snowangel

I will not go to a restaurant to pay for the "privilege" of serving myself. I can do that at home. The Chinese, with dim sum, have it right. Bring you plates of different things. Let you choose, but serve you.

Yes. I want a report from you after you've Planned Ahead. No reason not to eat part of it the first night, re-braise day 2, eat a bit more, and re-braise once again. Would be a good report for EG.

Several comments: As a bit of background, I lived in Thailand for many years, until I graduated from High School in Thailand almost 30 years ago. (Not a PX kid, but private foundation, so Thai food was what we ate.) While I often use packaged curry paste, I find the stuff in the tubs to be superior to the stuff in the cans. I go for Maesri or May Ploy. Perhaps someting in the canning process? When I make my own, I make a lot of it, using the mortar and pestle purchased in THailand. When I make it myself, I measure pretty carefully how much I put in the curry, and freeze those amounts in ice cube trays and transfer to a ziplock. Thai and holy basil. They do not dry well. But, if you process them in the FP with some oil (ala pesto), you can freeze and not lose much. I have just had an e-mail discussion with my friend Gordon, who is an expat in Thailand, married to a Thai woman, and dividing time between Bangkok and a place north of Bangkok, remote, rural and agricultural. He confirmed that although many things have changed, some have not, in regards to an "average" Thai meal. A poor family on a farm probably has a brothy (bones with a little meat and quite a lot of veg) soup for dinner at night with rice. Lots of rice. A city family in which mom stays home probably has a curry, a stirfry veg and rice for dinner. The curry paste is likely purchased from a market, where a memeber of the stall is busy pounding paste. A family that has both mom and dad working outside the house is likely to buy the curry ready made, have rice, and perhaps a stirfry. Or a soup with lots of rice. Noodle dishes are primarily eaten off carts or at stalls. Things like roti, fried bananas, kanom krop (sp?), larb, etc. are more likely eaten from a stand, stall or cart. Multi-course meals are more likely eaten at a restaurant outside the home. And, Gordon agreed. While the U. S. has become an increasingly restaurant-oriented culture, the Thais, outside of the rural/agricultural/poot, have been this way for years. I remember well the days in Bangkok. My sister and I loved the nights when my parents went out. We listened for the ding of the bell on the noodle cart. Out we ran, bowls in hand, for our version of Fast Food. Ba Me (sp?). A basket of noodles, odd meat parts, veg. Dipped into a vat of fatty broth for a couple of minutes. Dumped into our bowls. Ladled with the broth. A plethora of condiments. Some hot, some sour, and a bowl of sugar. Chopsticks in hand, we were in heaven.

So, I braised yesterday. Removed meat from liquid. STored them separate (meat in fridge, juice in pan on deck; reminder to self that when it is way sub-zero, you can burn your hand on a sub-zero pan handle!). Reheated gently as suggested by Goddess Wolfert. In Diana's words it was "da bomb." My 70+ year olf father wondered just what I did to make this chuck roast the best he's ever had. Two clues. Lots of that gristle stuff that melts. And, re-braising. Next time, I'm doing the three-day thing. Thanks, Paula!

In a dream last night, a real tomato appeared. We're months away. Please tell me I'll live until I have a real tomato from the garden, followed by bread salad with more tomatoes from the garden...

I think chuck eye steaks are just about the best steak out their -- either grill or sear and bung.

No freezer space problem right now, just a problem making sure that every kid has long johns, mittens, mitten liners, hats, hoods (they are zip on), etc., etc. for the wait at the bus stop. ANd, setting the alarm earlier, because they do need to get ready a bit earlier! It's got to be under 10 (f) below before they cancel recess here.

Why are you going core? And, Jen, thanks for blogging and sharing more of you than many people would!

When I decided I needed to change the knobs/handles in our former kitchen (they were gunk collectors), I went to a local building center. I asked if I could borrow several different handles, promising to return them in as new condition. Reminded them that looking at the handles on the cabinets and panels they had was far different than seeing them on my cabinets, and far different than actually using them. I impressed upon them that it was a substantial purchase I would be making (120 handles/knobs; yes, it was a huge kitchen with a ton of cabinets/cupboards). It was amazing. What I thought I liked the least (in the showroom) proved to be the winning choice. Looked better on my cabinets than on what they had it on. Cleanability was great (a big factor). Who wants to take a toothbrush to the cabinet hardware when you are having company?

I want to see dinner (and the stock). Pig neck bones are good, aren't they? I get mine at the local asian market. When we lived inner city, they were available at every grocery, but this is not the case in the 'burbs. Congrats on the weight loss!

I used a pan I hated because I stuck a pan of hot stuff on a sub-zero deck. Didn't want to compromise my LC. (Braised in the LC, liquid transfered.) Fifi, when it's this effing cold, strange things happen when you put really hot stuff on a really cold deck. Trust me. Less than 2 hours later, it's rock solid frozen. Tomorrow, I will bring the pan in and scrape the fat off and bring the frozen back to liquid, add the meat back in, and put in a 250 oven for a long, slow, reheat. Smell? There is no smell now. It's frozen. Before it froze it smelled so wonderful.... I'll also have to scrape the fat off the stock I made today and thaw it before I reduce it. That (16 quart stock pot) took 3 hours to freeze solid. Trust I won't wreck anything by freezing stock (it has been strained) before reducing?

Following Paula's suggestions (I'm not doing the three day thing, just the two day thing), I removed roast from liquid. It's so blanking cold here that the meat, on the deck in a dish, was cool in 4 minutes. I did take the precaution of putting the liquid in a pot I hate before I put it on the deck. It all "crackled." Everything smells (smelled before chilling). So meat is in an airless ziplock, liquid rescued from deck before freezing and in the unheated part of the house (33 F currently).

