kitchensqueen

Go figure. But for decent, cheap food in an otherwise pricey neighborhood I think it's still worth recommending. I'd eat there again if I were in the area and on the same budget.

I've been toying with the idea of getting a counter-top deep fryer at home. I'm not big on gadgets/appliances in the kitchen - don't own a microwave, electric can opener, etc. - and I barely concede to my husband's need to own a toaster. But I keep thinking about a deep fryer. I can shallow fry just fine with oil in a pan but deep frying in a stock pot just never seems to work out for me. I just end up highly annoyed and frustrated. So I'm missing out on fried chicken, breaded fried fish and perfect home made fries. Are there even any models on the market for the home kitchen that are worth buying? I've read/heard a lot home models don't get up to and maintain a high enough temperature and are awful to clean. And if there is a model out there worth purchasing, should I really bother for just a handful of foods that I'd make with it? Help me think this through!

Reading this thread is making me homesick for San Francisco in a big way. Now, I've never been lucky enough to reside there; I've only visited - but San Francisco is one of those places that has that affect on you - just draws you there, and you long for it while you're gone. We travel on a serious budget when we're lucky enough to get out and about, so my suggestions are in the super affordable sphere, but really great food, and they're all in the North Beach/Chinatown area. Hunan Home's - best Chinese food I've ever had. Their xiao long bao is to die for. Italian French Bakery - amazing chocolate croissants (for the perfect strolling-about-town breakfast with a coffee or tea) and delicious tomato focaccia (great to pick up for a picnic - we had a memorable lunch of it with a bag of olives, sausage and a bottle of California wine on a beach at Angel Island once). And my husband loves their biscotti. Pasta Pomodoro - a California Italian restaurant chain. Their portions are pretty generous, and the bread the put on the table at the beginning of the meal is so tasty you have to be careful not to fill up on it. I remember the Spaghetti Polpette being really good and they have wine in three different sizes of carafe so you can try different ones if you want to, without breaking the bank.

I put ham into fifteen bean soup and I like a little bit in minestrone. I love ham and I will put it into anything. It's great in Picnic Pasta Salad, or mixed into scalloped potatoes. And you can't beat thinly sliced ham on a fluffy buttered biscuit...

For me, "Caprial & John's Kitchen" was the worst show ever back when it aired on PBS. It's not so much that the food or format was bad - they went out to the markets, toured farms, met producers, etc. in addition to cooking, which I happen to like in a cooking show. What I hated about it was the fact that Caprial was always so mean to John! Half the time she spoke to him in a tone like he was a dim-witted idiot and knew nothing about food. And whenever he tried to touch her or anything (being a husband and wife cooking team) she would shrink and visibly cringe like he had the plague. Horrible to watch! I read somewhere on the internet that they closed all their restaurants and divorced a few years ago, and if that info is correct, I am not at all surprised.

This season, I'm going to get around my neighborhood and see what's out there. A book I've had for a few years now and that I really like is Abundantly Wild: Collecting & Cooking Wild Edibles in the Upper Midwest by Teresa Marrone. I also have the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. I looked into taking a class with Nance Khleme, as was recommended to me awhile back upthread, but dang she is pricey. Way out of my budget. So I'm still looking for other classes/nature walks in the city I can get involved with. There seem to be a far amount happening out in the suburbs, but being carless, that's not really a good option.

I hoard mason jars, so I don't save many other types. I do hang on to pretty jam jars and any jars with wire closures. I'm more of a bottle saver though - alcohol bottles, lemonade/sparkling juice bottles with the wire closures, things like that. I've been known to buy the little four packs of wine in glass bottles (mostly dreck to drink, but it's nice to have on hand if I only need a cup of wine for a recipe or something) and I always save those. They're all great for home made vinegars, schnapps and sauces and such.

We actually do have the heat on here. It just figures, it's sunny and 80s during the week when I'm trapped in an office all day, then crap on the weekend. I'm going to be watching the temps closely for tonight - we may have to haul the pots of tomatoes and peppers indoors, or at least up onto the deck... when is the nice weather going to arrive?

Yes! I'm five and half months pregnant and I get the worst looks when I stop in to buy a bottle of wine for cooking or some beer for my husband... don't people realize that pregnant women can still do shopping for the household?

