snowangel

Julia's Way to Cook is no slouch, either. My 14 year old daugther Diana wanted a "cookbook" (as opposed to a "recipe" book -- her words), and Julia's book is very nice. Seemed just more approachable and friendly for a young lass. And, I second the recommendation of the late, great Barbara Tropp's Modern Art of Chinese Cooking. The most dogeared, grease splattered book in my collection.

Me, either. Even the idea of a pre-ferment leaves me scratching my head.

It is a balmy 34 (f) outside. I am rethinking my plans of "carnitieine" a boneless butt and getting a bone-in shoulder to smoke. Somehow, the idea of smoking a butt when everything one touched outside lead to frostbite just steared me off the later. Me does think that burgers on the grill with home-grown tomatoes will happen once again.

Shit. I'm cleaning out an unfinished room in the house. We have purchased the framing and insulation, so it's time to make this room a room. So, in the process, I determined that I was getting rid of everything in there, since we haven't looked at any of it in almost 10 months. But, as a precaution, I did open the lids of all of the boxes. 26 boxes ready for the landfill. One box of dress up clothes (including my wedding dress) destined for my cousin's little girls. One box was cookbooks saved by my dad from his mother's house, augmented by my mother and sister. Add 26 for me that I didn't even know I had, including a dog-eared copy of "Cutting Up In The Kitchen" and a pristine copy of Florence Lin's noodle and dumpling book. And, what appears to be every Farm Journal Cookbook ever published. I now have two copies of most of the latter. You can't go wrong with those FJ pickle/canning or freezing books.

For those with difficulty getting food into spoon or on a fork, I have discovered a wonderful pasta shape: Barilla Pipette. It is shorter and wider than regular macaroni. Somewhat ridged. Just the right size and shape for a spoon and scooping. We never serve spaghetti or linguine in our house. It is way too much cutting up for Paul and I to do for Heidi, and way too much of it ends up on the floor. These Pipettes have worked well for a tomato based sauce, for an alfredo, for a mac and cheese. These are shorter and much wider than traditional elbows -- enough different in shape that they seem to bridge the gap more than any other pasta. Edited to add: Thanks to all for well wishes for Heidi. We did the drinks. She didn't like them. But, her appetite is back, and she has regained 1/2 pound, and what and how much she's eating indicates that she's recovering well.

I've never had this. It sounds wonderful. Does it usually feature savory and sweet?

So, I'm doing a small dinner for about 12 people (our meals together group from church). I vascilate between a pork tenderloin, the Zuni Cafe cookbook Mock Porchetta, and Posole. It's been cold, this will be informal. Or, maybe I should just smoke a butt?

So, back to the rice. I notice arborio at the coop from Italy as well as some from California. Is one better than the other, or should one look for the rice that has the highest turnover in the market?

I do think that most supermarkets that are selling ground beef or chuck are not grinding it themselves; the packaging leads me to believe this, but I could be wrong. I guess I should really look at one of those cow diagrams to figure it out, but my dad (former butcher) did agree there's not much eye in any given cow.

Be sure and check out Craig Camp's ECI class on Risotto. It's been ages since I made risotto. Make note to get the rice. Keep the ideas coming!

Should have mentioned that after the wine is frozen, I pop the cubes out and put them in a double zip lock bag.

I do it all the time. I can't drink white wine, so when a buy it for cooking, I freeze what's left over in ice cube trays. Sure beats pitching 1/2 a bottle of good wine.

I asked my dad about this today. He grew up on a farm in Nebraska -- they had cattle, pigs and chickens. He grew up butchering and cutting up whole animals. He said that while a book might be good, he learned far more by actually cutting up the cow. He did say that when he started out, there were books available showing the anatomy of these animals, but until you get your hands and knives in there, they are merely guides.

