Pierogi

Randi that salmon looks spectacular ! My guess on the mystery bowl is buttercream frosting.

Ann, my condolences on the loss of Stetson. I know how much it hurts to lose one of our fur people. He's up there flirting with my Ella, and they're both running with the big dogs. Edited to fix bad quote techniques..........

As someone who routinely cooks for one, I have a LOT of experience in dividing down recipes. Not so much going up....... The only time I have ever had problems is with baked goods, but then I am not a proficient baker by any means. Workin' on it, but it is a work in progress. I *think* its because baking is much more based on chemical reactions than cooking is.....and so the proportions of each ingredient relative to all the others is more critical. For routine, non-baked goods recipes I just divide everything by the same factor. If the recipe serves 4, I cut everything in half. If it serves 6, I reduce everything by 2/3s. I've not had any problems, but I am really good about tasting as I go, to make sure the spices/seasonings/etc. meet my palate. I'd say for the punch and the dressing just factor up straight across the board, add the seasonings/flavorings judiciously, tasting as you go, and you should be fine.

Maggie, that story is one of the most moving I’ve ever read. I could feel the love for Mom & Dad in each word. I hope with all my heart that Mom’s health is on the upswing, and that the treatments have done their job. My thoughts are with you and them for good things. Now. Onto the topic……toast. Yes, the scent of toasted bread of any ilk can wrap me in comfort as deep and lasting as my own mother’s hugs were. I’m not sure why, exactly. I can’t remember any particular epiphany about TOAST per se. Certainly I had my share of wonderful weekend breakies that involved cinnamon toast (I will try the brown sugar varietal of this……*mental note*). But I think it had more to do with midnight snacks of toasted rye bread, spread with sour cream & layered with paper-thin slices of onion. Some S&P, served open-faced and you had nirvana at the breakfast bar, of course shared with Mom, divulging the deepest, darkest fears and secrets of adolescence, teendom and young adult-hood. And fried egg sammies on toast, also midnight snacks with the same setting, also with paper-thin onion, S&P and the thinnest layer of ketchup. Yeah. Toast parties sound like a happening thing. I’d *ink it in* for sure. edit to fix silly typos from a cheap keyboard (Lord knows, NOT from my typing...)

Completely reasonable, given the horrific schedule you're keeping whilst blogging !! BTW, my dear departed PoodleDiva Ella was an inveterate trash scrounger. I couldn't keep anything in the kitchen garbage can unless I was there to stand guard. If it was in the kitchen trash, it was Ella's. I had cleaned out the fridge one day, and thrown away about 1/2 of a very garlicky meatloaf, then had a senior moment and forgot to take the trash out before I went out for the evening. Needless to say, Ella had found the meatloaf, and the house reeked of garlic. But SHE was smart enough not to eat the whole thing. Instead, she took the bulk of it and stashed it in the couch in the den (under throw pillows, no less) for future munching ! She was most perturbed when she came trucking down the hall for a little nosh a couple of hours after I got home, and found that the purloined, carefully stashed meatloaf was not quite where she left it. LOL, poor baby looked for that thing for about a week........

Based on the reviews I read in this thread, I bought the current (and apparently last) edition of this book. I totally love it. It seems as though every recipe is one I'd like to make. I agree about the pasta with the slow-roasted grape tomatoes, it was completely orgasmic....... . I've also made the Italian sausages and grapes with the accompanying smashed potatoes, which were both delightful. On the agenda for this up-coming week is the asparagus/lemon pasta. I'm glad to see that you liked it DanaG and I will keep in mind the tip to add some of the lemon juice as well as the zest. I think I'm going to be cooking things from this collection for a very long time.

I like Tre as well. He seems to have his head screwed on straight, and also seems to have a ton of talent. On first blush, this crop of chef-testants seem both more normal and more talented than Season 2. There was no one that immediately annoyed me tonight. And I must say, I am in Trash TV heaven. Food Network Star on Sundays, Hell's Kitchen on Mondays and Top Chef on Wednesdays. Life is good......*sigh*.

