snowangel

Back to Coke with Lime (the non-diet formula). I bought a 6 pack (on sale at the superette). Chilled it to really cold. Poured it over ice and drank the rest right out of the can. This is not bad. I like it. Somehow, the lime makes the bubbles seem "sharper" and in a good way. I will buy this again. Preferably in the cans, not those bottles (the smaller bottles, not the 2 litre size) because it's especially good when it's really fizzy. I should add that I don't do diet. I don't do Cherry. I don't do Vanilla. The only pop I choose beside Classic Coke is Dr. Pepper.

We moved just under a year ago, to a house with a much smaller kitchen. We have done many things, including replacing all of the kitchen appliances (all of which worked, but barely) and the countertops (a formica-type leatherette which required a toothbrush for cleaning). We still need to replace the harvest gold vinyl sheet good flooring, which has numerous dings, dents and cigarette burns. But, none of these are minor replacements. Following is about the little stuff one can do to make a kitchen more efficient, make it more one's own, make it "hold more stuff." Tweaking a kitchen. As I mentioned in my Music in the Kitchen thread, my kitchen was sorely lacking in music. So, pursuant to what I reported on earlier, today was spent installing the equipment. Above the vent hood over the stove, which is on an island. Pretty neat solution for a kitchen with no counter space: On the left of the vent hood, you will barely see a bit of a speaker wire, which we ran through the cupboard on the left of the vent hood, and fished through the soffit. There is one speaker mounted on the soffit. To the right, you will see the car antenna and speaker wire, fed through the right cupboard. If you read the thread linked above, you will note that we have tied the power for the converter (12 amp to 120 volts) into the power for the hood with a plug thing. The antenna resides at the top of this cupboard, and the speaker wire was run all of the way through this cupboard, down into the basement (laundry room underneath), through the floor joists, attached to an existing speaker wire (there are speaker wires everywhere in this house) and that speaker is mounted in the dining room. Please don't quibble with my choice of equipment; it was an inexpensive solution to a great need, I had the speakers, and I love these speakers. Not only is there an emotional attachment, but they provide a nice warm sound. Now that I am Old, I don't want to crank the tunes to the level I did a number of years ago. Outside of the car stereo and power converter, we had everything we needed. Even black spray paint for for the mounting brackets (which we also had) for mounting the speakers on the wall/soffit (speakers are black). There is nice room on the other side of the vent for the hood to store some CD's. The radio stations have been programmed. Since I had to empty the cupboards adjacent to the vent hood, we took this opportunity to rip some plywood and replace the crappy shelves that were sagging. I managed to remember where I had placed that unused roll of shelf paper almost a year ago, so I have nice new shelves. Well, not all of the ones that need to be replaced have been replaced, but we had enough extra 3/4" birch plywood do do the ones that had been emptied. This one was almost no cost -- the plywood was spare scraps, and I already had the contact paper. Another improvement. Next on the docket is the pantry: This is on the wall opposite the end of the island (the little door is the laundry shoot). This pantry is about 30" deep and about 24" side. The "shelves" (2 x 2's, "glued" together with contact paper) are stationary. As you can imagine, with a pantry this deep and narrow, you can't access what's at the back without emptying the front of the shelf. Paul and Diana have been spending Sunday's in the garage watching Nascar and perfecting joinery, so we will soon have shallow drawers with runners in this space, so we can better use it. There are a few other things on the docket. We put a microwave above the sink. Next weekend, we will bury that power cord into the wall (there is an extra circuit!) so we can eliminate that cord across the wall. I have already replaced the ornate, crap collecting knobs on the cupboards (I found something I really liked at Ikea for $4.99 for 6 or 8 -- I forget which -- of them). The new ones are nice and sleek and have a good look. Someone at freemarket.org had the right colored hinges to go with the new knobs, so I will spend some time in the coming weeks replacing the hinges on the kitchen cupboards/cabinets. This is all small stuff -- monitarily, at least. But, it is about tweaking the space. The kitchen, like I said, is small, but the workspace is efficient. In an ideal world, I would have been able to tear the soffits out, replace all of the cabinets and cupboards (they are wonderful quality except the quality of the shelves and color -- darker than I would like), but reality is that we have had a ton of yard work to do, we need a new furnace, need to finish an unfinished room...the list goes on, so we are doing what we can do, and doing it ourselves. What have you tweaked in your kitchen. No major reno tales here, just the little stuff. How do you make your space work for you?

