snowangel

Bruce, thanks for the report on this dish, and it's a reminder to pull some thighs out of the freezer, as I have two HUGE lemon basil plants. I'm wondering if I couldn't whiz the basil I don't use (fearing a way overdue freeze in the next week or so) with some oil and freeze it, and use it for this dish sometime this winter when I want a blast o summer? Oh, and thanks for the recommendation on the bean sprout dish. My Asian market gives me somewhere between a pound and a pound and a half of very fresh sprouts just for shopping there!

If one were to freeze the whole damned pie, would one need to devote a pie pan to it? Or, could one slip it out and freeze it in foil or a ziplock?

One of the things Paul and I have done, both with and sans kids, is a lot of Saturday or Sunday drives, weather permitting. When I say weather permitting, I mean a day in which one needs one's sunglasses. We go in search of food. Not destination dining, but foodstuffs. So, it was the first brilliantly sunny days we've had here in MN (yes, it has done nothing but rain, and I'd love to send it South), and primo colour season in S. MN, so, it was off to New Ulm. We have close friends there. So, our route was planned around meat markets. Within about a 10 mile radius of New Ulm, there is a plethora of meat/butcher markets. We hit 5 of them. At Schmitt's in Nicollet, we got summer sausage, beer sticks and jerkey ("best in the state!"). We also stopped at George's in Nicollet and got bacon and pepper summer sausage. In Lafayette, we got bacon and some more jerkey. Then, off to Sleepy Eye where we got bacon (sense a theme to this trip?) and maple breakfast sausages. Sleepy Eye is a huge pork town. A slight detour to Lafayette where we got yet more bacon. Then, at the Sausage Shop in New Ulm, we got brats, purportedly the best in the state. Oh, and since our friend's parents own an apple orchard, we scored big on apples, and also managed some Schell's beer and 1919 root beer. Now, were we to do a Saturday or Sunday drive in January, we'd probably look for ice cream, or more meat, but a food item would be the destination. Come late spring, it will be S. MN for morels. Come late June, we'll do one for strawberry picking. I'm not sure I should count the trips to the cabin for blueberries as a Saturday or Sunday drive for foodstuffs, because we go for far more than that, but we do time the trip to coincide. Any other day-trip drivers out there? Do you go for destination dining, or for foodstuffs?

Our next blogger begins on Monday, October 22. S/he will spend some time at home: Recap a very recent trip: And take us a two day side trip!

I don't know if you've taken care of your glut of apples, but we arrived home today from S. MN with a glut of our own, and my friend reminded me of something she does with her glut (her in-laws own an orchard). If you have a copy of the Gourmet Cookbook, dig it out and make the apple muffins. You can either bake them as muffins or as a quick bread, and this freezes beautifully!

I'm hosting a 50th birthday party for a friend, and his wife mentioned that he (NO gluten need apply) can usually work around the gluten. But, given that this is his birthday, I think he shouldn't have to work around avoiding gluten (wheat, BTW) at his own party, and wheat gluten fans should work around him. Suggestions welcome!

If I forget to take a writing utensil with me when I'm at the market, I'm sunk. And, even if I do, I seem to start my next list just as soon as I put the groceries away. (would help if certain members of my family would remember to put things on the list which has had the same holding space for some 3 years and if they'd quit putting boxes of cheerios with 5 bits left in the box back on the shelf; one tablespoon of milk does not a gallon equal).

My big "fraud" is the take and bake ciabattini rolls from Trader Joe's. The guests remark on how wonderful they are (my kids call them "the bomb), and I have no comments. BTW, their pizza dough is very good, as well. I'm dough impaired, so I'll take every bit of help I can, and my rule of thumb is to offer nothing. If pushed, I'll admit, but otherwise, let them think I've made it myself.

Are these meals eaten while the driver is driving? Or, at a rest stop? If at a rest stop, options increase, as one can get tuna in small cans, mayo in little squeeze packets that seem to be impervious to weather, etc., and one can get bread and apples, bananas and oranges at the gas station. While the tuna and mayo are more than just open and eat, one can just open the vacuum tuna, squeeze it on bread, add squeeze mayo, top with another slice of bread, and voila! If you are eating in the car, don't forget some bags for trash, wipes, paper towels, etc. (come to think of it, these items are really handy if you are at a rest stop, as well.)

I'm wondering if this has as much to do with texture as anything. I like mine on the far side of sporting the black spots; it there is the first texture and the "bright" taste, I'm happy. But, show me a banana with black spots and that smushy texture, and I'm likely to hork. My kids prefer them more ripe than I do, so I'm the person at the market that's picking all of the singles (I'm not the one making them singles, BTW) -- totally green for me, barely green (for Peter) and various states of yellow -- including spots -- for Diana, Heidi and Paul.

I'm curious about whether this is weight with bone in or just meat? Edited to add: My local meat market has "Amish" chickens for $1.29/lb, and a local small supermarket has Smart Chickens on sale this week for $1.59/lb (whole chickens only). The Amish chickens, IMHO, are much tastier.