Oh yesssssssssssssss !!! DITTO what she said ^^^. I was thinking that same thing myself when I read this thread at work, but couldn't post it. Please, please pretty please? It really does sound yummy.

Hummingbirdkiss, I have definately seen those all over town, and with your explicit directions, should have it knocked (I hope I hope I hope......). I really also do think that, for a small amount, I was using way too big a pot sometimes. The last debacle for sure. I was using my small saucepan to make *gasp* a sauce, so I used a much much larger pan to make the rice. Because I didn't want to take the time/effort to wash my Calphalon 2-quarter..... dum dum dum

Yes, HungryC, my eyes were opened to *many* things that trip to the Big Easy LOL LOL !!! Food certainly being the most memorable........ Thank you all so much for the info, I think it may be a pot size/quality issue too. But I will absolutely try all your suggestions. They surely can only help !

I'm not so sure. I think it depends on the "creativity gene" right/left brain thingie. Which side of the brain goes with what, sorry I don't remember the wiring right now. It's late, and it was a long day at the factory. But.....my best friend is an accounting graduate. Works in computer programming and went back to school for a math degree. VERY which-ever-side-of-the-brain logic goes to. Me, I'm a liberal arts major, took one college-level math class and ran SCREAMING from any more. Her take on cooking......"why can't they be more clear? What's medium heat? How brown is brown? What's small dice......why can't they give us dimensions in inches or millimeters?" Me.........I just *know*. It's intuitive. For me. Not for Vicki. Me, I'm probably a 7.5 on the OP's scale. I'm good, but don't trust myself w/o instructions and/or guidelines. I really really need to work on that........ eta, final thought...I hate when I keep thinking after the fact.....

OK, I need to come clean. I was 28, and on my first visit to New Orleans before I realized that I actually liked rice. That, I soon discovered, was because my sainted mother, who (bless her heart) didn't learn to cook until she was in her 40's, served *shudder* Minute Rice all of my growing-up life. Culinarily advanced as I was at 28 (because, of course, 28-year-olds know everything.......) *I* graduated to Uncle Ben's (hanging head in shame). And I never, ever had a bad pot of rice. Now, since I'm a gour-may, and I supposedly know better, I've moved on to the regular, non-converted long-grain rice. And basmati. And jasmine. And, finally, after many Asian take-out lunches, short-grain sticky rice. However, I seem to have lost the ability to cook a decent pot of rice. At least of the long-grain variety. I can still swing basmati and jasmine. And I THOUGHT I had short-grain knocked until tonight. Blech. Gummy and hard at the same time. Which is pretty much the same problem I'm having with the long-grain. I *think* it's because I'm usually cooking only for me, and so I end up cutting even the smallest quantity on the package in half. For example, for tonight's rice debacle I used 3/4C of the Cal-Rose rice and 1C water, while the package suggested 1.5C rice and 2C water. I did do the math correctly, didn't I ??? (liberal arts major here no comprende math too much....) Please don't tell me to get a rice cooker. No counter/cabinet space in my postage-stamp sized kitchen. But save me from a return to Uncle Ben's..........

Now..........see.........this is what I'm finding as well. Nothing that I recoginize, nothing that really intrigues me and I always have the nagging suspicion that the stuff they had WASN'T stuff *I* wanted. And I would think being in southern LA county/almost Orange County my market would classify as upscale.......? I have found some tremendous buys on cookware, gadgets, utensils, serving pieces, plates and stemware, but I've always stayed away from the actual foodstuffs. Maybe I need to take a closer look???

Oh wow ! I'll have to look for that one, it sounds......interesting to say the least.

