snowangel

I actually received thank-you notes from guests for the cookies and for including the recipes!

My final package of the semester for Diana included port salut cheese, some sort of plain Pepperidge Farm cracker "sticks," some manchego cheese, Reeses PB thingies (leftover from Halloween), a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese, laundry detergent (those new Purex 3 in 1 sheets) and note cards (Peter addressed two to himself in a moment of wishful thinking). Oh, and a College sweatshirt (replica of the one John Belushi wore in "Animal House." We will see her on December 18 or 19, and she wants me to have a stash of bagels and cream cheese on hand, and on the 19th, we will decorate the tree, and she wants venison curry and stir-fried Chinese broccoli. It will be an adjustment to be a family of 5 again! As to the "care packages" -- she's loved everything I've sent. Trader Joe's is a gold-mine for care packages; I just haven't made the trip for this last package of the semester, but scrounged with what we had here at home (home shopping is a good thing).

While not a meat market, a recent stop at Russ Kendall's in Knife River, MN (on scenic 61 between Duluth and Two Harbors) served as a reminder just why I stop there every time I've within shouting distance of Duluth. We're heading to Duluth this weekend, and will be sure and report on Old World Meats.

sjemac, excellent pictoral. Just how my father-in-law and I do it, except we hang the deer by the neck. Mallet, the way the sinew and membranes work in a deer is much different than in a domestic cow or pig, as you cn see by the pieces that sjemac came up with. Just how I and countless other butchers of deer do it. Once you lay out the quarters, it is just the natural way to do it. Remember, these animals work a lot harder than even a free-range cow or pig.

Pot stickers, perfectly pleated.

I love to be adventurous. Primarily SE Asian or Chinese. I don't hesitate to try something new on guests. I love to entertain. I make all of my own kitchen/food related presents. Oh, and a recipe is just a starting point.

I went one better than Chris. When I went through the glove bin a couple of years ago, I found a right glove from one pair, and a left glove from another pair, so instead of tossing them, they sit on the freezer. Virtually free.

No help for this burn, but to prevent future burns (I've done the "grab a hot pan out of the oven bare-handed at least once for every year I am old). Wrap some crinkled foil around the handle before you put it in the oven. Instant reminder that yes, you do need a potholder! This has worked for the last two years.

One of my rules for buying any cookbook is to try and check it out from the library. If I renew it, I buy it. Otherwise, hie thyself to a Borders or Barnes and Noble and curl up in one of their chairs with these books and peruse them. The other question is one that I already raised. Do you want a single purpose book or one that can fill many needs, which all of the books I mentioned above can do?

I did well today. We had scrambled eggs with some bits of leftover smoked fish for breakfast. For some reason, every time I go to Costco (weekly, primarily for milk -- Costco is only 1 mile from my house and the savings on milk are huge), I buy the two-pack of 18-count eggs, so we always have a shelf full of eggs. Church, then took my sister to the airport. Peter is sick and needed something to eat on the way home, so we stopped and I got him a bagel. Lunch, when I finally arrived home from the airport was the last four Ritz Crackers in a tube with the last of the smoked fish (from Russ Kendall's in Knife River). Dinner. I'd actually thought about this in advance (it's been a very busy weekend what with a big birthday bash for my mother and my sister coming from Berkeley -- she'll never hear the end of the fact that she neglected to bring a double levain from Acme) and pulled out some chicken from the freezer. Not long ago, my supermarket had 10 pound packages of leg/thigh quarters for $.39/lb, which I dutifully split into legs and thighs and froze on cookie sheets and then stuck into zip locks. Mashed potatoes, adding in the last of the filling from twice baked's I'd made on Thursday. I added the filling to the mashed potatoes and then crisped the shells for me to eat with butter and pepper. A half a bag of frozen corn was thawed and heated. We didn't eat all of the chicken (I roasted more on purpose), so tomorrow, I'll dig out some stuff from the pantry and freezer and make enchiladas. So, my question for the day is my mom had four 8-oz packages of button mushroom in her fridge. We traded them for Tort Mahn mixture (she was having folks over for dinner). They won't last long in the fridge, and I have intentions for them. Should I just go ahead and dry roast them in a pan and put them in the fridge? After cooked, will they freeze? I did stop at the market today and bought yogurt and squishy pseudo wheat bread for lunches for Heidi for this week. No way is she eating homemade bread, and no way is she eating sourdough. She's tiny and has health and eating issues (80 pounds at age 15), so I will cater to her. Oh, I also bought some cream cheese because we have at least 4 dozen bagels in the freezer. Why do I have this stuff, and like Steven, I wonder where some of it came from.

I don't have any experience with any of the new books, but I will say that Barbara Tropp's masterful Modern Art of Chinese Cooking has absolutely the best instructions ever on pleating Chinese dumplings. My other two go-to books for dumplings are a circa 1975 Wei Chuan Dim Sum book and Florence Lin's Complete Book of Chinese Noodles, Duplings and Breads. All three of these books have the advantages of being multi-purpose books, each one with all sorts of very good recipes for things other than dumplings. Tropp's tome is a back-bone of my cookbook library -- there's no question that is the most well-worn book in my collection.

