Dana

David Rosengarten recently (last fall?) ordered Texas BBQ from several places, and the winner was Willy Ray's BBQ here in Beaumont!!! (www.willyraysbbq.com, I'm too tired to figure out how to make a link.) While I've never used their mail order - I live about 6 blocks from the place - I can vouch that it's terrific. Check it out....

fifi--what's Black Daniel's????

I have made herb vinegars just like Suzanne method for many years. I usually make one with several different herbs in the same bottle, too. I kept them for over a year, and we're not dead yet, either!!!

I have sometimes seared scallops (obtained from very reliable sources) till they were perfectly cooked, but tasted bitter. Does anyone know what might cause that?

Central Market in Houston always has some super-duper ones, but they're 9.99 a pound. I always figure 2 shanks for 2 of us will run me $20, but, no more often than we get them, I think it's a worthwhile splurge. They are tender and meaty. I'll fix polenta or just plain rice or mashed potatoes to help offset the cost of the total meal. Sometimes ya just gotta go for the gusto - or the veal shanks.

I'm hosting "the girls" on Saturday for our monthy lunch and chit-chat. I'm serving Salad Nicoise from Fine Cooking Sept. 2001. I've confit-d the tuna and will make the herbacious dressing recommended in the mag. It's really delish, but I'm not sure about a wine. I thought of a sparkler, as this is lunch, such as Frixienet, but maybe a Chenin Blanc or a Sauv. Blanc would be better. I like to expose my friends to as many wine varities as I can. Last time, I served Villa Maria Sauv. Blanc. and they really liked it. Any recommendations? I thank you and my friends thank you.

Buffalo Mozz Without a doubt.

I can't count the number of cookbooks I've gotten at garage sales, but my favorite find is a Silver Pine China serving platter. I serve holiday turkey, ham, etc. on it and it's beautiful.

I imagine that that it will be glorious. Your food will probably outshine the caterer. Let us know.

Rainy day here, so: Chicken Sausage Gumbo Steamed Rice Garlic bread hjshorter - I love hangars, too, but are difficult to find here in SE TX. Can you get them easily? We can't even get them in restaurants.

Go before the end of April and don't come back before October. We live straight west of NOLA about 4 hours, and WE don't even go then. The narrow streets in the Quarter allow for NO breeze at all. The worst time we ever had there was in May, and it was because of the heat. We went a couple of years ago in December and that was pretty nice - cool weather and Christmas decorations and oysters. What could be better?????

I'm with Jinmyo except without the feta. That's my normal fish treatment. If you don't like the tomatoes, just omit them. Mount in some butter at the end and add just a little oregano to continue the Greek theme. Sound great to me!!!

I enjoyed an early dinner at Rio Ranch with my son's gf this evening. The decor has a hill country feel with the native stone, and is really Texas-y, but cute. We had a cocktail each - I had a Cosmopolitan and she had a Margarita, both very good. We had the onion rings. labeled the "best in Houston" by some magazine, I can't remember which one. It was accompanied by a spicy ketchup, which was delish. The salad dressing I ordered was a citrus viniagrette - wish I had the recipe. Brooke ordered blue cheese, which was also a viniagrette. That caught her off guard,she was expecting creamy, but she really liked it. I ordered Red Snapper with avocado and crab, while she ordered Mahi. The server soon came back to say they were out of the mahi (he should have known that when we placed the order), so she got the snapper as well. It had a nice, crispy crust and a light sauce. The side we got was grilled asparagus. They were pencil thin, perfectly cooked, but brushed them with BBQ sauce. Plain grilled asparagus would have been better with the fish. Save the BBQ sauce for a steak plate. Our dinner came with a basket of biscuits (pretty good) and cornbread(too dry), but we didn't really want bread anyway. Both of us were too full for dessert. We really enjoyed the dinner, would go back again, but it's not what I would call haute cuisine. The ambiance was too casual for that title.

