snowangel

Let's add insult to injury. I for some unknown reason signed on (for free) with the ATK website, which you apparently need to do (never mind that I had three kids yanking at me while I was trying to view the website), and now for some odd reason they think I want to resubscribe to their mag. The "first" issue arrived with an invoice. Just try talking to them. They want to convince you that you NEED this magazine. NO. They are very pushy and full of themselves. I'd rather visit eGullet.org for a tried and true recommendation.

I, too, continue to use what I have and not shop nearly as frequently. Another upside to this is that I am driving less, hence using less gas, so the savings are even greater!

What I've been doing is reviewing current issues at the supermarket or library and deciding whether to buy that particular issue.

Dinner last night was the Slow-Braised Beef with Potatoes from "Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook." Actually, in my case, it was slow-braised Venison. This dish was absolutely outstanding, and the ginger slices soften up enough to actually be edible. I made the basic braise the day before serving, and added the potatoes day of. Everyone loved this dish, and practically lapped up the sauce leftover on their plates. Served with jasmine rice and stir-fried broccoli (charred garlic first, then removed so it stays crispy and broc stirfried with that baby poop fermented Thai soy stuff).

Thanks for the heads up, Steven. DVR set to record! One of the things that has been interesting is that although this started out as a one-week project, I keep extending it. A friend or my Mom and I share the stuff from Costco that is simply too big for our family -- like the mongo box of greens. As I've talked about this project with my mom, we've started sharing more food -- she lives close and we see each other frequently. A bunch of celery -- either of us use enough of it to justify an entire bunch that is going to be languid by the time we get around to the last of it. Outside of produce, milk and eggs, my biggest expenses in the last couple of weeks were a few cans of coconut milk (we go through a lot), a case of canned tomatoes (scratch and dent) for a great deal, and a 25-pound sack of jasmine rice. My mom and I shared the rice and tomatoes. The only other stocking up I've done was with butter -- on sale at my supermarket for $.98/lb. this week with an in-store coupon. But, my greatest discovery this past week was an old pocket protector in a box of junk. A great find, you ask? I superglued a magnet to the backside of it, and it's on my fridge with a sharpie and a small roll of freezer tape. I've informed my family that the penalty for removing the pen and not returning it is going to be severe. As a result, I'm labeling everything I put in the freezer!

I no longer subscribe, but do get to the library to look at current issues, or look them over at the supermarket, and if I'm interested, will pick up an issue. Interesting that over the years, they seem to recycle many of the same dishes.

Be still my beating heart! I have rhubarb nubs, and see signs of life in my chives, sage and thyme. I should really check my tarragon. I'm still at least a month away from planting anything, but how springs eternal. Oh, and even here in the northern part of Zone 4 (or are we the south of Zone 3?), purple perilla is indeed either a perennial or a self seeder. I'm more than ready for a dirt manicure.

I'm going to come to the defense of some of these "lazy" foods. Let's say you are living alone and have a disability? Cutting up broccoli or mincing garlic may be more than your arthritis allows. Perhaps you don't have the hand strength to mash potatoes. But, you are able to care of yourself, provided that you can feed yourself. Personally, I think the idea of a frozen pbj sandwich is, well, ick, but when my severely disabled child manages to open the package and get it out of the package by herself, priceless! Let's face it, there's a whole population that can't cut up veg, let alone sharpen their knives. My problem with a lot of this stuff is the packaging and the trash/recycling that goes along with it.

Since I have been participating in this "experiment" since the beginning, it has been easy, and has evolved into more of a grocery-buying change. My grocery costs are greatly reduced -- I didn't realize how much stuff I had on hand! I'm now pretty much just purchasing produce, milk, eggs, and occasionally cheese. I did make an exception early this week -- we were out of canned tomatoes (none left in the freezer), and chuck roasts were greatly reduced, so I purchased several in preparation for a high school graduation party for my daughter. Another change has been my organizational system. I know what I have in the chest freezer in the basement -- venison and frozen vegetables. But, the upstairs freezer has been a repository for all sorts of leftovers, bags of frozen roasted peppers, etc. I actually did an inventory and have a list on the fridge door so I now know I have two meals of gumbo, a vension/tomatoe braise container for pasta, five bags of roasted poblanos (four per bag, and destined for the grad party), two packages of potsticker wraps, walnuts, etc. Easy now to know whats in there for emergency meals or odd ingredients. Yes, my fridge is barer, as is the pantry, populated by more different kinds of mustard and vinegar than I could imagine. Oh, I also bought a 25 pound sack of jasmine rice, which is a staple here, and doesn't last as long as one imagines it would.

Any verdict? Oh, and if you have yet more rillettes you want to use up, think a verde posole. Would be mighty tasty, and you just might have the fixing in the pantry; if not, they are dirt cheap.

Leftover gumbo tonight. I want rice with it, and have a container of cooked rice (that I didn't use for fried rice the other night, sinc this leftover rice since then). How best to reheat the rice? Or, should I just dump the cold cooked rice into the gumbo and call it a meal? (I have a nasty ass sore throat, and Peter isn't feeling very well either.)

KeyStoneNate, your butt is a thing of beauty. And, yes, squishy supermarket hamburger buns are the way to go (along with slaw). This reminds me that I STILL have a butt in the freezer. Time to get some more charcoal and get one of the kids to chop some of the wood in the garage. BTW, could you please describe your smoking rig? It's looking mighty familiar to the Queen of the Trusty Old Kettle!

