snowangel

Susan's pic of her pad thai reminds me of another favorite noodle dish -- guay teow (not sure of the phonetics of this one, I've seen it spelled a ton of different ways). Basically, fresh wide rice noodles, greens, meat or seafood with a "gravy." I know (I do recall a recipe for this in Hot Sour Salty Sweet). Gravy, as I recall, is a mix of soy sauces, etc., although I have seen it made with oyster sauce. My memories of this dish are especially fond. Many years ago, when I was a lass of about 10, our friends Gordon and his wife taught my mother and I to scuba dive. We were members of the TSAC and every Sunday morning, we would leave Bangkok early and drive to Pattaya for a day of diving. Before Gordon and I would get on the boat, we would each down a plate of these noodles made with squid, with lots of nam pla and hot peppers. When I crave comfort food, this is one that comes to mind. Fortunately, I have really easy access to fresh rice noodles. This is a fast one-dish meal.

Reminder to cook it FAT SIDE UP. This is important. I've been known to trim really huge hunks of fat that are inside the roast, but no trimming on the top. And, make sure the butt you buy has a nice fat cap.

I like to do butts at 275 (unless I'm smoking them, and then I aim for 225-250 to give more time for smoke to absorb). And, I roast it to 185 before removing it to rest. I want to say I cook it for more like 3 to 3-1/2 hours, even more if the roast is bigger. I have taken this dish to "pot luck" dinners, and removed it from my oven at 185, covered with foil, gotten to the dinner, and let it sit in a 225 oven until we are ready to eat. I do believe that the butt is probably the most forgiving of the pork cuts, provided that you cook it longer rather than less, and at a lower temp rather than a high temp.

I agree with fifi on this one for the butt. If you cook the butt past the point of rare but just "until done," it will be dry, and perhaps tough. Cook it longer, and all of that fat and connective tissue will dissolve, basting the meat internally. I often make the Zuni mock porchetta, and think I've come around to cooking it at a lower temp, for longer. I want a fork to just slide right through the thing. Melting enough it's almost impossible to slice.

If I could figure out how to post photos nowadays, I would show all of you my most beautiful, succulient butts and thighs. My first winter smoking experience (ahem), and most rewarding.

'Tis a balmy 20 here today, and breezy, so I'm smoking a couple of butts. Filled the rest of the grill with chicken thighs. I'm starting to smell really good. Only had to come in and warm hands once as I got the grill cleaned and things going.

Last time I made this, I used an organic stewing hen. And, the market was out of pearl onions, so I used shallots. A bottle of pinot. It was yummy. Just may need to baptize my new 5 qt. LC with a batch of Coq. I do think that an old tough chicken is a better bet.

Stop at the library and check out Molly Steven's All About Braising (or just buy it). I'm having a really good time with this cookbook.

After spending a week living with my in-laws, I'd have demo-ed the entire house .

Dean, are you demo-ing yourselves or having it done? I love demo. Nothing like that big hammer and a pry bar in the hands of a woman (especially when hubby and she have "discussed perhaps" doing home improvement! BTW, he's used to coming now to projects taken past the point of no return. I'm excited to see photos as you progress. And, not bad on the budget. You certainly did your homework!

Not a problem, at least in my book. What cut of meat did you use?

I am reminded, after posting about Heidi on the Cooking with Disabilities Q & A, and rereading the Cooding with Disabilities ECI class, that for many, getting a paper plate and plastic cutlery to the trash is a major accomplishment. For many, washing dishes or getting them to the dishwasher is a daunting task. They do have a place.

