snowangel

In rereading your post, I am reminded of several things. I may just flat be lucky, but within a 15 minute drive of my house are 4 meat markets that smoke their own bacon. It's darned good bacon. All of it is different, some smokier, some a little sweeter. Each has it place. And, if I'm willing to drive within a radius of 2 hours, I have more places to buy smoked on site bacon than I can count. Bacon taste testing. My college buds and I get together for a mom's weekend only at a resort in Northern MN every Thanksgiving weekend. We have had two bacon taste testings. For our first taste testing, we did not control the variables enough. We should really have used 4 different pans. We also discovered that it makes a huge difference in taste-testing if the bacon is not cut to the same thick (or thin)-ness. So, for our second taste testing, we had the meat markets all cut the bacon to the same thickness. And, we cooked in four different skillets, side by side. Lenny's place in New Ulm (The Sausage Shoppe) was a very clear winner.

Two other topics for advice are: Steak at Home And Steak (searing on stove and finishing in oven). I'm sure there are more topics on this, but these will provide some solid advice. Great price, BTW!

Chris, if they are concord grapes, make a Grape Pie!

IMHO, what I have enjoyed most about this book tend to be the more "off beat" recipes -- the beef rendang; the pork with mango, lime and coconut; to name a couple. That and the guidlines on buying meat. I also really like the fact that the beginning of every section has each recipe listed for that section, along with page numbers.

Fab, Marlene. I'm wondering just why you dn't live down the block... Tell me more about the chili honey.

Chris, thanks for the dim sum report and reminding me that it has been much too long since I had dim sum. We have two great spots in the Twin Cities for dim sum. What I wonder is why the best dim sum spots here are located in the ugliest strip malls? We have introduced many of our friends to dim sum, which I think is a very civilized version of a buffet brunch. As I tell my friends, you get to sample all sorts of little bits and things, but you don't have to wait on yourself (my pet peeve about serve-yourself buffets; if I want to wait on myself, I'll do it at home for a lot less money). Another thing I like about dim sum is that you can satisfy almost anyone. From babies with the bready things, to unadventurous eaters, to those of us like me and my family who will try anything (Peter likes chicken feet). My favorite dim sum was, however, in Singapore. It was in a gigantic restaurant -- more like a large arena. There must have been able to seat 1,000 people. I can't imagine how large the kitchen was, but we were seated fairly near the kitchen door. Made for a noisy eating experience, but let me tell you, sitting near the kitchen door is the place to be. Must have dim sum. Soon.

I've been accompanying Paul up to the cabin since the summer of 1978. There is a jar of King Syrup that has been there longer than that. I have left it, but I did pitch a box of macaroni that had a price tag on it of $.30. I moved recently, so my horrors are in some landfill.

There a whole topic devoted to Making Bacon.

Last week, during my blog, I made the Evening Garlic Soup in the Manner of the Correze. My notes from my blog: Evening Garlic Soup in the Manner of the Correze from Paula Wolfert's brand new The Cooking of Southweat France: Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine , baguette with Hope Butter, and a wedged Brandywine. Note that I got the heel. My kids know better than to take the crustiest parts of the bread! The soup was spectacular. For something so simple (onions, garlic, chicken broth, a bit of butter or duck fat, two eggs and a bit of red wine vinegar), is was very rich. I wondered if that amount of soup would feed all of us, and it did. Especially good was baguette crusts dipped in the soup! Best of all, once we got home from Diana's parent/teacher conferences, it was only 15 minutes to finish the soup while I got everything else ready. I noted later that night in my blog that my house was perfumed with the lovely aroma, and I was disappointed the next morening when that aroma had dissipated. Definitely a must make again. Not only is it simple and fast to make, I always have all of the ingredients on hand.

In addition to the smoked pork butt (and I do bring with bed to me that slightly smoky porky/bacony smell; yes toss that Shalimar), there is a plate of food, on the dock, enjoyed by my honey and me, while skinny dipping underneat the northern lights while we are at The Cabin. And, then there was that plate of smoked butt on the dock. Oh, wait. Let's call that one Heidi!

Lame excuse. I have grilled in drizzle, high winds, a blizzard and the evening it was 30 degrees below zero. Somewhere on the butt or brisket thread is a picture of my grill before I shoveled off the several inches of show to get smokin'. So, what was for dinner tonight?

Chris, I do know that in the early 1960's, the tiny grocery stores in the tiny towns of Milford and Utica, NE had iceberg, cukes and tomatoes in the dead of winter. They didn't have much other fresh produce at that time of year. I think they ship and store well. Never mind the texture of the tomatoes...They did add color.

Smoked pork butt (smoked by me) seems to work every time...

