cooked anything much it two months ..we are run down, put on some weight and feel like crap ..time to pull us out of this ...our situation in life is not going to go away we have to learn to live in a different world now but healing has begun .and with that I have been inching my way back into my kitchen and trying to cook some ...life must go on I guess and the quality of it has to do with how we approach it ... so... yesterday I woke up to a beautiful rainbow and felt the best I have felt in what seems like ages! Caldo De Res was the most comforting, healthy, soulful, thumb sucking hair twirling dish I could think of to make for my frist really big meal and with that the help of a friend who coached me through this (thank you Chef) ....made a huge pot of soup... this in turn gave me the idea that perhaps folks should actually come over and help us eat this labor of love...company is nice when you make food Caldo De Res my recipe/method there are tons of great recipes for this soup/stew but I just work with what is fresh and available ..my list of ingredients are as follows ..quantities not specific mix and match as you go for sure The Meat a large chuck roast cut into huge pieces beef short ribs The Vegetables Carrots Celery Onions Garlic red bell peppers corn on the cob potatoes yuca green bananas tomatoes ( I used to large cans one of Cento whole plum and one of diced) the seasonings cumin seed coriander seed pepper corns whole and coarsely cracked dried chipotle bay leaves DC Kosher salt 1-2 pkts of Sazon con cilantro y achiote 3 cubes of Knorr Caldo De Res local Merlot the method I cut the vegetables I make three piles Pile 1 the sofrito it is tiny diced tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, red bell pepper slow cooked the most essential part of a good Caldo ..I cook everything down slowly in lots of olive oil ..until it can go through the food mill then I cook it and cook it and cook it until it is more oil then paste ..this is how it should look for this soup ... Pile 2 larger cut vegetables (reserve the bananas, potatoes and yuca then they go into the soup pot at the end) I roast the vegetables with the spices and meat (about 475) until meat is browned ..stir around once or twice... take the meat out put it in the strained simmering stock ....add the corn on the cob slices to the roasting pan and roast again until the corn is a little scorched ..(roasting it is a good way of making frozen corn perk up for this dish it also keeps the identity of all the vegetables intact) Pile 3 trimmings for the stock pot ..since it takes most of the morning to make a perfect sofrito from scratch might as well use all the extras for the stock at the same time and waste nothing ...strain your stock when the meat is browned in the stock pot you can add whatever you like I used the trimmings, bay leaves ...a spoon of the spices used for roasting,... couple of cups of Merlot and a couple of cubs of Knorr Caldo De Res cubs..the packet of Sazon so your sofrito is done and your broth is strained he meat is simmering until almost completely tender ..now you add the roasted vegetables, the potatoes, bananas, yuca. and the sofrito into the soup pot..do not boil this just bring it up to a high simmer and cook for about another 20 min or so until the potatoes/yuca are tender ..skim the fat off ..not all of it this soup needs the fatty goodness serve with warmed corn tortillas, sliced limes, dried oregano, crushed dried red and chile pequin this was not only great food ..wonderful company ....but the emotional healing was there as well ...hope you make this some day and thank you

I just found out I am grossly anemic! I am shocked! ..I mean I am a nurse know the symptoms .. I would flip out at the numbers I have if I saw them on one of my patients! .....I thought this tremendous fatigues had to do with my grief or hormones ...so today I am going to try to embrace my love for cooking again ..by putting my favorite Hispanic radio station on..blasting music and making a huge pot of Caldo de Res ..I have friends coming over for dinner ..and really need to start cooking again...so I am leaving the casava and potatoes in....I can just eat around them (carbs in broth does not freak me out and I dont count them) ..this is a great soup to make (if you have not tried it you should!) ,,,Foodtv has a great recipe listed for it that sounds like the same way I make it ... and you can make it very low carb just swap out the starchy veg for the LC kind you like ..diakon for potatoes, add more chayote ..whatever... thank goodness for a food community like this! ..nice diversion/distraction when you are not feeling great...and I learn something new everytime I visit! I have never tried agave nectar but have seen it..can you tell me about it ...what it tastes like what kind of things you use it for ..does it bake?

I just found out I am grossly anemic (too bad there is no really pale smilie) so I am snacking on an iron pill and a pile of satumas yes I agree with the idea of reading Egullet to helping a food lover recover from many things... I am very appreciative it is good medicine!

