birder53

Beautifully put, Jaymes.

Is it okay to use premium bourbons in cocktails or should they be saved for sipping? I received a bottle of Blantons as a gift and have only sipped and not mixed. Any thoughts?

I absolutely love cilantro. The only herbs I find tricky to use are tarragon and majoram. Even thyme can overwhelm my tastebuds at times and I have successfully substituted rosemary for it in several recipes. I guess the key here is moderation since some of these flavors are quite assertive.

I like salt and pepper. I do taste food before adding either, but isn't the point of eating to enjoy your food? Isn't the point of preparing food for friends and family that they enjoy what they are eating? I might be able to understand someone requiring a child to taste something before drowning it is condiments, but I don't understand the need to insist that adults eat it exactly as I want them to. I have a friend who also doesn't believe in placing salt and pepper on the table. She says that the food has been seasoned properly and so no one needs these things. Well, I do. I was dying for salt the last time she cooked, but I didn't ask for salt as she had already decided it wasn't necessary. I didn't enjoy my meal. I needed salt! I think we need to get over ourselves when it comes to food preferences and accept the fact that not everyone tastes things the same way. It shouldn't be perceived as a slight against the cook, but just as recognition that we are all different. Isn't it more important for your guests to enjoy their meal and want to return than for everyone to think that the cook was perfect? A good host or hostess cares more about the comfort of their guests than about the integrity of their recipes.

I've given up coffee several times over the years. But now I drink 2-3 cups each morning, more on the weekends. I don't usually want it in the afternoon and I prefer a good espresso for after dinner, if at all. Luckily it doesn't seem to disrupt my sleep or my stomach. As far as discoloring my teeth, that's what Crest Whitestrips are for! I think tea is actually worse for your tooth color. My cup at work gets serious stains from tea but not from coffee. When I tried to quit cold turkey, the headaches were horrible. Cutting back and easing to decaf is an easier route to take.

Bourbon Crustas are wonderful! We have served these to friends who swore they didn't like bourbon - they do now. One of the things I like about the old Trader Vic Bartender Guide I have is the large number of recipes using maraschino.

I agree with your shopping frustration. Even though I have a wonderful Wegman's nearby, I've still run into the problem of getting to the end of my list and not finding a key ingredient. Sometimes it's meant stopping at a few more stores looking for something as simple as fresh oregano. But, depending on my mood, it has also nearly brought me to tears when I'm now in the store, missing key ingredients and don't have a plan B. I'm getting better at the plan B stuff, but it has usually taken me so long to come up with my original menu that I hate to have to change plans without the aid of my recipes.

I have a love hate relationship with the planning. I enjoy browsing through recipes for ideas, but creating the menu is torture. I've yet to find a way to keep it simple but wonderful. Some of my menus have required so much multi tasking and split second coordination that I was exhausted when the cooking was finally done. I enjoy the cooking, especially the prep work. I feel so organized when I have everything ready to go, in spite of whatever injuries I incur during my prep work. (Still nursing my thumb after using my mandoline for the first time! ) Eating can be fun, unless I am still picking apart each dish and deciding what I should do differently the next time. I guess the best part for me is the cocktail hour, which usually begins after all my prep work is done and I have reached the part of the cooking where I can begin to relax.

I used my Pyrex last night for the first time. It worked just fine for the pork roast. The oven was at 400, which appears to be it's maximum tolerance.

Just because someone loves to cook or bake doesn't mean everyone will appreciate the fruits of their labor. There are many restaurants, and this is not confined to chain restaurants, that serve food I do not care for. However, they have been in business for many years and have very loyal customers. We're all very different and our food preferances bear this out. A co-worker brought in an organic carrot cake she had made. This is an office filled with hungry, young men so food disappears very quickly around here. By the end of the day only two slices of cake were eaten and I was told to avoid the cake at all costs by those who had dared to try it. It didn't look appetizing to begin with, but it seems she had used various organic or natural substitutes for sugar which were not very popular with the usually hungry group. She very loudly complained how no one here could appreciate good food and she swore that she wouldn't waste her time baking anything for us again. She was not the first nor will she be the last person who felt their homemade offerings would be wildly appreciated at the office. The threads on the pitfalls of the office or neighborhood potluck dinners are another example of how difficult it is to know what tastes will please many if not all of our audience. It's not right to criticise those who do not share your tastes. Just be happy we can all find something we enjoy to eat.

Tried this last night. Very nice. Found another version of the recipe that called for yellow chartreuse, but I haven't found anyplace that carries it in NJ so far. The search is on!

I ended up at PF Chang's in Marlton. It wasn't bad, but the service was very scripted and the kitchen was very slow. I'd rather eat at a non-chain restaurant any day.

This was over 26 years ago - the reception was small, 80 people. The party was held in a Greenwich Village brownstone with a lovely backyard. The "hosts" greeted each guest at the door with a glass of champagne and waiters moved through with trays of finger foods. A buffet of baked ziti and baked chicken was offered along with salads. There was an open bar. We had invited people to an "Open House" so there was no seating and guests wandered about visiting, eating and drinking. My brother put together a plate of food for me and I did eat a few bites. The highlight was the Carvel ice cream cake with "Good Luck Kathy & Louie" written on it that was too frozen to cut and caused the party to run over by an hour! We payed for the reception ourselves and selected the food. I certainly would not chose the same menu again! We did have a good time, it was informal and yes, we're still married. The caterer probably got a lot of mileage out of stories of our pedestrian choices for a long time after that. It wasn't exactly the usual menu they served to their Manhattan clientele, but they treated us as though we were their favorite client. Nice!

I rarely use JOC for the recipes, but find it to be en excellent reference book.

Oops! Sorry about that! Thanks for catching my error.

