Katie Meadow

Indeed, the first time my mother roasted a chicken shortly after she married my dad she cooked the whole thing, including the bag of giblets of which she was unaware. Also the chicken needed additional plucking.

Find my husband. He might be willing to try a bite. As for appropriate crackers, see the saltine thread. How could you go wrong?

This thread is more revealing about American eating habits than any other. I can't imagine pouring milk over saltines but then my mother favored --or maybe she invented it-- one of the weirdest combos of all time. She always had saltines on the side with a bowl of chocolate ice cream. I don't know where she got that from, although she did have strange parents. Maybe someone told her it was French; anything "French" she assumed was good. It is also true that if you don't eat the whole sleeve quickly they get very stale. The thrill of a opening a new sleeve is in my mind akin to the thrill of opening a fresh box of real Cheerios. They smell divine! Two days later, not so much. Here's a question: I know saltines have always been about available, cheap and easy. But has anyone ever tried to bake them from scratch? I think they would be great if the right recipe came along. As an aside, take the case of graham crackers. Like Proust's madeleine, they taste heavenly in memory, but the graham crackers you buy today are just plain dull. A few years ago I got so frustrated I talked my husband into making them, with real graham flour, and they were excellent. I don't have the energy for that kind of project now.

I certainly wouldn't.

Not really sure why Melissa Clark irritates me so much. Maybe partly because she has a slapdash attitude as noted above. But also maybe because her recipes don't seem very appealing. I think of her as someone who is always trying to come up with a new way to combine broccoli and cheese. I imagine her blindfolded reaching into a chaotic fridge and pulling our cranberries, thyme, cream cheese, squash and macadamia nuts and saying "Cookies!"

She needs reminding?

I hoard sardines and cans of Italian tomatoes. I try to buy multiples of things we use often, like pasta, rice, etc. One problem I'm up against is that my husband often fails to let me know when he has used the last of something, so I'm in offensive mode. The other problem is that he often balks at buying multiples when shopping. With staples, "buying it when you need it" often backfires. Is it so awful to have a few pounds of linguini on hand? I don't have a big enough freezer to hoard anything except home made stocks of various kinds, but I wouldn't know what it's like to have an empty freezer, or what I might do if I had more space.

My mother liked chicken hearts, but I don't remember her ever buying them in bulk. I used to eat the stray one here and there when they came in the chicken, but then I got a dog. Her appreciation way outstripped mine.

The name of this thread is perfect. I just stocked up on saltines because my toddler granddaughters are coming next week, and that makes for an easy snack. No, I would not serve saltines with a cheeseboard for any grownup event. Agree totally with @AlaMoithat there are plenty of crackers out there worthy of good cheese.. And with most cheeses I certainly don't want a salty cracker. My husband, who spent much of childhood eating margarine on saltines does not have anything positive to say about them except they were a cheap fix when I was pregnant. I'm still fond of them.

I've only recently become a fan of creamed spinach. Goes with everything as far as I can tell.

Saltines. The perfect Covid food. I should remember to keep them on hand just in case. To say nothing of Hot and Sour soup. Get better soon, all of you.

When did Americans appropriate the term "Chili con Carne" and think it meant beef? It's just meat. In many places chili or chile is made with pork usually cut in chunks. In New Mexico a bowl of chile was referred to as a bowl of red or a bowl of green. Typically it did not have beans. It was a long-cooked flavorful pork, and heat was applied either with fresh roasted green chiles or slurry made from soaked dry red chile pods. A pot of beans was a separate thing, at least among my cohort. It also would be flavored with pork. If memory serves, we would sometimes make a dish that used beef and potatoes. It was called Green Chile beef stew. Also no beans. I know there's a Texas faction that faithfully clings to the concept of chili as a no-beans thing. I'm not a Texan, so I have no opinion about that. Growing up in the Northeast I alway thought of "Chili con Carne" as an Americanized hodgepodge, often using ground beef, beans and a kitchen sink full of stuff. I associated it with pot lucks, college dorms, football games. Often it was sprinkled before serving with some kind of grated American cheese or maybe cheddar. Heat level came from the under or over use of any kind of available ground chile powder. If you ordered it in a diner it would come with saltines. Of course in New Mexico and other southwestern regions it was always served o[with warm tortillas. Oops, forgot to mention later interventions like Firehouse Chili and Firehouse Chili Gumbo. Firehouse chili is supposed to be SMOKY. Firehouse chili gumbo is a kitchen sink explosion of meats, beans, ketchup, vegetables and Louisiana spices using a roux. Hard to imagine, truly.

Not that I would ever make such an awful flavor of ice cream, but if I did I would leave out the 'n'

If you are trying to "understand" saltines you're already barking up the wrong tree.

