snowangel

Our maggiethe cat has been so quiet Probably pondering her diet How to pentameter all of her rhyme Without using too much of precious time Oh do tell us all of what you ate On this very glorious August date Be it plebian or pedestrian Or if you again used that wonderous gin

I thought the theme of EVERY month is bacon. A month without bacon is like a month without, well, I dare not utter it.

Alas, alak, no bacon in the house Maggiethe cat sat quiet as a mouse Oh poor Maggie, our poet laureate Poor dear, in her little black dress, sat, wept. Diet based on rhyming pentameter Will so seriously limit her Eggs and bacon and that special breast milk Leaves one kegs and legs and Macon to bilk We are left to wonder when Lou will rail Leaving Maggie to dump all in a pail. (begging pardon for the one out of iambic pentameter line)

Always paper at the grocery. Minneapolis won't take recycling in plastic bags any more. I get more than enough plastic bags from places like Target. Since these multiply like rabbits, I tend to take my old bags back to Target for re-use. I think one of the biggest scams on the market is Glad and Hefty, etc. trash bags. They have people buying something for the sole purpose of throwing it away!

I have also made larp with raw tuna. But then it really isn't tuna tartare, or is it?

When I make stock in the summer (in the winter, since it's cold here, I use the back stoop method), I strain it into a wide, huge metal bowl I have. It doesn't fit on the sink, but the lips fit on the edge of the sink, which I fill with a bit of cold water and ice blocks (if I have them), or I'll go to the little store at the end of the block and buy a bag of ice. I think it cools faster in this wide bowl, and I stir the stock. It cools down much faster than in a stock pot in the sink with ice.

Go to an Asian supermarket/butcher. All of the ones here have fabulous meaty, fatty beef ribs. They are also a lot cheaper than at a "regular" butcher/grocery.

I recently had (at a restaurant) an outstanding red lentil and chipotle soup. I'll work on recreating it. It was perfect on a hot day. I tend to crave spicy when it's hot out (and I'm not eating sweet corn ).

Grand Rapids would be like a 10 hour trip from Minneapolis, without gas/potty stops! Yikes! Those damned Great Lakes seem to get in the way. I think I'll descend on Klink instead....(2+ hours, depending on how heavy the foot is).

Last night: sweet corn (yes, again; can't get enough), green beans with lemon juice and kosher salt, and tomatos. Sensing a mutiny ("Corn again? I am having nightmares about corn," young Peter says and Paul responds "I need variety in my diet; I think maybe we should go to White Castle tomorrow night), tonight I added grilled chicken to the sweet corn meal. They were somewhat satisfied, and even more satisfied when I presented them with the vanilla ice cream with peaches (as opposed to peach ice cream) which I made this afternoon with some absolutely perfect Colorado peaches.

These things remind me of exactly why I did it myself. No one to blame but me. I learned a lot, but everything is just as I wanted. The price of the labor was right, too.

Your bio mentioned an increased interest in cooking when you were in 4th grade, just about the age Diana (my now 12 year old) was when she started to become really interested in The Kitchen and The Meals. What prompted your interest? Further to this, you mention a family. If you family includes offspring, what sort of interest have they had in cooking? And, if they had an interest, how did you further this? What part did kids play in how you cook(ed)? And, thanks in advance for your participation in this Q & A. I'll admit that I had never read anything by you before (yes, bad, but honest!), but have checked just about everything they had out from the library; my night stand is sitting tall! I've cracked the covers of all of them, and just can't decide which to read first, and which to take to the cabin for serious reading.

I'd appreciate a slaw report from Ellen.

Reminder that if you are making stock in the winter, one can put the pot out on the back stoop to cool before defatting, thus saving on fridge electricity (I more often make stock in winter than summer). Just hope and pray that a blizzard doesn't come along before you bring the pot back in. On year, it took us 3 days to find it under 3' of snow, and another day to pry it loose from the ice that was adhering the pot to the stoop. The lesson: stock freezes well.

Yes, that's foreplay. But does the 7 year old that uttered that comment even know what foreplay is?