Darienne, I think it's December 2006. With the Cook's Illustrated website, you can not necessarily get the article (unless you subscribe to their on-line service), but if you do a search, it will let you know in what issue it was published.

Over the course of the last few days, it has been more emptying the freezer. We've had chili (thanks for prompting me to do this, Steven!). Served with cornbread (recipe off the Aunt Jemima cornmeal cardboard tubey box). Gumbo, a good use for that 1/2 bag of okra and very garlicy keilbasa rolling around in the freezer along with 1/4 pound package of venison stew meat and some chicken thighs (also rolling around in the freezer). Last night, we had chuck eye steaks (also rolling around in the freezer). So, for this past week, it was a coupla bucks at the Asian market. $3.68 for 2 gallons of milk. $2.00 for two bunches of broccoli. A buck for a pineapple. A friend and I split a mongo box of baby greens from Costco (my cost $1.49) and three dozen eggs (my cost $1.29. Lessons learned: The deep freeze is not a safe deposit box, and I probably have enough vension to feed us well for a long time. I've learned to scale some things down. I can always get up and make more salad, but when you don't have a lot of greens, there's no reason to make more than a family can eat and just pitch those greens which would be just fine, had they not been dressed, the next evening. I cherish my herbs, spices, curry pastes and variety of mustards, vinegars and other assorted potions. The one thing I can't skimp on are little individually sealed containers of yogurt, because they are a vehicle for some of Heidi's meds at school, and the nurse from hell won't allow me to just make it at home and put it in a little Tupperware container.

I beg to differ on this one, at least with one cookbook. Several years ago, Paula Wolfert relied on many of us eG'ers to test some recipes from her first edition of "The Cooking of SW France" while she was working on the second version. As to on-line recipes, sure I can and do use them, but since we don't have a laptop, I can't curl up with the desktop and read the stories and introductions. Some of the best parts of what makes, at least to me, a great cookbook are the stories. One of the reasons I've loved Paula, James Oselund, Molly Stevens and Maida Heatter, just to name a few.

Chili and cornbread tonight. I like my cornbread nekked (no honey need apply thank you very much), but the rest of the family is of a very different opinion. I have a nice bottle (plastic) of some organic, local fall honey, and the bottom half has congealed/crystalized on me. How to resurrect?

Klary, I've done a ton of entertaining. The more relaxed I am (meaning less stressful meal), the more fun my guests have. They don't just come for the food, they come for the company!

Last night was leftover venison shank ragu over pasta, along with the lst of the salad greens. Tonight, I pulled the last of the tuna steaks (think Costco) out of the freezer. A brief marinade in lime, garlic, EVOO, and cilantro, alongside stirfried broccoli. Peter and my mom, on the way home from the Science Museum, stopped at the Asian market, and for about $2.50, I now have a huge bunch of beautiful cilantro, a bunch of broccoli, 3 heads of garlic, 6 shallots, 3 limes and a pineapple. I will have to get out to get milk and eggs this week, and some salad greens, but I should come in under 10% of our normal weekly budget for this week. Time to pull some venison out and use it up, along with some canned tomatoes and beans and spices for chili. I also have the fixings for cornbread. Now that the kids are home, for breakfast, they are eating oatmeal or toast for breakfast, and I have fruit (old, but still good).

Hie thyself to the library and check out a copy of Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook." Best ever mushroom soup recipe.

Dinner last night was a roast chicken, complete with dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy -- oh, plus a salad. I'm likely to get to the market to fill in a few holes in the next day or two (I'll hit the Asian market first because of the better prices). Heidi is feeling better, so getting out shouldn't be too hard.

Again, no photos, but for our virtual potluck: seared venison chops, crispy smashed potatoes from Fine Cooking #83 (Jan. 2007) and baby greens with balsamic dressing and feta and craisins. Everything was outstanding, and the smashed potatoes will be a regular on our dinner menu. I'm off to finish dinner now; we spent yet another night at the ER, so dessert was Twizzlers from the hospital vending machine.

I think a nice place to start are Ellen Shapiro's topics on her travels to Mongolia. These are phenomenal posts -- full of photos, including some cooking classes she took. Her posts on this trip are truly works of art. You'll find my search of all of these topics right here.

Last night, as Paul and Heidi were napping on the couch, I made pumpkin/chocolate chip muffins (breakfast with eggs this morning as well as snacks) and while I was talking on the phone to my best friend, filled and pleated 103 potstickers. I'm sure you'll see some of these this week. This week is reminding me of my grandmother's freezer adage: "It's not a safe deposit box."

Dinner here was leftover Vietnamese Beef Stew and Prik King, over rice. Egg salad for Princess Heidi. I'm actually game for another week. I found a bag of potatoes and onions in the basement, and other than milk, fresh veg and some carrots (and maybe some eggs), I'm good to go, and hopefully, Heidi will be better next week, so I can actually take some photos! I'm likely to do the produce shopping at the Asian market (lower cost) unless my supermarket Sunday ad looks really good.

Last night got derailed. I had stuck some paprika'd thighs on top of a bed of onions in the LC and then into the oven. When it became apparent that Peter and I needed to get Heidi into the ER, dinner plans for the three of us got derailed. Paul and Diana had the chicken, but didn't bother with potatoes or noodles (which it needed), not did they bother to adjust salt and pepper, so they pronounced it "not great" and "it looked burned" (it wasn't). So, we'll resurrect the leftovers in a few days; it's sitting nicely on the outdoor freezer. Peter and I had McDonald's. I never did get to filling and freezing my potstickers yesterday.