SnorkelVik

Mine is Joy of Cooking, The version from the 90's. Love it. Sometimes the recipes are a bit underspiced, but I keep notes and modify as I go. I also flip through The New Basics when I'm looking for a twist on an ingredient (like brussels sprouts) or a dish (chili). I want to get Bittman's Everything as a reference too. May ask for that for Christmas.

I've been subscribing for 2 years and just renewed, since the mag only comes evey other month. I tend to fall behind in reading it, since I "save" it. So I can't tell you what month this was, but I got annoyed when I finally read the baked ziti recipe they perfected. They want you to use cottage cheese and a white sauce instead of ricotta. What? They turn a quick fallback dish into a production that no longer resembles the original. And no cottage cheese in the ziti. Geez! I know people do it b/c the cottage cheese is thicker and not as runny as ricotta, but seriously, don't mess with tradition. Drain the ricotta for an hour, like you do with yogurt, if you have to improve it. By the way, the idea for white sauce & cottage cheese came from someone outside the test kitchen who rec'd bottled alredo sauce - I am so sure it came off RecipeZaar or allrecipes.com. So now we have the high-brow CI reinventing/recycling low-brow recipes. Need to find those ideas somewhere! I really am not as snobby as I sound, I just hate the idea of cottage cheese in the baked ziti!

I just bought a 6-pack at the liquor store inside A&P in Oakland. I saw it and snapped it up immediately. Now I've got no excuse not to open the Goslings we bought last September after a stellar visit to BDA.

David Dreck - not so nice, but I chuckled.

I read this hoping it would be the recipe from The Splendid Table for ultimate cheater pulled pork (made in slow cooker with liquid smoke). I really, really want to try that recipe except my man doesn't go for pulled pork and it's too much for me. I'm waiting for our Super Bowl party to make it. Upon rereading the recipe, I see that it says to cut the shoulder into 2-3 inch pieces. Has anyone tried it? Splendid Table: Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork

I have the 5.5 quart round, and think it's the perfect size for me. It's just the 2 of us, and it's great for stews, spaghetti sauce and chili and leftovers. To piggyback off your question, what's the next shape I should look at? I'm loving the design of the braisers, but I don't know if they are substantially different. What different meals can you cook in there from the french ovens? I have got my eye on that gorgeous Caribbean blue.

Your picture made me ill. How terrible that someone caught that lobster with all those eggs!!! As others have already chimed in, harvesting lobsters with eggs is a terrible way to manage the lobster population. In 'The Secret Lives of Lobsters' it mentions what others have said above, Maine fisherman will notch a 'V' in the lobster's tail to denote that it's a breeder. This notch will last several shell moltings, and it's illegal to catch a V lobster, even one without eggs. You shouldn't purchase any more lobsters from this dealer.

I do the same thing as Dougal. I store my olive oil in a narrow glass cruet I bought at a street fair that's hand painted. It has the stopper & drizzler pourer on top, and is so convenient to use. {Unlike your 2nd link which has a separate topper.} It's good for a few weeks of use, and then I refill it from a large bottle kept in a dark cabinet away from the stove.

I've been watching them renovate this space (the old Zarella) for months now. I've peeked in the windows and saw them painting murals of horses and stables. It looks like they have skewers for rodizio. I think in May they put up a sign "Coming Soon - The Stable. A Real Charcoal Grill" or something like that, and I was psyched, thinking they'd be open for the summer. Still not open. Anyone know the story? I'm looking forward to something new opening in Ridgewood, NJ. It's gotta be soon, I saw them installing lights above the outdoor signs.

I'm new to beets too. So much so that I freaked out the next morning when they had an unexpected effect on my bodily fluids. I think the easiest way to make them (as a novice) is to give them a good scrub under cold, running water, trim the greens off if you have them, and chuck them into a pot of boiling water for 25 minutes or so. Drain them, and slip the peels off using paper towels to protect your fingers from staining. {From Joy of Cooking} Serve in any of the ways as mentioned above. OR just a simple drizzle of olive oil and salt. I didn't really care for it when i added vinegar.

I'm glad Sara's going to be back on TV. I was a huge fan of her Cooking Live show, she's very talented and entertaining and held your interest. And she's so good with guests, both the pros and the amateurs. I'm a little disapointed in the theme though - this is like a repackaged 30 minute meals or Robin Miller or Everyday Food. Breakfast for dinner, boy oh boy, that's original. Is cooking on TV not allowed to be more intensive and challenging? You have all these international talents, don't constrain them. I'd love to see a show about weekend cooking, that's when I have time to tackle a longer or complicated recipe. I'll still watch it, though. I'm sure it will be better than most FTV offerings out there.

I'm watching this thread closely too. I've been engaged almost 2 years and need to find a special place in NJ for 100-140 guests that's not the typical wedding experience. I've looked into Rat's but it's quite expensive, although the grounds are gorgeous. Keep us posted on your progress, please!