This may be a midwestern (Minneapolis) thing, but every afternoon and every evening, an ice cream truck, complete with music, meanders up our street. One of the two in my neighborhood seems to arrive every afternoon about 3:00 pm. About three times a week, when we are in town, Peter, Heidi and I decide it's time for a treat! Heidi and I favor dreamsicles. Peter is a fudgsicle guy (anything to dirty a shirt). $.50 a pop. We eschew the Disney-character-shaped pops. Although one of those cone things with the sugar cone and the spiral chocolate and nuts sometimes hits the spot. Peter thinks a popsicle is a waste of his money. On a really hot afternoon, we run around in the sprinkler to get the sticky goo off that has dripped onto our shoes, legs, shirts, hair, ears, etc. after we've devoured our treats. We have a can in the front yard for the sticks. Your favorites? Do these ice cream trucks only exist here?

I polled the family tonight (minus Diana, who conned my folks into paying for yet another week at camp; this time canoeing in the BWCA): Me: Sweet corn late July to mid-September. Rest of the year is BACON, BACON AND MORE BACON. Paul: Steak. Heidi: Cheese. She loves all kinds of cheese. She had her first cheese (bleu) at 4 months of age and never looked back. Peter: Toast with butter. But, he indicated "real butter. Not that stuff from Cub (our big chain) in the waxed paper. Butter like Hope Butter." (Hope Butter is local butter, cultured, not shipped more than 2 hours from the dairy. I believe these are all worthy choices. When pressed to add something that wasn't laden with fat, everyone said "really good watermelon with seeds you can spit" and "peaches that drip down your arms when you bite into them."

Sweet corn (yes, again), sliced tomatos, green beans. Those That Must Eat Meat had grilled pork chops. Melon for dessert. Washed down with Gin and Tonics (lemonade for the little ones. I have fixed sweet corn 9 out of the last 10 days. I'm in heaven; everyone else in the household will start to complain soon. Let them complain!

Frittata. A great empy the fridge dish.

Creamy soups and eggs. When Heidi was so tactile defensive (oral motor wise) and would eat nothing that did not virtually dissolve in her mouth (and she does not have a sweet tooth) one of her favs was pancakes (no sugar added, made with bacon grease instead of butter) with a soft boiled egg on top of two pancakes. The yolkes helped make the pancakes really mushy, and it tasted wonderful. I also became pretty adept at making savory custards (no recipe, but by guess and by golly). When Diana had some teeth pulled, these ideas helped keep her well fed! Congee is another good idea.

I'd win by three lengths. Try twenty below, Little Black Dress, snowstorm, pantyhose, high-heeled sandals. Smokers: Dumb but Strong. Yes. I have done this. Only I refuse to wear pantyhose. So no pantyhose for me. I don't do pantyhose either, ever. For me, its at least 20 below, requiste snow storm, no socks and birkenstocks. Back to the contest -- tongue twisters.

But, it's so much fun to to the "Hai, Karate" thing with the cleaver. I don't use breasts because my family thinks breast meat is for tourists. They want a nice, meaty thigh with some fat.

My neighbors have not sold their house. It's overpriced, and they are re-thinking the move. They like their neighbors Tonight was another night. They grilled t-bones (black and blue, sliced after grilling), had home-made tortillas, all of the accompaniments, including people of all ages, lots of beer, "Mexican Polka" music. The kids are still running around, oblivious to the bugs. I'm inside getting Heidi to sleep, then back out. The women are all fawning over blonde, blue-eyed, charming Peter. Sensing a party, I made a couple of peach/blueberry pies (it was what I had) this afternoon and brought a watermelon. They have one question, which I did understand through their very broken English, and my very broken Spanish, as translated by an 8-year old boy -- "what is this lite beer? Why lite beer? Why Americans like this not regular beer?" I didn't have an answer, having never drank lite beer.

Bingo! My family prefers a chicken stock made with a lower proportion of carrots to celery, so that's how I make it. That's the way WE like it, not necessarily the way YOU will like it. I make mine with bones and dark meat. I add chicken feet. Some people use whole chickens, no feet. Although I make far more chicken than beef stock, my freezer usually has beef stock made both with and without tomato paste or fresh tomatoes. They each can serve a purpose. Experiment!

Does fresh picked sweet corn, boiled but not adorned with anything because it is so wonderful count as a "recipe?" Back to the Bittman recipe; what kind of mint did you use?