Growing up we seldom had bread or rolls with dinner. The exception would be if soup or salad was the main course. If I was served a bowl of mussels or steamed clams without crusty rustic bread my tears would dilute the broth. And how sad would it be to have any kind of borscht without fresh rye bread? I don't think I've ever had real Texas Toast, but i imagine it would be good with BBQ. Better I'm sure than that floppy stuff that typically accompanies ribs, etc.

Peanut oil is not flavorless, at least to my tastebuds. I like Golden Lion peanut oil for most of my Chinese stir-fries. I think it is relatively miild compared to Planters. I use a lot of it and buy the large size in Asian groceries; not all of them carry it though. I took a Thai cooking class and my teacher swore by Golden Lion. I like rice bran oil too, but it would be pricey used in the quantities I use peanut oil. I've never deep fried anything in recent memory, so that's a mystery category for me. The neutral oil I prefer is Sunflower. Grapeseed I like for some baking when a recipe calls for neutral oil rather than butter. Canola I truly find disgusting. I don't understand why so many recipes call for it. To me it tastes like fish. When cooking Italian or with tomatoes and for most salad dressing I pretty much always use olive oil. I can't imagine making hummus without olive oil!

My French speaking husband will find this hilarious. Aside from Japanese restaurants I've only eaten eel once; A rather reclusive fisherman and eeler who has a beach house where my husband's family has theirs once gave us a peeled and prepped one (salt water). My MIL, who was a dreadful cook, managed to simply sauté it in butter and it was delicious. The most eels I've ever seen in one place was the Rialto market in Venice. Live baby eels in barrel after barrel, bought by the fistful, not by me. The baby animal thing seemed to be very big in Venice. We did order those teensy crabs at a restaurant. Really good. So back to eels. There is a book called "The Book of Eels" which has more information than I would ever want. The New Yorker published an excerpt and could barely get through it. But the author does have grasp of his subject. fk

My nephew's wife Jenny has as Italian father who is an immunologist. Jenny's covid bonafides include the fact that when she was little she tagged along with her dad to a conference in Florida and they went sailing with Fauci! I've always swooned when she describes her dad's Feast of the Seven Fishes. I believe there was often Scungilli and always eel, but she rattled off the menu so quickly I don't remember the rest. Due to my own Dad's inane idea of having fun with children, my ears can hear the word "Scungilli" from three thousand miles away.

Sounds like a fabulous party. And then on xmas day you had lox and bagels for breakfast and went out for Chinese later?That was our upper west side xmas day. Tell me, are scungilli sold in markets? My crazy dad used to gross us out by eating them raw when he found them on the beach. Yes, Long Island. Ewww, Daaad!

Yes, I agree, don't even go there. Three years ago I snagged one bag late in the season. I looked forward to next season and indeed, ate plenty. One year later I tried them again and couldn't believe how frighteningly sweet and awful they were! Never again.

For Chinese dishes I like Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce. We keep chili crisp around as well. For Bloody Mary's I still find original Tabasco to be my favorite. For general use I use Frank's. I used to use Crystal but now I find it too vinegary; Frank's seems less so, and more complex altogether. Tapatio and Cholula are both good, but they tend to languish in the cupboard. Seeing a long row of interesting and graphic hot sauce bottles is always so fun; I love it when I see someone's collection! But really I would never use most of them. The super hot macho creations are hilarious, blow your head off cartoons. But my head needs to stay on.

Quick wok stir fry with garlic.

I did almost no research when I bought my Bamix. I totally love how simple it is. We've had it for a year, mostly for mashed potatoes and things or for creamed soups. My husband seems to think it's very fun and has never found it hard to clean. Rarely does our blender make an appearance. When I read about the Breville my eyes glaze over. For better or worse I gravitate toward appliances with fewer functions rather than more. Talk about hard to clean: a standard blender.

Probably four for dinner, distant possibility of a fifth. We'll eat at sunset overlooking the ocean. No matter what family members (all my husband's family--my family as spread out on the east coast--end up at the table every year there's typically an even split between turkey eaters and non-turkey eaters. Apps of some kind and Bubbly (in-laws) Roast dry-brined turkey and gravy (us) Mashed fluffy potato-cauliflower (us) Vegetarian entree, maybe spanakopita (in-laws) Green beans (in-laws) Fresh cranberry relish (us) Pickled vegetables (us) Pumpkin pie (in-laws) Blueberry pie (us)

Thanks, @JeanneCakeUnbeknowst to me my husband ended up making RLB's crust for the blueberry pie, but it's good to know her method for a fully pre-baked crust is adaptable. I like her reasons for using parchment paper instead of foil. Interesting concept using two disposable tins, but I don't have those and from where I sit it sounds like an opportunity for drama that I don't need on Thanksgiving!