snowangel

Please don't say that.... You (and this whole Klatsch, in which evening meetings all week have prevented me from participating) are violating one of my most sacred shopping oaths: "If it's cool and a good deal, buy it! You'll use it someday!" ← Doesn't really apply to scallions, sorry to say! But, like I said, they would have looked mighty fine with the celery, in a lawn chair, with a parasol drink!

My languid last two stalk of celery remind me that I also have a beautiful hunk of ginger. How best to store it? It's more than I can use in a month of Sundays. (Let's not even talk about planting it; I'm struggling to keep my Kaffir Lime tree alive this winter.) Whiz in the Cuiz Mini-Prep and freeze? Since Heidi and Peter (he's also home sick today) are sort of half napping and watching Kung Fu Panda, I went through the veg bin, and I do have a head of napa, and a mess of ground pork, as well as wraps, so am doing potstickers. This whole experiment is giving me a lesson in "it's not a good deal if you aren't going to use it." I did have to discard quite a few of the outer leaves. The scallions looked nice and plump when I bought them (when?), but by the time I got rid of the ick, I realized I need to add some shallots to the mix.

Time for me to get caught up (sorry, no photos!). This has been a good week for this experiment as Heidi is home sick -- really sick -- which means constant seizures, so a trip to the market would have been out of the question even if I'd intended to go. To set the record straight, the only purchase has been yogurt, which seems to be the only thing she'll eat. So, Tuesday night, inspired by this post by Bruce, I made thit bo kho. I saw this post, realized that I own the cookbook, and actually had annatto seeds, purchased for some unknown reason. I have plenty of venison, so pulled out a package of neck meat. I did have some leftover Thai basil which needed to get used, and a handful of increasingly sad-looking cilantro. This dish was outstanding, served over jasmine rice with a side of stir-fried broccoli. While I was digging in the freezer for the neck meat, I recalled an article in Fine Cooking about ragus made with bone in meat. Simple braise. I also espied the last of last summer's tomatoes (frozen), so browned up those shanks, removed them, and sauteed a carrot/celery/onion mix, before deglazing with some white wine (leftovers from a party a while back that I'd frozen), and adding the food-milled tomatoes and the shanks. Oh, I think there was some chicken stock in there, as well. I must say that I used the last of the celery, and it was the most languid looking stalk I'd just about ever seen. It would have looked nice propped up in a lawn chair sipping a pina colada. So, tonight. Chicken thighs. The package that fell out of the freezer last night and just about broke my toe. When they're on sald, I lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and freeze them before sticking them in a ziplock. Inspired by the Paprika topic, I'm going to do the dish mentioned at the beginning of the topic. I found a bag of unsprouted onions in the basement, and I have paprika. I also have potatoes and egg noodles, and my stash of salad greens is still going strong. Gotta love those mongo Costco packages of organic baby greens. Breakfasts for the kids have been cereal, and toast for me. I'm working on a loaf of Acme sourdough that my sister brought and I had frozen. Well toasted, with butter. My lunches have been leftovers; the kids either buy at school or take from home. Take from home is generally PBJ and an apple; perhaps a cookie. I laid in a stock of the limited edition Hydrox when they were available.

I'd start by pulling the head off, and removing any meat attached at the "neck." Oh, and don't forget to check and see if there are any cheeks lurking sort of under the eyes. So, with head removed, grab a gill and start removing the skin. Once the skin is removed, lay it flat, and running from head to tail will probably be a "line" -- separating the top and bottom flesh. I usually just use my fingers and remove the top flesh gently, so that the bones stay on the spine. For the bottom, do the same thing, but don't be surprised if the belly bones stay with the belly part -- there's often a "skin" on the inside of the belly that you can peel back and the belly bones (they will be concave -- or convex -- depending on how you are looking at them) should come with it. I much prefer flaking smoked fish once it's off the bone or you'll spend a lot of time with a magnifying glass looking for bones. Also, any gray scum stuff on the outside of the meat should be removed and discarded. According to the MN DNR, this is where the pollutants reside. Smoked fish, BTW, also makes a lovely addition to a frittata. Also good eaten cold, standing in ones skivies with the fridge door open.

Quite frankly, in the dead of winter, that corn I froze within a couple of hours of it's picking, or the green beans that were picked just moments before the blanch and freeze process are far fresher than what's imported from who knows where at this time of year. One of my summer jobs when I was in college was at the Bird's Eye canning/freezing place in Waseca, MN (a job guaranteed to motivate a person to get a degree, BTW), and the stuff that was processed was really fresh. Corn was picked in the am for the pm processing.

With two sick kids, soup last night. As I looked in the pantry, there was a can of chickpeas and more cans of tomatoes than I can count. Pasta e cici soup, except that I forgot to add the pasta. Oh, well. We do agree that this is a fab tomato soup. Alongside, quesadillas with pre-grated cheese. Some with the last of the deli sliced smoked turkey breast. I added crushed red pepper to my soup.

More about what was in these eggs, please!