Chufi, what cut of lamb did you use? Thanks for inspiring me to put this on the front burner, so to speak.

Fresh. When you make pad thai, for how long are they in the wok? Are you using dried or fresh? I look at the packets of fresh, and there seem to be a lot of broken noodles, and my kitchen is so small now that I can't seem to justify storing dried rice noodles when I have such easy access to fresh ones. I also like the fact that the fresh ones are slightly oily.

I would imagine that in India, like in most of Asia, they have different ways of cutting up meat than we do in the U. S. I know in Thailand, at the markets, big hunks of meat (like quarters) hang from hooks and what you want is cut off. I know that at my local Asian markets, the butcher counter looks vasty different. I think they use more of the animals than is typical in an American market, and I don't recognize some of the cuts. My dad (a former butcher) even commented on this. I'm planning on using leg o, because that's what I have on hand that needs to be used.

Yes, Elie, that's the dish. What does he use to flavor it (my copy of Thompson's book is out on loan)? I am lucky that I have very easy access to fresh rice noodles -- thin cut, 1" wide cut, and uncut sheets, for for a lot of people in different areas, they have no choice other than the dried ones. Rice noodles are one thing I've really struggled with. Lots of time, in the process of heating them in the pan, they turn to mush. There's a very narrow window of opportunity. I have come up with a rather unorthodox method, but one recommended by a Thai friend. I microwave them between very wet sheets of paper towel until they are the right doneness, and toss them in the pan at the very last minute. The nice thing about the noodles with gravy is that the gravy is usually added to the noodles once the noodles are in the bowl. My method (for this recipe) also includes coating them with a bit of dark soy (the thicker stuff) when they are in the bowl before the gravy is added. How does everyone else handle rice noodles? Susan?

Monica, would you please talk about cardamom? What's the difference between green and black?

I don't really know that it has an english name. Basically, it is wide rice noodles (the same kind used in pad thai, only they are 1" wide), beef, bok choy. This one, unlike pad thai, has a gravy (it uses a little over a cup of stock), thickened with corn starch. The other seasonsings are vinegar, fish sauce, soy sauce and fermented beanpaste. I toned down the dried chili in it (for Peter and Heidi). I served it with the traditional accompaniment of vinegar with lots of chopped bird chilis. I keep this condiment around all of the time. Oh. Hot Sour Salty Sweet calls it our favorite noodles with gravy.

There's nothing but air in the soffits! What a waste of space. I'm a few years away from new cabinets and cupboards, but when I replace them, they will go to the ceiling.

Chufi, one of the things I notice about most Thai restaurants is they all have the same limited repertoire of dishes, and there is so much more to Thai than what you see on their menus. For example, I can't recall the last time I saw the dish I fixed last night on a restaurant menu. There is far more to Thai than curry and pad thai. Check a bunch of books out of the library (several great ones are mentioned upthread). I know at times it seems putzy with all of those bottles of stuff, etc., but once you get into the swing of it, it's pretty easy.

Since we need a new furnace, A/C, kitchen floor, and just replace all appliances, when I put in new countertops, we did not replace the cupboards/cabinets. They are darker than I would like, but they are very high quality. So, to my question. How easy is it to configure IKEA without having soffits and having cupboards to the ceiling? Although this probably warrants another thread altogether, what's withit with soffits? All of that wasted space that could house stuff that is used infrequently? I hate my soffits. My kitchen is small. I have almost no space to store stuff. To see that drywall covering empty space that could house stuff that would be more easily accessible (I'd rather pull out a stepstool than run to the basement to dig something out) leaves me scratching my head. It's not like framing drywalling, mudding, sanding, priming and painting the soffit is not work whatsoever...

fifi, LC has the gratins on their web site right here. Under "roasters and other specialty equipment." But, I couldn't find the little gratins.