Hello again Sony, Yes, we're a lonesome group, us portable dishwasher owners ! You should've seen the looks I got when I went into some *big box* stores looking for one ! As far as the Whirlpool portable, no service issues at all (touch wood) and it gets almost daily use. At least 4 times a week for sure. When I do a big entertaining thing, I sometimes run 2 loads during the cooking frenzy. It's humming away with tonight's dinner load as I type, happily saving me from the dreaded dish-pan hands ! I have to say, it also has a decent selection of cycles, again, not something you get a huge choice in with portables. The only major appliance I have that isn't a Whirlpool is my range. That's a GE. My fridge, washer, dryer and the dishwasher are all Whirlpools, and I would replace all of them with Whirlpools again. The only appliance I ever needed service on was the washer, I think (???? heck, it was more than 30 seconds ago so who remembers?) the pump fritzed out. That was after like 3 years of 3-4 loads/week use. This is actually my 2nd Whirlpool washer, and the first lasted like 10 years. The dryer is over 15 years old at this point I'd guess. They are solid performers, or have been for me. When the washer did fritz out, I think the service rep was here the next day. You're correct in your assumption about pricing. That was part of the problem with my evil Hotpoint.......I tried to go cheap and save some money. It showed. Even if you don't end up with the Whirlpool, don't be tempted to go for the low end machine. Yeah, you can get great built-ins for under $300, but again, supply drives demand, and since portables don't have such a huge audience, you can plan on paying more. If I'm not mistaken, Whirlpool also makes the Kenmore brand..... By the way, did I mention I LOVE Whirlpool appliances ?!?!?!? LOL ! You may also want to check out Consumer Reports. I think they may have reviewed portables at one point. And one final thing, I was thinking about this earlier today, and I actually bought the Whirlpool on-line from Lowe's website. They didn't stock this particular model in my local store, but they did ship it there, and then I got local delivery. They also hauled away the old Hotpoint dog as well !

Hi Sony, I suspect that the responses to your question will be few and far between, as are your choices for portable dishwashers, unfortunately ! As someone with literally no space in my postage stamp-sized kitchen, and certainly no cabinet room, that could be sacrificed for a built-in, I've been a member of the portable club for a while... The first one I had was a used Kenmore. The sucker weighed a TON, but boy, did it do a good job, and it was a workhorse. About 10 years of daily use, I'd say I got my 100 bucks worth out of it ! That has been my only experience with a Kenmore product, but I know they have an excellent reputation for quality and reliability, and if that unit was representative of their product, I can certainly see why. I currently have a Whirlpool, the name on the front is "Silent Partner II". Sorry, its too late/I'm too tired to find the manual to see if there's another name associated with it..... . I got it at Lowe's I want to say maybe 4 years ago. It was fairly expensive, but then portables in general are (low demand = higher prices). IFIRC, I think it was $300-$400. I am a huge fan of Whirlpool appliances in general, and this is no exception. Quiet (well, as quiet as a portable can be), cleans well, again IFIRC it was Energystar rated, and almost as roomy as the average built-in. It will hold my 16-quart stock pot, and full place settings for 4-6. The only slight quibble I have with it is that the silverware basket is sort of funky, but nothing I can't deal with. As I said, in general I have had great experiences with Whirlpool products. I find them well made, well designed, dependable, have had few, if any, service issues and those I have had were easily resolved. In between the Kenmore & the Whirlpool I had a Hotpoint. RUN from them. Poorly made, didn't clean well, noisy and leaky. I couldn't wait for that thing to croak so I could replace it !

OMG, that artifical vanilla scent in candles-slash-personal care items-slash air fresheners is the absolute most putrid smell EVER ! If REAL vanilla smelled like that I don't think I'd ever bake anything or eat vanilla ice cream ever again. PEEEEEEEEE-YUKE !

Ditto on the opinion about TJ's baggers. They rock ! And also ditto on the opinons about "normal" grocery store baggers. They most certainly do NOT rock. I usually get the plastic......and use them for my kitchen garbage can liners. Its only me, and I dump it each night so that the fur children don't get ideas, so that size is about perfect for a day's worth of refuse. Unless I'm doing a big entertaining meal, and then I have a stash of larger plastic bags from places like Target, K-Mart, Lowe's, etc. that I save for that purpose. I reuse the TJs paper bags, they live in the back of my car.....*most* times I even remember to take them in with me ! They have the raffle thing as an incentive in SoCal as well. And shamefully, I must admit, that after many many years of agreeing that I would NEVER pay money for trash bags..........I finally broke down and bought Hefty/Glad bags for my recycling. My city doesn't require you separate stuff, it all goes in the same bin, and having a 15-or so gallon container just makes life easier. I rationalize it by thinking the Hefty/Glad bags are themselves, recyclable. If they're not, please don't burst my little bubble !