Chris, here in the Twin Cities, there are some Korean restaurants and a few markets, but by and large, the Asian "scene" revolved around Hmong/Thail/Laotian/Vietnamese. There are plethoras of the latter (restaurants and markets) sprinkled everywhere in the Cities. What about Providence?

Begging pardon. Please search out MAMA brand noodles. You saw them in my blog. They rock. I have been eating these since you were in diapers (I think)!

Do you have a fridge and microwave at work for the teachers? If so, who cleans the fridge? When I worked outside the home, I took a toaster into the kitchen -- it was very popular.

Anyone else remember those "composed" salads from the Betty Crocker Boys and Girls cookbooks? The pear half with the raisin eyes and spoon of cottage cheese tail? Or the slice of canned pinneapple with the half of a banana (cut crosswise) with a cherry on top? I think that the latter was called the Rocket Salad, but I could be wrong. And, there might have been one with a peach half and celery arms and legs. Fruit, outside of the banana was canned, of course. Back in the days when canned fruit came only in heavy syrup.

In ECI's Potato Primer, the potatoes are sliced before boiling. I do it all of the time.

Chris, that soup looks wonderful. Any bread or anything along with it? I actually like soup on it's own, but my family usually thinks it's more of a meal if there is something else on the table. It also looks like a lot of soup. What will happen to the leftovers? Containers for work lunches? Good on you for making your own baby food. I always did.

Do most schools in the US allow parents to have lunch with their children at school? I don't remember that being allowed when I was in school (though at my elementary school, almost no one stayed for lunch). It seems like Peter really enjoys having you come for lunch. Does most of the children like the idea? ← The school my kids go to allows it. They have what for the most part is an "open door" policy, which means I can observe them at any part of the day, except when the standardized testing is going on. I try to eat lunch with them once per trimester, just to make sure the adults that supervise during lunch are on their toes about older kidlet's food issues. ← Sorry I neglected to answer this question! All of the schools here allow parents to just show up at lunch. Peter and his whole grade love having me come to lunch. I always sit across the table from Peter, and the kids that sit on either side of me rotate every week.

Actually, both of them area great. I made (but think I forgot to report on) the porter braise but upped the horseradish quite a bit. My family actually preferred these to the other recipe.

The poison ivy patient has woken, had another oatmeal bath (the food processor does a wonderful job of pulverizing this stuff), another dose of benedryl and is sleeping with Paul. She will sleep with us tonight. But, as she was settling down again, we watched most of a repeat of No Reservations. She likes watching Tony's shows. So, while her head laid on my tummy, I remembered my earlier blog, and one of the last things I wrote. Iambic Pentameter, in the form of a sonnet (sort of); English/Shakesperean. I'm not particularly proud of this one (I'm sure that when I go to bed, I'll think of a much more eloquent one), but it has been a hard week. Two women, six children, and two husbands Living in two very different lands From some scary attempts to make pasta to apples and chicken and kobocha armed with cookbooks and recommendations Kris and I shared some of our traditions We learned fo eggs in packages of ten And Susan wondering "brisket when done?" We made some curries and ate some take out In appreciation, Kris and I shout Dear readers, thanks for support and advice Through meals of Thai food and bacon and rice.

If you grow up with durian (your prononciation is good, just don't go too long on the OO!), the smell doesn't really bother you and the taste is good!

Dorothy Lynch. Served up at my grandmother's house. The head of iceberg was brought home from the grocery store, that plastic wrapper removed. It was whacked on the counter, core side down, core removed, and place in some green tupperware thing with prongs on the end. Ripped into chunks and put in plastic salad bowls. The bowls were brown and shallow. Sort of tossed with the hands (no other ingredients, mind you) before being drenched with this stuff. For a change, there was "Western" dressing. In contrast, my kids like salad with all kinds of greens and "interesting bits" be they nuts, cheese, fruit, other vegetables, and they like a variety of greens in a salad. They also like vinagarette. I like the contrast during a meal with hot food of a cool salad with contrast -- textural and taste.

Tonight, Kris and I are done, and you will welcome a new blogger tomorrow (even tho this will be open until mid-day tomorrow -- here in MN) to answer questions. But, some reflections: This has been wonderful. I have tried many new recipes. I forget how often I rely on the old standbys, never mind that I have many cookbooks at my fingertips. Trying a mess of new recipes, every night, can be exhausting. I've never spent so much time cleaning up my kitchen counters. Never mind that Kris and I have dealt with rain; she with a kid's finger in peril, me with a flooded basment, and now a kid with a really bad case of poison ivy (thanks to an oatmeal bath and some bendryl, is sleeping soundly). My kids don't want to see the camera for a few days! And, only on eGullet would one get such great suggestions and great support.