Over here, Chris Hennes complained about the CI version of Bolognese (I concurred). While home today with two sick girls, I pulled out some random old issues of Fine Cooking to see what I'd vowed to make, but hadn't. January 2007 -- No. 83 -- Ragus. One of the recipes is Short Rub & Porcini Mushroom Ragu. There were also recipes featuring pork ribs/sausage and one with land shanks. Has anyone tried these? While not tradition Bolognese, these look to be drop dead easy, since they are basically a braise with the meat shredded after the braise. I do think I have a couple of venison shanks in the freezer and just might try this.

No, Chris, you are not off-base, at least IMHO. In fact, that recipe has my notation on it -- never again. I continue to pull out Marcella for Bolognese.

So, breakfast today was a half a leftover kielbasa from the other night, diced, along with a sad red bell pepper into scrambled eggs. Dinner tonight will be a chicken curry (I opted to skin the thighs since they were looking a bit freezer burned), and prik king (my mom brought me some beautiful long beans, which do not keep well), and stir-fried broccoli. There should be enough leftovers to provide breakfasts/lunches and/or snacks for the kids after school. I do have a beautiful bunch ot Thai basil for the first two dishes, but will have leftover basil, so I need to figure out how to preserve that. But, I do have to stop at the supermarket tomorrow to get Heidi's 'scripts. One of her meds needs to be administered with pudding or yogurt (her fav), and not just at home, but at school. She does not like jelly, and this med does not mix well with syrup. Although I have plenty of yogurt at home, it is in big containers, and Nurse Ratched at school insists on individually factory sealed containers. Peter and his buddy plowed through what I figured was my week's long stash last night while WII'ing. But, I am not taking my cash card, and only exactly enough cash for Heidi's yogurt stash, which I will drop off at school.

I'm off to Goodwill tomorrow to off-load the kids' clothes that are too small, and the various items I haven't used since I moved to this house almost 5 years ago. But, when I go to off-load, I always go into the store (nice and clean and well organized) and look for egg cups. Oh, and Maggie, I am so with you on the snotty egg whites. And, a suggestion. For poking holes in eggs, a push pin works wonderfully. In fact, I have two in my utensil drawer (no room on the counter for a caddy), each pushed nicely into a wine cork. Saves me from rummaging through the sewing box.

Does miang kam qualify as a salad? It's basically little piles of various ingredients that the diner puts in whatever proportions desired into a lettuce or betel leaf and dips into a sauce. Do we call it a "composed" salad?

Oh, I'm remembering that we have done this already! We were up at The Cabin Labor Day weekend some years ago (1997) when the trusty Ford Bronco decided to not want to go further than 100 yards from The Cabin. We had been up there with friends, and they chose to leave earlier on Monday than we did. We divided up the stuff to take home, and the other Mom said "you just take the food." Good thing we did, as the larder at the cabin at the end of the season is sparse, to say the least. Anyway, car trouble kept us up there for an addition four days, and outside of when Paul went across the lake in the boat the next day to call a tow truck, our employers, day care, school (Diana missed her first day of first grade!) -- Paul did get a 1/2 gallon of milk and a basket (literally, in a basket) of eggs, all we had were a coupla hunks of assorted cheese, two half loaves of bread, some salami, leftover steak, baby carrots, some sad looking salad greens, 1/2 stick of butter, and some bacon. In the larder: some bisquick, 2 cans of baked beans, 1 can of tuna, flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, powdered milk (yes, it does have a reason), powdered buttermilk, assorted dried herbs and spices, ramen noodles, a box of macaroni of unknown age, some dusty looking chocolate chips and a half a container of oatmeal. Oh, there was also a bag of dried navy beans which were surely older than any of my kids. I'm not including the various and assundry condiments like ketchup, fish sauce, sirichai sauce, etc. We ate well. And horded the milk; after all, we had three little kids at the time.

Hmmm. Once a year, I get a deer or a deer and a half, so I have to clean out the deep freeze. Why don't I ever do that with the upstairs freezer (side-by-side)? So, today, I scrounged once I picked up the stuff we have to have (and, some of it is medical necessity). So, for dinner tonight, I'm doing a bastardized version of pozole with the last of my leftover smoked pork, a can of hominy, and one of the several cans of tomatillos I have. There is salsa in the fridge. Oh, and I'm going to use the last of the Poblano Creme Soup since I can't seem to find any more roasted poblanos in the freezer (although I'm sure they are there). Using the last of the smoked pork reminds me. Does charcoal count as a grocery item? I've got another butt, and some time on my hands next week....(oh, and plenty of wood chunks).

