snowangel

I think so, plus some texture. I never buy the toasted ground rice -- I always make my own. Toast raw sticky rice and then grind in spice grinder. I like mine to have a little more texture (or varied texture) than the purchased stuff has. I don't think panko would work, Rachel; wouldn't it absorb too much and just become like soggy crumbs? In Thailand, it is usually served room temp, but given that room temp can be really high...

Green beans, fresh from the garden. One raspberry/blueberry pie;; raspberries from my back yard, blueberries from far northern MN. That was it. We were sated, in that way that one can be in the summer when everything is peak and fresh.

The kids and I regularly ride our bikes to the DQ for the purpose of the Mr. Misty headache!

I should be picking beans (finally!) later this week, and hopefully Paul will pick for me next week when I'm at the cabin. My neighbors, who offered me their vegetable plot this spring (I took them up on the offer, since our veggie garden went the way of a swingset for Heidi), are aging, and did not even pick raspberries when I was gone. I have two huge bowls of them, and coupled with the blueberries we picked at the cabin (check out The Cabin on The Heartland), I will make them pie tomorrow, and then go and mow their lawn. Tomatos are still about three weeks away, I think. They have lots of blossoms, and lots of large tomatos set, but it has been an "interesting" gardening year -- either hot or cold, dry or rainy. On a very sad note, the elm on the boulevard, in front of our house, has the disease. In the course of the four days we were gone, it dropped a tremendous number of leaves and twigs. It has the "orange" ring painted on it, which means that it will be gone very soon. 90 years in the making will be 10 minutes in the undoing. There are 7 trees slated on our block, so the look will be quite different in a few weeks. Boo hoo. So, tomrrow or Thursday, I will go and buy a new tree to plant in our front yard.

I am passionate about our cabin. Located near the Canadian border (and very near Superior National Forest and Voyageur's National Park), it sits at the end of a jeep trail, bordered on one side by state land (a spectacular point). We can't see our neighbor, and the island prevents us from seeing any other cabins; the only thing we see is a small resort. We have almost 1,000 feet of lakeshore. No running water, no electricity, but we do have a big LP gas tank and a Servel gas fridge (quiet!), Humphrey gas lights and a gas stove. My in-laws purchased it 30 years ago for something like $20,000. It has two bedrooms, one with double bunk beds, and a large screen porch. It is heaven. Fortunately, the kids and Paul share this same passion, and many Friday nights find us pounding up north -- 258 miles one way. I figure 4+ hours in the car -- same prep as if we did 2 hours, and the rewards of isolation are supreme. There is a reason my kids are not terribly involved with summer sports. Our sport mid-May to mid-October is going to the cabin. So, what do we eat? On Friday nights, I tend to power pack the kids with scrambled eggs and toast while I pack the car. The minute Paul pulls in, kids in car and off we go. This past Friday night, Paul and I had a bag of goldfish, washed down with a bottle of squirt as he drove, I read the newspaper outloud to him, and the kids slept. At the cabin, breakfast takes center stage -- always bacon or sausage, waffles or pancakes, and eggs. Lunches are finger food -- sliced meat and cheese, good bread, leftover veggies in vinagarette, fruit, out on the dock. The first night we're there for dinner, we always have steak, and I always buy way too much because leftover steak is supreme. We're lucky that we can leave all non-perishable items at the cabin. In addition to baking ingredients, there are a ton of condiments -- all sorts of mustard, fish sauce, dry rubs, etc. I took a small watermelon this past weekend, and to cool it down, we just hung it in the lake in a plastic bag. Best of all is the "other" food -- the food for the soul. Popping popcorn at night and playing Milles Bournes (sp?). Sitting and listening to the deafening silence. Fishing. Looking at the stars at night; Peter can now identify Cassopia's Way. I finished painting the trim on the cabin this weekend, and when I got hot, it was clothes off and a dip in the lake. Blueberries are in -- we look for granite outcropping that have been fairly recently logged, and grab ice cream pails and head in. We had a whole pail (5 quarts) in less than an hour. We had blueberry pie for dinner on Sunday night. The blueberries seem early this year, and the raspberries late. I will head north again this Sunday with all three kids in tow, leaving Paul to work, pay the bills and mow the lawn, and plan to stay for a couple of weeks. He will commute up on the weekends, bringing provisions. Nearest grocery (small at that) is 30 miles away. My schedule, starting next weekend, will be dictated by weather. The absolute best part of this past weekend: kids are in bed, it's midnight. Paul and I head down to the dock with cocktails. Look up, and we are privy to the most spectacular display of the northern lights we have ever seen. It was only 50 outside, but the lake is just over 70, so we stripped down, and laid on our backs in the water watching the display. The only sounds were a couple of owls hooting. Food for the soul. Am I the only "cabiner?"