The milk crates work very well -- I've got them stacked two high. I tend to fill them with like things. Since I have a ton (not litererally), I keep vension steaks and roasts in one, stewy stuff in another, etc. There's room in front to store stuff like frozen pizzas, 4-packs of Costco butter, etc. in front of the milk crates. The milk crates also make it really easy to defrost the freezer when I need to -- about every other year. Oh, and there's room on top of the milk crates to lay out things like potstickers and pieces of chicken on half-sheet pans to freeze before I transfer them to zip-locks. Oh, and back to your question about which freezer to choose -- we based our decision in large part of price and delivery options (free delivery, good price).

No advice on a brand, but I like my chest freezer, and one reason we went for a chest freezer is that at the time (10 years ago or so), the word was that they were more energy efficient than front loaders. In terms of storage, I use milk crates to organize things. I also like that it's got a nice big top surface for sorting laundry, wrapping presents, etc.

Thanks, Steven, for the report on the fried chicken. But, $14.95 for a bunch of ingredients that I have on hand and probably cost a buck? I don't think so...

I think this is key to making the most use out of what you have. I'm now ready to dive in. I had a half-hearted attempt, but a women's weekend away and birthday party bashes for my mom precluded full participation. So, last night, I reorganized and went through the downstairs freezer, and have cleaned out the upstairs freezer. Outside of milk (which I need to purchase regularly, I should be in good shape. My one exception will be that if I'm near the Asian market, and if they have fresh Thai basil, I'll pick it up. It is very perishable. We love the basil in curry, and I've got tons of everything else to make curry. On another note, I've been getting together with a couple of friends most Sunday afternoons while Peter is in confirmation, and we've started a Sunday afternoon leftover trade. These are leftovers that are fairly single-purposed, and one can only eat the same thing for so many lunches in a row. We all cook in very different styles, so this has been a great way to re-use leftovers.

This probably belongs in the publications forum, but I came across this article with links to a whole mess of newspapers that have cookie contests as the holidays approach. They include a list for the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) and I have made the Persian Molasses Crinkles, which were outstanding.

What I ended up doing was making two kinds of cookies -- Tart Lime Cilantro Cookies and a pomegranate molasses cookie (if anyone wants a link to the recipe, let me know). I put cookies into those cellophane bags you can get at a craft bag, added a small star ornament, and made place cards (cut up un-ruled index cards). I felt like Martha as I printed out copies of the recipes on index cards to include in the festive bags.

Richard, where did you find the Piment d'Esplette? We're not po-dunk here in MN, but I can't seem to source it locally.

Help! I'm co-hosting a 75th b-day party for my mom on Saturday. I'd like to give out food-related party favours. Let's face it, I'm not going to do dishtowels or potholders for 15 in two days. Other ideas? How about a favorite Xmas cookie recipe with a cookie cutter? Other ideas?

One of the things I've learned as I butcher my own deer -- don't cut that roast of chop thing into steaks. Cut it into appropriatly sized hunks. Then, when you want it, you have the choice -- steaks or roast. Tonight, a simple meal of a chop roast (off the back, on top of the ribs), with salad, roasted asparagus and twice-baked potatoes. As I look at the pile of venison in the freezer, I'm so glad I butchered it myself. Everything is VERY WELL labeled, and I packaged it appropriately. As we have settled into life as a family of four (Diana is at college), our requirements are different. There are packages of this and that ranging in weight from 1/2 lb. to 2 lb., with a lot of them in the 1/2 pound range. Oh, and there are some 1/4 pound packages.

Reminder to everyone to visit the Artisnal Christmas Present topic, which includes food items as well as those which are kitchen related, but not necessarily food (think day-of-the-week dishtowels, etc.).

This is my same complaint with the books you mention. I have two teens at home, and they are hungry, all the time. The third one is in college, so any spare time and funds are devoted to paying tuition, and mailing her packages. This book, and the others you mentioned, are not for those of us who are feeding those with hollow legs, nor those with hollow tuition payments. Those kids don't want a Tablespoon of something exquisite, they want FOOD. Never mind that nothing the recipes seem to need are those I can hunt and gather.

I also make a fairly naked stock. Just bones, meat and onions. Allows for much more flexibility when one is actually going to use the stock.

For me, more peach raspberry jam, and some peach raspberry syrup (jam that didn't thicken properly). A couple of weeks before Christmas, I will once again make about 300 potstickers to package as gifts (weather here makes it possible to easily give frozen gifts) along with dipping sauce and chicken stock. I've been embroidering dishtowels (thank you, Aunt Martha!) -- averaging about 1 to 1.5 per month -- which I will use in lieu of gift wrap for 15 gifts. I've also made some casserole totes, and I will post the dimensions when I have a minute. I've used old quilts (cut up) or felted wool. A good use for an old wool coat that was looking a bit threadbare around the neck and cuffs. Oh, and I've also knit and felted a mess of potholders.

Given the cold temps here at Christmas, my Christmas "hampers" are actually boxes left on the front porch as we celebrate. Homemade chicken stock and potstickers, supplemented by peach/raspberry jam (which sits inside) and homemade biscotti.