Yeah, I know - I was so annoyed we had to pot them that way in the first place. I'm really hoping the rain lays off on Saturday so we can get more soil and get them all properly settled. How long do you think I have before the situation gets dire (or least unpleasant)?

We have an analog wall clock above the back door in our kitchen, but it's so high up we never think to look at it. It's just sort of there. We don't have a microwave or coffee maker, so that's the only one in the kitchen. Well, there is a digital clock on our stove but we've never been able to get it set to the correct time so it's basically useless.

I pretty much agree with this. For every day cooking - the dishes I know like the back of my hand, I just prep as I go, in the order it's needed for a recipe. I will lay out all of the ingredients on the counter in front of me, so I have everything on hand and don't forget anything. But for elaborate dishes or meals (like Thanksgiving) I will definitely do all my prep before even firing up the stove, mise en place style. Just makes it so much easer to pull off complicated, highly staged dinners. In the home kitchen, I certainly think both approaches have their merits, given the situation that you find yourself cooking in.

My efforts at seed starting this season completely failed (I blame the cold, wet weather plus a healthy dose of pregnancy-induced forgetfulness/neglect) so we caved and brought transplants this year. We ended up with - 1 Italian oregano 2 French thymes 4 ‘Red Express’ cabbage 4 ‘Bush Pickle’ cucumbers 4 ‘Rhubarb’ chard 4 ‘Gypsy’ sweet peppers 4 ‘Anaheim hot peppers 4 ‘La Roma’ tomatoes We already have a thriving bay tree and some garlic greens and I intend to start some potatoes in a barrel as soon as we get some more potting soil. We got all the transplants into containers today, but we'll have to repot the tomatoes, peppers and cabbages next weekend since we ran out of soil and had to just get them in. They're way overcrowded right now but I figure they'll be fine for a couple of weeks until we can get another supply of soil and get them into their permanent containers.

This is usually the way I do it too. I always have my cutting board set up on the counter right next to the stove for efficiency of movement, so it's only a few inches away.

The stores that sell bulk spices here mostly have them in large glass canisters where the lids seal closed with a gasket. The containers are clear, but they turn over product pretty fast so the spoilage/dimishing flavor chances are pretty slim.

To cut down (no pun intended) on their unweildiness, slice one side of the carrot so it's flat. It'll be easier to handle and slice once it's stable. I do that when I'm not being lazy, but I still hate it.

I actually bought them at Whole Foods. I only bought one small package because I've never worked with them before and didn't want to drop a ton of money on something I might not like.

Scary.

Where are you that your stores all have bulk spice bins?! I wish! I buy most of my spices from Penzey and often wish they would sell out of bulk or at least offer some packaging recycling program for the small jars. I suppose I should venture further afield but I think the transit cost would probably outweigh any financial savings. We have them here in Chicago. Some Whole Foods locations have them, and we also have a great shop called The Spice House - which is heaven to shop in!

Ok, I see. You need to bring the same containers that the store uses. Not that people are just bringing their own tupperware or whatnot. Thanks! Most stores will also give you the tare weight before you fill them if you stop by customer service.

That's a pretty good idea - I bet my husband would really like them since he likes crab cakes... do you have a recipe?

I hate working with carrots. Peeling them, dicing them - hate it. They're unweildy and hard to cut. I love prep otherwise - dicing onions, celery - anything but carrots!

I'm also a pheasant lover. We actually did one for last Thanksgiving instead of a turkey (dinner for just three - I don't even want to think about how much I would've had to spend to serve more). We actually apple smoked it on the grill and it was absolutely divine. Makes me want to give up chicken entirely, and just eat pheasant exlusively. If I only I could afford it beyond special occassions or hunt it myself!

I love my Cameron. I have the smaller sized one, and I'm just itching to get the larger model so I can do whole birds and racks of ribs. Still, we get a lot of mileage out of the small one - my two favorite things to do are apple smoked chicken thighs (served with my home made barbecue sauce) and mesquite smoked burgers. We also do salmon a fair bit and have done pork chops a couple of times as well.

I've got to try this - it sounds like a great, tasty idea! I like stuffed peppers, but a whole full-sized pepper is just too much for me in one sitting. Stuffing the mini ones would be just the ticket - and doing them on the grill would make them that much better.