They are also good with a Thai cucumber, rice vinegar, sugar, hot peppers, shallots, cilantro relish/sauce.

Don't be afraid to experiment.

Could someone please PM me a recipe for yeasted waffles soonest? We leave for cabin tomorrow morning, and I'd like to give them a try.

Every weekday on our PBS station, there's a different cooking show. Peter, age 7, on Graham Kerr: "Mom, is he on drugs? He's totally, you know, annoying. More annoying than my sisters." Peter, on the Cooking at home with Julia and Jacques: "I just love this show. They are so, well, wise, but in a good way." At age 7, he knows to dry the beef before browning and not crowd the pan. As he says "because Jack and Julia say so."

We have one of these at our cabin, which has a gas (LP) stove, but no electricity. I think it's probably cast aluminum, not iron, and is non-stick. I absolutely love it, and is faster than most electric ones. Stove-top waffle maker

I think that would be more called a yam, yum, whatever the correct English spelling is for a salad. know one of my favorites is a squid salad with shallots, hot peppers, lime juice and cilantro.

I don't know about retail in the rest of the country, but here in Minnesota, the "big" (space-wise) summer items have been on sale/clearance for a couple of weeks now. I was at Target on the evening of the 3rd, and they had just marked all of the other summer down to clearance and were setting up "back to school." July 4 and you can hardly find a bathing suit, but can get school supplies and fall jackets. Go figure. Yes, support your local hardware store.

When smoking ribs, don't drink so much beer that you fall asleep and leave things untended. Lesson learned!

It is also available at the Kowalski's in North Minneapolis

I'm a bi-weekly visitor (yes, better than therapy). For a report of Twin Cities Farmer's Markets, go to Twin Cities Farmer's Markets There is also a thread on The Heartland about the Evanston farmer's market.

Thump, thump goes my heart...I ran through 1 lb of salt-packed anchovies (weight before salt added) in 6 months. I need more, and will search locally tomorrow or order on-line. My kitchen feels as naked without them as if we were without the bazillion different mustards we usually have on hand.

For fridge storage of salads and stuff, I often just use a bowl with a plate as a lid.

Would love to go, but no can do. It will be blueberry picking weekend up north, and my birthday, which I have celebrated at the cabin every year since 1977. Come to think of it, just about every weekend in the summer is bad for us, considering the passion for the cabin.

Out of the blue, a few minutes ago: Paul: "My boss's wife offered to share a recipe featuring picante sauce and grape jelly. Susan's ears perk up. "So, what did she do with these two ingredients?" Paul: "I declined the offer."" I'm intrigued...

And then there would be the whole world of State Fair food-on-a-stick. I vote for the deep-fried dill pickle (battered, of course) on a stick, as served (but not tasted) at the MN State Fair last summer.

My family of five shared one Cowboy Sandwich (being, in this case, the bottom half of the hamburger bun with the spam/velveeta mixture spread on top), and there were leftovers. Peter and Heidi were young enough that they could go "gaak" and spit (hork) the stuff out on the floor and it didn't seem too uncouth. Diana, Paul and I quietly swallowed (gagged) and then brushed our teeth. Onto the congealed salad topic, somewhere in this place, I have a circa 1963 Jello grocery store pamphlet-style cookbook. I recall seeing recipes that called for celery jello. Celery Jello?????

Cowboy sandwiches. Grind spam and velveeta, smear on squishy white bread buns, broil open faced.

As she stood over the kitchen counter on that August day, knife in hand, vegetables on the counter, liquid exuded from every pore in her body. Everything chopped into a uniform dice, she scooped the trimmings up and opened the screen door with her arm, heading for the compost bin, perspiration dripping in rivulets between her breasts. As she carried the leftovers to the compost, she noticed the car, sitting in her driveway, her man at the wheel – a man pleased to see his dewy young lass, beckoning her to join him in some forbidden lark. Expecting to jump into the passenger seat in the cool and refreshing comfort of an air-conditioned sedan with a wide back seat, she was shocked when her bare thighs welded to the hot black vinyl.

I think you forgot jammies on the list (as in PJ's).

The squeeze of lime is absolutely essential.