Marlene

I use the Swiss Cleaner on my le crueset.

Russ try barkeepers friend for stainless steel or get a tube of swiss cleaner by Kuhn Rikon. I've used both on the bottom of my all clad pans and the black stuff came off wonderfully well. Now they look almost new again.

Question. Since mine is 8 lbs. should I assume an extra hour over Susans? I'm using a Weber Bullet.

I could make gravy except I really hate making it without drippings. It just doesn't seem to be the same. But then again, what are potatoes without gravy?

Yesterday my husband picked up a bunch of different types of wood chunks at a terrific little BBQ place up near his office (of course he spied a Big Green Egg there and now wants one of those, but that's a different story). We've now got apple, hickory, pecan and mesquite. Which wood should we use for the prime rib? And this time we've got Kingsford briquettes instead of lump charcoal. Susan for sides, I'm thinking roasted potatoes and yorkies and maybe a salad. Should I do a port wine reduction for the meat?

I use port in braises, French Onion Soup, onion confit and port-wine reductions usually.

Oh I'm cooking all the time. Especially things like braises that require lots of prep. I'm just not eating all the time. And my house is incredibly clean.

I'm not going to start preaching from the book. All I can say is that this method is working for me. But let me say this about my smoking habit. For the past twenty years, my "habit" had been to get in the car, start it, and light a cigarette before I even backed out of the driveway. 4 weeks ago, I stopped smoking in my car. Even before I stopped smoking, I just got into the car and didn't think about lighting up any more. So I broke a 20 year smoking "habit". So if I could break that habit, why could I not break the "habit" of lighting up at all? Nor am I eating any more than I did before. In fact, in the last week I've dropped 5 lbs. It just hasn't occured to me to exchange one oral fixation for another. And I don't mean to make light of anyone out there who's suffering through this. I've done that enough times to know how real the mind makes that torture feel.

I think this is absolutely key. This is a very personal journey. And everyone has their own "aha" moment. ANd you can't do it for anyone else but you. All I can say is the difference the book and the seminar made to my mindset is nothing short of amazing. I'm having coffee at the moment, thinking "I really need to try a stronger coffee!"

My guess is the former. Since you no longer have to wolf down your meals so you can get outside and smoke, you can and are taking the time to actually notice and enjoy what you're eating!

Now that's a scary thought. And it's a big reason why smokers don't try to quit. They figure they'll never be free or that it has to be painful or horrid or something. I've been holding off posting here for a few days. Not because I have anything to confess, but truly, I've been just savouring it. Everyone who followed the blog will know how I struggled with this. I read Allan's book and hell, I even understood it. Didn't stop the crave though. Last Friday I attended an Allan Carr seminar. Yes there is a mild hypnosis built in at the end of what turned out to be a 5 hour marathon smoking session with 10 other smokers. but I don't believe that accounts for what's happened to me since. After one slip Friday night, on Saturday I became a non smoker. It was a simple as that. No pain, no fuss, no muss. I've been a two pack a day smoker for 30 years. Now I'm done. It was partly because it's been so easy that I hesitated at first to post. Because surely there has to be something wrong? This is not what we as smokers buy into as the theory of quitting. I kept waiting for the crave to hit and not be able to deal with it. In fact I began to doubt myself so much that I spent two hours today with the seminar instructor who just kept reinforcing what I already know. I'm not trying to give it up. I'm done. The very first thing to come back is the sense of smell. Within 24 hours actually, my sense of smell became very acute. I swear I can smell bacon cooking three blocks away! No major taste revelations yet, although I am noticing the ability to taste salt a lot more easily. And strangely enough, I don't enjoy the taste of coffee as much any more.

Grade 8. He came up with "We Wait for You" what do you think?

In one of his classes, the kids have been assigned jobs with a salary, a job description etc. They are given a list of expenses and asked to draw up a budget based on their salary. In addition, they are being asked to design a business card for their occupation. My son drew "Professional Server". Ok, this is cool. I know something about this! We're in the process of designing his business card. He's decided to call his company At Your Service Inc. He's even done a cool pic of a waiter carrying a domed tray. What we're stuck on is a catchy slogan for the business. Any ideas?

Electric fondue pot! I totally love that idea for small batches. Glad you liked them!

I didn't. Should I add some water?

Today I'm rendering beef fat from pure pieces of fat for the first time. It seems to be taking forever. Do the fat pieces ever melt completely down?

Sorry, I meant which brand did you get? The Magnum? I am still waiting to receive my Peppermill Supreme and will report back when I get it!

Col. Klink, what kind of wood or in my case wood chips, would be appropriate for Prime Rib?

Sorry! I got distracted. First, a couple of pictures of the roast: Starting out: The finished roast Carved: This was a 10 lb roast. I put in on at 1:30 at 140F figuring we'd have dinner around 7:30. At 8:30 I finally had to turn the oven up. The roast at that point was still sitting at around 97F. By 9:15 we were able to pull the roast and sit down for dinner. While the roast was nice and rare, I did not notice that it was appreciably more tender than when I use my normal method. The timing was way way off and I'm not really sure why.

Lori, I'd have to agree with your initial reaction. I'm just not a fan of rhubarb at the best of times. But using the apple variation plus using a brisket flat really took this one to the next level, I think.

I do.

If you can get in, Per Se. If not...maybe Jean-Georges? Can I come? ← Jean-Georges I think! Sure you can come!

I'm liking the look of that smoked Prime Rib. Hey Susan, want to do another smoke together? I'll get myself a boneless prime rib and we can smoke em off on Sat!

Tonight we had the Pot Roast with Rhubarb and Honey. I had made this on Thursday but knew with one thing or another we weren't going to get to it until tonight. In addition, I used the other half of my brisket flat, and I had to use the apples variation because well, rhubarb just isn't available here right now: Rub the meat with the spices and let it sit for 12 - 36 hours. I let this sit for the full 36 hours: Brown the meat and set it aside: And gather your mise: Saute the onions, raisins and fresh ginger, then add the rest of the ingredients and boil for a few minutes: Add the meat back in and slide it into the oven. I used a 240 oven for this and braised it for 4 hours. You're supposed to use part of the apples or rhubarb in the beginning and add the rest later, but I totally forgot and added them all at the beginning. I strained and degreased it before putting it back in the fridge tonight. For dinner tonight, I was in search of a decent potato idea, having had mashed last night. Yesterday, when I was scanning Jackal10's excellent eGCI Potato Primer course, I came upon the picture of potatoes croquettes and I figured since I had left over mashed potatoes and oil from yesterday, these would be a good thing to try: I used panko bread crumbs and fried away: Dinner: Don declared this the best pot roast ever.

Thanks Pan and Megan! I think Katz and Grand Sichuan are definately on the list as will Hearth be We'll probably also take the train out to Long Island and go to Peter Luger's there. Yes, we could go to Brooklyn for that, but one of our friends plays for the Islanders and lives on Long Island so we can go visit them.. I'd like to take Ryan to one really fine dining experience as we always try to do that when travelling, so we can teach him to broaden his food horizions. Besides, Hearth, where would you send us for that?