I did not take advantage of the temps to "cold smoke" a butt or shoulder or whatever we're supposed to call it. But, I did have an experience that smarts of stupid. I stuck all of that stock outside on the deck, where is just about flash froze. Lesson learned. When it is 20 below, be sure and wear mittens or grab a pot holder before grabbing the metal hand of said pan. I have a nice frostbite mark on my hand. A nice wipe strip that has been white for a couple of days. It is regaining feeling. Why in the hell I didn't just drop the pan (nothing would have spilled, it was rock hard frozen, I'll never know. I could have dropped the thing, hoping for a ding on the vinyl floor that would force me to replace it. So, fifi, just when I was on a non-spending money kick (other than for home improvement), you entice me into believing that I NEED a gratin pan. OH! Isn't a gratin pan home improvement related? It's been about soups, braises and heavy carbs here lately.

How do you obtain/keep this tree alive in Minneapolis? ← Weather permitting, it sits in it's pot in the middle of my garden. Weather not permitting, it sits in the sun room, which is very warm, very sunny and a wonderful place to grow. Just ask my kids! Weather outside or inside, water frequently.

We haven't even seen zero for several days now...

Thai tea. When we had it there (and at Thai restaurants here), it's always iced. It's iced tea with sweetened condensed milk.

Thanks for the tip snowangel. I'm on the hunt for one of these now. I did a little research and the chuck eye is a continuation of the rib eye muscle (or perhaps the rib eye is a continuation of the chuck eye). The trouble is actually finding a butcher/store who will actually merchandise them. Most of the stores and higher end places around me just don't sell it. I'm not sure if that's because of the trouble they have to go through to bone this cut out of the chuck, or because they don't want to cannibalize sales of their more expensive short loin steaks. ← My butcher says one of the reasons they are rarely available is because there is so little of this on each chuck portion of the beef. Like two or four steaks or something. She also said that since they are a favorite of their's, they often don't make it to the counter . Further, she said they are far more available when the store has a sale on chuck roasts (they run through more chucks so more steaks available (and they run through more chuck roasts in the winter than summer). When my market has them (I'm friends enough with the butcher that she will call me) I stock up on them and stick them in the freezer. Prefer not to have to freeze them, but also prefer to freeze them when they are $3.58/lb than pay the going rate for ribeyes.

My local butcher is open tomorrow. He has pork shoulders (butts). I'm thinking I need to try some zero degree (F) smoking. The Weber Kettle looks forlorn, and I just about tripped over a bag of charcoal and another bag of wood chunks when I went out to the garage today to check the washer fluid in my Bronco. I need to smell smokey. I need to eat home-smoked pork. And, I'm still wearing my Birkies to get the trash out and to pick that frozen rosemary in my garden. A die hard!

I use leaves off my lime tree. They are noticably oilier than those which I see in the store, and those which are frozen. They also have a more intense lime flavor.

The coconut cream vs. milk discussion revolves more around whether you like a thinner curry (which I do) or a thicker curry.

Why, you make Larb. Now. Right now.

I'll bet you have a Sam's where you live. They sell "Nature Sweet" grapevine tomatoes. Small, cherry tomatoes, still on the vine, and with the most wonderful flavor. That's what I'm eating at my house. They're almost good enough to make you forget that summer is months away. ← I know. But it's not like a big fat slice on toast with bacon and lettuce. Or, a big fat tomato, eaten fresh from the garden (wearing shorts and a tank) with the juice dripping down one's arm. And, when it's a bazillion degrees below zero, it's pretty hard to imagine that there is that thing called summer, or remember why one even owns shorts and tank tops.

Golly gee. Makes me wish I'd had that fourth child I always wanted. Enjoy every moment; they pass all too fast. FOr stews, etc., I prefer to thaw in fridge and gently heat in oven or on stove, but when push comes to shove, nuke works too. But, if you nuke, don't use full power. 60%. What a sweet baby. Name of baby? Trust Mom is feeling OK?

Yes. So call the Albertville store at (763) 497-0664 and ask them to put you on their mailing list, send you the calendar, and come to the Cities when the savings are the best. Stop here, and we can do go together. I can provide a bed, we can buy Le Crueset, shop at the Asian markets, get to Penzey's, eat some good food and share a bottle of wine.