snowangel

A guest at our cabin fixed this sandwich this summer: olive loaf (that oscar meyer processed "meat" stuff with olives in it) on Wonder Bread. One slice of bread slathered with ketchup, the other with Miracle Whip and sweet pickle relish. I think this was worse then the cowboy sandwiches he likes (spam and velveeta in the food processor, smeared on cheap white hamburger buns and broiled, accompanied by ketchup). This is the man that drove 35 miles (each way) to get ketchup when we were out of it at the cabin. I made him go and eat it outside behind the cabin. I had larb for lunch that day

Add three, all by Alice Waters, all autographed, and all from 1/2 price books: Fruit, Vegetables, Fanny at Chez Panisse. I just made new bookshelves

Klink, as a newbie to MN, I advise that you can very easily drive 9-10 over the speed limit in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (even faster on the 35 trek between Duluth and Twin Cities). Stick to the speed limit in the Dairy State; they are not so forgiving. And, damn, I'd like to share driving with you, but it's a no-can-do weekend.

How well you eat in Minneapolis is a matter of getting out of downtown. We've heard about the plethora of chain restaurants downtown (and at the Sprawl of America), and the recent closing of two favorites -- Aquavit and Cafe Un Deux Trois. There are still a couple of really good independents downtown (without the corporate feel of D'Amico or Goodfellows), but the real story is in Northeast Minneapolis, South Minneapolis, the Mac-Groveland and Grand Avenue areas of St. Paul, among others.

News flash: I got a coupon for a free bag of the Skor "English Toffee Bits" (available in the baking aisle with the chocolate chips). Added 1/2 a bag of these to a batch of the regular toll house cookies. Bingo! Absolutely wonderful. The toffee/almost burnt sugar lent yet another flavor layer to the cookies. While the pieces are hard when the dough is raw, they sort of melt when baked. These will become a pantry staple. The first dozen lasted exactly 4-1/4 minutes.

Seems to be you and me...

Did you know that a loaf of wonder bread, plucked from the shelf by a 2 year old can be squashed into a ball the size of a tennis ball before the mother even notices that said child has snacked said loaf of bread? I go alone, or they all die. I just hate discipline in the grocery store. Yes, I'm a wimp. Now that I'm no longer gainfully employed outside the home, it's me, by myself, on Tuesday mornings. It's very civilized.

Sesame noodles, noodles wi th peanut sauce? I know there is a recipe for the former in the archive, and I recall Torakris posted a recipe for great peanut sauce somewhere, but it's not in the archive. Spring rolls?

Thanks, Ellen, for the memories. From one who grew up in Nigeria and Thailand (a majority of the early years up-country) early to mid 1960's, long before many of my haunts had been influenced by The West. We did, as you did, what you have to do.

Oven with light on, door cracked. I have an oven thermometer.

Good idea. I'm working up to a smoking something that will take a long time, but I'm not there yet. When you discuss meat, would you also please address cuts to avoid and what to look for in the hunk o' flesh? As well as meat prep before brining, etc.?

WHT: Omigod! I remember this sublime cake...an aunt made it. Could you please please post it in the recipe archive...or just PM it? Orange frosting. Double Yum! Time to bring this topic back up front. I don't bake much in the summer. Too busy. As the days shorten and cool, it's time to fire up the oven. Did this recipe ever appear?

Minnesota. Haralsons for baking and eating. Chestnut crabs for eating. I do not ever buy apples at the grocery, nor do I buy them out of season.

For your pre-airline return trip, while in Berkeley, a loaf from Acme, some fruit from Monterry Market and cheese from the Cheeseboard would be divine...

Klink, do you remove the skin before smokin'? They carry butts with skin on fairly regularly at my local asian market, and saw them the other day at Cub. SHould one have a butt/shoulder with a really nice fat cap, would one need to mop? What kind of mop?

But embrace bourbon and Leonard Cohen. Word. And get back in the saddle. My advice would be to avoid Southern Comfort and Neil Young. Avoid Webb Pierce, as well ("There stands the glass, it's my first one today").

Cherry Garcia. When I was pregnant with Heidi I was sick, the whole time, and many times a day. There was just a few foods I could eat without a visit to the Porcelin Goddess. One of those was Cherry Garcia. Half way through the pregnancy, I had lost 6 pounds. My dr. put me on a Ben & Jerry's diet!

Thanks, heyjude, for listing what you got. I wish everyone would!

Two cases of pork-flavored Mama brand ramen noodles. And, that box of cereal that Peter gets to choose every week or two. Last time it was some horrible "Hulk" stuff. He cautions everyone in the house that this is "my cereal," not realizing that none of the rest of us would dare eat that crap. Does stuff that should have been pitched three years ago count?

Church coffee.

So I'm at the store today, and they had ribs on sale. There is a customer complaining that she wants ribs that have NO fat on them but won't be dry and stringy -- she wanted them to taste like ribs that had a fat cap, but didn't want a fat cap. I rolled my eyes. The butcher recommended brining, but did add that without some fat, they just won't be the same. Fat is a good thing.

We are in the midst of one wicked, nasty ass drought. I can hardly keep up with watering my new tree and shrubs ($$$), and even the folks at the farmer's markets here are about ready to let things like tomatoes just go. I can't seem to keep enough water on the tomatoes, so this year's crop is really suffering. I haven't mowed the lawn in a month. At least what I used to call a lawn. Thank goodness the mighty Mississippi is still running with a lot of water...

It really helps to start with ultra fresh cukes, and get them on ice as soon as you get them in from the garden or home from the farmer's market. If the cuke is flacid, the pickle will be flacid. It would follow that a refrigertor pickle; one that hasn't been subjected to a boil in a jar to seal would be crisper. I wonder what effect vinegar has on the texture of the pickle?

Although most meals I cook are for at least 5, many of the hints here apply just as well for families of more, epecially those in which all of the parent(s) in the household work. Part of it about being able to look in the fridge, freezer and/or cupboard and imagine a good, nourishing meal out of what is in said places. My daughter Diana is a marvel at looking in these places and coming up with something. She also knows that just because pasta tends to come in 1 lb. packages doesn't mean one has to cook and serve the entire pound. Even when one is cooking for more than 1 (5 is also an odd number), recipes are rarely scaled to the number one is cooking for. I abhor waste.

Faster yet if the steak is leftover and eaten with one's hands in front of the fridge. I always make more steak than we can eat in one sitting.