Yes, thanks for jumping in. It is Silver Spoon on Ridgewood Ave.

I like the soups at Silver Gourmet in Ridgewood, especially the Sweet Potato & Pear. Agree 100% on whole foods soups. Luckily I've never bought any, but every time I try one - butternut squash, cumin carrot, chicken noodle - it tastes over-seasoned and totally processed. I'm so disapointed that they don't make their own soup in house. What's happened to Whole Foods? When I lived near Alexandria, VA it was the best place to go. Now it's Whole Paycheck minus the quality that gave them their name. Also agree on Soup Kitchen - we had ill effects directly after eating that soup, we still joke and laugh about it. Fine for a punchline, but not for lunch, would be my slogan for them.

I happen to like Natalie's for Italian - they have great soups too. Recently I've seen activity in the old Zarole's space, a man painting a mural on the far back wall. Does anyone know what's going up there? Mediterraneo is pretty good - although I only went there once with a group, and it was a pretty boozy night. The greek place is good if you stick to simple dishes, the chicken special is excellent and the tzitsiki dip is addictive!

Celeste or Bianca, depending on where you are

Someone above said: "I think turkey leftovers are tolerable as long as they a) are not paired with some sort of gloppy white sauce (a la King, Pot pie, my mother's dreaded turkey tetrazini) b) brief." I brought my leftover turkey pot pie for lunch today (never bring my lunch) and I'm hoping I beat my fiance home so I can have one more portion before he chucks it - he thinks it's too old, I'm willing to take the risk. It's so good, made with turkey stock & homemade white sauce, peas, carrots, and leftover haricot verts. We've had it for dinner 2x in a row, and I'm hoping for a third!

I hosted a brunch on Saturday & served the make ahead French Toast (yum!) and this - sausage and egg casserole with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella - from epicurious. Delicious & easy & adaptable to whatever you like. It's also good at room temp. Good luck!

I'd like to know what deconstructed devilled eggs are! This was my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner and we hosted my fiance's family - total of 6. All in all, it went very well, and I send a special prayer of thanks to Alton Brown & his brining / cooking recipe - The turkey was awesome. His dad's a butcher, and while carving it, he couldn't get over how juicy the turkey was. The other hit was the dish I made not knowing if they'd even care for it - sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. I'd never made it, don't remember eating it, but was very intrigued by the marshmallows. Excellent dish, everyone enjoyed it. Apple pie kicked ass, even though it bubbled over the top when the crust split. Misses - sausage stuffing cooked outside of bird was too dry - I used the JoC recipe & used more broth than they called for, and still too dry. Minor misses - bland mashed potatoes, too smooth & airy, and timing - his mom had to make the gravy while we ran around mashing potatoes, making rolls, sauteeing green beans, etc., and the rest of family hung out in living room, some filling S & P shakers ! Still, if I didn't love to travel over that week, I'd be happy to do it again & again. But what a busy few days leading up to that day!

My most embarrassing cookbook is one in the Williams-Sonoma line "Cooking for Yourself". I like the recipes, and the tone, but I'm a bit ashamed of it, even though I bought it at a time when I was trying to embrace my single lifestyle.

I used to be like Terila in that I never wrote in a book, never bent the pages, never highlighted my textbooks, etc. But now I've changed that outlook when it comes to cookbooks. I like to write the month/year I tried a recipe & how it came out & what I'd do differently. Sometimes I write the occasion - Super Bowl, New AllClad Pan, First Dinner in Apt, Sopranos finale. Sometimes it's a rating like Susie Qs - Yum!, or not worth the work, or needs more spices. It's a neat little record of what I tried, and what I liked. It also motivates me to try more recipes & add more notations, and I enjoy seeing the notes when I'm flipping through my books for inspiration.

Let me also say that I think the Market Basket is no big deal either. They are very overpriced on a lot of standard items, the deli is standard Boars Head fare, the produce is displayed nicely but grossly overpriced. But MB is always jammed, lots of turnover here. True, and that's why I always like to buy my seafood there. Whole Foods in Ridgewood isn't as good as the one I used to frequent in Northern VA.

The first few times we went to Zeytinia I thought it was fine, not quite as great as it initially appears - you need to choose produce carefully, they don't carry the olive oil I like, etc. My fiance likes to get sandwiches there on his lunch hour. The last time we went they had Barilla pasta on sale for $1.49 a box. I found a box that had a price tag on it for $0.99 and brought that to the register. What I thought was so weird, is that most of their things don't have price tags (if I recall correctly) & I really think this box came from another supermarket / distributor who couldn't sell it. Is that crazy? Only a few boxes had the $0.99 price tag, the rest had none. I think there's something shady there, anyone else notice anything weird like that? I haven't been back, don't want to get 'deals' on my food.