I'll try and remember to take a photo of my freezer once my camera batteries charge, but, oy, what a nightmare. I think the first rule of freezer cookery is to mark those damned packages. Lord only knows what's in some of them! I will admit I did stop at the market today; mostly because my mom asked me to take care of some things for her, but the only things I picked up for myself was: 1 bunch broccoli 1 package of salad greens (committed to bringing a salad to a party tomorrow) 3 onions 3 heads of garlic 2 gallons of milk Yogurt (for delivery of Heidi's medicine, which I don't really consider a grocery, but a medical necessity) Oh, and the produce guy gave me two mangos that were about to be tossed because they were "soft" (meaning perfect for Molly's Coconut, Lime and Mango braise). A perusal of my deep freeze reveals several bags of frozen green beans, peas and corn (which, given the time of year, are actually "fresher" than what's available "fresh" at the market); pie filling, more meat than a person could ask for, including bacon and sausages. Herbs. At this time of year here, given how the weather has been, I haven't been doing fresh (it would have frozen between the market and the car). Instead, last summer, I whizzed some herbs (separately) with a tidge of olive oil and froze them in logs. I also dried some of them, and they will have to suffice. So, good to go in the Fahning household.

Chris, I would put dishwasher detergent in the same category as toilet paper. Milk? Gotta get it when I need it. Can't freeze it because I have have a deer and a half and several pie fillings, tomatoes, and corn in the freezer. Just no space, and with three teens, milk goes, and it goes fast. So, I'm heading to the market tomorrow, not to stockpile, but because I've only got one garlic clove, no parm, and only one onion. I'm in for this except I may need to go to the market to get bananas during the week. They are a vehicle for medication for Heidi, and she won't eat them if they have a brown spot on them (EWWW!). That's more medical than food related, I'd like to think.

Oh, that's right, it is Valentine's Day. Since three of the five of us had the stomach flu, it was broth and saltines for those who could even stand to eat. Peter and I had spicy ramen noodles, which we followed with some Dove chocolates. The three sick puppies are all tucked into bed with trash cans and towels at the ready (also leaving bathroom lights on). So, I'm thinking my dinner plans for tonight -- grilled chuck eyes, a potato gratin and green beans and a salad will wait until tomorrow -- or Monday night. James Bond kept Peter and I company tonight. Somestimes romance is all about getting broth, and being tucked into bed.

I made these Greek Salad Skewers for our Super Bowl party, and everyone loved them. Another idea (and I think this could be a do a day in advance one) is dates stuffed with goat cheese and toasted almonds. I had these at some fancy party not too long ago, and they disappeared in a split second. Or, what about some sort of dip of seafood thing in lettuce cups or endive spears? A warm veg idea is slow simmered green beans with a little bit of tomato -- you could season this as you think appropriate.

My suggestion is to hie oneself to the library and check out every possible book, read them, and then make a decision. No matter what other folks say, it's all about how the book speaks to you.

I have long been a fan of Parmesan Goldfish. But, today, at Target, I spotted "made with hol Grain" in a Toasted Corn flavour (not featured on their website. What do the rest of you think of Goldfish? Those overly salty Flavour Blasted flavours need not apply, at least to me. This new Toasted Corn flavour seems much less salty, which greatly appeals to me. So, if you like Goldfish, are they for breakfast; right out of the bag, or in place of saltimes?

At Pho Tau Bay, I would be tempted to order a bhan mi sandwich and a bowl of soup; and split them. But, as long as you are in the area, stroll up the street to Penninsula Malaysian Cuisine for an appetizer of Spicy Golden Tofu. This dish elevates tofu to an entirely new level. Creamy house-made tofu, deep fried, nice and spicy. Should you wish to pursue the ethnic theme (and want to do some grocery shopping), there's Central Ave. NE. Of note: Sen Yai Sen Lek (for Thai noodle dishes on no other menus, plus miang kam (sp?), Holy Land -- which features not only groceries but a great restaurant (think more of a counter, waiting for your food and taking it to a table), and Patel Groceries, the Twin Cities premiere Indian grocery store. For those of us "looking forward" to college tuitions for teens, these sorts of places provide a ton of bang for the buck.

Right. You grabbed those first and they're on the way to the cabin. Knives or pots, Susan? Which is it? ← Knives. More sentimental value. I'm a sucker for stuff I got from My Elders. Add to that I know how these knives work, how they sharpen. Oh, and when we're at the cabin, one needs knives to fillet those fish we (ahem) catch, or to slice the cheese and baguette.

Egads. What I'd grab first are my cookie cutters. They are legacy, heritage; some date back to my great-great grandmother. I've got pots and knives up at the cabin (north of Duluth, Chris, BTW).

Two other places to mention: The International Hmong Market (217 Como Ave, St Paul, MN 55103). It's a market and food court, and the food is great. I think you'll find things here to eat you won't find elsewhere. If you want more Asian suggestions, post and I'll reply. You could also hit the Como Park Conservatory while your at it -- I'm not sure what the feature is now, but it's a beautiful spot. You mentioned cheese. Surdyk's is a good cheese shop, but if you want to go more local, there's the St. Paul Farmers' Market, or if you head to the Grand Ave. (St. Paul) area, visit the Golden Fig. Everything is local, and really wonderful. And, in a very fun area of the Twin Cities.

Of note recently was the pasta e cici soup noted uptopic, and the Curry Mee (Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup) recipe from a NY Times column. The latter was great reheated the next day for breakfast with some leftover rice -- so don't limit yourself to noodles. Oh, and don't forget the lime wedges. The pasta e cici soup goes into the file as our go-to tomato soup.