If you're still working on that bottle of Chartreuse, I've found a few more drinks you might want to try. My parents had a copy of Trader Vic's Bartenders Guide circa 1947 which they picked up somewhere for $0.25. They gave it to me and in spite of all the wonderful cocktail books I got for Christmas, I can't stop going through this one. The names of the drinks are wild and there are a good number of them calling for ingredients which are no longer available. Here are some of the Chartreuse drinks we have been enjoying: Chartreuse Cocktail 3/4 oz bourbon 1/2 oz chartreuse 1/4 oz French vermouth Stir with cracked ice; strain into chilled cocktail glass. Serve with maraschino cherry. Biter Cocktail 1 oz gin 1/2 oz chartreuse 1/2 oz lemon juice 1 dash absinthe Shake with cracked ice; strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Enjoy your new found treasure! While I really like an Aviation, I've found many more reasons to like maraschino these days. Try a Blue Devil - 1 oz gin ( I used Millers) 1/2 oz maraschino 1/2 oz lime juice 1 dash blue food coloring ( I passed on this) Shake with ice and serve in a chilled cocktail glass Last Word 1/2 oz gin 1/2 oz maraschino 1/2 oz chartreuse 1/2 oz lime juice Shake with ice and serve in a chilled cocktail glass Tennessee Cocktail 1/2 oz bourbon 1/2 oz maraschino 1/2 oz lemon juice Shake with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass

I was so excited at the prospect of being snowbound that I started menu planning on Thursday! We got to Wegman's a bit late on Saturday morning and got the makings of "comfort food" for the weekend. The menus came together from my collection of Fine Cooking magazines. Saturday we had roast chicken with a lime, tomato and hominy sauce, long cooked stringbeans with oregano and creamy mashed yukon golds. Sunday was a pot roast which was filled with slivered garlic and had been marinating in balsamic vinegar and rosemary since Saturday afternoon, a braise of acorn squash and potatoes in a mustard sauce and leftover string beans from Saturday. We have mucho leftovers for the week and I had the luxury of cooking all weekend. I hate the snow but I love an excuse to keep out the cold with a good meal.

This is unusual to me - Ramazzotti. It was listed as an ingredient in the Chaplin. I haven't made the drink yet but I tried a taste of it straight up and on the rocks with a lemon twist. It reminds me of Cynar. It's bit bitter and I found it refreshing. But I also like Cynar, which doesn't seem to be overly popular.

Ditto!

It was served with toasted sesame buns.

First dinner at China 46 last night! I didn't expect to end up there so I hadn't "prepped" for my menu selections. I tried to explain to the waiter that I had learned about them via the internet, mentioned Jason & Rachel's names and he knew who I was talking about. I wanted to be adventurous, but my 83 year old parents were with us. Spicy was off limits. We asked our waiter to order for us. Appetizers included Bean Curd with Parsley, Crab & Pork Dumplings and Scallion Pancakes. The Bean Curd and dumplings were wonderful! The Scallion Pancakes were okay, but that's how I feel about them anywhere I've ever had them. I mentioned Ruby Pork to the waiter, being the only thing I could recall from reading posts here, and he said they had another pork shoulder dish that night. We had Shrimp Balls and the pork shoulder. The pork shoulder was disappointing. It looked glorious on the plate, but it was very bland. The meat next to the bone was very tender, but the rest was surprisingly tough. The sauce and greens in the dish had no discernible flavors. A little ginger or scallions or even soy sauce would have been a nice addition. The Shrimp Balls were interesting but also bland. I think we would have fared better without Mom & Dad. I think our waiter got a little gun shy when Dad almost sent back a plate he thought contained a spicy dish. (It didn't!) We don't usually end up in Bergen county, so I don't see another trip very soon in our future, but I'll have to re-read this thread so I can be better prepared the next time we're in town. I asked our waiter if he was Cecil (he wasn't) so he brought Cecil by when he arrived. Again, and I hope I'm not violating any egullet rules here, I mentioned Jason & Rachel as a point of reference. I just wanted to communicate my desire to try something new and completely different, which they already know is Jason & Rachel's MO!

Congratulations, Katie! How divine to have all those wonderful oysters available to you whenever you want some. We really enjoyed the Cape May's when we first had them at SSHS. The Kachemak(sp?) were not our cup of tea, but every other oyster recommended to us that evening was just wonderful. The Kachemaks were not recommended, but we wanted to try them anyway. We'll have to try and get back to Philly on a week day and take advantage of the great oyster prices. Good luck! You will certainly be a breath of fresh air for SSHS!

I bought the pots and the Cafe du Monde in an Asian grocery store. Followed the directions but the coffee was not the same as the wonderful brew I had at Le Colonial. I used Carnation sweetened condensed milk, also from the same grocery store. I let it drip very slowly to get good strong brew. Final review - coffee was not strong enough or sweet enough. I picked up a can of condensed milk at the Reading Terminal Market. It had an oriental style gentleman depicted on the label as well as some oriental copy. I don't know if that will make the difference, but I have to experiment again. Could you use espresso coffee in the pot? Maybe that would be stronger.

Well, there was plenty of wine, and several of the guests were a bit under the weather (and my wife is 9 months pregnant, so she was only sipping), so there wasn't any major trend. There were a few Juniper and Berries, a few Fancy Frees, and a Pegu Club or two, and that was about it. Thankfully, none of my friends would even consider asking for a Cosmo from me (not that it's a terrible drink (at least not when it's made well), but it's emblematic of lazy tastes). I do try to broaden their imbibing habits, hence the menu. Christopher ← I have to try some of these. I really like drinks using the maraschino as well as the orange bitters. The Fancy Free might be next on my list.