I love dried pears for a savory way to use them fresh I make this dish not exactly a recipe but here is how it goes a bunch of mixed fresh seafood ..I love to use scallops, prawns and squid saute with some wonderful smokey bacon and cut up fresh ripe pears... then finish with some heavy cream a little salt and pepper I have a picture I can post someplace

the top of my fish sauce list is Phu Quoc I have tried three of them they are all three the best fish sauces I have ever had ...something about that beautiful island I guess! (that is a bottle of Phu Quoc in front of me in the avatar!) second is of course Squid brand ..at less than 2 bucks a bottle here sometimes ...for consistantly good results it is a huge bargain! I keep both Phu Quoc (for Cambodian, Vietnamese and Lao food) and Squid brand ( for Thai food) on hand all the time so I have two differing types to work with

ditto but I go one step further and toss a dry paper towel in the container after washing it and drying it ..then put the lid on ...remove paper towl after a few hours ..that seems to take any residual bleachy smell out it is rare that I have to do this because the dishwasher works so well I guess

Ok we get salt bacalao here but it is a salt cod and I have never seen salted cod cheeks in the US I would love to try this actually I use salt cod quite a bit I will have to ask if this is something we can get eta our halibut cheeks can be pretty large here and if you have never tried them by all means you should because they are very good! I eat two large ones for my own dinner actually I usually buy five for two of us

I tried to google it and found there was a Basque dish and it is most likely fish and it sounds great from what I could figure out from what I found ..I love halibut cheeks and would love a new recipe I personally just cook them with olive oil and garlic fresh parsley and a nice Pinot Grigio splashed on the cheeks to finish them and the same wine served with them is perfect as far as I am concerned but I am assuming we are talking about fish cheeks here and not sure what the whole dish is mentioned above?

what kind of cheeks are these? fish or? I have never heard of this dish

I tried this many years ago a friend of mine swore by presoaking ..but I found it to be a pain and since it takes no time really to make pasta I saw no benefit to it myself ..but hey if it takes less time and you need to cut corners the final result was as good as cooking it the regular way

Funny about the cumin! I get so chastised when I come to a NM kitchen and am allowed to make chile red or green ...the cumin is always an issue of contempt! I adore the stuff especially with green chile.....everyone who is "native" around me says to leave it out ... that and the quantity of cilantro I put in my salsa always an issue!!! what can I say I am from Rhode Island and live in Washington State! In spite of a lot of time spent in your amazing state I have yet to get my recipes "right" ..even my kids give me grief about the cumin ..but I love the flavor ...especially with a green chile lamb stew ...

I humble to your wisdom on this one ..but really I love Durans .. I forgot about Cecilia's that would be perfect actually ...I missed going this year it two of my kids were born in Santa Fe and have aunties in Alb ..so we get the best of both worlds I think there is actually a lot of very good food to be had ..the tamales are out of this world

the best quick local food I know there ..and I have eaten a LOT of local food in Albuquerque that is for sure..I still go back to Duran's Pharmacy for green chile stew and home made tortillas each and every time I am in town I have to have lunch there at least but more often two or three times .. the address is 1815 Central Ave. NW, Albuquerque, NM, 87104 oh and any regular grocery stores in the area including Costco (my sister swears by the Walmart but I have yet to go that far when I go there ) has roasted green chile frozen and dried green chile ..blue corn, blue corn meal, blue corn tortillas ..blue corn muffin mix ...whatever...frozen and dried posole, chico corn, the best pintos on the planet are locally grown in New Mexico and of course all kinds of local red chile you dont need to hit specialty stores the selection of local food at the grocery stores is fantastic ...and if you do opt for the specialty food stores the prices are going to be double that of a grocer

I have never made a good "from scratch" pancake in my life ....for some reason I just do not have the pancake making skill ....so I resort to this mix ..it is the only "mix" in my house and it is actually quite good considering all you add is water...far better than any other type of mix (no funny chemical taste) I have found I can not stand the taste of Bisquick at all you can buy this locally here in Washington in almost any grocery store .. but I have also found a link where it can be ordered online.. go figure on that one!!Snoqualmie Falls Pancake mix

I use this pot to make rice and when I make the Persian rice it works perfectly! it is a cast aluminium very inexpenisive pot from a local Hispanic market ...makes the best rice ever I do however use a clean dry dish towel between the lid and the pot to capture the steam ...one of my Iranian coworkers taught me that trick it absorbs that extra water so your rice does not get soggy I am able to get a nice golden crisp layer now but it took lots of practice to get it right

no Feedbag I could never eliminate a food group! I love food way too much for that ..for me low carb is easy ..a no brainer actually ...but it is low carb not NO carbs! I can eat about 40-60 carbs a day to loose weight.. (I dont have a lot to loose either really) so I am not drastic in this it is just that foods like sugar, white flour, white rice and potatoes can really pack weight on me faster than any other foods I eat..the keep me hungry for more more more .Like K8memphis said "carbs beget carbs" .and for some folks that is an issue..but fruit, fats, meats, dairy, veggies and even grains all good! I think the bottom line for me has been in all of this (until recently that is) was to eat a wide variety of fresh foods...in season and as close to the source where they were produced.. and yes move your body .....for me that would be the hunting and gathering bit of eating I call food shopping exercise!