Another great one, Maggie, if you are under the weather, is my Chinesey chicken soup -- chicken broth laden with garlic and star anise, green onions. Finished with wacked up greens (bok choy is my favorite) and those bean thread noodles. I also add a couple of whole hot peppers. Oh, and there's some soy and sesame oil. Let me know if anyone is interested in more precise ratios.

Tonight, I made "guay teo rad na) With beef and chinese broccoli. I ad libed on the Hot Sour Salty Sweet recipe. The chili vinegar sauce is a must. It was wonderful. Next time 'round, I'll do it with squid and shrimp.

I talked to my dad about this. In the late 60's to early 80's, he was a leading expert on Thai rice. IMHO, no self-respecting Thai would eat jasmine with a high percentage of brokens for regular everyday eating. A high percentage of brokens may be due to the milling process, or the crop. A low percentage of brokens is preferable. The flavor of the new crop will be different, but it will probably be stickier. Jasmine is a pretty sticky rice. Rinsing it several times will remove some of the stickiness. Ask at your market if they have tasted the new crop vs. the old crop and see what they say. Jasmine rice is not "aged" like basmati.

It was not my mother. We grew up in Thailand with a cook. It was those summers in Nebraska with a grandmother. The worst was (in the height of summer and sweet corn season). Canned asparagus, dumped in a saucepan, boiled for 20 minutes. But, I guess that's a way to puree if you don't have a blender.

I will do so. I will also be very near a large hispanic market later this week. Could I look there, as well? Am I looking for a particular shape? Will it have a lid?

We tried it. Peter cracked the bottle warm. It was awful. It was better over ice, but it's not something I'd write home about. I'm a coke classic fan (or dr. pepper). We can't do diet in our house because of Heidi; potential interference with her AED's (anti-epilepsy drugs). I plan to pick up a bottle and fully chill it before consuming before I come to a definite opinion.

Thanks for the hint on the potatos. They seemed a bit out of place in this dish, anyway. I'm not particularly fond of potatoes with tomato, anyway. Perhaps that's just me. Your comment duly noted in my book. I don't have a claypot. And, I am somewhat confused about just what a claypot is (yes, I'm admitting my stupidity here). I do have a nice ceramic pot, but I don't think that's what a claypot is. I think mine is glazed inside and out.

I now have my own copy of the book (Half-Price books, $8.98). The slip cover is missing. I'm thinking that there is Pain a L'ancienne in the very near future. So, my question. I have a round pizza stone. It is cracked. It hasn't bugged me until now, but am thinking that I should probably should. Perhaps I'm just seeking approval from this august body to justify yet ANOTHER kitchen purchase.

Yes, fresh if possible. I have a tree in a pot. Yes, it lives even here, in Minnesota (outside in the summer, in a sunroom in the winter. One things I've noticed about the leaves, especially the older leaves on the tree -- they are almost oily, sort of a sticky oil. When you wipe it off, your hands smell like lime for hours.

I added the okra pretty late in the process. It was not dissolved, but pretty limp. I also used raw chicken thigh, which I skinned and boned (saving the latter for a stock making session). I did not add tomatoes. I will do so next time so that I can compare.

Last night, prompted by this thread, Paul and I were recalling the first Xmas party for the company I used to work for, back in 1981. It was a small company, and there were only 12 of us total, so we fit around one table. The meal: Beef Wellington (carved tableside). Caesar salad (tossed tableside). Cherries flambe (flambed tableside). Don't see meals like that every often anymore.

Oh, Marlene, you're taking all of the fun out of it. Move, rennovate, hold down and job and maintain a family life all at the same time, like I did. Can the contractor go with you when you go appliance shopping?

I've been further exploring and reading the All About Braising book, and she mentions a dish I'd never heard of before -- Grillades. Where do they fit in? Brooks?