I have huge changes to report in Princess Heidi. We had been so worried about weight and size, that we were missing the forest for the trees. (BTW, it is likely -- according to ped and neuro -- that she will always be little; both Paul and my family are largely made up of much shorter and littler people than we are, so we were told, after numerous tests to quit worrying). What prompted this was a her bi-annual visit to the neuro. We celebrate, now, 7 years seizure free, and the neuro was astounded by the differences in our Little Princess. Last October, school decided that it was time to mainstream her about 70% of the day, in the same 5th grade class. I must add that she couldn't have a better mainstream teacher, nor a better group of kids (he said best class he's ever had in 20 years of teaching). So, she's mainstreamed. At first, it doesn't go so well. No interaction between her and her class. So, I offer to go in and talk to the class. Which I do. Talk a bit about her disability, then ask some questions of the class as to what they like to do, what they don't like. Turns out, after asking these questions, I am able to tell them that Heidi likes to do what they like to do, doesn't like what they don't. Emphasize the similarities, play down the differences. So, all of a sudden, it goes from no one sitting at the lunch table with Heidi and her aide to a schedule of who can sit with her. Kids petitioning the teacher so that each of them can have 20 minutes every so often in her center-based class. Girls taking turns pushing her in the swing at recess. Then, I get The Note. She is sitting through 1 hour of social studies class every day. She, at the request of the other "regular" kids, is fully integrated into the DARE program. So, just what does this have to do with food, you ask? Shortly after she started having lunch with the mainstream class, I asked if most of the other kids were having school lunch or bringing theirs. Turns out, almost all of this group takes school lunch. So, we retired the lunch bag and the cheese/mayo sandwich on squishy white bread cut into neat cubes and sliced banana for school lunch. There is now a schedule in this class of who gets to sit with Heidi on which days. Turns out, as she sits with her friends, she will eat just about anything (except school lunch spaghetti). Masticates far better than in the past. She will actually eat meat (other than rare steak). This has translated to being more adventuresome at home, food wise. She will eat green veg. I am finding less and less that I have to allow for easy modification for her oral motor needs. Eating habits are much neater. She wipes her mouth with her hand when something "falls out." Mouth closure on a cup is much better; she's not coming home with milk stains on her shirt any more. She can get a spoon of soup or cereal and milk to her mouth. This is huge stuff for us. She quits drooling the minute the bus pulls up at the school every morning. No longer needs a footrest to attend to task (including eating). She no longer needs to chew on things or have her hands in her mouth to feel "grounded" (a real problem in the past). We are seeing these behaviors translate to church, eating out, being with other people. Yes, I'm bragging. I've waited almost 11 years to brag about this girl. Peer pressure is powerful, as we are seeing. And, not always a bad thing. Best of all was at the open house at the school a few weeks ago. Every parent in her mainstream class talked to us about how important Heidi was to their kids. How much she had done to make them accepting, open and affirming of all.

I'm not sure if I hate plastic cutlery or paper plates more. I also have a hard time purchasing a product that is expressly made to toss. So, I went to the outlet and bought a ton of corelle plates. Went to the restaurant supply and bought a lot of cutlery. No, doesn't matter how many people I have over, I will go and buy more dishes if necessary.

Time of year affects what I want (and convince myself I need). Right now, I'm heavy into the Molly Stevens book. Last winter, I had to have Slow Med. Cookbook by the goddess Paula, year before it was Zuni. I still use the latter two constantly at this time of year. Come summer, it's all about the St. Paul Farmer's Market Cookbook. Alice Water's fruit and veg cookbooks.

It's here! It's beautiful! It's lovely! It arrived too late for me to use it tonight, so it's merely adorning my counter. After dinner, and after the kids have done their homework, I'm hunkering down, under an afghan, with Molly Steven's new book to decide just what to do tomorrow. Best of all, my cousin also got me the large gratin, also granite color, as a gift for taking care of her kids a bazillion times.

Bump back up! A comment about jars that don't seal well. Get some of that teflon tape (the kind I used on the gas pipes when I installed my stove) -- it's usually with the plumbing stuff at the hardware store and apply that to the threads of the jar. Works like a charm. Paula, hope you are reading this! I have a mess of lemons I want to preserve. You have a 7-day. You have a 30-day. Molly Stevens has a 3 week. Then, to further complicate things, Judy Rogers adds other spices. Talk to me about this. How much advantage is there to longer over shorter? And, if you think the 30-day is the best, could you PM me the recipe (Slow Med is on loan to a friend I trust, but friend is out of twon).