thanks so much you are right salads are best..they are easy keep well and you can put all kinds of things on them ... sugar is a demon that is for sure ..I like what you say about carbs beget carbs K8mephis!!! very true! the more sugar I eat the more I crave ..but this nightmare of a patch I am going through has seemed insurmountable(still does some days that is for sure) ...and my diet has gone to shit my mind is clear enough now that I can see that eating poorly is not goiing to resolve my deep grief that is for sure but I feel to crappy yet to go cold turkey so one thing at a time and sugar is the worst precipitate to eating a bunch of crap nonstop ...and I dont think it helps with my coping to eat poorly... ..I barely have the energy somedays to brush my hair and get out the door...so thinking about making the healthy meals (that I previously did with delight and eas) is really hard so any and all help is wonderful ..I think I will just stop on my way to work tomorrow and buy a big thing of premade salad greens and some marinated feta cheese to toss on it and just have it at work for the next few days...normally I adore the pleasure of making food ...but right now it is hard my husband bought a really good pub pizza for lunch today and I am wanting to do a face plant in it but will refrain ..

I have to taper into low carb..especially after what I did to myself the past few weeks ...it has been horrible honestly ..try to give up things one at a time instead of a huge purge ..then you can see what happens! and I agree with Mrsadan for sure ...read stuff there are tons of books, Low Carb support boards.... some radical and one sided and some very mellow and all about you doing your own thing ..depends on what you need or want I guess .. I have to give up sugar first or I will get no where with weightloss my husband on the other hand eats a low carb diet all day but puts sugar in his coffee and will not give it up ..he does fine however and looses weight anyway given the three days of bitchiness and headaches I am sure I needed to give it up for a while ..I felt like a drunk must feel coming off a binge I swear ... now that that is given up I will give up the rest of the rice, flour and potatoes I basically do the middle Atkins (except I have to taper into it and can not just quit everything as I said above) ...I think it is 1992 version ....I dont know where the book is or I would look ..after all these years I pretty much know it by heart! ..it was after the radical starvation diet of the 70s but before the introduction of Atkins bars and shakes as actual "food" (??????) Carb Wars is a good book it can help you find something that works... back to the real food talk Work day lunch ideas are hard for me ..especially lately ..so any easy and fast good ideas would be appreciated... favorite..really fast..easy to pack and cheap lunch for me is cream cheese slammed between sliced jicama and/or red bell pepper (like a sandwich) people make fun of this constantly where I work ..but it is good ...and keeps me full all afternoon . If go out Pho is a graat fast and inexpensive option...I just ask for steamed sprouts and no noodles I will take dinner leftovers but I need more ideas for a more enjoyable lunchy lunch please?

Persian rice has crispy rice in it..in fact the more of a crispy layer you have at the bottom the better here is a recipe that looks really close to what I do to get that good crispiness Persian rice click here

Off Topic if I see one more thing online about kimkins I am going to loose my lunch... On Topic I am ready for the chemicals . .I need something sweet or I will toss myself on a sword today ... so I made what I think is the lowcarb cheesecake to beat all cheesecakes this is NOT exact science however so feel free to improvise very Southwest flavored to me ..it smells to die for and looks wonderful as well as sugarless 2- 8 oz packages of cream cheese 1 cup sour cream 1 can cooked pumpkin 1/8 cup dutch cocoa 1/8 cup regular cocoa 1 tsp of vanilla 4 eggs 3 packets of Splenda mixed with 3 packets of cyclamates (or whatever sweeteners you want to use) and a pinch of stevia 1/4 cup strong coffee mix above until smooth and put in a greased cheesecake pan then mix together the following 1//2 cup partially smashed pumpkin seeds 1/2 tsp of freshly ground cinnamon a pinch of salt .. 1 Splenda and 1 pkg of cyclamates (or two Splenda) stir the pumpkin seeds into the cheesecake mixture allow several to just sit on top for garnish bake at 350 for about 40 min or until pick comes out clean cool serve with minted whipped cream .or as is this is my low carb breakfast for a week