This must be the night for scallops!!! Field greens with cilantro dressing Seared Sea Scallops with brown butter and caper sauce Pan roasted potatoes with garden fresh herbs

Here is my recipe for Candied curried Pecans. I made these and put them on a table with cheeses, crackers, etc. at our daughters' wedding. They were a big hit. 1 1/2t. onion powder 1 1/2t. garlic powder 1 1/4t. salt 3/4t. curry powder 1/4t. cayenne Mix together Melt 2T. butter, 2T. honey and pour over 3c. pecans. Stir to coat. Add spice mix and stir. Spread on large tray and sprinkle with a cajun seasoning blend. Bake at 250 till toasted, about 40 min. Cool. Instead of baking, I also sometimes put these in the smoker for an hour, stirring every 20 min. Line tray with foil for easier clean up. I can also vouch for the caramel corn. Good luck with keeping your hubby out of it!!!

I just finished my lunch of gemilli with evoo, garlic, dried pepper flakes, a handful of spinach and a few currents. So good, I think I'll fix it again tomorrow. I just love currents with spinach.

I'm with snowangel on the necklacetimer. I've got enough stuff bouncing around, don't need a timer, too. I have a stupid apple timer, and I set it plus the microwave timer, just in case I don't hear one or the other. Please report back on how you like the one you just ordered. I might need that!!!!

Jaymes' King Ranch Chicken served with guacamole, sour cream and sliced green onion Grilled zucchini The last of the banana pudding

EVOO=extra virgin olive oil

Childhood Sunday dinners for me meant rotating between grandparents' homes, both farms within 30 miles of our house. My maternal gma's meant everybody got to have their favorites - white gravy instead of brown, pickled beets, and neopolitan ice cream so we could each have whatever flavor was our favorite. She once made us popcorn for breakfast!!!. Paternal gma wasn't as accomodating, but there were MANY more grandkids (more cousins - the best part of Sunday dinner), so everybody's favorite was out of the question. At both there were HUGE gardens that were the basis of meals, whether fresh picked or canned from. Main dish was usually fried chicken or sometimes a beef roast. Don't forget the evening entertainment - Lawrence Welk, The Wonderful World of Disney, or Bonanza. (I can't remember what came on which night). My Sunday dinners are usually my son and his gf, with any number of friends or neighbors thrown in. If we miss a Sunday, the gf tells my how much she missed it. I just love her!!!

crawfish cornbread with leftover crawfish from Sunday, leftover corn-cut-off-the-cob, onion, jalapeno, cheese, butter melted on top. hamburger steaks with mushroom gravy green beans with bacon and onion.

One day, you'll be glad you took all those boys under your wing (so to speak), and they felt welcome in your home. My son's friends all hung out here at our house, and sometimes we fed quite a few. Some of these boys only knew hamburger helper, and once one told me, "I like eating over here. Ya'll eat together at the table. At my house, we all eat in front of the TV." I almost cried for him. Anyway, now they are grown, but will always be "the boys" to me, and I know who I can call if we need something moved, or have a flat tire, etc. They are great young men.

I also have an immense oregano, as well as rosemary and chives. The chives survived another winter - I think I've had them for 10 years. Today, I put in some thyme and basil, lavender and sage. Also put some serrano peppers in pots, green beans and 12 tomato plants. We had a beautiful weekend here in SE TX. Too bad about the snow.......

Spicy boiled crawfish with corn on the cob, new potatoes and link 'party time' sausages. Coronas with limes Banana pudding for dessert. We are stuffed. What a great evening.

I rarely eat canned soup, but I keep it on hand for my 23 year-old son. He prefers Campbells over Progresso, but he only eats certain varities - chicken with any kind of noodle, veg beef, clam chowder. I'm not sure why he doesn't like the Progresso, unless it's one of those 'childhood' things. I sometimes fed my kids soup for lunch when they were little. I had Campbells' soup spoons - one with the boy and one with the girl - when I was a kid. My mom probably save up 4000 labels and sent them in to get free spoons.