Thighs and legs are often really cheap here, and I add those as well. Then, you have meat, too! Sometimes I end of with more meat than I can use at that time, and have frozen the cooked chicken meat. It doesn't usually freeze well, but if you add some of the chicken fat, it keeps very well.

The only thing I would have done different (after several disasters like this) is never just dump anything from a container (unless you intend to use the entire container) into a vat of food. Put it in your hand, or a spoon, or a bowl. You could always make a couple more batches, sans salt, and mix them together?

When my stock is really jellied, I sometimes find it easier to de-fat it when it is frozen. Just scrape the frozen fat off with a grapefruit spoon. My chicken stock is usually this jellied if I add chicken feet.

I'll try this on the next batch I have to scale. Since the scales are pretty sticky, it makes sense that they might just stick to the spatula.

Every August, when the Colorado peaches arrive, I am in heaven. They are only availble here by the lug. When the season is nearing it's end, I approach my produce guy at the market, and offer to purchase the almost over-ripe peaches for pennies on the dollar. I take them home. Then, I line every pie pan I can get my hands on, line them with foil, and make filling (farm journal cookbook recipe) fill the foil, freeze them, remove pie pans and return said pans to everyone from whom I've borrowed said pans. All wnter long, we eat peach pies. Guests now expect them, as do the folks to houses I'm asked to bring a dessert.

I opted to scale, and not fillet. There were just too many of them. Side note: He catches, I clean; I catch, he cleans (it has worked well for more than 25 years). Here is a photo of the fish:. This shows but 25 of the 70 that he brought home. Believe it or not, people will actually give you sunnies instead of cleaning them themselves! The bag method works well. Dinner: A salad. Baby greens (from who knows where?), a chopped up pear (again, from where? -- after all, this is MN in January), Maytag, pecans. Roasted cauliflower. A lot of fish, prepared just as my MIL does. Headed, gutted, scaled, egg wash, then slathered in very finely crushed saltines and fried. I love sunnies. Part of it has to do with memories, which can be strong proponents of how one feels about food. I remember well the last weekend we had at The Cabin Before Kids (about a month Before Kids). That Saturday, we went blueberry picking and picked about 3 of those ice cream pails worth of berries. The next morning, we arose early, I hied by big belly into the boat, and we caught 70+ sunnies on cane poles with worms we gatherered from under the conveyor belts that serve as paths. It was a specatular day, and no one was around to see my in my bikini, with my huge belly, as we hauled one in after the other. We cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and cleaned more fish on the deck, washed the deck down with 5 gallon (empty food service) buckets (from a friend). Left far later than we normally did. But, did we eat well. Some 14+ years later, we still have memories of that last carefree weekend Without Kids or any other family around.

So, slowly, but surely, Heidi is once again eating, and seemingly gaining weight. We started with the electrolyte stuff. Then, when she seemed hungry again, she was hungry for food. Oatmeal. Beans and cheese. Bananas. Since she doesn't have the oral motor skills to eat meat (other than finely chopped chicken), we have concentrated on poultry, eggs, beans. Augmented with cheese. Lots of roasted cauliflower, bananas, peas and corn for veg. Whole milk. If she eats well for dinner, she's rewarded with cream cheese mixed with a variety of fruit. The hard part is getting the calories into her, without sacrificing fruit and veg. Her pants aren't hanging as loose on her, and I think that she's now tipping the scales at 52 lbs. (she's 10 any tiny), but up from 49 lbs. And, thanks to everyone for their concern. It's really frustrating when the patient is non-verbal.

I am not going to re-read the entire bazillion pages of this thread to see if this has been covered. But, once you put that olive-oil coated bits and large pieces of cauliflower in the sheet pan, if you sprinkle it with Goya Abobe, it is even more wonderful.