Saw this and immediately started humming "Heat Wave."

No. alum. wiring is not good, but doable, pretty inexpensively if you DIY (as I do). I know where the circuits are, they have been mapped, and I can turn them (or the breaker off). What made me choose granite? We had these horrible "leatherette" texturered formica-type counters when we moved in. The kind you had to take a toothbrush to to get clean. Looked and looked. Drove by a monument (as in gravestone) place one day while picking a child up from school. Price was not terribly much higher than new formica ( I was not about to do my own counters). I saw a color that grabbed me. They told me where to go to pick out the slab. They let me mark up the slab with where I wanted this streak and that streak. Done deal. The room I've framed (but have yet to insulate or drywall) will be "adult space." If anyone has read the "Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka will understand what I'm talking about. A room, under the sunroom, with 10 windows. A sewing nook. A place for grownups. A place where either of us (Paul or I) can leave out a project without it being pilfered or destroyed due to interest on the part of the Young Ones. We have some beautiful oak flooring in the garage that will go down, as will the magnificent Persian rug with themes of hunting. Back to Varmint and cupboard/cabinet pulls/handles. Be ware of picking something out of a catalogue, unless you have seen and fondled it in person. When I replaced the hardware in our old kitchen, I purchased many samples from a local place, and insisted that I be able to return whatever I didn't want. Cleanability (just how much gunk will they accumulate; remember I have little kid; and how easy is it to remove said gunk) was important. How they looked on the cabinets, etc. was far different from how they looked on what they displayed them on in the store. I ended up liking best the one I thought I'd like the least!

Also, at a flooring store, you might have better chance of getting an end of roll at a good price, if your area isn't too big. Is it a big surface, and have you thought about colors? ← Colors are dictated by my oh-so-beautiful granite countertops! I'm into a serious budget, since we also need a new furnace, re-do the ceiling, replace all of the doorknobs in the house (none match, and all are pieces of junk). The list just goes on and on. We won't even talk about the bits of aluminum wiring here and here...(getting to be a pro at that, too).

Make Larb! It's also good in hash browns, crisped up a bit on salads, or just plain eaten cold standing in front of the open fridge door.

It is below zero, and dropping like a stone (to -25 F tonight), with no signs of seeing even zero for a few days. Given that I am low on stock, I stopped at the asian market today and got a mess of bones (beef and chicken) and will simmer those tonight. That stuff shouldn't take long to cool down on my deck tomorrow. And, just put a chuck roast in to the over for a long braise for dinner tomorrow night. I have a feeling that my January natural gas bill is going to give me a heart attack.

snowangel, what kind of floor have you decided to put in?? ← I'm thinking commercial vinyl tile. I've also thought vinyl sheet, but to me, it always looks like vinyl sheet. But, I haven't done much looking. A friend has recommended a flooring store that is normally only open to the trade industry, but er cousin owns it, so I have an in. I think I'm probably better off at a flooring store; they were less than helpful last time I was at Home Depot and Lowe's.

Dave, so what's up with your kitchen? I've stalled on the kitchen but have started framing the one unfinished room in this house, and have built a computer table. We've all been sick (me for almost a month). I really need to gear up for a floor, now that I ripped up a hunk of the ugly vinyl that was flapping up. I did get around to putting two coats of Kilz on a small portion of the ceiling; letting it set for a while to see if the nicotine that has colored said ceiling to a dark tan (previous owners) seeps through. Figure before I paint the whole damned thing, I better see whether it will make a difference in the long run. After the floor, I'm going to put pull-out drawer/shelf things in my 34" deep pantry (which is more like a very narrow closet).

So, what size, my hypnotist? Family of 5.

Have you budgeted for knobs for the cabinets? Do the cabinets come with hinges? Personal shock at what one can spend. One didn't seem so high, but when I came home and started counting...yikes.

Thanks for the update! Further gift idea for a kid, should you wish to inspire culinary -- the book called Fanny at Chez Panisse. Fanny is Alice Water's daughter and currently runs a "coffee shop plus" near Acme in Berkeley. It's a good read with some good recipes.

Thanks for the update. I hope you like your granite as much as I do. Make sure and let your family know that they die if they use good knives directly on the granite. The only problem I have is when I go to houses where people don't have granite. I've gotten so used to setting down really hot things directly on the counter! I ended up with solid granite (not tiles) from a monument company. It was "reasonable," and certainly better than the leatherette textured formica (read -- get out a toothbrush to keep all of the texture clean). And, let us know what you think of the samples. In some ways I'm sorry that I didn't replace the cupboards and cabinets before we put in new counters (they are darker than I would like), but they are so well built and classy that I couldn't justify getting rid of them. I dream of a pocelain or ceramic tile floor, but Heidi just flat falls too much, so something softer. I haven't gotten around to that, but I've been experimenting on the nicotine-stained ceiling (yet another story).

So, a friend just got a 15 (or more) quart LC. For why such a huge pan, I have no idea. She thought the trunk of her car visibly sunk when she got the beast in there. No idea how she's going to get it in the oven by herself when it is full.

Are you perhaps thinking of the Happy Baby Food Grinder? I have one. Don't use it anymore, but it was invaluable, simply because I'm so lazy I refused to fix separate meals for the kids when they were babies, realized that rice cereal is evil and vile, and was simply too cheap to spend way too much on tiny jars of baby food. Diana's first food was bratwurst. Peter's, pizza crust. Forget what Heidi's was. They were all under the "don't feed them table food until they are over 6-months" marker.