Prices here in the Twin Cities are roughly similar, except I can get whole chickens for $.69/lb. Pieces can run cheaper, if they are on sale, but then you have to buy the mongo family pack. What blows me away is why someone would spend three times as much for a cut up chicken (which, BTW, is minus the back, neck, gizzard, heart and liver). I don't quite comprehend spending more for less. It takes just minutes to break down a chicken, if you have a sharp knife, and why would I pay someone to do that and keep the best parts of the bird? BTW, no clue about white meat. I do buy whole chickens, and usually use the breasts for cutlets or stir fries, or chicken salad, but, this week, thighs at my local supermarket were on 3-day special for $.60/lb, if I was willing to buy packages of 5 pounds or more. Yes, my freezer is full.

Rachel, please tell us more about salsas, please! Would these be with fresh stuff, or of the fried variety? And, just what happens to the bottles from the bottled water? Refilled, recycled? Oh, and just what is in that yellow bottle on the left side of the last photo?

Another reason to love a restaurant supply store -- parchment paper. I get a box of 1,000 half-sheet pan size sheets for something like 25 bucks, compared to a tiny roll at the grocery (which is all curled up!) for almost 5 bucks. If you think 1,000 sheets is way too much, give some away for gifts.

Chris, my disasters were the raisins and gingersnaps. (One of my kids likened the raisins to having the texture of slugs!) However, keeping them "together" was no problem. I just put them seam side down. The soured cabbage sounds interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it at my supermarket; would one look in the produce area?

I had to laugh at this. I have done stuffed cabbage rolls twice in the past. Once with raisins, once with gingersnaps. My kids were but toddlers at the time, and every member of my family is still talking about it. So, since they just laugh about these two items as being two of my bigger disasters, I'm thinking I should try again, sans gingersnaps and/or raisins. Perhaps add an Asian twist?

No suggestions for toppings, but how about using phyllo for the crust?

I think one of the problems with most post-Thanksgiving stocks is that they tend to be made only with the carcass. IMHO, a stock can have some roasted carcases, but definitely benefits from some raw bones and meat, as well as a neck (or four or five) and some feet. And, if the turkey was stuffed, you will bring all sorts of strange tastes to the stock which might be fine for one application, but not for others.

Our next blog commences on Thursday, October 11. Our next blogger gave me a wonderful assortment of teaser photos, so you get extra hints. First off, some of food things we might see: And, a couple of hints as to where we'll be going (yes, it's a long car ride from Montreal!): Once again, we go where no eGulleter has gone before during an eG foodblog. Where are we going, and who is taking us on the tour?

Paul and the kids and I had lunch today with a couple who run an apple orchard, from the planting, to the picking, selling, etc. One of his comments, when I mentioned this disucssion is that when the U of M, or athe NY Experimental Ag Station in Geneva develop an apple variety, they are developing it for that particular place. It has to do with the climate, the latitude, etc. A MN honeycrisp (we are the home, BTW!) is not going to perform the same in another place, just as a NY Empire is not going to perform here. Add to that the variabilities of weather. Just how much rain did you get? Just how many sunny days did you get. Enough polination? There's more to growing an apple, me thinks, that just planting a few trees!

Chris, the texture is a bit softer than if the pie is made with fresh apples, but given that I am using an extremely crisp apple to begin with, it's much less "mushy" than if I were using an out of season supermarket apple. BTW, I always use tapioca as a thickener.

Chutney is a great idea, Chris. What are you thinking of for additional ingredients. Now, as to pie -- a trick I got from my grandmother (and this works for peaches as well). Make your pie filling. Line pie pans with foil, fill with filling, fold foil over -- encasing filling. Freeze, and when it is frozen, remove pie pan. When you want to make a pie, just line the pan with pie crust, plop in the frozen filling, top with top crust (if desired) and bake. You'll probably need to add about 10 minutes to the baking time. I"ll do this with a batch of local Haralson's this week; I couldn't be bothered to can. I've never tried freezing apple slices, but I would imagine the texture would be compromised.

Teaser will come early this week. Our next blog will start on Thursday (for reasons which will become evident). Just be patient and enjoy what's going on!

Wow, Gabe! What a wonderful year it has been for all. I love this time of year. We get the fall crops, it has been warm enough that tomatoes and peppers are still there, and we are (at least in Minneapolis) seeing the return of the cool weather crops like lettuce and beautiful spinach. Plus apples, and squash, etc., etc. You've mentioned up topic about how you delve into a particular cuisine rather intensely. I notice a more Asian bent in your obsession. Comments?

I love my daily lists. You can see a sample here (and if you go through the rest of the topic, you'll see more of them!). They include not just food related things, but the rest of my life, and I use the slips of paper because they are here, and otherwise would simply get recycled and not reused before recycling. But, you've got me thinking about stashing a few month's worth in an envelope so I can see just what I've accomplished. Although I entertain a lot, and do not keep an entertaining notebook, I have taken to listing on our calendar, who was here and what I served, so I know how things worked out. But, for as much as I have on my daily list, sometimes other foods at the market look better, or the weather precludes a certain activity that was listed on my daily list. But, I can't think of a day when "drywalling" hasn't been on my list ( ).