Marcia, I've been meaning to tell you that I made your Calabacitas recipe you posted a few weeks back over the weekend, with some chicken enchiladas verdes. It was DYNAMITE ! Thank you so much for sharing that, its a keeper for sure, and I will absolutely be making it again.

Oh Suzilighting, yes, crushiki !!! Many many fond memories of kneading that dough for my Mom for Christmas. Slitting the stips, and pulling the end through. She did the frying (the better to keep her little girl safe......) and then sugaring them. We used powdered sugar, and ohhhhhhhhh, that first one after a year, burning your mouth ever-so-slightly because it was still toooooo hot, but you were far far tooooooo eager to taste it. I haven't made them in probably 30 years, but I can sure still taste them. Then there's the Scandinavian rosettes that you cook on a form....almost a pancake/crepe type batter (very thin......) and fry them while they're still on the form. For the life of me, I can't think of the name right now. Both sides of my heritage. Mom was Polish, Daddy was Norwegian, both had fried dough of some ilk ! But crushiki.....oh yeah. Those were the best.

Softshells..........sigh.........softshells........... Panfried, with a light breading (panko works well, after a light egg wash). Sauteed w/ garlic & shallots, drippings deglazed w/ liquid of choice and then some buttah swirled in. GRILLED.....oh swoon........grilled softshells.

Well now.....my Dodgers have introduced all-you-can-eat right field pavilion seats this season. For 35 bucks per person, in advance, or $40 on game day (hmmmmm, the *official* Dodger web site seems a mite confused about the price. One sentence says its $25 and $30 and another says $35 and $40.......) you get all the following you can eat/drink in this time frame - 1&1/2 hours before game time to 2 hours after the first pitch. • Dodger Dogs • Nachos • Peanuts • Popcorn • Coca-Cola products • Water No beer Now, I *LOVE* Dodger Dogs as much (and maybe more) than the next person. But I don't know that I could eat $35 worth !! And those nachos are just danged nasty. They do have better offerings in other areas of the Stadium, but not in the feed-bag area. And, again according to the official Dodgers web site, you may *purchase* beer, ice cream and candy. I have to say, at least in Southern California, between the Angels (booooooo-hissssssssss) and my Dodgers (GO BLUE), in culinary terms, the Angels do win the contest. Somehow my Dodgers are stuck in the 40's food-wise....... And don't EVEN get me started on the garlic fries in San Francisco..... Go Dodgers (but not for the food..........)

Oh yeah. I'll be there. For sure. Embarrassed to admit it, but I will be there.

YES! Absolutely PBS. Lord knows, I'm blessed enough to live in Southern California, where I can get (thanks to satellite TV) 4, count 'em 4, PBS stations. Cooking most of the day on Saturday, and about 4 hours worth on Sundays. REAL cooking. Jaques and Lidia and Rick Bayless and America's Test Kitchen and Joanne Wier and Caprial and Ming and other people whose books I want to buy and whose recipes are calling for me to make. And sometimes, if we're very very lucky........JULIA. Yes, Julia lives on PBS in Southern California. That is all *I* need to be a happy, happy TV viewer.

Nope, it's the "Parsley and Pumpkin Seed Salad" on page 72. Its got anchovies, grated carrots & hard-cooked eggs in it as well, and its served on a big slice of toasted country bread. In the episode of the show where I saw him make it, he said you can make the salad part several hourst to a day in advance, and it gets better as the flavors blend and the parsley softens. *MENTAL NOTE*, I really need to make it soon..... Edit to finish the thought interupted by a cheesy keyboard and too-long nails.